Well, my trip yesterday was not too bad, but long. My flight from Dallas to Miami was delayed because the plane lost power after they pushed us out on the tarmac. It was a real confidence booster to have the plane go completely dark and quiet! After sitting there for 15 minutes they got it going again, after the 'jump' truck came over and jumped the plane. The flight was fine after that! My layover in Miami was only for 40 minutes, so I just knew that I would miss my flight to Barbados. To top off this, in Dallas they 'upgraded' me to the isle seat, on the last row of the plane. I would be the last person to get off of the plane in Miami! I was lucky, when I arrived in Miami, and finally got off of the plane, the flight to Barbados was delayed, saving my trip! This was the last flight to Barbados, and if I missed it, I would also miss my boat on Sunday! I was very relieved that the flight was delayed, saving my trip! I was actually able to wolf down a calazone before boarding. Once on board, the flight to Barbados took forever! 1 movie, TV shows, studying for class, Sudoku, and candy helped make up the time. I met a woman and her husband on the plane that runs a magazine called Living Barbados (www.livingbarbados.com). They have lived there most of their life and was very interesting to talk to. They didn't know the hotel that I was going, which caused me some concern. The hotel was just a one night overstay, but I hope that it wasn't bad. I also found out that a hurricane (then tropical storm), had just gone through the island a couple of night before! Yikes! I didn't even know there was a hurricane in the area! I was so busy getting ready for the trip, I didn't watch the tropical weather. The storm went through St. Vincent and the Grenadines the day before, so I am sure that the seas will be confused, creating an interesting sailing environment to learn.
Well, my hotel was clean, but not really beach front. It was also not in the best part of town with no restaurants around. It looked like an upgraded Motel 6, but with an International feel. The people in Barbados are very nice, and speak a formal English that is easy to understand. I am catching a Liat flight this morning, and there has been many comments about this airline....so we shall see.
Later that day:
Well my flight was really good! It was only 40 minutes and I arrived in St. Vincent on time. I took a taxi to the BOSS site. I met up with Tony and Nancy, who are the husband and wife team that is doing the training for BOSS. They both will be training this week, Tony on the catamaran, and Nancy on a mono hull. I will be the only paying student with Tony on the cat, but another guy, Sadeem, who was a boat cleaner for BOSS, will be going with us to learn too. There are three students with Nancy on a mono hull named Andato. Our boat name is called Inordinate.
Once I arrived to BOSS, I had to take the ASA 101 test, and scored a 90% Yay!
We then jumped on the boat and did an introduction speech, and we headed to Bequia, and island about 9 miles away. Since it was windward (I have to use my sailing terms now), we had to practise tacking to finally get there. It was really fun, and I was able to pilot and learned many things on the first sail. We then anchored in a quiet harbor (Admiralty Bay), at Port Elisabeth.
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| Provisioning for the week! We need more food!!! |
Video of the sail from St. Vincent to Bequia.
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| Dinner at Fig Tree, Bequia - Dale, Tony, and Sadeem |
We were able to go into town and eat dinner at the famous Fig Tree restaurant, not sure it was really famous, but it was good. I had my first taste of conch, and it was very good! Once we got back to the boat we crashed fast! It was a long day!
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| View from BOSS (yes, that is Tony taking his dinghy to his boat) |
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| Bequia - Admiralty Bay |
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