Update - At long last

At last I have made time to pick up the laptop and write a short update. (The laptop has some sort of problem which we cannot seem to get fixed here. There are times when it just will not turn on..... As you can see it is on now).

We are house sitting for some friends who are up in New York and the Canadian Maritime provinces till early December. They have been very kind (and trusting!) and have allowed us the use of their fabulous home, just up the street from the house we rented for over a year, near the village of Red Hook on St Thomas' eastern end. So far we are doing well, no broken dishes etc to report!

The boys are both in sailing camp at the yacht club - which is very near where we live. Julian is turning out to be a great little Optimist dingy sailor. Max is just beginning, but from experiences on our IC24 I am pretty sure he will be catch on quickly. Max, who turns 4 next month, has given up any form of nap in order to be in sailing camp. Evidently he is pretty active at camp as once this week he fell asleep at the dinner table. As I write this he enjoying a long Sunday afternoon nap to catch up....

This is the busy season for the business. Extra busy this year as we parted ways with our General Manager. We have hired a temp to work with a couple of projects, which is helping. Apart from a slightly higher work load for Charlotte and myself, not having a manager has allowed us to immerse ourselves in all aspects of the business. This has highlighted a few things that we need to do to create efficiencies and serve our clients better. How is the business going? Despite a softer global economy, we have added a few new service contracts and repair side of the business continues to boom.

And what of the effects of the global economy? We know that there are less cruise ship visits planned for next year and that the number of actual passengers is also down. "On Island", as the locals say, there is now doubt that the economy has slowed. Housing sales are way off, rents have come down. Some of the tourist oriented stores are having a hard time or have closed "in town". In keeping with Darwinism the weakest stores are the ones that have gone. Housing prices which had become stratospheric are apparently starting to come down according a few realtors we know. The good news in all this for us is that those businesses, households and government offices etc that already have generators continue to need them serviced and repaired.

The weaker economy afforded us an opportunity to book a long weekend using a nearly affordable "locals" rate at the Bitter End Yacht Club on Virgin Gorda in the BVIs. (BEYC is a sailing and water sports oriented resort). We had visited Bitter End years ago when we chartered a sailing boat with another couple, but had never stayed.

It was a really enjoyable adventure. To get there we took a ferry from Red Hook to the Western end of Tortola in the BVIs. Then we took a taxi (driven by a wonderful man, Mr. Forbes, who shared with us his life story and historical points of interest on the island) to the Eastern end of Tortola. Then we took a launch over to the resort. We left the house in STT about 7:15 am in the morning and arrived at BEYC by about 11:30 am.

Bitter End is an all inclusive - you can use the fleet of boats: Hobies, Lasers, Optis, Rhodes 19s, Hunter 216s, IC24s, kayaks etc. Day trips to places like the "Baths" of Virgin Gorda, a spectacular bay filled with giant boulders from some long forgotten Ice Age are also included. About the only things not included are sailing the BEYC Express 37 (sorry Trev Salmon & Tom Hawker) and "adult beverages". There are at least 2 dining rooms and food can be ordered a la carte or for those wanting to get back out on the water, there is a buffet. It must be said that the food and service were really wonderful. It did seem to us as thought the resort must not be fully booked, which was nice as we were never waiting to access the boats, or find a seat in restaurant etc.

After checking in we stopped right away for lunch. The boys really enjoyed the trip over, but were hungry and really wanted to get into the pool. We sat down to wait for our lunch, but due to an ordering snafu (literally the only service issue we had during our stay) we had a bit of a wait, so the boys enjoyed a session of jumping off the dock right in front of the restaurant.
This proved to be well timed as they were soon joined by another family with 3 similarly aged children from Colorado. For the rest of the weekend our boys and Liza, Ethan and Devon were inseparable.

Accommodation is in a series of free standing, two unit buildings.
We had a unit right at the end which afforded us a wonderful view of the forest canopy and a view out towards Necker Island, owned of course, by Sir Richard Branson.
Each unit has a wrap around deck and a great hammock. Max liked it so much that he fell asleep there Saturday afternoon.

That afternoon I sailed in a "regatta" in Hobie Waves. Not the fastest catamarans, but certainly fun in the 15 knot trade winds.

Saturday we took the boys for a sail on a larger Hobie. We sailed around to the bay where the more upmarket Biras Creek Resort is located, and then back around Gorda Sound between Virgin Gorda and Prickly Pear Island.

The boys were so exhausted from Friday's fun that they both fell asleep on the trampoline that more or less forms the deck of the Hobie Getaway.

We had a slower paced afternoon, even finding time for Max and myself to have a nap!

Sunday was breezier, and the laser "regatta" was cancelled do to a forecast weather system. I had a great morning on a Hobie Wave, then we packed up, said our good-byes and at 2pm took a launch to Gun Creek on Virgin Gorda.

We took a taxi to Spanish Town, the main settlement on Virgin Gorda. (The island has a population of 3000). The drive across Virgin Gorda was very interesting, wonderful scenery and spectacular beaches and reefs. From Spanish Town we took a ferry to Red Hook. On the way back the tropical wave did hit, and the heavens opened up in a torrential rain shower. Thankfully we were going East so any squalls associated with the wave had little effect on our little ferry. Once at Red Hook, via Cruz Bay, St John for Customs and Border Protection we hopped in our truck and arrived home in time for dinner. We all slept very well that night.

Hopefully one of us will find time to update the blog more frequently.