Angels of the Grocery Barge
A friend of mine has told me many times that weather is not a science, but a phenomenon. This knowledge, combined with observations made over 14 years of running trips here in the BVI, has resulted in me largely ignoring forecasts down here. Normally we experience trade winds from the north or northeast, 10-15 knots, with occasional showers, air temps in the low to mid 80-s, water temp in the high 70s. Every year for 14 years, with very few exceptions.
Our crew of 5 woke at Hummingbird House, and Captain Richie and I took a hike to the French Deli, a bit of a unicorn here in the BVIs. They have fresh baguettes, a huge variety of cheeses, a nice wine selection, lots of fancy little things. They’re in a brand new building on the waterfront. We grabbed some egg tarts, muffins, and danish.
Today is provisioning day, one of the more intense days for the crew. We hit the grocery, hardware, and liquor stores (known as rum shacks here), and get enough food, drink, and gear for 14 people for a week. Then we load it on 2 vans, deliver them to a dock, load them onto a tender (dinghy), then unload them off the tender and onto our yacht. It’s a full-day affair, and tricky in the best of conditions. Today it rained hard, with really strong winds. Heather and I got the gear and the booze to the dock at Trellis Bay, and the rest of the crew were about an hour or 2 behind us. Our driver Albert made some phone calls to get us parked really close, then hopped in someone else’s cab to get back to help the rest of our crew. This guy is amazing. He’s also a great-grandfather.
We learned that our charter company’s tender was not working, so Heather and I devised a plan where we would cart the booze and gear to the end of the dock, in the driving rain, then cover it in a tarp in 30 knot winds and wait for the regular little ferry and somehow try to cram onto it in the 3 minutes they spend on the dock. It seemed dubious.
As I brought the first load out, a catamaran full of boat guys from our charter company pulled up and offered to help load our stuff onto the cat. They had heard we were about to be stranded out there, and made sure to look for us as they were loading provisions for other charters. Everyone and everything was soaking wet, and the wind gusts were blowing stuff all over the place. Cardboard boxes collapsed. We carried on. Albert and Iris appeared with the rest of the crew at exactly the right moment, and we loaded the rest of our stuff. We motored to the marina, rain and wind still very intense, the captain yelling out orders to the crew in the native Creole, mixed in with some spicy English. Tarps slapped loudly against the rigging and rain filled the cockpit. It was a wild scene as the captain rafted up right next to our yacht so we could move all of our stuff in the least amount of time exposed to the elements. It worked, and all of our stuff somehow arrived high and mostly dry, though we were all soaked to the bone.
The guys at Dream Yacht charter really saved the day for us and went the extra mile. We unloaded the boxes and set up for the week, then celebrated with a nice dinner at the Scrub Island resort. Guide Fitzy and a couple of our guests are stranded in Puerto Rico due to the weather and canceled flights. So we’ll try to get them here tomorrow. We fell asleep to the mast vibrating and shaking the whole boat, wind whistling in the rigging. Guests tomorrow!!
Hopper
PS. My phone also became possessed and then died last night, so all of the pics I got of everyone working in the pouring rain are gone. Use your imagination about the rain, then multiply it by 5. That might give you a picture close to what we experienced…..! Come rain or shine, this barge will be ready for the SwimVacation of a lifetime! XO Heather
PPS. Here are two photos Hopper managed to get!
