Don’t Stop the Carnival: One last island – Water Island

Yesterday we had the best day. We woke in C’s place, at Point Pleasant Resort with an amazing 180 degree view (see pic from one side of the deck) of Water Bay at St. John, Tortola, and Congo and Levongo Cay, and Thatch Cay. After we had coffee and relaxed on a couch (a luxury for people who have not had one, or a TV for so long) we got dressed and went to Water Island with J. He drove us in an open air jeep that has a tie dyed roof, very island. When we arrived at Crown Bay Marina, there was Plan B. We walked by but when we did, we saw movement in the salon and decided not to say hi. Yesterday H was kind enough to help T move the boat from the American Yacht Harbor to Crown Bay Marina. His dog was already out of sorts from all the changes from moving from England, and it got sick underway. In fact, we have been told that Saturday was one of the roughest days on the water that they have had in quite awhile – definitely since we have been here. So, hang in there, T and B – it’s all down hill from here! (Course I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t thrilled that I didn’t have to be on that trip.)

Our friend J from Jester came over in his new dinghy and gave us a ride to his boat, where his friend L was hanging out. It was really nice to sit on someone else’s sailboat. Jester is a 38 foot Irwin that J charters in the area. J told us that Kenny Chesney’s people contacted him awhile ago when they were coming to do a video to charter his boat for crew for a few days when they were shooting at Jost Van Dyke, but he was booked up. (Which song, does anyone know?)

After a drink on Jester, we went into Honeymoon Beach at Water Island (the inspiration for Don’t Stop the Carnival, a fabulous book about island life). It is a very quaint beach with two little beach bars – Heidi’s Honeymoon Grill and Joe’s Beach Shack. After a succulent burger (their description on the menu) H and I went for a quick swim and immediately saw a sting ray and some other basic fish. When I went back for a second swim in the afternoon, I actually saw a fish I hadn’t seen before – gorgeous blue and green patterned.. I’ll have to look it up in our fish guide book when we get home.

Later we took the dinghy to a little place in Frenchtown, back in St. Thomas, that said it was their last day. We then drove up to say goodbye to our friends from Happyface Foods, J and J. They recently moved and have a darling place on the North end with gorgeous views of Megans Bay, one of the top ten beaches in the world according to the Fromers Guide. (And if you haven't tried their delicious all natural Happyface ice cream, you must! Go to their Four Winds location and tell them Plan B sent you. Our favorite flavor is Mint Chip, see photo of H on boat enjoying one last splurge!) Finally we went back to Pointe Pleasant and shared our last mahi mahi sandwich for awhile.

We just turned the dial to Regis and Kelly and she was just saying she was at Rawhide, at the Pointe at South Mountain this past weekend, which is where our townhouse is. She was showing pictures from her visit to Arizona. Weird! Well, that’s where we’re headed, to pick up Celis and then head out to the mountains.

Goodbye St. Tizzy! Goodbye C, J and J, J, J, and all our other locals! We had a ball. We are so glad that we had Celis with us when we met you, otherwise, we would have been very lonely, that’s for sure. Ciao.

SOLD!!!!!!

We did it. It’s over. We have sold Plan B to a very nice guy we’ll call T, and his adorable, cuddly dog, B. This happened in record time – two days after our listing went up on the Internet with Catamarans.com, we got an offer, and negotiated with that buyer resulting in our sale. Our buyer is from England, which didn’t surprise us based on the value of the dollar today. He is planning to eventually sail to Croatia and charter there. At this point, he plans to keep the name of the boat. Especially when we told him about my screenplay and that in a few years, he’ll be able to charge a premium to sail on the original “Plan B.”

Good luck to T and B, and thank you to all our friends and family who supported us through this tumultuous time getting through our deal and paperwork. And it’s not quite over, as we just discovered the airline wants over $500.00 to change our tickets, so we will have to “suck it up” and stay on the island until Monday.

I had mixed feelings this afternoon. Naturally I’m thrilled to go home and see all our friends and family, and Celis! (It’s been over two months since we shipped her home to beat the airline heat restrictions.) But I’m sad our cruising days are over. It was definitely the most exciting – and challenging – time of our lives. Some of the best parts of our trip? Sharing the boat with our friends and family, catching a mahi mahi for dinner, snorkeling in the crystal clear waters of the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos, spotting dolphins and turtles, laying in the trampoline while underway, Celis fetching her water toys off the back of the boat, listening to a music festival from the boat in Tortola and meeting wonderful people all along the way. Last weekend, we were in an anchorage called Cinnamon Bay (just like the Kenny Chesney song) and we saw a spotted bat ray breach out of the water next to the boat. It was amazing.

Now the blog can take a whole new direction, the evolution of a screenplay. We are headed to the mountains for the fourth and see family and then I will start the journey of a screenwriter. As I’ve already mentioned, I have been working on a screenplay based on our experiences. We are very excited and thankful for our health, our sanity and the amazing friends and memories we have collected over the last year and a half.

Shalom.