Da Caribbean News Ledda
Long time no hear, so you would think that with such a long time since the
last news ledda that a man would fall into information overload telling you
of the latest scandals, the latest developments here on island.
First and foremost, Sarah and Lucie are great. It seems my girls get prettier
by the minute, so it's hard to be away from them for too long. But like they
keep saying, "make hay while the sun shines", and that's exactly
what I have been doing for the past few months. In total I've done a record
9 weeks of charter in 11 weeks, no not much time for the family but plenty
of pennies to show for it. Hopefully we may save enough to buy some land or
make some sort of investment, but probably we'll blow it all on something
for Lucie.
Lucie growing in leaps and bounds, so quickly that I'm thinking of cutting
her down to one meal a day. She is now speaking and yesterday gave us her
longest sentence of 9 words. She loves getting into everything and loves rolling
around on the ground with all the animals. She loves the beach but still can't
swim so she floats everywhere with a noodle under her arms. The ocean has
been so pleasant lately that we are spending most of our time on the beach.
Sarah is great, a lot happier now that the boss is home. It has been a long
haul for her taking care of Lucie and being there when I've needed her to
do things for me or the boat. She is trying her hand at website construction
and is doing pretty well as far as I can tell. She is trying to mold something
together for Lionheart. In time when it's all finished, I'll gladly pass the
info on to you. Now I intend to take a break for a few weeks before the October/November
onslaught. So during that time Dave, the owner of Lionheart, and myself will
make the old girl look new again by doing all the yearly maintenance. Hopefully
if we can get all the jobs done that we have planned then we can take so time
off, me with my lovely family and Dave will have the freedom to cruise around
in Lionheart until the next charter.
This year has been a record year for business, everyone from the local grocery
store to the fishermen, from the taxi drivers to the charter captains - everyone
has had a bumper year. Soon the parties will start and already we are seeing
signs that people are disappearing for the hurricane season. The marinas are
practically empty and many of the restaurants are closed for the season. It
is so easy at the moment to pick up a mooring buoy even late in the day.
During July we had summer camps for kids, where usually up to 20 kids stay
on board a boat and are taught to sail, scuba, navigate and learn about the
environment. This year there were more than 20 boats which brought in 400
kids from all over. The moorings were always full, dive sites were almost
impossible to find with an empty mooring on them. Docks and marinas were like
Friday afternoon when school is let out.
In view of the sudden influx of people during the month of July, this may
act as food for thought for 2005. We are fast approaching a booked out season
for 2005, so if you are interested in tying down a specific week, I suggest
you give me a call or email me with an indication.
Sarah and Lucie have been lucky enough to take care of a beautiful mansion
type property here on the north shore looking out over beautiful Brewers Bay.
The care takers who happen to be friends of ours asked us to take over for
a couple of weeks. Now let me think about that for a second, OK,OK,OK! It
is called Greenbanks Distillery, which is the site of an old ruin that has
been swallowed by amazing rainforest and fruit trees. It sits high on the
mountain at Brewers Bay on 8 acres of land. It is big enough to have a couple
of donkeys, three sheep, two dogs and a cat. There is a series of buildings
isolated in their own tropical surrounding. One of the buildings is an art
house for the owners wife, who dabbles in a little oil painting. It has a
beautiful pool, tennis court and a billiards room in a restored ruin, complete
with relics from that era worth thousands. They're presently trying to sell
this place for 4.2 million. I could buy this place, but I would have to trade
in my car. Yeehh right!
The BVI's have just celebrated 50 years of celebration - just another excuse
to have a party really! This year was the best yet with the highlight being
the street procession. Loads and loads of dancers and stilt walkers,loud music,
colours and glitter and balloons, drinking and laughing and dancing in the
street. They built a small town to enclose an amusement park, with rides and
food stalls, bands and bars. A great way to celebrate a celebration.
The weather here at the moment is absolutely spectacular. The water and air
temperature are a pleasant 90 degrees, with the occasional shower every few
days just to fill our cistern, water our plants and cool things down a little.
There is hardly anyone around town so it's easy to get things done. As of
yet, no severe storms passed this way and it's looking good for the rest of
the season. For my mind, this is the best time of the year.
I want to thank all my new friends to Lionheart for being so wonderful. Thank
you to all my old buddies who return year after year. Yes, the years seem
to get better each time and that is purely because of your support and friendship.
To all my friends and family all over this wide world of ours, I hope your
dreams are becoming reality and that one day soon I'll see you all.
Take care of each other.
Mobbsie
