Thursday, August 13

The Wreck of the Rhone

Skies were dark and the seas looked rough. I walked down the slippery trail and even fell once onto my butt. I spilled a few drops of coffee and went on my way. At the shop the plans were still to go out to the Rhone and get in the water. A group coming from St. Thomas was considerably late, so we waited on the boat for over an hour. Eventually we left the shore and headed for Her Majesty's Customs in West End, Tortola. The ride was fine for me, but rough on some others. I don't think there are such a thing as seas too rough for me. I find it's harder to be on solid land sometimes. I think I loved the Little Mermaid mostly because she could breathe underwater...probably why I have such an affinity for SCUBA gear. At any rate, we cleared customs and then set off for Salt Island. The open ocean had unleashed furious 8-10 foot seas, possibly 12, and the situation wasn't looking good. For the first time in three years, the boat turned around. It would definitely be too dangerous to keep going and get in the water. After the initial shock of missing out on the dive for the day, new plans were made to drop some folks off after stopping through customs. A few others would stay on the boat and go out for some reef dives in calmer waters closer to St. John. I stayed off the boat after clearing customs and while there was no diving for me today, I did have the happy moment of cashing my first paycheck from Low Key Watersports. It was a nice feeling.

I gave a ring to Stacey, who had told me she would e in town this week! She came into St. John on the ferry from St. Thomas just as I was calling her on the phone. I met up with Stacey and David at the park by the ferry dock. It is always wonderful to see familiar faces and to share a neat place like St. John with good friends. We walked over to Salomon Beach after making a quick stop at my house to grab a few essential beach items. For the first time in a long time, I attempted doing work while on the beach. Stace and David swam around and caught some rays, enjoyed their beach reads, and reapplied sunblock. I did manage to squeeze out 2 solid hours of work while sitting on the beach, which isn't bad. I will definitely make up the time this weekend. I say “make up the time,” but in all reality, I'm quite ahead of schedule with hours for the internship.

After the beach, we wandered over to Woody's for dinner. Again, if you are on St. John, you've got to stop in to Woody's for a Mahi sandwich. I like them grilled or blackened, and definitely get the curly fries. After Woody's we went over to The Beach Bar. I got a tasty Lime and Coconut and David tried the Dark & Stormy. While hanging out at the bar, I signed Stacey's copy of White Vacation. It felt really cool to sit there at a bar in the Caribbean, signing my published novel. (I'm allowed to be a little self-loving once in a while, right?). Eventually it was time to head in for the night and I gave Stace and David a hug goodbye at the ferry dock. I walked home along Northshore Road in the dark. I was very tempted to hail a cab, since the road is not illuminated at all. I used the back-lighting on the LCD of my camera to light the way. I don't think I'll walk up that road at night again alone, it's a little too scary.

Food for thought, no pun intended:
Why are bananas are bad luck on boats? I've been on some boats where you get the nastiest look and evil face if you even mention the word banana. Why is the banana, natural treat of most excellent nutrition treated worse than the plague? I've met a few captains nice enough to scoff at the superstition and allowed whatever snack you'd like on board their vessel. What's the deal? I dug up what I could on Google and tried my best to educate myself with the modern thrills of the internet. Not wanting to rely too heavily on Wikipedia and other message forums with hearsay-type comments, I am still unconvinced of the true danger inherent in having bananas on boats.