Once upon Calabichi

Still February 16^th. The terrible pavement in the road, the holds and broken shoulders contrasts with the beautiful flora.

People fly in their cars here, but there is always a smile on their faces and they yell: Hello! Enjoy your visit in Dominica! We drive across the country, go thru the Central Forest Reserve. The streets are not getting better. The chauffeur is complaining, I understand his concern, it is very dangerous. Further up the street is full of workers and machinery fixing the highway.

It looks like that rain, Jomo told us about a while ago, made a lot of damage in that area. He said that it rained so much that he couldn't get out of home for a week. The water washed the hills, the river rocks were along the way, dirt and trees were washed off too.

You'd wondered why are we taking all this trouble to get to Calabichi. Well... we are enjoying the country and also in the mission of delivering a package for a friend, Patsy from Compass Point Marina, who has a breakfast place there. The controversial of our delivery, specially after the delightful fruit gathering adventure, is that we were bringing junk food: cheese pasta, peanut butter, instant coffee, coffee creamer and salted pork, probably the best was a letter with a few dollar bills inside.

Patsy's family were very happy to see Jim again, they opened some coconuts to offer fresh water and the tender white coconut meat. It was hard to communicate with them, but they show their best smile and when we left they wove saying come back.

The way back to Portsmouth bay was very pleasant, the pavement was nice and smooth again, the tropical forest surrounding seemed to be saying stay here, but once we were back to Salty Shores we felt, not dough, happy to be safe and sound.

AnechyNotes   

Jomo the talker

Jomo's craft shop

Still February 16^th. Going down the hill we stop at Jomo's Arts and Crafts place. He makes wind chimes out of shells, bamboo, seeds and other natural materials. He also talks a lot. I can't tell if he breaths or when, but he is very nice. We want to buy a souvenir and his pieces are all keepers.

He talks about his plants, his property, about building a house there, a very nice spot that for sure has a million dollar view. In the middle of his never ending speech he offers good deals on his items. But it's so hard to decide which one to choose. Well, we finally filter them for the way they sound. “This one sounds like the waves breaking on the shore, we like this one, we take it!” Jomo also gives a tour around his land, from where we can see the ocean, the valley and the mountains (romantically talking) kissing the clouds.

It's hard to say good-bye to Jomo the artist. I take pictures to post in facebook, and he gives me two soursops. We get his phone number and he very friendly says: “If you come back call me, I'll cook crayfish for you”.

We get in the car , not just happy for our new friends, but bragging about how good the roads are, and the nice job they did in the traffic signs system. And the view driving down the west coast t's so pretty that any description would be terrible. On the way we stop and buy grilled sweet plantain: a truly treat!

We pass Coulibistrie, Morne Raguette, Salisburry, Mèro, St. Joseph and Layou, where we turn to the left in a road with the same name, dusty for the cement plant. We actually bragged about the good pavement roads too soon.

AnechyNotes

Fallowing the farmer's road

Jim and Louie

Still February 16^th. We follow this Dominican guy; with his age draw on his eyes; as an adventure. His dynamic makes us feel like everything is going to be fine. As soon as we enter his domain; immersed in the huge shade of the trees, with a cool breeze spreading the smell of the river around, that is adding the ambiance music of the place; we felt like arriving to Eden Garden.

Louie has two workers riding in the back of his truck. This young men are from Haiti, and they look like they woke up very early to come to the farm. When the truck stops they get busy picking up oranges and grape fruits. The farmer invites us to ride on his car with him and shows with a affectionate pride his oranges trees, that he planted with his own hands. “I buy plant in nursery”. He says after Jim questions.

Did he inherited the land? No, he bought it! He doesn't reveal how much did he pay for it. But he talks about the parrots, the Dominica's national bird, that are eating and destroying his beautiful oranges. We can see hundreds of fruits on the floor with holds. “We can't eat them, because they are protected”. He protests. “I bet they taste like oranges”. Jim comments.

“Louie, and the ditches around the plants? What are those for?” “To keep water running and plant alive”.

This charming farmer says good-bye and show us the way back to the main road. “I like to show my place to tourists”, he finally explains, “everybody most know Dominican people are nice”.

We never ask his age, but we got his cellphone number. We'll be back!

AnechyNotes

Driving in Dominica

February 16^th. Today is “the get out of the boat day”. Jim has just rented a car for 24 hours. A small Suzuki, very comfy. He went to the police station and bought a driving permit and now is in the bank exchanging money. The bank seems to be busy, but... in the islands life is very slow too.

We are anchored in Portsmouth Bay, west side of Dominica and our plan is to drive to Calibichie, on the east coast. In our way there we want to stop by the medical school for lunch, they have very good food stands.

We get to med school just in time to skip the crowd of students getting out of the class to buy lunch. The food is outstanding and the fruit juices take us to freshness land.

After lunch we head south and turn left in a steep road, that is not in the map, but Jim seems to know pretty well. It is the farms hill. Along this trip we stop and talk to the farmers and buy oranges, grape fruit and bananas.

This is definitely a small world, we are driving higher up the hill when this young man, called Jerry; who buys the oranges from the farmers to take them to the port and export the to other islands; stops the car to give us some free oranges. We park the Suzuki and start talking to him and the owner of the land, Louie. As soon as I mention that I'm from Cuba Jerry says: “I spent one month living in Cotorro, Edificio 88”. This place is one of the oldest communities, located in the limits of Havana City, near to the National Botanical Garden. “How come?” I ask surprised. The answer is even more stunning. “I went to the youth festival...” “...In 1997”. I finish his phrase. That was a huge event organized in Cuba, where people from 136 countries  got together in Cuba with the motto: "for Anti-imperialist Solidarity, Peace and Friendship". I worked in that event as an voluntary organizer and I also had a participant living in my house.

In the meanwhile Louie gives Jim a very sharp knife to cut an orange, I say good bye to Jerry, who leaves smiling, some usual in the natives. We stay talking to this old man that I'm having a hard time to understand and pretty soon I know we are following his truck on this steep road to visit his biggest land. Jim looks at me, I notice some tension on his voice when he asks me if I think it is OK. “Don't you worry, I know kung-fu.” I joke. He says: “they really know how to sharp a machete”.

I'm not scared.

AnechyNotes

Recovery day

February 15^th. I call that day, recovery day. A cup of coffee in the morning to get our wheels moving, a nice ride to customs and immigration to clear in and out and a walk to a budget marine store to get fuel filters.

Once back to the boat, Jim had a nice project to finish: clean the toilet pipes, (no comments). Then we had lunch and took a power nap to wake up with a great idea: “To transfer and to filter the fuel”. The preparation was quick; he took a roll of paper towel, some hoses, funnels and rescue tape, the next step was to get on the floor and do our best holding the fuel cans, hoses and wiping everything constantly to keep the diesel from spilling on the wood. Then he put the new fuel filters, I watched and assisted, that's the best I can do.

It was a relaxing day after all, reading and doing “little projects”. At night I made tuna sushi and sushimi, my spicy tuna roll version wasn't to bad.

AnechyNotes

I might be hallucinating

February 14^th. Maybe the news of the change of route animated me, I was feeling stupendous. Of course I was back to the cockpit, my now officially bedroom, but this time I grabbed a book, because I discovered that distracting my brain from the actual situation I felt better. Talking about entertainment! Jim keeps fishing lines out and in the middle of the struggle with the motor he caught a skip-jack tuna, very fat. It was a fight to pull it in the boat and a big mess to clean, but we ate good sushimi.

Our joy didn't last too much, the engine was still fighting with the dirty fuel. And we were using our last filter. The big issue was: “It's the boat going to make it to Dominica?” It was hard to watch the island just 3 miles away... We were both exhausted, but Jim needed to rest from that crazy night. He looked at me and said: “I'm sorry, but if keep having problems we can still sail to St Lucia. We'll have the wind”. My mother always says: “If you are riding on a donkey, your only choice is hit it with the stick to make it walk”. In other words: “we've already gotten this far... a 100 more miles are not going to kill us. We'll make it!” So he started doing some work on the sails up on the deck and while I was watching him I started to talk to the boat:

“Salty Shores, from now on, your body is my body,

and I'm part of you, like you are part of myself.

If you go down on a wave, I'll go with you, and

when you come back to the surface, I'll stand by you,

'cause we are just one assemblage.

From this moment the ocean, you and me

share the same spirit, we are all harmony and waves

dancing on this Universe of peace.

And the wind is the master of our sails,

that are not sails any more, but wings,

if you fly, I'll ride on you,

'cause sea, wind, you and me, are the same thing.

Salty Shores, I'll vibrate in the same chord

of your strings, don't leave your heart give up

for one lost battle, your pack still believe in you.”

It was near the sunset when we picked up a mooring in Portsmouth, Dominica. I don't know where Jim got energies from, to jump in the water and clean the bottom of the boat. Chocolate!

AnechyNotes

February the 13th

We witnessed a moonrise between the clouds that looked like a half of an orange in a magical fruit basket. Then Jim showed me the plankton sparkling on the waves created by our vessel. Our sails were up and ready for the wind to get in the perfect direction. I was nauseous, so I laid down and tried to sleep, but instead I kept hearing voices and having creepy dreams of creatures coming from the water and talking in weird languages. I opened my eyes feeling I couldn't breath, I saw the number 17, in the wind instrument reader, but I was immerse in the strange dream of the seasickness, fighting with my mind to stay awake and with my stomach to keep in the little bit of food I could have for dinner.

Suddenly the engine made an strange noise, like lion roaring on his lost battle, hurt and humiliated on front of its group. That was appalling. But I couldn't help myself staying up there. My body was shaking, I needed to lay down. In my way to the cabin Jim said he had to change the fuel filter. Felling bad for not being able to help I crawled to the bed and passed out. In my dreams I could hear the engine sounding better and again bad, I also heard Jim's voice like faraway whisper, asking me if I was OK, or saying he had to change the filter again, or he needed to transfer the gas from the tank to the fuel cans, later on he said he filtered it while he was putting it back in the tank, I know some time of the night he said very emotional: “We are high speed sailing!”

It was a horrible night for us, making honor to a February 13^th.

I opened my eyes at 9 o' clock, Jim looked so tired and I was a mess, the acids on my stomach were killing me, I had to run up to throw out. Jim looked at me and announce me the very good news that he had changed course to Dominica. “We have a bad gas and I only have one filter left, and you are not doing good”. He sentenced.

I wanted my oat brand bread.

AnechyNotes

Anechy in seasick land

February 13^th. I woke up in the morning too late for the sunrise, Jim told me it was spectacular. Anyway, I was feeling proud of my guarding the night before, while the Captain was sleeping, even when I called him twice for a boat passing by 20 miles away.

It was a beautiful day and I was recuperated and ready for the adventure on the cockpit. My stomach was talking again, but this time it was yelling: “FOOD!” We had a very good selection in the refrigerator, but I couldn't think of anything that wouldn't made me feel sick. The savers of my day were an apple and “Wendie's Oat Brand Bread”.

I literally spent all day in the cockpit.

Another beautiful sunset announced the arrived of the night. The wind was shifting and picking up. The possibility of sailing sounded great to me, because the vibration of the engine was my Aquiles' heel. I stayed guarding from 6:30 to 9:40pm. Salty Shores was moving with an intense up and down against 4 to 6 feet waves. When Jim woke up I wanted to go back to the cabin and sleep, but a wedge pillow and a blanket in my cockpit looked like a better idea to me.

“This is a harsh way to travel, it is easier to rent a car or take a plane.” My Captain said. “But it's less exciting” I answered.

It will continue...

AnechyNotes

Encountering a real sailing in the open ocean

Still February 12^th. As soon as Salty Shores left the safety waters of the BVI, my stomach said: “Lunch, out!” after that I felt a little bit better, but that wasn't the only time, because water, air, everything had to go out. The wind was blowing from the east, northeast 6-8 knots, the ocean wasn't to rough, but it was my first time facing that constant motion. That night I stayed most of the time out on the cockpit. I enjoy the sunset a clear and bright moon and the stars.

I recalled my brother's journeys in the Caribbean sea trying to get out of Cuba in that 14 feet styrofoam and wood raft and the improvised mast and sail. I prayed that night for all the Cubans in the Caribbean sea, for those that never made it and for my brother seating on his couch watching TV, safe and sound.

AnechyNotes

Cruising time

February 12^th. Salty Shores left compass point marina at 2 o' clock in the afternoon. It's heading east now and so far the trip is calmed, maybe because we are going through the passage between St. John and the British Virgin Islands (BVI). It promises to be a two days and a half motoring to St. Lucia. Captain and crew are ready for the adventure. The crew member is very excited about the whole experience. Wait for more details.

AnecheNotes

Mom visits the USVI

Last January 25^th., my mom came down to visit with us for a week. It was fun to see her amazed by the beauty of the islands. “It 's so bad to live blind.” Was the metaphor she used to express the frustration of not been able to travel out of Cuba before 2010, when she finally arrived to the US.

For each of the seven days she stayed here, we had a very busy agenda, having dinner with friends, driving around town, sailing and snorkeling.

Day 1, we picked her up at the airport and showed her downtown, then went back to the boat and had a great dinner Jim fixed of salmon and salad.

Day 2, Pat and Peter (also friends from St. Thomas) invited us for dinner. They have a condominium on a hill above Red Hook, with a beautiful view of Tortola, Jost Van Dyke and Saint John.

Day 3, Our friend Johnny Valencia cooked for us and after dinner we went to Latitude 18^th to listen to a fiddler.

Day 4, Skip and Andrea made a little party to celebrate my mom's visit. And Andrea surprised Jim with his mom's chocolate pie recipe.

Day 5, We did a trip to Linstern Bay in St. John on Salty Shores and stayed there over night. We took the dinghy to the beach and snorkel for a while. That was a great experience for her because she had never snorkeled before.

Day 6, Well rested we decided to go to Newfound Bay across Tortola. A very quiet spot, very shallow with sea turtle swimming around. We did a great snorkeling. Salty Shores was the only boat there, what gave us a nice privacy and comfort. We were anchored in four feet water, so Jim couldn't leave the center board out. “Rock up my baby on the tree top...” but none of the members of the crew got seasick.

Day 7, It was time to start our trip back, even when mom had another night over the USVI we had to start heading back to St. Thomas. The destination was Christmas Code, in Great St. James. The wind was perfect to sail, so we had a pleasant trip. We stopped at Francis-Maho Bay, took a taxi to Cruz Bay and had lunch at Deli Dan old restaurant, in Cinnamon building, now call Deli Grotto , in Mongoose Juntion.

Once in Christmas Code, we anchored and went for a swim, and to finish the night we cook dinner for Chuck and Lindy who live on their boat there.

Last day, February the 1rst. We got back to the marina at 11:30, I gave mom a hair cut and had lunch in a Chinese Restaurant in Red Hook. Then we took her to the airport with her bags full of shells and seeds for her garden. This was a great adventure for her. We said “hasta pronto*”. She was happy to meet a group of very nice people, even when she had a hard time speaking English.

*See you soon!

AnechyNotes

Quick update

The weather is looking good. The winds are calming down and weather passenger predicts 4 to 6 knots for the next week. We are definitely decided to go tomorrow Sunday or early Monday.

Tonight we are invited to a Spanish ball in the Humane Society, the fancy outfits are in the hangers, ready to be wore.

I started a little garden, I have basil, scallions and a cactus. I'm also planning to make some bean sprouts. Wish me good luck.

It has been a lot of fun to spend time with our friends in St. Thomas.

See you soon,

AnechyNotes

The sketch

Day 19th. It was a Thursday but felt like a Wednesday, maybe because I was too tired to remember that it was Wednesday when we left the comfort of Skip and Andrea's apartment and moved on the boat.

I also started walking with Andrea, up and down their steep driveway. That day we woke up at 6:30, to go over the house. I exercised, took a shower and published a story on the blog at their house, because we don't have internet connection in the marina. Is was 11 o' clock when we returned to do some work on the boat. Another “little project”: take the bronze strike rails off the cap rails, drive to Chuck's work shop, countersink the screw holes on his drill press, go back to the boat, scrape and sand the cap rails, put on life caulk and screw the rails back in place. Total working time, 5 hours. We saved 450 dollars.

In the meanwhile I was trying to fix the Nimble Navigation; a computer program for sailing Jim has with AIS system that alerts if there are boats around, especially when sailing at night. I reinstalled it and set it up to work with the GPS. But it was still giving me a headache, mostly because I couldn't get the AIS to show other boats, even when it looked like it was working. I gave up for the day, it was 6 o' clock, and my brain was fried.

We took a shower for the first time in the marina bathroom, that at least has hot water, but is better to shower on flip-flogs. Then we drove to Red Hook, the nearest place to find a restaurant. We checked out two places, Duffy's Love Shack and XO Bistro, the last one had a nice ambiance and yummy appetizers, the first had a better looking menu for dinner. The music was very loud, so we sat outside away from the music. We ordered our meal and Presidente beers. We were enjoying our refreshing buzz when a black guy moved from a further table to the one next to us. He was very polite when he interrupted our conversation asking where we were from. He said he was from New Jersey, then made a few comments about the weather and went back to his beer. Jim noticed that he was sketching something .

It wasn't too long after we finished our dinner, we were starving! And during all that time this guy was calling: “Sir!Sir!” Finally Jim turned and talked to him again. He showed him a drawing of us he had just finished. The artist wanted us to pay for the sketch but we weren't interested. Jim didn't want to be rude, but the guy insisted that we take the drawing, so he gave him a tip. “Thank you”, he said, “my name is Sketcher”.

It wasn't a very good picture of us, but we had to admit that it was pretty good for being drawn in the dark and barely seeing our faces. Or maybe feeling so tired we just looked like a sketch of ourselves.

AnechyNotes   

My first sail on Salty Shores

We finally had the boat ready to go sailing on day 11th. It was Thursday and we planned to meet our friends Glenn and Naomi; who where staying with friends in St. John at the Westin Resort; for dinner at 7:30. That day Jim got the dinghy repaired, put on the 2 horsepower outboard motor, and when the dinghy was in the water, the motor wouldn't start. This was really serious because, when you are living on a boat and you anchor out, the inflatable boat is like your car to go on shore. Thankfully Jim had a spare motor and we could finally leave the marina at 3 o' clock.

It was going to be an hour and half trip motoring from St. Thomas. Jim put the scopolamine gel on my wrist to avoid getting seasick. It was my first time sailing on the ocean. Even when we were going close to shore, it was into the wind and there was some motion. I sat down facing the wind and looked toward the horizon. It was a pleasing short voyage that I enjoyed a lot.

When we got to,our anchorage in Great Cruz Bay, it was 4:00, a little bit earlier than we expected. The place was full of boats, but we found a safe spot to anchor. That gave us plenty of time to go for a swim, shower on the swim platform and take the dinghy ashore to meet our friends.

After a wonderful dinner of mahi-mahi, Spanish rice and salad we planned our next day sailing adventure. Naomi pulled up a little map and Jim showed us our destination and the best way to get there. I felt like we were the crew of a pirate ship, getting ready to find a treasure. Aghrr! That night I slept on the rocking bed for the first time and I loved it.

Next morning we woke up at 9:00, we had 30 minutes to get ready and pick up our crew. I was rushing when they texted: “Do you want to pick us up at the beach or the dock?” I guessed that the dock was easier than the beach. We asked if it was OK to do so, and they answered: “I did ask, security is not around, if you bring sailboat to dock we will jump on and leave. Can't get in dinghy from dock.” As soon as we got to the dock, security showed up and said we couldn't be there, gave a card to Jim and wrote down the name of the boat.

With everybody on board, the feet cleaned of sand and the bags put down below, it was just a matter of minutes to raise the sails and head to Leinster Bay. As our Captain said the night before, it was a little rough for a while because we were no longer protected from the waves and winds by the island, then is was smoother and nobody got seasick. Once there we picked up a mooring and went snorkeling. Jim took us to the snorkeling spot by dinghy and then he swam back to the boat towing it with a line around his waist. We saw the most colorful fishes, sponges and corals I've ever seen. Then I collected some shells and rock with Naomi on the beach and swam back to the boat with hands full of natural treasures. We got back to find out that Jim had lunch ready: guacamole, hummus, honey crisp apples, baby carrots, chips and red salmon salad.

Red salmon, capers and dill weed

      

1 can of red salmon

2 tbsp mustard

1 tsp dill weed

¼ cup olive oil

2 tbsp vinegar

      1 tbsp brown sugar

 2-3 tbsp capers

Yummy! He took us to heaven and back a hundred times. To finish our wonderful day we did a hike to Anneberg sugar ruins. Cheers to our great entertainer Jim!

Hints of the day: coffee or cereal before sailing is not good for new boaters; soda and chips settled the stomach.

AnechyNotes

Preparing to sail

Salty Shores

Having a boat might be a lot of fun, but it's mostly a lot of work. Since we fixed the car we've been working to get Salty Shores prepared to go down island. Last year, when Jim went back to the US, he had to take the sails off and put everything away for hurricane season. He tied 6 big lines with chains around the pilings and to the boat, took wind instruments off the mast, put the dinghy in storage, and the list just goes on and on.

To have a clear idea of what having a boat means, every little thing turns into a big project. Couple of days ago, Jim needed to change the bobstay fitting, a stainless piece that goes underneath the bowsprit, because the old one was cracked. This piece has a very important function, it attaches the bow of the boat to the bowsprit, on top of which is attached another metal piece called bowsprit fitting, where the roller furling attaches, (the genoa sail attaches to this in order to be rolled in and out). Uff! That little piece (bobstay fitting), provides downward pressure to keep the bowsprit in place when the genoa is open and the wind is making a lot of upward pressure.

Bobstay fitting

This work looked like it was a piece of cake, so Jim's friend, Johnny Valencia from Venezuela, offered his help: “Between the 3 of us we get that done in a half an hour.” First, they loosened the pressure of the bobstay, took the nuts and washes off, but... the new bobstay fitting wasn't attaching to the bolts because the pressure of the mast was pulling the genoa up. Then Jim said: “Shoot! We should remove the furling from the bowsprit fitting.” So he tied a rope to the furler and attached the main and geneoa halyards to the forward deck cleats.

Furler and bowsprit fitting

When the piece was changed, our big problems started. It was time to put the furler back, there was a rope tied to it that I had to pull, Jim was pulling down the main halyard and Johnny was trying to put the clevis pin in. We tried for a few minutes, but it didn't work. Not thinking too clearly, a guy walks up, says hello. He looks at our situation and suggests that we loosen the backstay. Once loosened the mast came forward, the furler went down and the clevis pin slid right in place!

Finally we got that “little” project done three hours later. Everyday is just like that, a lot of work to get ready to have fun.

From the USVI, learning a lot.

AnechyNotes

Bit up by the Caribbean

I can tell you what happened to this Cuban taken out of the Caribbean to the US for 18 months: I got spoiled. After all this time enjoying the air conditioner and few bugs. I arrived in St Thomas only to be greeted by the local mosquitoes. They could smell the new blood and proceeded to have a feast on my legs.

I could get away from them for a while with insect repellent, until we went to work on the boat at Compass Point Marina. It was about 4 o' clock when we decided to move our lazy bodies out the comfort of the apartment and head to the boat to get a little work done, though nothing is little on a boat. Jim borrowed a dinghy from the marina office to take the hurricane lines off the pilings. My job was hold on to the tied lines so he could scrub the sea grass off the lines. All was going well when I noticed these tiny bugs, that you can barely see, sucking the blood out of my legs. No-see-ums! I kept holding the lines, but I wanted to keep the bugs away, so I moved and slapped my legs and of course I complained a little bit.

I couldn't understand why it wasn't bothering Jim at all and I was probable annoying him with my: “Uch! Uff! Ayy!” At the end of the day he told me: “I've never seen somebody complaining so much about bugs biting them like you.” I thought I was too spoiled or too sensitive, so I quit saying any thing about it.

Next morning I woke up early. It was a beautiful day so I decided to do some exercise. I went for a 30 minute walk and a 15 minute swim. When I got in the swimming pool, I felt smoke was coming out of my legs. Actually my legs were all covered by red bumps. So I woke up Jim and show him why I complained so much. He apologized for his comment the day before.

My eyelid was swelling too, I looked like somebody had beat me up. I also got a stye.

Thanks to the advice of our friends Dr Glenn and his wife Naomi, who arrived on Saturday from the US, we bought ointment and a topical analgesic to bring some relief.

I guess I have to readjust to the Caribbean.

AnechyNotes

The alternator

1999 Jimmy alternator

We got to St John and followed the directions that Caravan auto parts gave Jim over the phone. “Coming from the ferry dock go straight ahead until the traffic circle and take the middle road, go by the Church and continue until you find the gas station”. It sounded so close that we decided to walk, and we did. We walked and walked. Feeling as though we were lost, we asked for directions several times and everybody said: “Just around the corner.” In the islands, so far, there is not a straight road. After a couple of hills, 3 curves and several intersections we finally saw the store.

Once inside we waited ten minutes for assistance. The clerk found the alternator, tested it and took the money. This whole process took 15 minutes. It was now 1:40, and the ferry back to St Thomas was at 2:00. There was no way we could walk back in time for the ferry, so we took a taxi and got there just as they were boarding.

During the taxi ride Jim called the mechanic to see if he could pick us up at Red Hook, take us back to the house and change the alternator. The only problem was that there was only room for one person in his van, so I stayed and looked around some of the stores near the ferry dock. 30 minutes later Jim arrived in his newly repaired car.

Two days and 275 dollars later, Jim said: “I'd fixed that in North Carolina in 30 minutes, and it would only cost me 80 dollars, but oh well. We have wheels! ”

By the way, the car also needed new windshield wipers blades, a battery, two tires, freon in the air conditioner and a rear brake caliper.

AnechyNotes

1999 Jimmy alternator

1999 GMC Jimmy

If someone is going to spend a serious amount of time in Saint Thomas, then a car is needed. Not just any car, but one that is able to respond on these curving, hilly, narrow and rough roads, something like a truck, a jeep or a SUV. Jim, since he's been living here during the past 12 winters, has a small SUV.

Sunday morning he got up, late as usual, and cleaned up the car, checked out the oil, the water and the battery. The car has been sitting for 6 months, and it started on the first try. “OK,” he said, “it is ready, lets go for breakfast”. We went down the driveway, bumping, rocking and shaking, on a road over grown with tropical plants. On the main highway to Red Hook; going downhill in a car with right hand drive but staying on the left side of the road, it's like ridding in the front car of a roller coaster: “Ahhhh!”

Our first stop was at the gas station and just then Jim noticed that the battery was losing power. He put gas in the car and drove back to the house as fast as he could. It would be a problem if the battery went dead and the car had to be tow. Well, thanks to the holiday our friends were at home so we borrowed Skip's car to run some errands, including finding an alternator.

So, we went down the hill again , bumping, rocking and shaking, the roller coaster thing again: ahhhh! This time we drove to the community of Tutu, to the island's only big shopping center and went to Advance Auto Part, where anybody from the US would go first to find a car part. I was shocked because stores in the States would have a clerk at the door says hello and ask if you need assistance. In other words, customer service. Here we have what I call “customer non-service.” The store wasn't too busy, the clerks were doing something on the computer, talking on the phone and eventually taking care of a customer. After a 30 minute wait at the desk a woman asked if she could help us find anything. It was a long wait to find out that they didn't have the alternator.

Next morning Jim got on the laptop to find other auto part stores. He called two, Rodriguez and Industrious, that didn't have the alternator in stock. So he phoned a mechanic named Jim, who suggested trying Caravan Auto part in Saint John. He did, and yes they had it!. Saint John is another USVI island 5 miles away. We needed to take the ferry from Red Hook, but how do we get there since our car is broken. The good thing is that Jim has friends everywhere he goes, so this time he called Chuck, who gave us a ride. The next ferry was leaving at one o' clock, and after a 45 minute wait we boarded for a beautiful boat ride to St John, we even had birds gliding alongside the boat. What a gorgeous day for that 15 minutes trip, on the clearest waters I've ever seen.

It will continue...

Everything is an adventure

From buying groceries to finding an alternator for a car.

We got here on Saturday, right? On a holiday? Yes! Well, we needed some groceries and Andrea recommended Cost -U- Less, sort of a Costco store. The place was packed with people and there wasn't much fresh produce,.“Well, we are here,” we said and grabbed a couple of things and went to check out. Only four of six register were working, that wasn't enough for all the people shopping. The irony was that while we were struggling to find garlic, onions and fresh salad, they were filling their pushcarts with high fructose corn syrup beverages and gluten treats and snacks for their kids. I looked at all those Islanders, that for generations just ate fruits, veggies and what they could fish or hunt, and I got really concern about my little country and its beautiful and healthy diet. Just then I looked up to this sign hanged on the wall: “Help fight diabetes”.

It was a 30 minute wait in line, until they finally opened another register. It may not be a very good shopping experience for somebody coming from the US, but just looking at the “street theater”, the different cultures and listening to the dialects made that shopping experience a great adventure.

Since we didn't find everything we needed we had to go to other markets that were definitely more expensive. For example the Simply Orange juice, in the US would cost between 3 and 4 dollars, here it costs 7 to 8 dollars. Just when we got in the other markets we realized that all were almost in the same “veggies” situation, not a lot of them. When we got back home Andrea said: “Today is a holiday and not a good day for shopping and it's not until Tuesday when the produce arrives from the US”.

Anyway, we had a delightful dinner with great company.

AnechyNotes.

Impressed by the islands

The plane landed at 9 o' clock. We couldn't see anything but the teeny tiny lights that looked like they were suspended in the air. “Of course.” I thought, “those come from the houses on the mountains.”

Our friend Skip picked us up at the airport at 9:30, and all the way back to his house I looked out of my window at everything happening, the people, the cars, the building, the big trash containers. I was impressed by the similarity of this place and certain areas in Cuba, specially Santiago the Cuba in the eastern part of the Island where I was born, the ethnicity, the architecture, the fashion, the plants, the open houses with the people seating on the front porch drinking with their friends.

That night we had a late dinner with Skip and Andrea (our hosts), celebrating the end of the year with champagne and toasted Olive herb bread. We finally put the 39 loaves in individual zip lock bags and into the freezer they went! Our friends really love this bread and can't find it in St Thomas. We had great company, good food and drinks. I was looking forward to seeing more of these beautiful islands.

AnechyNotes