Castries and the bucket

The last Friday of Tom and Laura’s visit we went to a street festival in Gros Islet, was very nice and we had some street food. Jacques had a fish with rice and beans and felt not good the next morning, cramping in the stomach etc., clearly the fish. Sunday it was a little bit better and on Monday we at last met our boat buddies from last season. To celebrate we went out for dinner, good food, but in the night Jacques got really sick and started throwing up about every 15 minutes.

A boat neighbor came by to say hello and said that Jacques should see a doctor, he went back to his boat to find the address of a doctor, came again and followed us to the marina “don’t forget the bucket,” he said. The bucket was not a normal size bucket or a somewhat reasonable bowl, no it was a BUCKET, very big and sturdy, stolen from the boatyard in Pensacola. I said that I had already several sturdy plastic bags in the backpack, but the two guys really insisted on the BUCKET. We took the bus to the walk-in clinic. The buses and the taxis are all the same type of minivan, only the buses have tried to put in as much seats as possible. So there was no space for the BUCKET except on my lap!

After filling out a lot of paper work the doctor could see us immediately, but took a look at the big white thing and said it should stay outside. Jacques said no and after two minutes she was glad we had brought the bucket in!!!!! After seeing this she made an EKG and went on a search for saline solutions. They were not there so she explained she had to send us to the hospital in Castries with the ambulance. So Jacques, me and the bucket were driven with a lot of noise and lights to Castries. At the ER they were very clear that the BUCKET had to stay outside, so it was dropped in the waiting room. Jacques was immediately connected to an IV and got pain medication, which made him sleepy, but he had to ask at least one time where the BUCKET was!!!!!!!!!!!

Later the doctor wanted him to stay overnight and that got me checking: did I really close all the windows on the boat? The boat was locked and the dinghy also, that I was sure. I started asking around for a hotel in the near, but they came up with a better solution; I could get a folding bed in Jacques's room.

The next day after 5 liters of fluid and Jacques feeling much better, we wanted to go home; that took several hours, the administration was not very efficient, we had to pay, the doctor was no where to be found, but around 4 o’clock we were ready. A taxi was called and suddenly Jacques remembered the Bucket and asked where it was. I said the last time I saw it was in the waiting room of the ER, but it will be gone and it is just a bucket, we can get another one! He was getting upset and the nurses were asking what the problem was, so Jacques explained he had come with a bucket and would like to leave with a bucket. Two nurses disappeared and after 10 minutes they came back with a big smile and the BUCKET!!!!!!!

We are home on the boat, Jacques is weak but feeling good and the bucket is back in her own spot!!! I just think that next to the stomach inflammation he had a severe case of BDD (Bucket Detachment Disorder)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thankful that everything came out well, I say goodbye and talk to you soon, Ria

Tom, Laura and the Kids

We had arrived in Vieux Fort two days before Laura, Tom and the kids would arrive, so we could check out the place. After attaching the dinghy in the harbor we met Capt. Ricky, who said he organized about everything around the harbor. We immediately made a taxi appointment to the airport for next day and walked through town. It was a very positive surprise, not touristic at all and the whole time we were in town we did not see any white people, really a town for the people, who live and work here, we liked it very much.

We stayed a day in Vieux Fort, so the kids could get used to the boat and the dinghy, had a nice beach day. On the way to Rodney bay the kids got seasick, was a little choppy, so we stayed two nights in Marigot Bay, very beautiful bay, but very expensive!! In Rodney Bay we went in the marina, what was easier for the kids, because it also had a swimming pool?

I have to make this piece of the blog new when we get home, because we have lots of photo’s, but they are stored on Tom’ and my cellphone and I have no clue how to transfer those to the computer. But we had a wonderful week, the kids did great on the boat and there was no need to go for a day or two in a hotel. It is a very good memory.

Talk to you all soon, Ria

On the road again

It is 9 o’clock on Tuesday, March 15 and we are since 6 o’clock on our way to Bequia, we will skip St. Vincent, it is everywhere very deep, hard to anchor, and it seems the boat boys are rather aggressive.

It is going very good, not very much wind so we motor sail (is fine with me) and the seas are quiet enough for me to write on the computer. We moored last night between the Pitons, was really cool, we only looked a few times if there was not coming any smoke from the tops, both are volcanoes, and I did two snorkel trips.

A few miles out of the anchorage we saw a big school of dolphins (yeah!!!!!), they were much smaller than in Florida, but there were a lot more. We also are keeping an eye out for whales, it seems to be there mating season and they are on the road (that’s what the books tell me).

We still going good although the seas are getting a little rougher, but that is always the case between the islands, you have swells, waves and the current and they will not always come from the same direction.

It is now 12.30 and we are since an hour under the coast of St. Vincent, we have dropped the mainsail, because it was completely covering the fore sail, the waves and wind nicely from the back. Going to make some crackers with cheese, we have still some way to go.

It’s 2 o’clock now and we are sailing away from the main island, course Bequia, the mainsail is up again and it is starting to get bumpy. Until now we are very happy, St. Vincent looks very pretty from the waterside, so I think we should make a stop here next season.

At 3.10 we dropped the anchor in Admiralty Bay and a half hour later we sipped our arrival drinks. The last hour was a little heavy, but overall we had a very good trip. We will be in bed early tonight with a satisfying feeling.

Talk to you all soon, Ria