We are all well aware of the terrible devastation inflicted upon Haiti by the severe earthquake in mid- January. It is still a very sad situation… and it will take many years for these poor, but very proud people, to fully recover.
In order to help ensure a reasonable quality of life for these people, and especially the future of the Haitian children, most of whom cannot read or write, The Good Samaritan Foundation of Haiti have been working with the Rotary Club of Tortola to provide many of the basics, and are in the process of building a new school there. This school will cost a total of about $140,000. We are still in need of further funding.
Michael Beans, originally from Michigan, is a local musician in The BVI. He is the driving force behind the 11 year old Foundation, and puts it very succinctly in his YouTube video… “You cannot teach an empty belly”. (See www.youtube.com/user/HaitiSchoolApeal)
In June of this year, Michael, along with TGSFH director, Pamela Solman and Tortola Rotarian, Stephen Cooper, made another of their trips to Haiti. The main purpose of their trip was to break ground for a new school to provide education for more of the children. But they also took the first steps to initiate micro loans that will enable locals to start new businesses. They even introduced tooth brushing to the school children.
Please consider making a donation, be it large or small, to:
The Rotary Club of Tortola
PO Box 10
Road Town, Tortola, BVI
www.thegoodsamaritanofhaiti.com
Let’s all open up our hearts!
Supported by: Davida Yacht Charters info@saildavida.com Phone: (340) 344-5813
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Pirates
Pirates!!!
Those ugly scoundrels! Those dirty, filthy heartless killers! The scourge of all mankind back in the 16 and 1700s for sure.
So I ask… what’s this fond fascination we all seem to have for these villainous creatures here in this 21st century? Shouldn’t we be reviled by them?
It’s rather an odd quirk of human nature I think, that so long as you are incredibly good at what you do, you can pretty much do anything you want, and it really doesn’t matter whether it’s a good deed or not… you will definitely build a good following of admirers. You may not get away with it, but that’s beside the point. Bonnie and Clyde, John Dillanger, Al Capone… just to name a few.
The Virgin Islands, where we’ve spent most of our time chartering is chock-a-block with pirate stories. Our guests so often ask us about the evildoers that plied the waters there (with a real gleam in their eyes, I might add!). One of the most popular entertainers in The Virgin Islands is Michael Beans, a singer/guitarist who stages a Pirate Show four times a week. He absolutely packs the place every night with sword-carrying revelers (not always very sober!) dressed to the nines with headscarves, earrings and sashes. Beans is so real that I’m sure there are pirates somewhere in his past! Typically high-spirited and adventurous types are so easily caught up in this kind of merrymaking.
Last season we had some guests on board with a little boy of about five years old. They were fun-loving types, so we all dressed up like pirates and went off to the show. Little Aubrey (I think maybe some relation to Jack?) really got into character and turned out to be one of that evenings highlights… swinging his sword around and shouting A-R-R-R-RGH!!!!
I wonder if his parents should be keeping an eye on him? ©
Those ugly scoundrels! Those dirty, filthy heartless killers! The scourge of all mankind back in the 16 and 1700s for sure.
So I ask… what’s this fond fascination we all seem to have for these villainous creatures here in this 21st century? Shouldn’t we be reviled by them?
It’s rather an odd quirk of human nature I think, that so long as you are incredibly good at what you do, you can pretty much do anything you want, and it really doesn’t matter whether it’s a good deed or not… you will definitely build a good following of admirers. You may not get away with it, but that’s beside the point. Bonnie and Clyde, John Dillanger, Al Capone… just to name a few.
The Virgin Islands, where we’ve spent most of our time chartering is chock-a-block with pirate stories. Our guests so often ask us about the evildoers that plied the waters there (with a real gleam in their eyes, I might add!). One of the most popular entertainers in The Virgin Islands is Michael Beans, a singer/guitarist who stages a Pirate Show four times a week. He absolutely packs the place every night with sword-carrying revelers (not always very sober!) dressed to the nines with headscarves, earrings and sashes. Beans is so real that I’m sure there are pirates somewhere in his past! Typically high-spirited and adventurous types are so easily caught up in this kind of merrymaking.
Last season we had some guests on board with a little boy of about five years old. They were fun-loving types, so we all dressed up like pirates and went off to the show. Little Aubrey (I think maybe some relation to Jack?) really got into character and turned out to be one of that evenings highlights… swinging his sword around and shouting A-R-R-R-RGH!!!!
I wonder if his parents should be keeping an eye on him? ©
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Remember that old saying, “The family that plays together stays together”?
When was the last time you heard that?
Just this morning I listened to a television commentary entitled ‘The Crunch for Time’. It was all about how families are splitting apart… no longer having the time to sit down together for a family meal. Too busy with their jobs… too busy glued to the boob-tube… too busy with their computer games, etc, etc. And about the resulting problems that will come of that. How many nannies know the kids better than their own parents do?
I find all of this to be very sad.
But, take heart. Not all families are like this. I feel very fortunate indeed to have married into a family that is incredibly strong on family values. And the past weekend was evidence of this.
We celebrated my mother and father-in-laws 60th Wedding Anniversary… and what a Celebration it was! A huge family tree was constructed, and on it was over 100 photos of the immediate family dating back over 70 years. The parents, the kids, the grandkids, and the great grandkids. It was held at The Sturgeon River House Museum www.sturgeonriverhouse.com, originally a Hudson’s Bay trading post from the early 1800s, turned into a banquet hall/event venue. 118 people were there… all the children, all 14 grandchildren… all 7 great grandchildren, and a huge assortment of aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. They came from across Canada, the U.S., Europe, and the British Virgin Islands. Now that’s what I call ‘Togetherness’!!! In fact, whenever there is a project to do, a celebration to prepare for, an occasion to observe… they are always all there to pitch in. It never ceases to warm my heart, make me realize how lucky I am to be part of it, and wonder why all families can’t be more like this. ©
When was the last time you heard that?
Just this morning I listened to a television commentary entitled ‘The Crunch for Time’. It was all about how families are splitting apart… no longer having the time to sit down together for a family meal. Too busy with their jobs… too busy glued to the boob-tube… too busy with their computer games, etc, etc. And about the resulting problems that will come of that. How many nannies know the kids better than their own parents do?
I find all of this to be very sad.
But, take heart. Not all families are like this. I feel very fortunate indeed to have married into a family that is incredibly strong on family values. And the past weekend was evidence of this.
We celebrated my mother and father-in-laws 60th Wedding Anniversary… and what a Celebration it was! A huge family tree was constructed, and on it was over 100 photos of the immediate family dating back over 70 years. The parents, the kids, the grandkids, and the great grandkids. It was held at The Sturgeon River House Museum www.sturgeonriverhouse.com, originally a Hudson’s Bay trading post from the early 1800s, turned into a banquet hall/event venue. 118 people were there… all the children, all 14 grandchildren… all 7 great grandchildren, and a huge assortment of aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. They came from across Canada, the U.S., Europe, and the British Virgin Islands. Now that’s what I call ‘Togetherness’!!! In fact, whenever there is a project to do, a celebration to prepare for, an occasion to observe… they are always all there to pitch in. It never ceases to warm my heart, make me realize how lucky I am to be part of it, and wonder why all families can’t be more like this. ©
Thursday, June 3, 2010
The Power of "NO"
Ever think about the times when death was literally on your doorstep?
I can think of two times.
The first was many years ago, when I was driving home one beautiful evening, top down, in my treasured little MGB, and was struck at the driver’s door by a car running a red light. I didn’t see the car coming because the car sitting at my left was a big station wagon. We had both started pulling away together on the green, when the wagon suddenly nose-dived. I automatically hit the brakes as well and stopped, with the front of the MGB about six feet ahead of the wagon. The offending car, estimated by witnesses as doing about 50 mph, ripped the whole front of my MGB clean off… taking with it the bumper, the grill, the rad, etc. I was fine. But, a little quick math the next day told me that I had come to within about one second of buying the farm. Whew!
The second time that little word “NO” literally saved our lives.
November 16, 1999. We had set sail at around 5:30 in the afternoon for our passage from Chaguaramas Bay in Trinidad to The British Virgin Islands… four days or so… non-stop. We had recently purchased a new dinghy and outboard and it was up in the davits. We weren’t even out of the harbour, when Ida noticed that the dinghy was hanging a little loose. When she mentioned that fact to me, I looked at it, rolled my eyes, and, being my normal not-so-fussy self, said “Ah, it’s okay, don’t worry about it”. Then I got the ‘word’… “NO”. Now don’t get me wrong… I don’t do ‘everything’ I’m told (just most things!). The important part of this is that we had established a rule before we went cruising together back in ‘95. If we were about to do a passage, and one of us was not feeling good about it, that was it… we DID NOT GO, period. No explanation needed… we just didn’t go. So we pulled into Scotland Bay, a beautiful fiord at Trinidad’s north end, and dropped the hook while we made the necessary adjustments. Well, by the time this was done, we were feeling a little hungry, so we had a bite to eat. And then, feeling a little tired, we thought, what the heck… it’s beautiful here, and there’s really no hurry, so let’s spend the night.
Next morning we’re awake at around 5:30. The howler monkeys are making more noise than the crowd did when Henderson took the winning goal in the Canada/Russia series back in ‘72. I get on the weathernet, as we always did before any passage, and was shocked to hear that a weather system that had passed through several days before, had actually turned around 180 degrees (this almost never happens), had upgraded to hurricane ‘Lenny’, and was now in the process of demolishing the southern end of the windward islands… right where we would have been, had we left the night before! A book was written about this, “At the Mercy of The Sea’ by John Kretschmer. It tells of three sailboats that went down, along with their crews, two of whom we had met previously. Very, very sad.
And again, “Whew!”
The point of this little anecdote? Well, if you are cruisers, make the “NO” rule part of your life… because there is absolutely nothing to be gained if you’re not both exactly on the same page. ©
I can think of two times.
The first was many years ago, when I was driving home one beautiful evening, top down, in my treasured little MGB, and was struck at the driver’s door by a car running a red light. I didn’t see the car coming because the car sitting at my left was a big station wagon. We had both started pulling away together on the green, when the wagon suddenly nose-dived. I automatically hit the brakes as well and stopped, with the front of the MGB about six feet ahead of the wagon. The offending car, estimated by witnesses as doing about 50 mph, ripped the whole front of my MGB clean off… taking with it the bumper, the grill, the rad, etc. I was fine. But, a little quick math the next day told me that I had come to within about one second of buying the farm. Whew!
The second time that little word “NO” literally saved our lives.
November 16, 1999. We had set sail at around 5:30 in the afternoon for our passage from Chaguaramas Bay in Trinidad to The British Virgin Islands… four days or so… non-stop. We had recently purchased a new dinghy and outboard and it was up in the davits. We weren’t even out of the harbour, when Ida noticed that the dinghy was hanging a little loose. When she mentioned that fact to me, I looked at it, rolled my eyes, and, being my normal not-so-fussy self, said “Ah, it’s okay, don’t worry about it”. Then I got the ‘word’… “NO”. Now don’t get me wrong… I don’t do ‘everything’ I’m told (just most things!). The important part of this is that we had established a rule before we went cruising together back in ‘95. If we were about to do a passage, and one of us was not feeling good about it, that was it… we DID NOT GO, period. No explanation needed… we just didn’t go. So we pulled into Scotland Bay, a beautiful fiord at Trinidad’s north end, and dropped the hook while we made the necessary adjustments. Well, by the time this was done, we were feeling a little hungry, so we had a bite to eat. And then, feeling a little tired, we thought, what the heck… it’s beautiful here, and there’s really no hurry, so let’s spend the night.
Next morning we’re awake at around 5:30. The howler monkeys are making more noise than the crowd did when Henderson took the winning goal in the Canada/Russia series back in ‘72. I get on the weathernet, as we always did before any passage, and was shocked to hear that a weather system that had passed through several days before, had actually turned around 180 degrees (this almost never happens), had upgraded to hurricane ‘Lenny’, and was now in the process of demolishing the southern end of the windward islands… right where we would have been, had we left the night before! A book was written about this, “At the Mercy of The Sea’ by John Kretschmer. It tells of three sailboats that went down, along with their crews, two of whom we had met previously. Very, very sad.
And again, “Whew!”
The point of this little anecdote? Well, if you are cruisers, make the “NO” rule part of your life… because there is absolutely nothing to be gained if you’re not both exactly on the same page. ©
Saturday, May 22, 2010
The Island Laudromat
You just won’t believe who Ida met at the laudromat.
Since we don’t own the kind of sailboat that has its own laundry facility, we’ve spent quite a lot of time over the past 15 years, hanging out in laundromats. It’s certainly not something we talk about at cocktail parties, the way one might drop a little morsel about having had dinner at Jean Georges in New York.
Early on a very wet December day in 2005, we arrived at the marina in Spanish Town, Virgin Gorda with our 5 guests from the Yukon. It had been raining buckets non-stop for 2 days, and every single beach towel was wet… nothing would dry. So, while our guests went on a tour of The Baths (a geographical wonder that I’ll deal with in a future blog), Ida packed up 2 huge bags of these towels and headed off to the laundromat. When she walked in, of course every machine was in use. Our schedule was to have us in The North Sound that same afternoon. The laundry matron apologized, explaining that the best she could do was the next day. At that exact moment, someone bumped into Ida from behind with his bag of laundry, saying, “Pardon me m’am… it’s not like I didn’t see you standing there”. He then turns to the laundry matron, holding up his teeny bag of laundry (probably a pair of jeans, a shirt and some undies) and asks when he can pick it up. She replies, “Right after lunch, dahling”.
By this time, Ida realizes that this ‘someone’ is Morgan Freeman… getting much better service than she.
What else could she do? She motioned with her thumb at Morgan, smiled, and said, “I’m with him!” ©
Since we don’t own the kind of sailboat that has its own laundry facility, we’ve spent quite a lot of time over the past 15 years, hanging out in laundromats. It’s certainly not something we talk about at cocktail parties, the way one might drop a little morsel about having had dinner at Jean Georges in New York.
Early on a very wet December day in 2005, we arrived at the marina in Spanish Town, Virgin Gorda with our 5 guests from the Yukon. It had been raining buckets non-stop for 2 days, and every single beach towel was wet… nothing would dry. So, while our guests went on a tour of The Baths (a geographical wonder that I’ll deal with in a future blog), Ida packed up 2 huge bags of these towels and headed off to the laundromat. When she walked in, of course every machine was in use. Our schedule was to have us in The North Sound that same afternoon. The laundry matron apologized, explaining that the best she could do was the next day. At that exact moment, someone bumped into Ida from behind with his bag of laundry, saying, “Pardon me m’am… it’s not like I didn’t see you standing there”. He then turns to the laundry matron, holding up his teeny bag of laundry (probably a pair of jeans, a shirt and some undies) and asks when he can pick it up. She replies, “Right after lunch, dahling”.
By this time, Ida realizes that this ‘someone’ is Morgan Freeman… getting much better service than she.
What else could she do? She motioned with her thumb at Morgan, smiled, and said, “I’m with him!” ©
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
The Good Samaritan Foundation of Haiti
It was an afternoon filled with laughter, fun and frolic (and methinks there may have been just a little rum passed around, too!). There was a raffle, an art auction, a conchshell blowing contest, a sand sculpture contest…even crab races… it just went on… and on… and on… and on...
I’m talking about the ‘Pirates with A Porpoise’ fundraiser for The Good Samaritan Foundation of Haiti (GSFH), held at Myett’s Bar & Restaurant right on the beach in Cane Garden Bay, BVI, just this past weekend. The weather was outstanding and it was so touching to see how everyone just opened up their hearts and their wallets, to give so generously to this wonderful cause.
For those who don’t know about this foundation, it was co-founded by a very talented and very dedicated local musical performer from Michigan, by the name of Michael Beans. Michael (who likes to be known as a ‘musicianary’) has been the driving force behind GSFH relief efforts that have been going to Haiti now for over a decade. One of the most notable being a new school for the kids there. I will not go into depth on the subject, but you will find the website, www.goodsamaritanfoundationofhaiti.com to be very revealing.
Now, back to Myett’s:
One of the real highlights of the afternoon were the sand sculptures. Almost all were very artfully done. Jaco Maree, the minister of the local Church of The Islands in Road Town, took first prize with his Three Porpoises (pictured here), a beautifully graceful work of art.
However, I thought the ‘real’ highlight was when my friend Owen went to purchase his hermit crab for the race. He was somewhat concerned when the little creature did not appear to be moving. I suppose, to make sure that he was alive, he gave him a little poke, and he responded by taking a bite out of Owen’s index finger… yes, the little guy actually drew blood! For being such a fighter, Owen still can’t figure out why he came in next to last. I suppose he’d given most of his energy to that bite!!!
I’m talking about the ‘Pirates with A Porpoise’ fundraiser for The Good Samaritan Foundation of Haiti (GSFH), held at Myett’s Bar & Restaurant right on the beach in Cane Garden Bay, BVI, just this past weekend. The weather was outstanding and it was so touching to see how everyone just opened up their hearts and their wallets, to give so generously to this wonderful cause.
For those who don’t know about this foundation, it was co-founded by a very talented and very dedicated local musical performer from Michigan, by the name of Michael Beans. Michael (who likes to be known as a ‘musicianary’) has been the driving force behind GSFH relief efforts that have been going to Haiti now for over a decade. One of the most notable being a new school for the kids there. I will not go into depth on the subject, but you will find the website, www.goodsamaritanfoundationofhaiti.com to be very revealing.
Now, back to Myett’s:
One of the real highlights of the afternoon were the sand sculptures. Almost all were very artfully done. Jaco Maree, the minister of the local Church of The Islands in Road Town, took first prize with his Three Porpoises (pictured here), a beautifully graceful work of art.
However, I thought the ‘real’ highlight was when my friend Owen went to purchase his hermit crab for the race. He was somewhat concerned when the little creature did not appear to be moving. I suppose, to make sure that he was alive, he gave him a little poke, and he responded by taking a bite out of Owen’s index finger… yes, the little guy actually drew blood! For being such a fighter, Owen still can’t figure out why he came in next to last. I suppose he’d given most of his energy to that bite!!!
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