An account of the wanderings of Perry, Captain of ALEXANDRA, a 31' Cape Dory cutter rigged sailboat.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
A wedding in Tokyo and sailing to the Virgin Islands
My apologies for not posting in over a month. I spent over a month in San Juan and most of my days were pretty uneventful. I spent the 20th to the 29th of April in Tokyo. My brother Donald was getting married to his Elisa. I had an excellent time in Tokyo and the wedding was wonderfully planned and featured a great ceremony, amazing multi-course meal, a rockin band, and dancing. We all had a blast. I've promised myself to return in the near future. The flight back to San Juan came too soon, but the sailing since then has been spectacular. Finally I am in the Virgin Islands! The real Caribbean. My new Crew member, Jorrit joined me in San Juan and we shortly left for Culebra, a small island on the east coast of PR. where we spotted a serious looking waterspout in front of us, but luckily it was a couple miles away and moving south. We spent one night in Culebra, and then jumped to Culebrita, an even smaller island a stone's throw from Culebra to the east. We hiked up the hill which held the oldest lighthouse in the Caribbean. Rusted and crumbling, the lighthouse housed a modern solar powered light welded in place of the old lamp. Not only that, but one of the best views I have encountered on my trip. The next morning at 0530 we made for a bay on the north side of St Thomas, USVI. On the way there, Jorrit caught a big tuna, which was 2/3rds eaten by barracudas before we got it into the boat. There was still more meat left over than we could eat, and we had an excellent dinner of fresh tuna and rice with lemon. Then off at 0510 the next morning for White Bay, Jost Van Dyke, BVI. Why the rush? My dad and step-mother are staying in a beach-side bungalow here and I am anchored within swimming range of it. Jost Van Dyke is a wonderful island, small but very busy with boats sailing in and out from the other islands, just to enjoy the world famous beachside bars here such as the Soggy Dollar and Foxxy's. The four of us enjoyed several of their famous "Painkiller" drinks, which really did the trick. I am very excited to finally be in the Caribbean and especially the Virgin Islands, which are supposed to be one of the best sailing areas of the world. It's kind of like sailing along the alps, flooded near to their peaks. It truly is a captivating under-water mountain range. I plan to take my time exploring all that the VI's have to offer, perhaps 2 or 3 weeks, then continuing south along the chain of Islands that lead to Trinidad. It is almost unbelievable to me that I have sailed over 1800 sea miles since Charleston and it has been 3 months since this adventure began.
I love reading your blog and I am glad that you made it back to your ship. How is the dog? I heard she had to stay behind. What are your plans beyond Trinidad?
A Charleston, SC native, Perry graduated from The Citadel (The Military College of S.C.) in 2005. He spent 4.5 years as a Naval Officer operating out of Florida and Virginia. In 2007 aboard the USS Arleigh Burke he deployed to the Persian Gulf in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and spent several weeks off the coast of Somalia conducting Anti-Piracy operations. 4 months before leaving the Navy he bought a 31' sailboat and began to prepare her for a great adventure; a sail from Virginia to South America and back by way of the Bahamian and Caribbean Islands. This blog picks up at the beginning of that journey. Perry is currently preparing to find a job, sell the boat, and make a move to Japan by summer 2011.
Perry,
ReplyDeleteI love reading your blog and I am glad that you made it back to your ship. How is the dog? I heard she had to stay behind. What are your plans beyond Trinidad?
Alex
Maybe a circumnavigation of S. America? Would you like to join me in the Caribbean somewhere?
ReplyDeletewhat's your time schedule captain? It looks like things are working out well. How and where is Lexi ?
ReplyDeleteremember June 1st through Dec 1st is storm season so be careful!
ReplyDeletePerry,
ReplyDeleteI would love to come down there and sail around a while, but we just had a baby and I doubt you would want a screaming 3 months old on your boat!!
aw