Day Before Sail - Friday 5/4/18

​My day began in a slight fog.  The previous night’s adventure left it’s mark.  When will I learn?

After checking out, a black coffee and a probiotic yogurt (limited choices in the Caribbean), I was off to the Marina in a taxi.  The Simpson Bay Marina sits at the bottom of the hill where my resort perched, so it was a brief drive.

The guard at the gate to the dock was staring at her phone when I approached.  I wonder what Caribbean version of Candy Crush the islanders prefer.  They all seem to be glued to their phone like an American - perhaps global warming isn’t the biggest threat to the species. Living in cyberspace might be.  I digress.

“Avocation”, was sitting peacefully against the dock when I approached.  I’m a bigger fan of a blue-hulled ship, but being that the boat is a Swan, an all-white look seems appropriate.  I called out as I approached, and a late-fifties-aged man with glasses, a white beard, missing canine and a light tan peaked out of the hatch top.  The reader won’t be surprised that this was our leader, Captain Hank Schmitt.

Hank let me know that I could have boarded the boat yesterday and hung out with the crew, all of whom had arrived and slept on the boat the day prior.  Oh no, the last man onto the boat - a bad sign for choosing rooms.  By grace of Poseidon, the starboard bow bunk room was left exclusively for me, as long as I could fit.  Though it squashed my D1 hopes of playing hockey, my stature does have it’s perks.  Off to a good start.

After unloading half my bag, and running out of room, I quickly realized that choosing a different outfit for each sailing day was both idiotic and amateur.  Noted, for the next passage.

With nothing to do, I grabbed my goggles, donned my swimsuit and walked to the beach for a 30 minute workout in the water.  After a swim and some push ups, a quick lap on the beach to profile my physique to the geriatric crowd, all of whom couldn’t be less interested, I walked back to the boat.

Hank and I went to lunch together, and got to know one another a little, though he was fairly occupied with sending emails.  I’ll describe later how Hank is involved in this operation, but in short, he started OPO (Offshore Passage Opportunities) which is responsible for my trip to Newport, via Bermuda.

The rest of the crew showed up later in the day, after a long tour of St. Maarten.  They said that the French side (North Side of Island) was completely destroyed by Hurricane Irma in September of last year.  The most severe hurricane in recent history, reaching wind speeds of over 200MPH landed a direct hit on St. Maarten, then the BVI’s.  Coming in from the East, North-East, any Northeastern-facing shorelines (French St. Maarten being one) took a direct hit.  One of our crewman highlighted how there was a Trip Adviser sign on the beach, highlighting that particular resort as a top destination in 2015, 2016 and 2017.  All that remained of the resort was the sign, and a piece of a deck.  An eery reminder of Mother Nature’s power.  I wouldn’t be taking this trip during the hurricane season.

The crew.  As it’s Saturday morning while I write, one hour from departure, I don’t have time to dive deeper, but I will.  Plenty of midnight watches to unpack this band of misfits.  

In short, here is a quick rundown of the characters on passage: 

• Dan - mid sixties, retired from Software Engineering following an architecture degree, lives in Connecticut.  Self described “boat bum” at this point.  Scraggly gray beard, small pony tail, big smile.
• Alijandro - Costa Rica, fifties.  Has a son attending CU Boulder.  Works for Amazon.  Small round glasses, excitable personality, honest but friendly demeanor.
• Tom - Lives near San Antonio, married, lives in a two story double-wide manufactured home.  Is a carpenter by trade and handy man.  Non stop talker, but very nice and very Texan.
• Jeff - Professor of Electrical Engineering at Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  Married, with 1 son 14.  Beard, mid-forties, quiet.  As an engineer, and professor, I’m excited to learn what’s behind his quiet nature. 

After a dinner and a couple beers, I’m fond of the crew.  It’s a great start to what surely will be a memorable adventure.  Whether this blog is of any interest to anyone or not, it’s going to allow me to reflect on and imprint what I experience.  Life is worth living - thanks Justin Bieber for the reminder.

Next post won’t be until Bermuda.  Apologies in advance for the radio silence.