Note: We are posting two entries at once, please check previous post.

Cheryl's Notes:

We are now near Staniel Cay. (Have we mentioned that cay is pronounced key?) We are actually anchored off of Big Majors Spot because the anchorage in front of the Staniel Yacht Club has a lot of current running through it. We watched a boat get pulled sideways after it left the fuel dock. Big Majors one claim to fame is the wild pigs that run all over the island. When they hear a dinghy approach the beach, they will actually swim out to meet you. They have learned that people in dinghies bring them food scraps. One of the employees from the yacht club had a small garbage bag full of scraps from the restaurant. He had his small son in his boat and asked me to take the bag to the beach for him. The three pigs on the beach were about climbing up my legs trying to get to the bag. I dumped out the scraps on the sand and they went nuts. After they got their food, I no longer held any interest for them. They allowed me to escape back to the dinghy.

The yacht club is the center of all of the island activity here. The island boasts three stores, the Pink store, the Blue store and the Isle General store. And yes, you guessed it, they are painted bright pink, blue and yellow. The prices are so high we wonder how the locals can afford to eat. They have a woman who sells fresh baked bread out of her house, or you can order it from one of the stores. They have a small one room school house, a Baptist church and an airstrip. The mail and supply boat comes every Wednesday with everything from building supplies to pallets of Kalik beer for the yacht club. We were able to buy more fuel filters from the Isle General store, and also picked up some bread and produce.

There is a fish cleaning stand on the docks of the yacht club. Yesterday when the fishermen were cleaning fish, we counted 23 nurse sharks in the water and 3 manta rays. It was quite the show watching them all fight over the chum that the fishermen were throwing in the water. Surprisingly, the manta rays were able to hold there own during the whole feeding frenzy. They have the advantage of being able to get into the shallowest water, skimming over the rocks.

Yesterday Scandia, Kumbaya and Delicia decided to head down to Black Point for a few days. We elected to stay put here. We really hadn't had time to see everything yet. I am glad that we stayed. We started our day with feeding the pigs, took a walk to the ocean side beaches and ended our evening having cocktails on Mimi. Mimi is a 124 foot Berger yacht from St. Mary's Point, Minnesota. After mentioning to the owner that we were from Minnesota, we were invited to join him and his guests for happy hour. I got to sit next to John Mayasich, who is a Minnesota hockey legend. We were given a tour of the boat, and the galley was bigger than our whole boat. The boat has four staterooms with their own bathrooms (heads). There is a crew of eight, and each one has a separate stateroom and bathroom. (I told John that if our present life doesn't work out, I know where I can get a job.) I will let John give you the rest of the story. We were very much fish out of water, but their hospitality was greatly appreciated. I am not sure that anything else on the trip will top this one.

John's Notes:

You gotta see the pigs. It was quite a site to watch Cheryl feed them. One of them is a big sow and really aggressive. I'm glad it decided not to try and board the dinghy. All we need is a hole in it to make my day.

As Cheryl said, things are a little expensive here. Our loaf of Wonder bread and two medium yellow onions were $7.75. I really don't know how the locals live here.

To say that cocktail hour last night was just a little different would be the biggest understatement in history. Where would the two of us have enough juice to have cocktails with not one but two bona fide billionaires. Yes that is with a B. For those of you not from the Midwest, I'll explain. As Cheryl noted, there was this really big, older, classic yacht docked at the yacht club. The other day we were talking to some people on the dock and just happened to glance at the transom of the big boat and noticed that it was from St. Mary's Point, which is just south of the I94 Hudson Bridge. Only a about 25 miles from our old house. Then we noticed a couple of old codgers walking down the dock and one of them was wearing a U of M t-shirt. I asked him if that was his boat and he said no, it belonged to the company that he used to work for, Hubbard Communications. Well, if you are from the Twin Cities area, you definitely know who Stanley Hubbard is. He is one of those multi-media kings that owns TV stations, communications companies, etc, etc. He is definitely a billionaire. Anyway, we exchange first names and tell him that we are also from the Twin Cities, yada, yada, yada. Have a nice day.

Yesterday, we are on the fuel dock again, chatting with John from Chanceux, also from our marina in New Bern, and Stan Hubbard is walking toward his boat. What the hell, I say hello to him. I mention that we are from Minnesota and know right where he is from. I make the mistake of calling him Mr. Hubbard and he informs me that it's "Stan." He then invites us over for cocktails, say at 5:00. Sure, Stan, see you then. You gotta be kidding me, Stan Hubbard just invited us for cocktails. Cheryl's first thought is what the hell to wear. The people on this boat don't have a wrinkle on there clothes. Everything we have is rolled up to conserve space. We rush back to the boat because we only have about three hours to get ready and get back to the yacht club. We will be forced to take a shower again today. I will have to shave. Cheryl will have to find eye make up and a real bra. Cheryl wants me to wear things that actually match. We are going to be pressed for time.

For expedience sake, I will spare you the details of getting ready. We debate whether or not to wear shoes. I mean do you actually wear shoes on that kind of yacht. We decide on shoes. Actual shoes, not sandals. When we get there we are first greeted by Matt, one of the crew from Stillwater. Brenna would love this kid, he was really nice looking. Then Stan arrives to greet us. We are escorted up to bridge deck area where we are introduced to the other guests. First there is John Mayasich, the greatest hockey player to ever come out of the state of Minnesota. He still holds every high school and college scoring record there is. Then there is Vince Dolan, former president of Hubbard Communications and the coup de grace, Walter Bush, the original founder of the Minnesota North Stars and a billionaire in his own right. Hell, he probably loans money to Stan. I was so impressed that I forgot their wives names. Talk about blowing my mind. These people don't intimidate me, it's just that they are not the kind of people that I usually hang with. I mean, I'm the little Irish kid from Glenwood Avenue.

Stan gave us a total tour of the boat. I mean every nook and cranny including the crew quarters. Each crew member, there are eight of them, have their own cabin complete with head. Not just any head either. Each one rivals a moderate size bathroom in a house. The only crew cabin that is a little bigger is the captains. He has a small office adjacent to his. The crew also has their own private dining area.

The owners cabin and guest cabins are well appointed but not excessively large. Still way more than we are used to. Again, each has it's own head. The galley really is larger than the entire living space of our boat. According to Stan, his chef can grill 50 steaks in less than an hour if necessary. It is a complete commercial kitchen with every imaginable appliance. There were several reefer and freezer units. We discovered, however, that there were additional freezer units just outside the engine room. That area also contained the laundry room.

A tour of the engine room is something else. The Chief Engineer took over this part of the tour. The boat is powered by two 750hp Caterpillar turbo charged engines. The entire engine room was spotless. And I mean spotless. There was not a spot of dust or grease to be found. I have no idea how one person can keep an area that large so clean. Maybe the two deck hands assist him. They have two different types of generators. One is used exclusively for night time or when they can only connect two of their shore power connections. There is a watermaker capable of producing 1200 gallons a day of RO water.

The wheelhouse was very elegant but not as overrun with electronics as I would have imagined, considering Stan's profession. They are using Nobeltech charting software, which is very similar to our Maptech. At least we navigate much the same way. I think Cheryl would love to be navigating from this bridge. She said that all she wanted to do was sit back on the padded bench seat behind the wheel and watch the sea go by. I was struck by the fact that there is no captains chair directly behind the wheel (which is a traditional spoke wheel). I'm guessing that this keeps whoever is on watch on his toes so to speak. Either that or the auto pilot is on all the time and the watch person enjoys the bench seat.

I forgot to ask what the cruising range was for the boat. The engineer did say that at 14kts they burn about 36 gallons of diesel an hour. At 18kts that raises to about 45gph. I believe that my late friend, John Patterson, said that his Fleming 55 used about 20-25gph at cruising speed.

So there you have it. What an experience. It comes to mind that even the very rich, if they are cruisers, can be really kewl people.