Magic Dragon Blog

Well, as we know many of you already know, Herbs father passed away on April 5th, 2010 around 3am. Herb was able to make it home in time and was there with his family during this time. Herb wanted to stay longer with his mother, but as expected, she wanted everyone to leave and to be alone. So, Herb flew back to Sint Maarten on April 11th to Frank was very tired of being alone in Simpson Bay. Frank hated that he could not come back with Herb, but logistically, it was just not possible. Not many people can understand the stress and constraints we were under and we did the best we could do.

We would like to thank everyone for their well wishes and send a special thank you to our friends (in no particular order) Howard and Debbie Secrist, Kevin and Eileen Powers, Joe and Mary Greblunas, Tommy and Darlene Herrington, and Chip and Kim Powell for sending a huge beautiful palm tree!

The company that was scheduled to come on the 13th still came so we had to switch back fast into cruiser mode. We figured it would be a good distraction so we told them to keep their plans.

While Herb was gone, Frank was busy fixing all of these little irritating things wrong with the boat. Sint Maarten is an incredible place to get any boat work done. Everything there is pretty cheap; alot of stuff being cheaper than in the us as there is no duty on anything. If the anchorages were better and the lagoon cleaner, we wouldn't mind staying here.

April 13th we picked Joe and Mary Greblunas up at the SXM airport and promptly and appropriately went to the airport to sunset beach for beer and lunch to watch the planes land. We had rented our new favorite micro car the Hyundia a10, which by the way STILL was able to carry 4 people PLUS the 6 bags that they brought (ugh!). The next day we gave them a quick tour of a few beaches INCLUDING the nudie beach. We actually went into the gift shop at the nudist resort to look for t-shirts and other souvenirs. It was pretty bizarre as there were some 'residents' shopping au naturale!

We taught them how to be cheap, as they wanted to get the cruiser experience. We got drinks at happy hour and got cheap 2 for one appetizers; we ate at lo lo's (cheap bbq restaurants in Grande Case), and ate and drank on Magic Dragon.

We left Sint Maarten at the 4:30 pm bridge opening on April, 15th. Joe and Mary wanted to experience a Caribbean crossing so we pointed the bow of Magic Dragon towards Virgin Gorda in the the British Virgin Islands 90 miles to the West. Experience they got! It was not horrendous with about 20 kts wind just forward of the beam with 7 foot swell at about 7 seconds interval, but it was a very uncomfortable crossing with 2 persons on board getting sea sick, and the other two feeling pretty ill. We all put on the Scopalamine patches and felt much better. We were able to sail the entire way to the cut through Virgin Gorda so can't complain about that.

Anchored in a VERY rolly anchorage in Spanish Town and Frank went to shore to check us all in then got the hell out of there and headed to the nice calm waters of the North Sound. Went swimming and froze to death (not sure why it felt so cold, but it was) then went to Saba Rock for awesome and cheap Pain Killers. The next morning we went took Joe and Mary on a hike and then we were treated to a free drink and a pool pass at the Bitter End Yacht Club by a friend of Joe and Mary's that does Marketing for the Yacht Club. Then of course off to Saba Rock for happy hour Pain Killers.

The next day we went to Little Jost Van Dyke to show Joe and Mary the Bubbly Pool. At first we did not think they were very impressed with it, but we later heard them talking to some charter folks that they had to go see the Bubbly Pool. From there we went to Jost Van Dyke to Great Harbor to anchor for the night The anchorage was PACKED. We tried to anchor in one spot (that we knew was sketchy) and the anchor did not grab. You could tell it was on hard coral rock by the horrible sound it makes when you try to back down on it. So then we moved to the nice sandy spot that we knew was there form last time we were here and anchored there. A bit close to some Frenchies, but hey.. they do it all the time, but these two were glaring. We weren't really close to their boat at all, but Magic Dragon ended up about 10 feet from an anchor float they had on their anchor (which you NEVER see here). They actually ended up leaving the next day stating that we were on top of their anchor (which obviously we were not, since it was so clearly marked by their anchor float!). We hiked over to White Bay the next morning and swam, and drank, and ate, and drank; then hiked back.

The Bight at Norman Island was the next days stop. We got to see our friend Sandy that works at the Pirates Beach Bar and then Frank, Joe, and Mary went snorkeling at The Caves while Herb stayed back and cleaned the boat (no comments from Little Bay friends please). It actually poured during that time and Herb got to clean the boat, take a 'free' shower, and collect about 3 gallons of water. The snorkeling bunch got to see, and take a picture of a huge Spiney Lobster!

That night we took Joe and Mary to the Willy-T's! The Willy T-'s is a floating boat bar/restaurant. It was pretty dead at first, but got interesting. Lots of dancing and drinking went on. A couple of young ladies got to EARN their free t-shirts even. We finally got to leave after prying Herb off the dance floor, who actually won a free drink for doing some sort of dance move.. lol.

The next morning on the way out of Norman Island on the way to Sopers Hole, we stopped at the Indians to snorkel. Frank, Joe, and Mary went at first as Herb was feeling the effects of the free drink he won. However, it was so rolly on the mooring ball there that Herb decided to join the group and snorkeled the Indians. Lots of beautiful fish and coral to be seen by all.

The next morning Joe, Mary, and their 6 pieces of luggage got on a ferry in Sopers Hole, Tortola headed for the airport in St. Thomas US Virgins. We think they got some cruising experience and we got to live like tourists again for a bit. Fun times.

After watching the ferry leave we then headed to Peter Island for the night so that Frank could finally go on his dive on the wreck of the Rhone. Anchoring in Perter Island's Great Harbor is normally not that hard. It's very deep, so everybody clusters around the shore. Today it was pretty full and as we were circling to find our spot, some guy in a dinghy came out to tell us that there was a catamaran flotilla arriving later that afternoon, and they were going to raft-up 16 big catamarans in the middle of the shallowest part of the anchorage. He asked us to keep that area clear. Unfortunately that was the only plcae left to anchor in less than 40 feet of water. So, rather than be hard headed about it we attempted to anchor in about 50 feet of water putting out all of our 250 ft. of chain. Last time we anchored near that same spot we were in nice sand, this time, the anchor just dragged along hard coral rubble. So, poor Frank had to haul up all the chain and we decided to head over the to the south side of the anchorage to grab a mooring ball. It was probably just as well as someone from the group of catamarans was loudly blowing on a chonch shell all night while all the rest were hooting and hollering until late. We had steak and potato dinner and went to bed. (delicious!)

Frank said his dive on the Rhone was fantastic! It was a steam powered mail shipt that went down in a hurricane in the late 1800's. Part of it is still intact, but the center section where the boiler was is scattered over the sea bed. If you want to check it out, rent the cheesy 70's movie about scuba diving called 'The Deep' It is featured prominently, along with Jaqueline Bissette in a bathing suit and dive skins.

After the dive, we headed over to Road Harbor to do laundry, shopping, and internet. We lucked out and found a good spot to anchor in the inner harbor and walked into the laundry to fin 2 available washers (rare!). We got all of the 4 loads done Friday night, had a a great dinner at one of our favorite restaurants and crashed!

Saturday we did some shopping for cheap(ish) booze, and stuff we'd need for the next week or two. Ate lunch (chicken and chips) and dinner (ribs from the converted school bus in a parking lot) like the locals.

We woke up around 5am to leave for Culebra, Puerto Rico. It was a fantastic sail - 10-15 knots just aft of the beam and flat seas. Then wind built up to 18-20 and the seas built just as we entered the channel into the harbor wich made that a little interesting as we had full sails up. But we made it in fine and anchored.

Our friends Scott and Jen and their two kids from Safari II are here and dinghied by and asked if we wanted to join them for dinner on shore so we did. It was a great meal and a great time catching up on all of their adventures since seeing them last in Bequia in February.