People are Amazing

British Virgin Islands

Deb was the reason we stopped at Trellis Bay, Beef Island. That, and the world’s biggest hammock. Deb is a full time ceramicist at Aragorn’s Studio and plays in a local 80’s cover band. The creative side of her brain does not have an off switch. Deb’s high wattage smile never dimmed as she answered a barrage of questions fired by our curious kids. She happily shared her tools, samples of her designs, and showed them how she works her magic.

Deb’s husband, Matt Holt, is easily one of the best sailing instructors on this blue planet. He was out teaching. His patience, enthusiasm and gentle guidance created the perfect trinity of learning for us a few years ago when he introduced us to his talented sweetheart, Deb. He still operates out of Tortola. Call Sunsail and request him by name. You won’t be sorry.

Diamond Cay, Little Jost Van Dyke

There was one leg hanging out of a slow moving hammock. Lily gave it a push. A bright smiling face lifted slightly. Before long, Lily was done pushing and the tables had turned. Amir was pushing Lily “to the stars.” “Once upon a time,” he said, “Queen Ocean swung up to the stars where she saw a purple moon. All of her brothers and sisters were there. They had a picnic. Then Queen Ocean returned to her hammock.”

They pretended to be super heros. She was Batman. He was Thor. He had to be really strong to push her so high in that hammock. When it was time to go, Amir reminded Lily, “Don’t forget me.” “I won’t.” She said. “I’ll miss you. I’ll call you tomorrow on the radio.” Amir works at Foxy’s restaurant, Taboo. If you see him, tell him Queen Ocean says, Hello.

Our last stop at a chandlery in St. Thomas held a few surprises. First, the water was too shallow even for 3.5 foot draft. After running aground several times, we headed for the marina where we knew the water was at least 7 feet deep. There was a spot right at the end of the dock and the Mike and Rebecca Sweeney on OneLove was waiting to help with our docking lines. They offered us a dinghy ride to the chandlery and recommended a nearby grocery store for last minute provisions. Cruisers are so nice! Sharing our stories we realized that Mike's post about purchasing a boat out of charter was what encouraged us to buy Fezywig. We're so glad we did! It was fun to thank the Sweeneys in person. People are amazing!