LOG OF THE CRESTA BLANCA Continued…

 

9/23/83 (Friday)

Last night was beautifully calm and peaceful---a welcome change from Wednesday night. After a delicious breakfast of pancakes, prepared by the Captain, we took the dink over to the Peter Island Yacht Club, which is owned by Amway Corporation. It is a beautiful place with a swimming pool, tennis courts, and a bar along a lovely sparkling-white sandy beach. Would we pass a bar without having a drink??? Of course not!!! Arch was put in charge of buying drinks---since he had the money---all $12 of it. The Bartender informed us that five drinks would cost $13.50, but Arch did not let that deter him. He negotiated a deal with the barkeep, so everyone had a drink. (Actually, the Bartender decided that $12 was better than nothing.)

Now for the highlight of the day. The Captain took a bath (APPLAUSE, APPLAUSE!!!). We can’t determine if we shamed him into it or if it got to the point that he couldn’t stand himself. Nevertheless, the FOUR crew members we ecstatic.

Following a lunch of tuna salad sandwiches prepared by Sharon and Arch, we made passage across Sir Francis Drake Channel around Beef Island to Marina Cay. After securing the anchor, everyone bathed, including the Captain AGAIN (we must have really gotten to him). Afterwards, we motored in the dink over to the Marina Cay Yachtsman’s Bar and Restaurant, but it was closed so we took the dink over to the reef and after a thorough look-see returned to the boat. The major disappointment of this little expedition was that we had dressed for dinner*. (Dressed* – means clean shorts and shirt!)

We decided on chicken for dinner and Bill got busy making a delicious marinade. Sharon and Florence made potatoes and Arch was responsible for cutting up the Gouda cheese. He had a bit of a tough time---supposedly because we didn’t have a light on---or even set-up in the cockpit. He claimed he did lots of things well in the dark, but Gouda wasn’t one of them! Immediately thereafter, Captain Bill (hey, what happened with Captain Bleigh???) provided a light for the cockpit. To compliment the lovely chicken and mashed potatoes, we also had fresh pineapple prepared by Florence. To be truthful, the pineapple was more than slightly fermented, and if you could have heard Bill and Arch sing, you would think they had imbibed too much.

Our evening was topped of by witnessing the moon rising over Virgin Gorda and casting a beautiful shimmering (Ed/Note: Sharon, I know you wrote glimmering---my eyes now recall “shimmering”) light on the water---how beautiful!

9/24/83 (SATURDAY)

Marina Cay proved to be an excellent spot to anchor for the night. The Captain prepared a delicious breakfast of French Toast, which everyone thoroughly enjoyed. After relaxing on board (reading---listening to tapes) for the morning, we took the dink to a lovely beach area on Marina Cay. Florence, Arch and Sharon were dropped off at the dock by the beach and enjoyed a delightful swim and some snorkeling. Bill and Carrie took the dink over to a nearby reef and snorkeled. When they returned to the dock, everyone explored the Yachtman’s Bar and Restaurant along with the cottages and cabanas on the Cay. There, we discovered a watch dog in the body of a beautiful sable-point Siamese cat. She was certainly starving for attention and very loving. By this time, everyone was ready for lunch, and even Captain Bill agreed to eat HOT DOGS! After lunch the Captain and Arch took time off to meditate (sleep) and the girls relaxed in the cockpit with their books. Before long, Sharon decided she should meditate too (Zzzzzzzzz).

Following meditation, Arch and Bill felt a neighborly urge---and curiosity, they boarded our dink and visited the “Tumbleweed” (which was moored approximately 25 yards away from Cresta Blanca). There they met the owner, Fritz Seyfarth---who has lived in the Virgin Islands since 1966. After a very enlightening visit, Fritz was invited to join us aboard Cresta Blanca for cocktail hour. We learned that Fritz is an author, Petroleum Engineer (a former Aggie) and a most interesting and delightful person. Fritz brought along two copies of his book, “Tales of the Caribbean, A Feast of Islands”. He had autographed each copy and inclued a personal note in each; “May you always have dry bilges and a wet whistle”. We had a delightful visit, and among other stories Fritz told, the following was one of our favorites…There was a group of Texas Aggies on a yacht anchored at the Bitter End. This is one of the places in the BVI that you can unload your garbage. Well, the story goes that the “garbage vessel” was passing by and a sign on it read “Garbage – $1.50 Per Bag”. You guessed it---the Aggies bought four bags! Carrie, being from Texas, as is Fritz could really appreciate this tale.  Fritz declined our invitation to have dinner with us, but promised to return in the AM with another book---for Florence. The Captain was again the “Grommet Chef” for our evening meal and Sharon and Arch assisted. We had pork chops cooked in applesauce, with fresh pineapple chunks, a little Vermouth and rum. MMMmmmm---delicious. Our veggies were steamed carrots and whipped potatoes. Florence and Carrie were the clean-up crew.

Since we had not heard any news or weather for the day, Arch provided us with the following news bulletin (from the galley, with his hands being used as a megaphone).  “The Jews are crying at the Wailing Wall. The Government was over-thrown in Cuba and all the Cubans in Miami are returning to Cuba. The little black box from Korean Airlines Flight 7 has not been recovered”. You really had to be there for the full impact of the news report.

The moon was hidden by the overcast skies tonight, and when it did peek, through, it shown through a haze. Nonetheless, we could still catch the lovely glimmer on the water.

LOG OF THE CRESTA BLANCA

 

CREW:             BILL AND CARRIE SAEGART

       FLORENCE JOHN

      ARCH BASSETT

            SHARON WINGATE

PAT HORN

         DAVID SAEGART

                      DAVE AND DORIS GREER

9/21/83 (Wednesday)

Our day began at 5:00 AM. Early arrival of the Red Top Limo Service caught us unawares, but alas, Bill, Carrie, Arch and Sharon piled in for an uneventful trip to the Miami Airport. After checking our baggage we proceeded to the Miami International Hotel (right there in the Airport) where we were to meet our fifth crew member, Florence, who had flown in the night before from Tucson, AZ. We phoned Florence in her room---she was all set to go, so joined us promptly in the Hotel lobby. Bill checked Florence’s baggage in with the aid of a Sky Cap we hooked at top speed over to BVI Airlines for the next leg of our journey. Once there, we discovered that our 12:07 flight did not operate during this time of year and for that matter hadn’t done so for three months. (It is rather disconcerting to find out how many secrets the airlines keep from Travel Agents.) After a three-hour delay and a “delightful” lunch at the San Juan Airport the five of us---along with one other passenger boarded an 8-passenger plane to Beef Island. We were met at the Beef Island Airport by a CSY representative and were whisked away to the CSY Marina. (By the way, what language were the rep and his friend speaking??!) We arrived about 4:15 PM---too late for a briefing (which would allow us to take the boat out of the Yacht Harbor) so we were moored out in the cove at the Marina for overnight. After “Happy Hour”, Bill grilled hamburgers while Sharon prepared all the trimmings. After our evening chit-chat session, we all retired early---after a very long day.

 

9/22/83 (Thursday)

WHEW!!! What a night last night was! The wind was blowing from the NE and the swells were running from the SE. But did Arch let that bother him? Oh, NO! The more we rocked, the louder he snored. Carrie retreated to the cockpit to sleep (about 2:00 AM), but had to return to the cabin below because she was too cool. Sharon made it out to the cockpit next (about 3:00 AM) closely followed by Carrie (again) and Arch. This was our first discussion regarding mutiny---3:03 AM. However, as all crew were not present, we could not take a vote. Lucky for you Captain Bleigh!!! After a short while Carrie again returned to her cabin and Arch and Sharon decided to sleep on the cushions in the cockpit. Oh well, so much for THAT night.

After a wonderful breakfast of fried potatoes, sunny-side-up eggs and super coffee prepared by Captain Blegih (also known as Bill), we gathered extra provisions at the CSY Marian and were briefed on the operations of the boat and general rules and regulations. Thus began our day of adventure. Our first epic voyage was to take us across Sir Francis Drake Channel to Dead Chest Cay for snorkeling. As we got under way, Bill, Carrie and Arch were responsible for hoisting the sails while Sharon kept the boat heading directly into the wind. Florence was support for both operations. Out of NOWHERE came a sailboat---the Calami---tacking across from out starboard side. We were on a collision course. Of course, Sharon screamed “WHATDOIDO”!!! WHATDOIDO??? At this point the crew on the Calami sprung into action---bearing off and Arch took the helm of the Cresta Blanca. We later decided the Calami was playing “chicken” with us, apparently not realizing that our helmsman was inexperienced. After the sails were raised, Arch completed the voyage with no problems. When we anchored, we all boarded the dink for a chance to explore the reef in the cove. Florence and Sharon did not snorkel, but Carrie, Bill and Arch saw beautiful live Coral and a variety of fish---including the beautiful blue electric fish and parrot fish. After snorkeling came lunch---and guess what we had???---HOT DOGS! (The first of probably many times!) We next decided to motor over to Peter Island Cove and anchor for the night. While Carrie, Florence and Sharon bathed in the sea water with Prell, another sailboat pulled into the cove. The Captain approached us in his dink to inquire about anchorlines. During the course of the conversation, we discovered his name was Don Griffin and he was from High Point, NC. Also, he had attended Winthrop College in Rock Hill, SC, Sharon’s alma mater---small world, huh? Later, Arch bathed. Hmmmmm---that still leave one more (guess who!!!!).

Again, our Captain prepared a delicious dinner of charbroiled steaks and the ladies prepared salad and potatoes to go with them. Following dinner, the Captain awarded the first medal of the trip to Sharon for the “Valiant Service in the Face of Grave Danger”.

Originally written by: Bill Saegart