We on "Island Time" mon

Feb 2 06’ 8:45 am Charlotte Amalie USVI Well we have been here for 3 nights now. Both Joyce and I are catching up on that lost sleep. Thursday our job list included getting a replacement hose for the watermaker, take the dollar bus to TuTu Park (the Mall) to get some bread and buy a replacement wifi antenna so we can get online. My old antenna has seen its better days.
An interesting aspect of cruising life is how even the simplest of chores can take all day. On Wed. we stopped in a dive shop so Joyce could get some info on diving. We asked where we might get a new hose made up. Guy suggests this other guy across the harbor, So we jump in the dink and motor over...nope he can’t but the watermaker guy upstairs can…so I go upstairs…door locked…I’m sure this guy is a 1 man band,, goes to the office in the AM then out to work on boats during the day…We will get up early dink over and catch him early. Fast forward to Thur AM. 9 am . Nope…office door still locked, guy says he might be down at his shack…walk down there...ask another guy…don’t know where he is...so I ask where I might be able to get a hose made up…guys gives me directions….other side other side of the harbor...he gives me directions for driving…can I walk it? Guy says loooong walk...well I have a dink…oh ok..go over to the rigging shop…I think I know there that is…we motor back over to the other side...up a rickety dock and to the rigging shop….yep we can do, but you must go to our other office…and he rolls off the directions...can I walk...yea...a fair walk…what about from the Marina…oh yes then you….and so on.. I go back to the dink and get Joyce...I do need a walk…so we start walking….30 min later we double back ask some guy..yep see that blue building way down there..yes..well turn right…. !5 min later we are just passing a building and a guy sticks his head out of a building and asked us “looking for a hose?” Well we would have walked right by. ½ hr later and $63 bucks later we head back to the dink and back to the boat…now 11:45. So we change, jump back in the dink ..to the dingy dock downtown and wait for a Safari Bus. This is a tourist town. The taxi lobby is the strongest on the Island. Half the population on the Island owns a F350 Ford pickup ..top shelf trucks….they then put a top and bench seats in the back of the truck and you now have a Taxi. For all the “Cattleboat” people, it’s $5 to go to town form the ship and $5 bucks back.




And for those that know, if you find one of these “taxi’s” with black people on it it’s a “Safari” bus that will take you across the Island for a dollar. Seems there is an agreement with the union that there has to be X number of Safari buses even when there are cruise ships in. Do the math…. drive across the island with 10 people paying you 1 $ or driving 2 miles with 10 for 5$ each…Well we hop a Safari buss and off we are to the Mall. We jump out to stop at Office Depot..give the guy his 2 bucks only to be informed that its now $2 bucks per person…I did say that this is a strong lobby…but still a deal…a regular taxi to TUTU park would be 18$ per person..


So we get our wifi antenna and head up to the food store…I had told Joyce that this was a fact finding mission…find out who has the best stuff at the best prices….you see certain stores have better produce ..some better meats,..others better booze prices… Since one has to carry all this stuff back to the boat it’s best to buy in small batches. So we found some gin on sale…$12 …Bombay for martini’s ,some special spice packets for cooking lamb or chicken., a 12 pack of Fresca…Joyce has now converted to Gin and Fresca for the afternoon happy hour.. We are back at the boat by 5 pm.. So what did we accomplish on this day…damn not much. We start Happy Hour and hook up our new antenna….damn…had better reception on my old one..so we plan to return the new one… So no internet… Grilled 2 big steaks and salad for dinner…crash early.
Yesterday we went in at 9am ..list was long ..won’t bore you with the details..Joyce plays cattle boat person and proceeds to buy up ½ the Island. At the internet café, try to get online…damn whole island has a virus….talk with guy that runs the place… tell him my wifi problem…says he will bring in 1 of his to try. To cover our bases we dink and walk up to the Radio Shack…hmmm the have one…so I buy that…then up to the 2 other markets for who’s got what…by this time I’m on my last legs… fatigue has set in big time…1 more stop…on the way my knee decided it’s tired of hauling my ass around and buckles…bam…down I go…what a scene…some old fart crashes on the side of the road and almost rolls out into the street…nothing more than my pride hurt….so we cut the shopping short and head back…
Hmmmm … lets see….. what did we get done today…
So now its Saturday….and the list is longer….another day in the life of Paul and Joyces adventure cruising the Caribbean.