We arrived in Jost van Dyke, British Virgin Islands, in the midst of tropical squalls. We could see the squalls ahead of us, right in our course, so we were prepared when we sailed into strong, gusty rain. It was so warm that it seemed pointless to put on foul weather gear. When it was not raining the weather was swelteringly hot and humid; plus it was very buggy ashore. While anchored in Jost I slept mostly on deck, either the quarterdeck or the cargo hatch. People have been seen sleeping in some odd places...on top of the line locker, in the dory, anyplace there is a bit of a breeze. Of course, when sleeping on deck, we do take our chances on getting wet in the middle of the night!
Considering that we had put up with so much cold, rain and fog in Lunenburg, we were not complaining much about the heat. Those of us who were working on the ship each day took a brief swim call after lunch to cool down. And one particularly hot afternoon (Saturday), as we were about to set out to practice rowing in the Monomoy life boat, Joe (the ship's cook) showed us how to tie wet dish towels from the scullery on our heads to keep us cool. It was quite a sight to see nine of us with wet dish towels wrapped on our heads rowing around the harbor. Somebody on one of the small yachts asked us if it was some kind of uniform. The wet towel worked so well that I kept on my head, re-wetting it as it dried, all the rest of that day and evening as I worked in the scullery and galley. And, again on Monday, when I was doing ship's work I kept my head wrapped in a wet towel.
The bugs - noseeums and sand fleas - were worst by the sandy beaches. The first night we were in Jost, Friday, I was off duty and I went ashore with several friends. We went straight to a tiny outdoor food stand and had a "painkiller" (pineapple juice, coconut and rum with nutmeg grated on top). The cold ice was as big a hit as the drink itself. We sat at a table on the edge of the sand and I was constantly rubbing or swatting at my ankles, not realizing right away that the bugs were biting. The people who got the worst of it were those who stayed very late at Foxy's, the local bar with live music where everyone goes for nightlife. They missed the last skiff back to the ship and had to stay ashore, in a hammock at the beach or on the sand...they were eaten alive by bugs.
I was fortunate to be ashore three of the four nights that we were in Jost. When not out at sea we have two watches, starboard and port, instead of the three watch system. The watches alternated days on duty (8am to 8am) which means staying aboard to do ship's work and stand harbor watch at night. My watch was on duty Saturday, our second day in port, and that happened to be my day for galley duty. Since galley crew are given the night off, after we finished cleaning up the dinner dishes Saturday evening, my other two galley mates and I went ashore for a couple of hours of music and dancing at Foxy's.
On Sunday, my day off, a number of us walked up over the hill to the other side of the island where we spent the better part of the day at a beautiful white sand beach with Ivan's Stress Free Bar and Restaurant is a popular gathering place. We had the midday meal there. They make one menu, served to everyone at one time (the time is not scheduled...they said "about 1 or 1:30 and it was closer to 2:30 when we actually ate) and when the food runs out there is no more, so you better be near the front of the line. Picton Castle crew excel at getting to the front of the line when there is food, so we all got our plate full.
Sunday evening, of course, we went back to Great Harbor and spent several hours at Foxy's again. If you ever go to the BVI it is well worth a stop in Jost just to experience Foxy's. Picton Castle crew were regulars, taking over a couple of tables right next to the dance floor each night. And our singing sea cook, Joe Keenan, brought his guitar each evening and performed several songs. We sang along with a couple of our favorite tunes of his, especially "Whirl and Twirl."
On Monday, our last full day in Jost, a group of young school children came aboard for a tour of the ship...probably the first opportunity they have had to see a traditional square rigger. We also contributed about a dozen packages of school books to the local school.
Jost was a lot of fun. I would not want to have passed by without stopping. The Captain had assured us when we left Lunenburg that we would not stop at Jost until the end of the voyage. However, since he has stopped there on the start of each of the past three world voyages, I had an inkling that we would probably make a stop at Jost. As much as I enjoyed myself there, by the time we hoisted the anchor Tuesday morning, I was ready to move on to new adventures at sea and in other ports.
Comments