Beez Neez now Chy Whella

St Thomas

Big Bear and Pepe Millard

Mon 7 Mar 2011 23:15

St Thomas

We were ready and anchor up by eight, wiggled our way through the buoys when the radio chirped. GB wishing us a safe journey, sad to bid GB and Sarah "farewell" but, we do hope to see them again. We had a good sail and arrived in Charlotte Amalie at twenty to two in time for lunch thirty seven miles later.

As we entered all looked as we left them last year, the anchorage seemed somewhat quieter

On the posh dock the very same girls we left still there, we wondered if they had moved. If Beez would be one hundred and fifty pounds a day no knowing what these ladies cost

Cruise ship in, so customers doing the tourist thing. Our little friend returning to St Croix.

Evening fell and we settled in for the night

A novel thing for cruise ships to stay in later than five thirty. Charlotte Amalie looking pretty.

We had one day with no cruise ships in by us, very strange to see an empty dock, it didn't phase Bear much

One afternoon Bear went off to fill the spare gas bottle, he came back saying he was surprised at how many wrecks there were laying around the bay. He said the gas place was in a scrap boat yard and he would take me for a spuddle if I wanted to go. Off we went. Over the other side of the anchorage was Allure of the Seas - sister to Oasis of the Seas (own blog last time). Allure dwarfed Eurodam. We assume we were looking at a climbing fixture as opposed to a paint cloth. It was very strange to see a ball game in progress on the top of Eurodam.

Bear wanted to stop at the chandlers and low and behold, four men were in handcuffs and loads of Customs, Drug Officers and K9 were all busy on a Puerto Rican motorboat. One officer had the smallest feet I have ever seen on a grown man, looked a bit odd in his black cowboy boots - sort of hobbling as they were too small to bend. We sat and had a beer and watched the goings on, we certainly never know what's going to happen next. Then we saw a salvage and tow boat for the first time.

It was so strange on our spuddle to see ladies laying around the edge of the anchorage with all the others bobbing around them. Then Bear took us into the scrap yard.

Many ladies, including a US Army boat but the saddest one for me was a lifeboat. In all the 2010 hurricane season apparently saw seventy eight boats wrecked in the Virgin Islands.

On the way out was a really old lady

On our return we passed Allure and her queues trying to board for leaving

We watched Eurodam leave, her pilot so tiny beside her

Returning to get Allure safely out

Another first was watching the new craze of board paddling, looks a bit odd. We watched a chap picking around in the rocks

Back home again it was time to write the shopping list. We are really in Charlotte Amalie to break the journey between St Croix and the Turks and Caicos, also to fuel up and stock up on supplies to last a month as we have been told the Bahamas are so very expensive. Whilst here Bear decided he was running short of his gout and pain tablets. He made an appointment at the Red Hook Family Practice. Off he went later that day to see Dr Hillary Woodson at $165. He came back muttering quite a bit and presented me with a receipt, my mouth fell and I gave my best impression of a goldfish. The Allupurinol was $57.40 and the Celebrex was $396. A total of $ 518.60. Why they put gout medicine in a child proof pot puzzles me, I feel my tolerance waning now. Bear hands me his doctors report - Gouty Arthropathy Unspecified and began muttering again. Bloody well should have been specified for that. "Specified" I said "I would have wanted a case conference, a microbiologist, a pathologist and every other bod in a white coat, even if they had to make something up". Well at least the Celebrex came in a really nice orange pot , I suppose.

See the warning signs - Pepe's face turning all crinchy.

Have you ever seen a pill pot thrown with such brutal force

Bear has

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