British Virgin Islands May 2007

Jost Van Dyke, BVI 5/29/07
- White Bay-

It’s my last full day in the Caribbean and like most of my trips I am not ready to leave. Jillian and I arrived in St. Thomas 9 days ago and after a ferry ride to Tortola in the British Virgin Islands (BVI), we met up with our mobile destination, the sailboat Tamsen. It is the current home to the Gibson family; Sasha (a childhood friend of Jillian’s), Simon, and their two children Emma (8) and Lila (3).

The Tamsen

When the Gibson’s passed through West Palm in January, on their way from California to pick up their boat in the Caribbean, they invited us to meet up with them as they sailed around. About 2 months ago, when the snowy wind of London was welcoming me to Europe, I was talking to Jillian on the phone and I encouraged her to follow up on that invite right away. She did and by the time I left Europe I was looking forward to trading in the hiking boots for flip flops.

It’s another sunny day here, like all of them have been, but there is a really nice breeze blowing in this bay, so under the awning on the deck of the boat I have found a little shady spot in paradise. The breeze and mooring line that we are attached let the boat rock in a nice steady roll. It’s great for sleeping and relaxing but not so good for writing as I am finding out.
It’s about Noon and we are all resting from an active morning of snorkeling and a swim into the beach about 50 yards away. Soon we will take the dingy back in for some lunch at one of the shacks like the Soggy Dollar Bar. After that there will probably be more lying around on the beach, playing with Emma and Lila, and then setting sail in the Tamsen for the next bay, pretty much an average day here.

Each day has found us in a new spot. Each spot unique and each one the same. Since starting their adventure at the end of February the Gibson's have been all over the Caribbean but this week we have confined the expedition to the BVI’s. Places like Tortola, Soppers Hole, Cane Garden Bay, The Baths, Virgin Gorda, Marina Key, and Jost Van Dyke to name a few of the islands and bays we have visited and now pop into my mind.

Sailboat living has been a new experience for me and, no surprise, I love it! It is going to be hard to wake up in a normal bed knowing I can’t take 5 steps and dive into the ocean where the water is crystal clear and is exactly the right temperature to refresh you but not shock you. That’s how I have started every morning and I actually find myself looking forward to waking up as I fall asleep each night. I’ll even sleep in my board shorts so my morning plunge is not delayed.

Jillian and me at The Baths

Life this week has also been an intensive course into young family life. Emma and Lila are amazing and I know I will miss them when we leave tomorrow. Emma asks very insightful questions and has the social skills of a person 3 times her age. She is always asking me to go for a swim which has become a convenient excuse for me to spend most of my time in the water. She has also reminded me how excited you should be at anything you see while snorkeling whether it’s a conch, sea turtle, parrot fish, or soda can. She is mature but still a kid. Focused but not to serious. She actually just sat down next to me and pulled out her journal to write in also. Like a kid taking a test I just snuck a glance at her paper. Her hand writing is much better than mine! I don’t even want to see how much better her spelling is.

Emma, Jillian, and Lila

Lila is pure entertainment despite the occasional rapid mood change and screaming phase she is going through. When she decides to use it, she has the sweetest little voice and it’s usually what I hear seconds before I wake up and head for my swim at the start of each day. “Good morning Mat” is whispered into my cabin like a command rather than an observation while my eyes are still shut. We have serious discussions about dogs, shoes, ponies, and cartoons. She has also fostered my new love for Sponge Bob Square Pants. The few episodes I have watched with her on the portable DVD player have seriously cracked me up and I find the song “Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? SPONGEBOB SQUARE PANTS!” looping around in my brain.

Lazy afternoons and naps...

Amazing children usually only come from amazing parents though and Sasha and Simon are just that. They are stern but relaxed. They are patient but still human. After a stressful ordeal of battling with a 3 year old on what shoes she would wear to dinner Simon plopped down on the deck with Jillian and me and, as he popped open a Heineken, said, "Don't tell me the Devil wears Prada. The Devil wears Gymboree."

They have moved a healthy family environment to a 40 foot boat complete with homework time, nap time, and teeth brushing. The odd variations in things, like Emma’s “job” of putting down the anchor or the household pet “Hermie” the hermit crab, are the only things that remind you that they live on a sailboat and not a ranch style house in the suburbs.

Simon and Sasha

I can’t thank them enough for letting Jillian and I invade their home where space and privacy is a commodity. They have provided an experience that I probably would not have had without them. I’ve been to dozens of beaches, rum shacks, and island getaways from Florida to Japan but nothing compares to this trip. Most of my previous tropical experiences come from places that you drive to or a single one trip destination. On this trip most of the amazing locations we hit were only accessible with a personal vessel. It was like the wandering freedom of a road trip only with a sailboat. Even if you had the financial means to charter a boat you still need the ability in order to pull it off. Thanks to Sasha and Simon….I didn’t need either.

Well people are starting to shuffle around behind me in the cockpit which means it’s getting close to that short trip into shore for lunch. Perfect timing too because I’m starving! Time to hit the pause button…..

- Pause –

We are now back at Soppers Hole, where we started this trip 10 days ago, on Tortola and the Sun has finally set. Everyone is hitting the showers at the marina in preparation for our last night out. It’s a short dingy ride across the harbor to where Jillian and I will catch the ferry back to St. Thomas tomorrow morning. After this past afternoon I’m even sadder to be leaving.
After I paused my entry we did head into shore for a bite to eat. We hung out at the island authentic, but tourist clogged, Soggy Dollar Bar and eventually inhaled some average beach food. After that Jillian and I wandered down the beach to Seddy’s, One Love Bar and that’s where the day went from great to amazing.

……I’ve been sitting with my head propped on my fist supported by my elbow on the table for about 5 minutes. Frozen like a skinnier version of Rodin's “The Thinker” with thoughts flying around inside my head but none of them making it out. The experiences at the One Love Bar were amazing and I’m not sure where to begin. Technically it was just a few Red Stripes at a beach shack bar served up by a colorful bartender who also did magic tricks. However in the grand scheme of a lifetime it was much more. It was the kind of island afternoon you tell stories about that start with “I went to the greatest….”

So I guess that’s where I’ll start this story. I went to the greatest place this afternoon, Seddy’s One Love Bar. The setting was perfect: no floor, just sand, a few random plastic chairs, high sturdy bar stools around a plywood bar. A slightly elevated platform held the kind of worn out couches we used to buy at Goodwill for Buffett concerts. Random nautical decorations of mooring buoys, fishing lines, life preservers, and assorted plastic jugs that probably just washed ashore, hung from the minimal structure that held up the roof. From the roof hung the standard ripped up and weathered trophy T’s you see in every “great” shack bar. Each one tagged in marker with names and dates of past travelers that had the same kind of afternoon that we did.

A nice frame does not make a masterpiece though. It’s merely a way to display the art inside. The magic of The One Love Bar came from the people there and the interaction between them. A few expatriated Yanks on vacation from other islands in the Caribbean including one musician who had set his keyboard up near the couches. The reggae on the stereo would get paused and he would tickle the sandy ivories with some improvisational jazz for a full set before taking a break to chat with friends and get another beer.

The soul and creator of this perfect island bar was the owner and sole worker that day Seddy. ….and it’s time for one of those Thinking Man posses again. How do I begin to describe Seddy?!
He is a tall and weathered island native. Age means little to nothing to me but for descriptive purposes I would speculate he is half way from being over the hill but has somehow gained the wisdom of a guy that has peaked over it. He cracks prepared jokes and recites bar poems as he occasionally pops open beer bottles for regulars and first timers. His main goal is definitely entertainment and his main product is definitely experiences rather than speedy service and bar tabs.

Jillian and I went in for one beer and ended up staying for hours with the Gibson Family joining us for most of it. By beer two though I felt like a regular and that’s what Seddy does.
“Dis isn’t just my bar.” He told me. “It’s for all my friends and people I trust.”
Where that trust ends, I’m not sure because there were huge blocks of time where Seddy didn’t work at all. You just helped yourself and kept track of what you owed in your mind.
“I have to go check on my kid. Just help yourself.” He said in passing. So he went and woke up his young son and then took him swimming to cool him off. He also took some breaks to work on the pit he had dug in the sand in front of the place. He gave a dozen different answers on what it was for depending on who asked. The more I heard people ask him the more I think it’s sole purpose was just to get peoples brains thinking.

To say I was entertained by Seddy would be a fair calculation for the first few hours but as our time there began to wind down Seddy pulled off a magic trick that blew me away! Earlier he had made us all chuckle with some simple coin & card tricks. Mostly some sleight of hand stuff that you know just comes with practice and miss-direction. The trick that blew me away though he set up with Jillian and me hours before he completed it. When it was done I was left screaming like an idiot on a Chris Angel or David Blaine special. It was far from a magic store trick and showed skills of a highly trained magician and master of persuasion. The trick would be difficult and time consuming to describe but trust me it was better than any grand finale I have seen in Vegas. It left me baffled and shocked!

It has only been a few hours since Seddy finished his trick and we set sail for this bay and I am already having difficulty remembering all the aspects of the trick. I’m sure soon it will all be gone and all I’ll have is the emotion of a great beach shack and the most amazing bartender/owner. I suppose that’s why I write in this little book. Life has too many amazing days for the human mind to remember all by itself. This trip alone has several that I need to document.

Timing was once again on my side last Saturday when we found ourselves in the neighborhood of Cane Garden Bay and day 2 of the British Virgin Islands Music Festival. A music Festival featuring international stars some recognizable to me and some not. My kind of find!
The stage was set on the beach just feet away from the slow rolling surf. A line of tents ran down the beach parallel to the shore near the tree line and sold drinks, crafts, and food. The posters we saw on other islands the week leading up to the festival advertised a “$20 admission” with “No In & Outs”. The charge apparently was just a theory though and we pulled up on shore with dozens of others and never saw a ticket booth. Hell I never saw an official entrance. The only thing that was closed off was an area directly in front of the stage for cameras.

Jillian and I arrived with the Gibson Fam around 8 p.m. and the crowd was just beginning to grow on the beach. When South African reggae legend Lucky Dube took the stage around 10 p.m. the crowd was thick but you could still find some gaps to squeeze through to stage center. The adults sipped Mount Gay and Cokes and the kids were spoiled on pretty much anything they wanted. Hey, it was a special occasion. After inhaling popcorn, ice cream, slushies, and playing with various glow-stick products Emma and Lila were exhausted and conched out right where we were sitting. Mom and Dad carried two happy, sleeping children back to the boat after Lucky Dube’s set.

Lucky Dube

By the time headliner, ex-Fugee, and all around cool guy, Wyclef Jean took the stage at 12:30 a.m. the beach was so crowded Jillian and I had to settle for a spot on the side just out of the water. No worries though because soon Wyclef decided he wanted in the water too and jumped off the stage to make his way into the tide. I maneuvered to get a better picture and soon Jillian found herself right next to him. Wyclef, Jillian, and a few dozen others, dancing in knee deep water on a moon filled night in the BVIs. Another moment you don’t ever want to forget.

Wycleff Jean

At 2 a.m. Jillian and I decided to head back to the boat, a rare moment when I left a concert early. In my defense it wasn’t to beat the traffic. I was nervous about pushing the dingy back into the water with the tide going out and then finding the right sailboat in a dark crowded bay. We made it back to the Tamsen without any problems though and listened to the rest of Wyclef’s set from the deck which wrapped up after 3 a.m.

Concert Traffic

I had started that day at 7 a.m. with 2 gorgeous scuba dives and ended it with a free concert by Wyclef Jean. As I drifted off to sleep I remember thinking “That was a pretty good day!”

We followed that night up with one just as memorable on the very next day. After another leisurely day of swimming and wandering uninhabited islands we anchored in a bay off Jost Van Dyke. There we met up with the 100 foot sailing yacht called Rock Me, captained by an old friend of Simon & Sasha’s. The Captain’s name is Brett and he paid a visit to The Tamsen in the afternoon and invited us into shore after dinner to have a few drinks with his crew and Rock Me’s owner and friends.

Most of The Tamsen crew were still pretty tired from the Wyclef show the night before but we couldn’t’ be rude, could we? Sasha volunteered to stay behind with the kids and Simon, Jillian, and I were forced to go represent our ship.

We all thought or said, “We’ll go have A drink. Say hello to the owner. Shake some hands. Nothing crazy….we’ll be back soon.”

Of course when you say that, the actual odds that you do that are always highly tilted towards failing. When we arrived at the legendary beach shack bar of the BVI’s, Foxy’s, the party was well under way and Brett was leading the charge.

The atmosphere at Foxy’s was enough to make me re-think my plan. It’s a great Caribbean beach bar, like Captain Tony’s in Key West but with not as many walls, complete with a small picture behind the bar of Foxy, the owner, and Jimmy Buffett. In places like this having a picture of Jimmy hanging out at your bar is the equivalent of posting your 5 star Zagat rating in the window of your restaurant.

In case the atmosphere wasn’t enough to keep me there though, fate also delivered me the chance to meet a rock industry icon. The owner of Rock Me is Doc McGee and he earned his status, and yacht, as the manger of some legendary rock groups like KISS, Bon Jovi, Motley Crue, Skid Row, etc. Needles to say when Brett told us he was taking Simon back to the boat but we were staying I didn’t put up much of a fuss.

Captain Brett. Wendy & Doc McGee and Jillian

Doc was down vacationing with his wife, Wendy, his brother, and a new client, a female singer, with her boy friend. Brett introduced us to them all, along with the Rock Me crew; the first mate, cook, and Bretts wife, Loraine. One drink in and we were part of the gang.

Wendy and the girls quickly swept Jillian off to the dance “floor” so I spent most of my time talking with Doc. The ice was broken initially by Brett who introduced me to him by saying “This is Mat. He’s in the music biz too.” This statement wiped out all the recent BVI sun color from my face. Me in the music biz compared to Doc McGee is like a paper boy having a meeting with Rupert Murdock.

Doc was very cool though and instead of making me feel like a peon we talked about people he knows in South Florida that I might also know. Of course most of the people he knew were the names on the buildings where I met with the people I know but it was still fun and common ground to talk from.

Our conversation eventually turned to travelling and we found some equal footing there so I was happy to keep on that subject. I refrained from asking questions that I’m sure he’s tired of getting usually dealing with rock decadence and myth. It was a surreal moment to be sitting in a sandy bar in the Caribbean smoking a cigar with a guy I had seen on more than one episode of VH1’s Behind The Music.

As the night moved into the morning hours the party was moving back to Rock Me. Jillian and I tried to kid ourselves into thinking we were going back to The Tamsen. We were doing a pretty good job of this until Brett stole our dingy and made the decision to accept Doc & Wendy’s invitation to go back to their boat to hang out a necessity rather than an option.

Rock Me is a gorgeous boat! It’s luxurious but not decadent, immaculate but homey. It has deep dark woods, navy blue interiors, and of course great music playing throughout the boat. We all settled into a lounge area on the back for about another hour of laughing out loud under the stars. Eventually the group started to dwindle as people gave into sleep. Jillian and I thanked Doc and Wendy and climbed down to our dingy to cruise on home. We all had planned to meet up again at another bay or island but unfortunately the schedules never worked out.

Experiences like meeting Doc and Seddy, seeing Wyclef and Lucky Dube, scuba diving on a wreck, hanging out and making new lifelong friends with Simon, Sasha, Emma, and Lila or just spending time with Jillian are the obvious memories from this trip. There is another element though that I would be remiss if I didn’t jot down especially because it’s been in my head since we set sail on day one.

I’m not sure what to call it and I’m even more perplexed on how to write it down. It’s the words and thoughts of Jimmy Buffett that have obviously seeped into my subconscious. My good friend Jeff (Vail) has been paraphrasing a favorite Jimmy quote of ours to me for awhile now. He says “I’m living my life like a song”. I guess I’m now realizing that he’s right.

Moments like “sailing into Cane Garden Bay” or seeing “the lights of St. Thomas” literally about “20 miles West”, and probably a dozen other moments ripped right from the Buffett lyric sheet, well…it felt great. Validation of sorts I suppose. Validation that I am living the life I dreamed of. I am far from a sailor, nor do I necessarily aspire to be one. I’m not sure what I am or what I’m on the track to be. To quote Jimmy again: “Where it all ends I can’t fathom my friends. If I knew I might toss out my anchor. So I’ll cruise along….” I can’t wait to see where I end up!

MJF