Ain't Gonna Work on Saturday

The six of us had a very nice Shabbos/Shabbat here at the docks in Spanish Town, Virgin Gorda. Shabbos comes in and ends earlier here than back home - around 6:45 and 7:30, so as I type this many of you are probably just coming out of Shabbos.

Obviously there are no pictures, but I'll try to describe the scene. We are in a slip (a spot on the dock) several boats away from shore. Around us are other sailboats and some larger motor yachts. Apparently this is a very popular time to come to Virgin Gorda and the British Virgin Islands in general because of Christmas in July, a yearly festival. A lot of Spanish-speaking people are here on surrounding yachts for this, many of them from Puerto Rico. They have been having a good time.

But Friday evening was nice and quiet. After showering (onshore!), we dressed up (a little, it is the tropics. I wore a white polo shirt) and went to the front of our boat, where we sat and sang kabbalat Shabbat together, and part of maariv (such as v'Shamru). Kiddush was on some Kedem grape juice I brought from home. For dinner we had brussel sprouts, rice, and red snapper! It was very good (thanks to Ben and his beloved cayenne pepper), but the interesting aspect of all of this is the fish. We had thought we would be eating fish a lot here in the islands, but as it turns out, there is a toxin in a lot of the fish around here that makes local fishing pretty much impossible. So this fish was from the supermarket (a supermarket in which Yoni was dismayed to find that there was more readily available kosher food than in the stores he frequents in London). We did highs and lows of the day again. Ben told us the story behind the seltzer he bought (what he considers the "champagne of seltzers"). The rest of the meal was filled with zemiros.

After dinner Yoni, Chana Gila, Ben, and I played a card game called Loke, which is similar to Spades and Bridge. Sammy and Amichai read. Then we all went to sleep. And boy, did we sleep! It rained much of the night and was still cloudy and rainy throughout the rest of the day (and is now pouring again as I type this). I slept later than I expected, but it was one of the best nights of sleep I got the whole trip so far (it was also a cooler night than most). After getting up we davened and had kiddush (grape juice and some Sara Lee pecan coffee cake and some Verona cookies). Then we either fell asleep again or read, until lunch in the early afternoon.

Thanks to the weather, it was a much cooler day, which we were very thankful for. It can get really, really hot here and I hadn't been looking forward to a sweaty, disgusting Shabbat. But it turned out really well. It was also good timing with the rain, because any other day of the week we can't sail in the rain anyway! During the rest of the afternoon we hung out, read, and tried learning to play bridge. While Yoni and I dominated the Loke game the night before, Ben and CG got back at us today with bridge (or at least Ben's admittedly own version of bridge).

By the afternoon, another yacht that had showed up right next to us started playing lots of pop and dance music. They and another boat or two seemed to know each other and they were quite loud. Christmas in July, everyone! We davened mincha inside the boat, where it was quieter and then had a quick seudah shlishit upstairs. We wanted to sing the regular tunes for seudah shlishit, but couldn't because of the music alongside us, so we walked over to a nearby field and sang. Some mosquitos really loved our singing and kissed us all over.

Maariv was said inside the boat too, as was havdalah.  Then it was time for onshore showers again and other motzai shabbat activities!

Shavua Tov!

Yesterday was Thursday, Thursday / Today i-is Friday, Friday (Oh, and I guess Wednesday is there somewhere as well...)

Wednesday morning we woke up at 7 something, davened, and ate delicious fried bagels and scrambled eggs, cooked by Ben and Amichai. At 9:00 we brought Gerry (I spelled his name wrong before) over with the dinghy to start our second day of sailing tutorial.

First we refueled at a refueling station nearby, so Gerry could show us how. Then we headed back to TMM to get our batteries checked and to refill with water. We all showered on land at TMM to conserve the water on the boat.

Our destination for the day was Norman Island, named for someone named Norman. This someone was a pirate and there are still rumors of buried treasure. We didn’t find any though.

Some poses while sailing, guess which of the three is a typical pose and which are acted:

At the island we went snorkeling! It was my second time ever and Chana Gila’s first. I kept getting salt water in my snorkel, until I figured out how to breathe correctly. It’s important not to use your nose at all.

While chasing a school a fish, I pushed off of the rock and coral before hitting it head-on. As I turned right, I suddenly felt a burning on the back of my left calf. I headed to the small beach to check it out. I thought I scratched myself, but it turns out I got stung by something. Possibly fire coral, or maybe a jellyfish. My skin was slightly reddish and it looked like I had goosebumps. I felt the slight burning sensation for awhile, but it eventually went away. CG and Yoni also got stung and their reactions also didn’t last very long.

The snorkeling spot also had some caves which were explored. Due to my personal investigation of my sting, I didn’t get as much of a view as planned, but I was told they were really cool. In the inside of a cave I did go to, the rocks looked purple! I think it was something growing on the rocks.

We went back on the boat for lunch (chicken-flavored Tradition soups). While waiting for the water to boil we snacked on some Chips Ahoy we had bought at one of the local stores. That is, we snacked on the cookies until Yoni noticed a maggot on his. Then we stopped.

Our next destination was Peter Island, again, where we said farewell to Gerry (who took a ferry back to Tortola). With still several hours until nightfall, all of us but Sammy headed to the island to look around (Sammy stayed back to take care of some things on the boat). We took the dinghy ashore and cut through with a path to arrive at a resort. It was pretty nice.

On the path through:

This was the nicest thing about the resort:

AIR CONDITIONED BATHROOM!

We also walked to their beach. It was beautiful white sand, dotted with beach chairs and topped by palm trees around. We realized it was pretty much the island paradise people always talk about. We even saw a couple take a long walk along the beach. We just sat on the chairs.

A view of our boat at sunset, while we rode the dinghy back:

For dinner we had chicken, rice, and salad. As we ate we went around the table saying our highs and lows of the day, a tradition on vacation in both Ben and Amichai’s families.

After dinner we laid down on the deck of the boat and stargazed. I saw a satellite travel across the sky. Sammy identified the North Star. Ben told us his theories about constellations. We then watched Little Miss Sunshine.

During the night, it rained.

Sammy woke up Thursday morning to find that our boat had drifted during the night. Apparently our anchor was not as secure as we thought and due to the storm, we had moved. After moving the boat back and a quick breakfast of cereal, we all boarded the dinghy to go to Peter Island and to hike the Sunset Loop (which took us up the mountain, past homes and parts of the resort). Amichai, Chana Gila, and Sammy ran most of the way, while Ben, Yoni, and I walked.

Views from the hike:

The sign said it was a loop, so we all assumed it would take us all around the island. Well it did loop - the hike took you to a small area where you looped around - and then you had to go back the way you came!

The day was a scorcher and we were hot and sweaty. When we got back to the resort area we of course showered in the air conditioned bathroom! It was a fantastic experience. We used our own shampoo and soap, but we were able to save water from our boat.

We had lunch on the boat and then set out for our next destination. It was a four hour trip. And the first all on our own! 

There are moments when smiles just come to our faces. This was one for me.

It was a four hour trip. In between helping with the sails, we listened to lots of music and read books. I finished rereading The Little Prince and then went back to The Art of Biblical Narrative, Yoni read Fahrenheit 451, CG read The Scarlet Letter, Amichai read Don Quixote, and Ben read The Sabbath. During the trip we also passed a huge cruise liner. At one point we thought we might get too close, but it all worked out.

We passed by the islands Fallen Jerusalem and Broken Jerusalem - appropriate for the Three Weeks. They are named as such because of the huge rocks that are on them. They are very small islands, but Fallen Jerusalem did have some large boulders on top that were very similar in color to Jerusalem stone.

Getting to these islands had been something we had talked about for awhile, not only because they had Jerusalem in their names, but because of the time period of the Three Weeks (between the fast of Shiva Assar B'Tammuz and the fast of Tisha B'Av, the ninth of Av) which are in memory of Jerusalem being sacked and the burning of the Temples. There are many customs, especially among Ashkenazi Jews, for the Three Weeks to show that one is in mourning. One of these that is done in my family is refraining from shaving, so when when you see my face in the photos to come, know that it’s not just me being lazy (although I am on vacation).

But our final destination for the day was The Baths! Situated southwest on the island of Virgin Gorda, they are home to huge granite boulders and amazing snorkeling!

We first tried to swim there - but a third of the way there we realized it was farther than we thought and against the current. So we took the dinghy instead.

There were beautiful black fish with bright blue fins, a shark or barracuda that really made us nervous, crabs (Amichai chased one), long fish with needle-noses, zebra fish, urchins, and coral. I was literally in the middle of a huge school of fish. It was incredible. We plan on going back again early tomorrow morning.

There was also a sign warning us about the possibility of jelly fish, but we didn’t see any.

We moored by right by the Baths - there are no other boats here. It’s not clear why, but assuming we’re allowed to moor here overnight, they all probably went to Spanish Town, nearby, for dinner and the harbor.

Dinner was spaghetti. Music by Louis Armstrong serenaded us before, during, and after. After dinner people checked email, read, or wrote things down. But everyone but me was in bed by 10:15. I stayed up a little later to type up much of this, but as you know, I didn’t post it then. I was tired too. I stopped typing at 10:15.

This morning, Friday, we got up around 7:30. We took our time with davening and breakfast, then took the dinghy closer to the Baths to go on a short hike through the boulders to another beach.

A happy couple in an island paradise:

The boulders are made of granite, which is unusual for this area of the world. And they are HUGE! We had lots of fun wading around and climbing.

The boulders were no match for these guys:

Even if sometimes you can be stuck in between a rock and a hard place:

Amichai scales a wall backwards, and Yoni scurried up a huge boulder in no time:

The boulder that looks like it could fall on me was too huge to fit in the picture:

Sammy uses his rock climbing skills:

In the water off a beautiful sandy beach at the end of the hike:

We then took the dinghy back to the boat, had lunch (bagels, pita, chummus, and scrambled eggs), and motored over to Spanish Town, Virgin Gorda. After some minor inconveniences getting in, we docked. Groceries were bought, water was refilled, and shore power was plugged in. I headed over to a local clinic to make sure a bug bite I got wasn't too bad (it's not) as well as to check out my left foot, which I banged on the boat's steps. For the foot I was prescribed the biggest pills of ibuprofen I have ever seen.

Anyway, now we're all busy cleaning, cooking, showering, and updating the blog. Here at the Marina's dock we will spend Shabbos. So from Spanish Town, Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands, a Shabbat Shalom to you all!

The Fast and the Furious

Tuesday morning I was woken up by a police officer.

Due to the heat, Ben and I decided to sleep on top of the boat, to take advantage of the ocean breezes. Around 6:30 in the morning I was awakened by a shout from a police boat that pulled up alongside us. And then we were all arrested.

Just kidding! We had to move the boat. We were in the path of an incoming oil tanker that was coming into the harbor soon.

Tuesday was “Shiva Assar B’Tammuz”, the 17th day of the Jewish month of Tammuz. It is a fast day that commemorates the fall of the walls of Jerusalem. Combined with the heat, this did not leave us many options for day activities. What can we do in the tropics when we can neither eat nor drink?

After moving the boat and davening, we all pretty much went back to sleep. In the early afternoon, unable to force ourselves to sleep anymore, some of us began to play some poker.  We played for peanuts. Literally and figuratively. For chips we used a big bag of rotten peanuts we had bought at the supermarket, with each peanut assigned a value of 5 cents. Ben and Yoni profited.

Afterwards we took the dinghy ashore, hoping to avoid the heat of the day in an air conditioned movie theater. Many people do not watch movies during the period of the Three Weeks, which begin with the fast of Tammuz (more on the Three Weeks later), but apparently we do and we actually decided to watch the movie in order to keep fasting. The movie we watched commemorated the falls of the walls of Hogwarts, although it has a happier ending than the story of Shiva Assar B'Tammuz.


We got VIP seating at the theater for free. What VIP seating means is that you were in a balcony section with seats that leaned back, with a footrest that would pop up. I think we were upgraded for free because we were the only ones in the theater. The wall that separated the balcony section from the seating below was definitely lower than ten tefachim. Glad no one fell over!

We went back to the boat straight after, as night began to fall. We noted the fast’s end by seeing three stars in the sky. After maariv, we broke our fast on salad and pasta. Some (although not me) had some papaya afterwards. Then we played Taboo, talked, and went to sleep.

Today we are refilling with water, we refilled with fuel, getting our batteries checked, and we’re going out for our second and final day with Jerry, our hired captain. I don’t know our itinerary yet, but for days to come we have some exciting places to visit. Stay tuned! And again, photos are uploaded when we are on a better connection than usual.

THE PREVIOUS POST HAS BEEN UPDATED WITH PHOTOS.

The Town Mouse and the Sea Mouse

First, some pictures of the boat and other island novelties:

Island politics:

Our boat:

Some cabinets:

 What's in the cabinets:

After finishing unpacking and eating dinner (lasagna) Sunday night, we went to downtown Road Town on a quest for groceries. As we walked from where the boat was docked, many of us mentioned how at night the place reminded us of Israel: the warm weather, the trailers we saw, the quiet, the many stars, the barbed wire fences, and the way the hills are sparsely lit up against the sky.

Why you shouldn't text while walking:

 We tried to be good citizens to help future pedestrians:

It should be mentioned at least once that here, since it is a British territory, you drive on the left side of the road, even though all the cars are American with the driver on the left. But as our first taxi driver on BVI told us, it’s easier to drive that way on the narrow roads, since you can see the curb.

Downtown we saw the intersection with the traffic lights, a department store or two, a walking sign with a guy that actually walked, the Variety electronics store (“Quality, Value...Variety”), a smoothie stand, lots and lots and lots of bunting (like at car dealerships, but there were no car dealerships), and a very well attended game of billiards (at which CG was hit on by at least 5 guys). We eventually asked for directions to the grocery. People are really nice here, the lady we asked actually got out of her food truck to point us the right way!

It was nice to be in an air conditioned building. We picked up a bunch of food, and some drinks, such as orange juice, milk, and a Tortola-made spiced rum.

Yes, it comes with that little hat.

Something we didn't buy:

Twins?

We took a taxi with the groceries back to the boat. Then we relaxed, read, and a few of us played Boggle (by each person making up a random 5x5 grid of letters for the group on a piece of paper). Before we knew it, we had tons of mosquito bites.

That night, we all were very warm. There is not much wind when you are at a dock.

First light Monday morning saw us all still asleep. But we did get up earlier than we might have at home. We hired a captain for a couple days to teach us to sail and he came at 8:30. He went over some important information with us, but we didn’t embark until around 12:45. There were many things on the boat that needed to be fixed up, such as some outlets and lights which delayed us, but once we left the docking area, with the wind in our faces and smiles in our hearts, we sailed forward into the wind (well, not exactly into the wind. It is an airfoil, though).

Our destination was Peter Island, southeast of Road Town. It is named for someone named Peter. It’s much smaller than Tortola and it took us a little over an hour to get there. Each person on the boat had a role they learned to do. I was in charge of the sheets (ropes) for the mainsail. Others were in charge of the ropes for the foresail, steering, and testing the effects of Dramamine.


Look at the adorable couple:

Upon arriving at Peter Island we attached to a mooring (a huge concrete block set at the seafloor which has a rope attached to it that has a floaty-thing on it). Then we took the dinghy to the shore. Since we wore our bathing suits and were planning to go swimming, I didn’t take my camera, for better of for worse in terms of what I am about to describe.

First, the “beach” - a little sand, but mostly what at first glance was rocks, but was actually bits of dead pieces of coral. For lunch we had bagels and cream cheese, with some tomato slices, salsa, and chips. Then it was time for the water!

The water was very clear (clearly with rocks on the bottom), so I kept my sandals on. But it was also clear in that we could see little schools of green fish, algae, and sea grass. Sammy even saw a sea turtle. But the real fauna stars of the moment were the pelicans, who swooped out of the sky to catch fish and then gobbled them up. If one came near I made sure to wave my arms, so they wouldn’t mistake me for a fish, despite any impressions of fish I can do.

Runner-up for fauna star was a smaller seabird which would land on the pelicans and try to steal their fish from them. It sounds crazy, but they would actually land on a pelicans back and just stand there, then stab their beak at the water and the pelican’s beak, to try to take the fish. We never saw it successfully grab a fish though, so it’s a questionable strategy.

Besides look at fish and birds, we brought a frisbee and a small football, which we threw around. It’s a bit harder to throw when you’re up to your shoulders in water.

After we took the dinghy back to the boat, Sammy and I stayed to bail out some water that had gotten in to the dinghy. Since it was already tied to the boat, we decided just to swim the distance back. I managed to swallow some sea water as I started. I don’t recommend it.

On the way back to Tortola we were hit with rainstorm. It came down hard, right as we had gotten mostly dry. I’ve driven in rain before, but it’s another experience having it hit you as you’re also traveling fast (although not nearly as fast as driving). What is cool about rainstorms when you’re on the water is that you can see it coming from a mile or two away (it looks grey and foggy and you cannot see the horizon). This gave us just enough time to take down the sails.

After the rain there was a rainbow.

Oh, I mean a DOUBLE RAINBOW.

We anchored off of Road Town about a quarter after 5, relaxed, and kashered our barbecue grill (thanks to Amichai for knowing what to do, Ben for doing it, and Yoni for figuring out how to work the stove in the first place). For dinner we feasted on bread, hot dogs, and salad. Ben even made us some salad dressing from scratch!

For the night’s entertainment we watched a movie (on a laptop) and then we either snoozed, showered, enjoyed the night breezes, prepared pasta for some more food before tomorrow, or...wrote a blog entry.

Come Fly With Me

Fly? Didn’t I say I’m On a Boat? Well. Time to catch you up on today’s events. Starting from last night.

Due to Artscape (an annual festival in downtown Baltimore) unexpectedly blocking the normal exit off the highway to the train station, I missed my train. Not to be deterred, my family graciously volunteered to have me drive myself (and them) to Newark. After a brief stop at home, we did so. Thanks to some iced coffee and very clear highways, I got to the airport with plenty of time. About an hour later I was joined by my friends, by the gate.

What do nice Jewish guys do at 6:50 in the morning?

The flight was uneventful, but for the fact that I thought I would be getting a meal, considering my confirmation email said “Special Meal: Kosher”. But as it turns out, Continental does not serve meals anymore. So that did not happen. Of note, however, is that we landed on an island, so if the landing had been messed up, we would have ended up in the water. Considering how muggy it is here in the middle of the day though, questionable if that would have been that bad.

Just kidding - one of the travel books we read claimed weather in the Virgin Islands is “ideal”. And the people are friendly too. Here we are after disembarking from the plane onto the tarmac and walking into the terminal. Did someone say free shots of rum?

After getting our stuff we took a taxi to the ferry service, which would take us from St. Thomas (American Virgin Islands) to Tortola (British Virgin Islands, or BVI). There was a bit of a wait until the next ferry, so we had some lunch. Also, there were roosters:

And an interesting sign:

The ferry was fun, with a little taste of home:

After disembarking at Road Town (yes, that is its name), we went through customs. We didn’t have any problems, but there was an alarming sign warning about cholera (don’t worry dad, we’re fine).

Then we took another taxi to TMM, where we are chartering our boat. It’s really nice. One of the guys from the office went over important information with us, much of it basic, about the boat. Now we’ve unpacked. The plan for tonight is: Finish kashering the kitchen, eat some dinner, and then head over to downtown Tortola for some grocery shopping and maybe (but probably won’t have time tonight), to see Harry Potter 7b.

More pictures to come!

What's in a Name?

Throughout rabbinic literature those who went on sea voyages were said to go and come from the “medinas hayam”, literally “the state of the sea”, or in common terms, “abroad” or “overseas”. This blog will be documenting my own experience in the medinas hayam, my own sea voyage: three weeks on a sailboat in the Virgin Islands.

I’m not alone: five friends are with me, and from time to time they may choose to contribute their own posts to this blog. Come read, comment, and live vicariously through us as we have the time of our lives.

(There will be pictures! A new post soon.)