Yacht Haven Grande welcomed me with opened arms…

So, I finally arrived at the Boat Show at noon today. On the way to Yacht Haven Grande I shared a taxi with Dave and Theresa from Orange County, California. They were on their way to the airport after their first vacation in the Virgin Islands. They were blown away by what they experienced – from Virgin Gorda, Soggy Dollar Bar at Jost Van Dyke, to Duffy’s Love Shack in Red Hook.

In addition, I shared a taxi from the airport with a couple just arriving from New England for their first visit to the Caribbean for a wedding. Within four minutes they wanted to know how they could own property in the Virgin Islands. I immediately gave them my business card and the taxi dropped them off at Emerald Bay Resort. Dave and Theresa said they want to talk their friends into sharing the cost of buying a condo in the Virgin Islands so they can do it year after year.

I then walked into the Yacht Haven Grande headquarters and Christina Bisio, from San Francisco ( small world ), welcomed me with a smile, and said, “We have looked forward to your arrival. We will be your blogging computer center while you are doing your Caribbean Islands lifestyle detective work. Where would you like to set up your computer?”

The next Yacht Haven person that welcomed was Bernard Attidore from Dominica – director of logistics. Now, he is the man to know if you need something done. His assistant, Stephen Parks, was invaluable in implementing everyone’s boat needs today. That was the start the first moments at the Show, and it set the standard as to what has already unfolded in the last several hours – he three letters are WOW!

My next stop was to meet with the “squeaking wheel” that made a casual remark last year that the Boat Show needed to move up about ten notches in class – Shelly Tucker. Boy, was Shelly and the VICL Boat Show committee successful in delivering a world class Show. She is the first stop for all of the participants at the Boat Show, and what a great first impression.

She and her husband, Randy, and their first mate, own Three Moons, and have already created an envied reputation within the Caribbean Charter Fleet. I asked her, “What’s in it for you to be so involved in a Boat Show where you actually need to be marketing to the Charter Yacht Brokers as opposed to being the “Show Greeter?” She responded, “Giving back is the name of the game in the charter community. If there is a way to improve the Charter League’s exposure then it helps everyone improve.” My kind of professional – to whom much is given, much is required.

Since I hadn’t had a meal in over 24 hours the first question I asked Shelly is where could I get a great fish sandwich. She said, “Wikked”. What happened for the next hour+ was another one of my memorable adventures at a bar / restaurant. Holy Moly! Wikked means “really good” in the Caribbean. It is a phrase that came from Jamaica.

Of course, my first stop was at the bar and since I was alone, I immediately went to the bar for lunch. Who was there to welcome me was an “old salt”, Captain Danny T, the bartender! The next hour was tales of the Caribbean life. Danny T left Allentown, Pennsylvania years ago, got his captains license and hasn’t left the Caribbean since. He is a live-a-board in Charlotte Amalia harbor and even is building a 14 room apartment building in Frenchtown. He takes his dingy to work, so the traffic jam is not what one experiences in any of the major U.S. cities. And, he mixes a mean rum drink.

The next introduction was to Catherine Theodore – a St. Lucian with roots in Dominica, who is the manager of Wikked. After meeting me she turned to her wait staff and let them know I was her new “husband”. I told her I was married to a wonderful women, and she said, “Just tell Ann Marie I am a Temp.” She let me know it would be a wonderful short marriage because her ex-husband was at the bar, John, and he paid her a lot of alimony and her kids are no problem at all. I immediately knew this would be a “no-problem marriage”, even if for 15 minutes.

Catherine also let me know that she was considering putting together a “Girls Of Wikked Calendar” with her wait staff as the models. I asked her if I could be the photographer. She said, “No problem!” The “shoot” is set up for tomorrow at the yellow stripped tent if anyone wants to stop by. I can’t wait.

As I was downloading this blog posting, in walks Laura Schaub from the yacht “Storm Petrel”. She and Captain Phil Levine just arrived from an 11 day sail across the Atlantic from Cape Cod in order to show off their boat this week. They usually complete the crossing in nine days, but they ran into the tail-end of Hurricane Noel and were in blinding rain and wind for two days over Halloween. ( It must have been the Holiday that was the problem. Never sail on Halloween.)

What a commitment to arrive on the day of the boat show, clean, and polish their yacht for the inspection of the Charter Yacht Brokers. You have no idea the work that it takes to prepare a boat for this show. Another example of the amazing people who make up the Caribbean charter fleet. There is only a few hours left for today’s previews. I think I will wander back to Wikked and get another rum drink from Danny T. There may not be any more photos today – just a guess. Until next time…