WBSC 25th
Anniversary
“Change
Is The Name of This Game”
Crew: Rhonda Wagner, Captain. Al Donatto, First Mate. Aggie Briscoe, Bill Mckissick, Kilolo Kijazi,
Margarite Showers, John Munnerlyn, Leslie Edmonds
Friday, Nov. 20
Met some of the Water Babies in
Saturday, Nov. 21
Breakfast on the veranda overlooking
the harbor where sailboats, catamarans and a bodacioulsy huge yacht, the Coco
Loco, bobbed in the sweet
Hung around the marina for most of the
day just chilling and greeting new Babies as they arrived. Then around 3:30 the captains and first mates
attended the float briefing given by Alex, a charming and helpful guide. Jibs, hatches, lines, winches, pumps and all
the intricacies of helping a 51.5 foot boat stay upright and set a true course
were reviewed and inspected. The boats
are even equipped with a computer navigation system right under the helm with cursors
and tabs for charts.
The crews were then briefed aboard
each boat, followed by unpacking, losing and finding stuff, and figuring out
how to pump the heads without blocking the pipes (fingers crossed we don’t have
this issue “cuz the “smell good plumber” ain’t nowhere around St. Lucia.)
Dinner at the Château Mygo, located through
the banyan trees and under the banana palms.
It was happy hour (all day and night) with two drinks for $20 EC, the
equivalent of 8 bucks US. Hence the
laughing and reminiscing followed by more laughing. Back on the boat to enjoy the warm night
breeze and listen to sounds from iPods.
By 1:00 am we stumbled to our bunks for the first night under the same
roof, i.e. deck.
Sunday, Nov. 22
Woke to blue skies and a stirring
sense of anticipation.
There were showers taken, breakfast devoured, schedules set, captains
confabbing and music playing. Launch is set for 11:00.
Rhonda and her able-bodied crew were
the first of the 5 boats to get their sails up.
Now that’s what we’re talking about. The
On the 2+ hour sail from
But before we got started with the
drill, Rhonda spotted a school of dolphins off the starboard side. Lo and behold a large pod had found us and
decided we’d be really fun to play with.
It was fabulous! There was even a
mother who was teaching her baby how to frolic with a 52 foot white bottom hard
fish full of clapping and laughing humans.
They zoomed.
They circled. They leaped and arched out of the water. And then we tacked away. How magical.
With that experience fresh in our
hearts, we commenced with the MOB drill.
Well, all I have to say is this:
Only fall overboard if you can tread water for 40 minutes and you don’t
mind getting pulled on board by a hook.
Those two buoys were in a fight for their latex lives. But they were eventually saved and we were
glad. (Lost buoys cost money.)
The next challenge was for us to hook
the mooring buoy at the Pitons. Three
other boats had already moored so we had an audience to watch us work. After just a few attempts to get the crew
with the hook on the same side of the boat as the buoy, we were set.
It was a blowing, rocking bay. And as the lunch brigade went into the galley
to make the assigned sandwiches, we noticed the galley was filled with a strong
order of diesel fumes. The time was 3:30
pm. Then things got interesting Al went into the galley to investigate and
came back nearly green. He called the
Moorings to report the issue, as well as a few others we had discovered (steering
was too hard, part of the mainsail broke, etc.). And then we waited for the repair boat to
arrive.
By 4:00 Al was really sick from the
fumes and we were all struggling to keep from getting sick as well. The repairs didn’t work so the
Abut 10 minutes into holding our
breaths and watching the sea turn inky, Bennie caught up with us. The Moorings had decided to get him on board
to sail their boat back and limit the likelihood that we, and the boat, would
come to some dark and dank harm on the way.
Good move on their part since he knew the reefs and he didn’t need to read
a chart to find them.
Back at Marigot by 8:00 pm. The manager paid for our dinner (but not the
drinks since he knew there’d be plenty!).
And then we spent the night on “Stepping Up”, a catamaran that had
recently off-loaded. Tomorrow we’d learn
what’s next.
Monday, Nov. 23
The Longhorns got fixed and it was a
mighty job for the Moorings to get it right.
In the meantime, without any radio communication available to us, the
other WB’s left the Pitons for their next stop, Bequia. Our plan was now to sail at night, yet again,
to meet them by tomorrow morning. It’s a
9- hour sail to Bequia; about half of it would be in the dark. OooooooWeeee. The Moorings checked Al’s, Margarite’s, and
Rhonda’s credentials to determine they could pull this off, and we were
set.
At 11:45 am we left
As the sun was setting we got ready
for the night sail. Bumpers stowed, life
jackets on, lights off, and no one’s to leave the cabin. But it turned out to be a lovely moonlit
night complete with shore lights and moonbeams, so we could actually see the
horizon all the way.
To help keep our minds occupied and her
crew less freaked out, Rhonda suggested a night- sailing game, Telephone, which
we fully-grown adults were very excited to play. We played for over an hour. And it was just
what we needed to pass the time and reduce the potential for panic.
With good winds and better luck, we
arrived at Bequia an hour early. We
couldn’t get anyone on their cells or the radios (which would be a constant
issue for the whole trip), so we dropped the sails and looked for the flashing
yellow, red and green lights we read about in the Cruising Guide. Not sure we actually saw any of them, so we
just decided to gather our determination and head toward two bright white
lights straight ahead. These were either
a good sign or a bad omen.
Lo and behold a speed boat boy showed
up out of nowhere. “The African Pride”
had been sent by the other Babies to help us moor while they were on shore
having dinner. (Guess they were very
confident we could pull this night sailing thing off!) “Are you the 5th boat?” “Yes!”
He led us into the bay and to an empty mooring buoy. Ta & Da. We were hooked up at 8:45 pm. Then the first wine bottle was opened and
dancing commenced in celebration of our getting through the night without any
issue.
John and Kilolo made dinner, and it
was great; mahi mahi, scallops, rice, broccoli, and corn on the cob. A well- earned feast. And then to sleep. Phew.
Tuesday, Nov. 24
Banana pancakes, bacon, sliced pears,
apples and the retelling of the previous night’s adventures took up most of the
morning.
We then set up an island tour with
African Pride for 2:00 which gave some folks time to dive, others to shop and
most to eat Roti at the famous Green Boley; a spot the original Babies visited
more than 23 years ago. The tour took us
up one side of the island and down the other and it included a stop at the
Hawkbill Turtle sanctuary.
It was also the day before a hotly
contested election on changing the island’s constitution. “I Voting No” signs were everywhere. And our
jeep driver was a wealth of political opinions, which gave us a much better
understanding of the issues people were facing on this tiny spot of land. They are very passionate about their
government, as they should be. Tomorrow
is Election Day. We’ll see how it turns
out.
In the meantime, about 15 Babies went
to dinner and then to a “party” set up by African Pride. This guy is one multi-faceted entrepreneur. Turned out the party was a DJ with a turn
table in a covered patio (probably belonging to his son-in-law), but it was a
touch of local color far from the typical tourist jump up.
Back to the boat by midnight, a night
filled with a canopy of stars.
Wednesday, Nov. 25
Scheduled departure from Bequia was 10:00
and most of the boats made that target.
After getting our order of lobsters from, who
else but African Pride, the
After all the tacking we had done on
the long haul from
There were rain squalls and swells,
then an impromptu race with Astrid and Margarite at her helm. Big Fun. Big Wet Fun. On arrival at
As fate and Bad Luck would have it,
Greer’s boat, Changes, had its own share of mechanical grief. The engine went out just as they left Bequia,
and the boat had to be towed by two boat boys’ canoes. Besides being absolutely lovely, Canouan is a
Moorings’ base and it must have the best and most responsive mechanics in the
By 3:00 crews were BBQ’ing off their
sterns, folks were taking dips in the bay, and others dinghied to shore for
swimming, shopping (where?) and much needed showers (YES!).
Aggie and Al put together a lobster
feast that was a smashing success. We
then spent the evening laughing and talking until sleep took over.
Thursday,
Thanksgiving Day
Left for Tobago Cays at 9:00, a short
hop. By 10:30 we had moored inside this
lovely atoll along with about 20 other yachts, including one that looked like a
cruise ship. Bought t-shirts and assorted stuff from the ever- industrious floating
vendors and then decided to move to another location with a better anchorage.
Tobago Cays is an amazing spot that
resembles a 12 foot deep, 1 mile wide swimming pool surrounded by uninhabited
islets and sandy beaches. Turtles swim
by and wink at the boats and the breeze is sweet and steady.
Today was also Initiation Day for the
new Water Babies. Plans were made for
this tradition (and they took a while).
Five newbies were dinghied to the beach where all the “official” Babies
were waiting for them. The secret test
then ensued. The process of getting the
initiation underway was an adventure in itself, filled with drama, comedy, pathos
and of course changes. Half an hour
later there were five new Water Babies added to our ranks.
We frolicked on the beach until sunset
and agreed to meet that evening on Astrid for a group get-together.
Thanksgiving Dinner: John BBQ'd steaks and chicken breasts. Rhonda made string beans and potato salad
that took everyone back to their childhood memories of eating at the kitchen
table. It was a very non-traditional,
but very, very tasty meal. And the
turkey decorations helped to keep the mood festive.
It was a perfect day to give Thanks;
for the people, the place, and the opportunity to just BE here.
Per the plans we joined others on
Astrid for rum punch, snacks, and a fierce game of spoons. By 10:00 everyone dispersed to their own
boats to get in some zzzz’s prior to adventures that Friday would surely
bring. But zzzz’s did not come right
away. Rhonda introduced the crew to
“Hoopla” a pictionary, charades and tongue twister combo game. Midnight finally saw us fall asleep.
Friday, Nov. 27
After a quick, no-cooking breakfast,
we welcomed Bill Nelson back onboard (Al went to Astrid) for another day of
sailing instruction. The “plan” was to
get in a quick anchoring lesson, then head out of the Cays for
However, we looked up to see Changes
heading through the cut with the jib up, which only meant that her engine was
not working, yet again! The engine that was fixed in Canouan broke 24 hours
later and she was limping along while trying to get the Moorings to bring
assistance. The Moorings sent out a
chase boat and while the mechanics were attempting to fix the engine, the jib
sheet ripped. Holly Hannah. This is getting crazier and crazier. Is Changes a voodoo boat?
Greer got Changes moving with hopes to
get to Young
At 3:45 we found Sam the Taxi (boat) man,
who helped us hook the mooring and raced Rhonda to Customs before they
closed. (We couldn’t get off the boat
without clearing Customs.) Rhonda made
it in time to find out that we had bad info.
Customs closed at 8:00. Oh
well. At least we had a chance to show
our stuff on the high seas.
Got ice, got cleaned up and headed for
dinner on shore where most ate at the lovely restaurant, The French
Veranda.
Plans were proposed to deal with
Changes should her repairs not be made in time for our departure and the long
haul back to the dreaded Pitons. The
first plan was for 3 boats to leave after getting an update from
The Longhorns were to stay with
Changes and escort her to the Pitons since we’re now experienced in night
sailing. If the boat isn’t “escort-able”,
we may have to disperse her crew and leave Changes in
We’ll see what changes the morning
brings.
Saturday, Nov. 28
Greer negotiated with the Moorings to
have a SunSail captain take Changes to the Pitons, a 6- hour ride. Once the ripped jib was repaired and the
captain cleared Customs, Longhorn followed Changes out of the harbor around
12:30. The other boats had left a few
hours earlier.
The passage was expected to be a rough
and bumpy one with winds gushing 30 – 40 knots.
We hunkered down and expected a battle.
But to everyone’s relief, it wasn’t bad at all. Or we had just been through so much, it was hard to tell Bad from Good. The swells were minimal and the winds never
got above 20 knots. We took shifts at
the helm which helped bide the time and avoid potential seasickness. And then about ½ of the way into the passage
the dolphins arrived. Another
large pod of jumping, beauties racing and leaping all around the boat. But this group had pink bellies, bumble gum pink bellied dolphins cavorting all
around us. No one had every seen or
heard of this species. They were
beautiful and friendly and stayed with us for nearly a half hour. A very sweet encounter.
In the meantime, Changes caught the
wind and pulled out about 30 minutes ahead of us. Good for them. It was the first positive sign for this boat
in days.
The Babies, who had arrived earlier,
alerted the
Cooked dinner on board and was told we
were to be the host for a fierce spoons game.
Two boats came over and the game, music, and laughter began. Even the SunSail Captain joined in, albeit
shyly.
But about an hour into the festivities,
someone yelled, “man overboard!” Turns
out, Charlene tried to straddle the dinghy while attempting to return to her
boat and whammo, into the drink she went.
She may have hit her head on something, ‘cuz we heard quite a thud. But trooper that she was, she pulled herself
up onto the boat. Good thing too since
after all those MOB drills, no one threw her a floatation device, a life
jacket, a line, nothing. We just stood
there and watched her flail in the dark waters.
Guess we need more drills.
Dinghies are dangerous; small but dangerous!
We calmed down and went back to
spoons. And then, more
yelling from on top. “Get out the
fenders!” Followed by everyone down below yelling, “Oh shit!” The perfect technical
response. Ran
up the ladder to see the uninhabited Changes (of course) backing right into our
stern. She had been moored next
to us, but the mooring didn’t hold and she was heading on a collision course toward
us. Rhonda leaped onto her deck followed by Greer and the SunSail captain. We verified that the Longhorn wasn’t moving
as well, then put fenders out and positioned the dinghies between the two boats. Will Changes never quit!???
And to top it off, while all this was
going on, Al had quietly rowed our dinghy to a nearby and very dark beach to
get away from it all (good move) and find some solitude. Much to our dismay, he opted not to be
located and stayed on the rocky beach until nearly dawn. Sometime during the early morning hours he
returned to the boat and his bunk. The
Pitons are a wild and crazy place.
Sunday, Nov. 29
Last day on board. Woke up in the Pitons to a
lovely sunrise. Changes took off
around 7:00 for
It was an uneventful journey back to
There were Customs clearing, picture
taking, luggage hauling, etc. etc. and then checking into our rooms at the
Discovery Hotel.
Sunday evening several boat crews met for dinner at Chateau Mygo to
reminisce and share stories. The
Longhorns presented our Captain and 1st Mate with gifts of
appreciation for all they taught us and the fun they helped create.
That night everyone slept well and steady
in a bed that didn’t rock. Ah, the
simple pleasures.
Monday, Nov.30
Some went diving, at the Pitons no
less. They just couldn’t get enough of
that place. Underwater it’s as full of
life as it is above water, which is a good sign that the coral is healthy.
Others ate, chilled by the pool, got
messages, and chilled some more.
The most activity was getting ready
for the evening’s 25th Anniversary Banquet presentations. The team working on this event went through
their own version of Changes, real and imaginary, to nail down the details and
final touches for the special celebration.
And it was worth the effort. Each
boat presented its own memorial of the trip:
·
Changes: Poetry read to the soft sounds of
Aretha Franklin’s classic, “Chain (Change) of Fools”. Very appropriate.
·
Astrid: A Blues Brother rap (Your sails are
made of lead, our sails are made of Gold)
·
·
La Vida: Electric Slide routine of their adventures
·
Southern Accent
aka Southern Comfort: three verses of
WBSC set to the tune of YMCA including hand movements and dance moves. We now have our theme song!
Other patrons in the restaurant
laughed, applauded and just cracked up.
They didn’t expect to get dinner and a show, but hey, this was their
lucky day.
Stories were shared of the
significant, touching, meaningful or just plain funny experiences on trips
during the first 10 years of the Water Babies.
This oral history was culminated with a toast to French Stone, the
person with the vision of “Let’s go sailing in the
More dancing and then the night ended
with a special glow that was made more intense by the full moon overhead.
Tuesday, Dec. 1
Tim’s plans to bike the hills of
That evening John and Leslie gave a
farewell, potluck cocktail party for all the crews who hadn’t yet left
Log: Leslie Edmonds
Photos: Leslie
Edmonds and John Munnerlyn