Little Black Dresses on Cane Garden Bay...

I don't think I talk about my crew enough on here, except of course, when I am taking cheap pot shots at them and ridiculing them in pictures or words! However, I could not do what I do without them, and without a doubt, I could NOT have done this busy season without them.
In the inner workings of a charter boat, there are always crew dynamics, good and bad, especially when you live together 24/7. AND at almost 50, I often mostly feel like i am too old to be living with other people! I don't even live with my grown sons!
These two guys, who drive me crazy at times are as good of crew as you are going to find for charter boats. And I know, I have had lots over the years (mostly who thought I was a bitch and these two may as well... at times!)
Simeon is our dour scotsman, our First Mate and Dive Instructor, who came back to Promenade after working with us for a season back about 7 years ago. It was a busy year, and the only thing I remember about the end of the last season he worked here is that we were fed up with each other. He degreased and painted a compressor at the end of the season that took fffoooorrreveeeerrrr in Bazzas eyes.
The first week he worked for us, he tells me, I told him that I hated PADI Instructors, of which he had proudly just became a card carrying member of. Yeah, I kind of remember, we were in 50 feet and he had resort divers that could only go to 40 feet and I told him to deal with it...so, we may have been on the Rhone or something like that, but as a card carrying PADI member, he should have ALREADY have taught them the skill of swimming at 30 feet into shallower water shouldn't he have??

Simeon is our guy who gets up first thing in the morning. Never fail. Which means that I don't have to get out of bed until 830 or 9. I know he will always be up, quietly taking care of the guests. He is not the life of the party, but his patience with SCUBA and Snorkeling guests is incredible, and they always feel totally secure with him. THis is Simeon (and BRent) but that is another post, patiently giving snorkeling lessons to 10 60 plus year old women in 8 feet of water at White Bay on Jost. Gotta love the guy...I disappear quickly and think I have buns to make!

Simeon can be incredibly stubborn, in a quiet way, and boy we have clashed a couple of times! Underneath it all, we like each other, and I appreciate his reliability, honor, and steadfastness. I truly do think he is honourable.

Our guests truly do like them, if for nothing else then the fact that he is (in their words) eye candy! He has a very quiet voice, (unlike me) which means that they smile and nod at him a LOT!

Today they told him that he had "Brad Pitt" eyes, I am sure that is a compliment!

Simeon has a tattoo on his arm that he refuses to tell any of the guests what it means, and that just makes him more mysterious in their eyes! I think it says something incredibly original like " I am a dour scotsman, leave me alone" Our Scotsman was actually born in Wales and has a few illustrious forbearers, generals in armies and people who discovered important things. Can't remember for the life of me what they are tonight though...

And then there is Brent. Brent is our steward, and all around "bottom of the totem pole guy" He is everyones favorite kid brother and has the sweetest personality you can imagine. He truly cares about taking care of our guests. It is not an act, he is enthusiastic and will go out of his way to be helpful and concerned to crew and guests alike. He loves hugs! And is so secure in his own self worth ( on the outside) that is incredible.
As you can see, he has a problem with being relaxed!

His brother told me that it was almost a game in the family to see who could buy Brent the most obscure weird piece of clothing, and no matter what it was, he would put it on, thank the person and it would go into his normal daily closet. He keeps on saying that he has to learn how to buy his own clothes, but until then, he happily takes whatever Bazza has grown out of or the guests left behind!
Brent is one of the few stewards or stewardesses I know who ACTUALLY goes on the internet to look up napkin folds, as opposed to the rest of us on the boat who throw them in a napkin ring and think they look lovely!

Brent is our after dinner crew member...(so none of the rest of us have to stay up late...are you seeing a pattern here?) Brent sets up the breakfast stuff, put the boat and sometimes the guests to bed, even after happily taking them ashore to play "cougar" one more night...Of course, Brent is only 25....

Brent will happily dance with our women

or probably men if they wanted him too as well!

He is a chatterbox and a first class ham...

He has more energy then I could ever hope to have, as you look at him here doing the stroke it contest last night at Foxy's remember that we had just dropped off guests at 10 AM yesterday morning, turned the boat around, picked up new guests and here he was...

So he only came in second place...we have to forgive him some things!!!

Brent makes us all laugh, guests and crew alike and will do anything asked with a smile.

Both the boys are working towards getting their captains licenses, as they should. They work cheerfully and hard for me, doing extra things that are not even really their job like putting together my SCUBA gear, getting me ice and drinks, etc etc. They have both worked so incredibly hard this winter, with VERY few days off! We tease Brent as he gets ten days off in a couple weeks to go back to Canada for a wedding and baptism, and Simeon and i are already wondering who is going to do everything that Brent does!! Bazza? Perhaps, but probably not!
OK, that is mushy enough. I could go on to Bazza, but as I married him you probably already know that i think he is pretty special. Bazza can fix anything. Not only can he fix it, he will have incredible patience while I whine about it! Gotta love him for that alone!

He gets us everywhere we are going safely, sometimes in spite of me, who is much more of a risk taker then he is...It is usually me going "but why can't we anchor in this exposed anchorage with a hurricane coming and 8 foot seas?" Bazza is going to be an eccentric old man in his future, working on his "projects" of which there is many...

That covers it for the boys tonight. Way too mushy for me so I shall go onto the ladies and our day...Well night anyways.
After dinner last night, I did not think they were going to rally to go to Foxy's

What would you think looking like this?

But, I was wrong and FOXY's, they were a going!

They found handbags and glad rags...

And maybe even a wig or two and off they went escorted By Brent!



Some, were hand picked for the stroking contest...

Some (smartly) refused!

And apparently he made the right choice...

As ours walked away with FOXY's FIRE RUM (and I am sure that is exactly what it tastes like, about the same quality as the Willy T's rum that you could also use for paint thinner and bilge cleaner!)

NOt sure how this one got into this order, but this is the girls arriving yesterday..

And me looking like the grinning cheshire cat in the background (or the grinch)

We told our guests that if they fit they could go in and out of their hatches, although they could not stand on them. These ladies are a bit older, so they had a hard time figuring out which hatch we actually meant...No my dear, you cannot fit through this one!

It was off to White Bay on Jost this morning, bright and early before the entire world showed up...



"to boldly go where no man has gone"



Well, to boldly go straight to the Soggy Dollar Bar at 9 AM for painkillers anyways!!!



And maybe One Loves as well!

We spent the morning and then it was snorkeling lesson time. Now this is more of a complicated mission with women, as they have to make sure to model their masks and make sure they are coordinated with their outfits!

Then what happens if they change outfits the next day???

I went to my old standby, making buns, and left the boys to it!

Some of us looked like we were really going on safari, either that or looking to attract the zebras on the beach!

Do you see how nicely matched the green on the skirt of the mask and the green in the swimsuit is? We were especially pleased with this one!

Yeah, they maybe vamped for the cameras a bit!

Of course being a SUnday of a long weekend with the Puerto Rican Navy in town we KNEW that White Bay was going to get pretty busy...

But we were even amused at how they managed to raft up in a 6 foot area between our boats and damn it! They worked at it for a long time to make it happen too!!

Of course when we went to leave it left us NO room at all to even attempt to get out the channel, which means we actually have to bump over the reef a bit to get out!



We were on our way up to Sandy Spit for our first "real" snorkel with "real" fish. which led to the Titanic moments...

Although they did enjoy the trampolines and the water rushing by...

We found mudslides for cocktail hour...

We practically had to twist their arms to stop them from mooning the customs boat wandering around the anchorage at Cane Garden Bay and the Music Fest...

And then they showered and put on their little black dresses to go in with Brent tonight while the rest of the crew, you guessed it! Got to go to bed! Thanks Brent...