bvi captains log blog

...well the other two were business related and this is just chit chat.
I have blogged about two out of the three of our usual "treats" when we are off charter. Going to St Thomas shopping and having a town day in Roadtown. Does anyone know what the third "treat" is I have missed?
I can't wait to find out who knows that, it is "Maintenance" and guess what, that day has come around. All the boys have shown up back to work whether they wanted to or not and Bazza is in "tunnel vision" mode. As Brent said, when he saw his face this morning " talk to you about 8 tonight kerry, I see Bazza's face and I better go follow him around!"
They let Brent loose with a DRILL! No wonder he has a maniacal laugh on his face!! Apparently the heads in the aft of the yacht have 150% more power in the flushing mode of the heads then they used to. If the charters we have had later are anything to go on, this was a good thing!

I am not sure how the ROV made it here on Maintenance day....

We are getting a new trampoline put on the left side. We made it last fall, but decided not to put it on until we REALLY needed it. Apparently they cannot contact cement the old one any more, or it is getting close to the end of charter season when boys are still here to put on! You take your choice!!

Simeon made friends with one of the younger local boys yesterday, and they were feeding him sodas left and right (to his parent's dismay I bet!) Until a few hours of me listening to little feet run back and forth across the deck and climbing all over the boat and I think I said something like "enough, you can't keep him!" (Meanie I am!)

And this is just a picture of Simeon, as apparently i am just supposed to put up pictures of him for everyone's viewing pleasure!


Someone told me today that they thought he looked like Jesus! Simeon is many things but Jesus he is not! (He tells me to ** off regularly I think!) BUT I do have a funny Simeon story that some of you will find amusing.
Simeon is walking back from the store. He does that often here. A young lad comes up to him with paper and pen in hand and tells him he HAS to take it. Simeon, in his scottish way, refuses. The boy is very adamant. After going back and forth about this for a bit, Simeon takes the note, as apparently he did not have much choice. The boy said it was from a male...

Simeon starts reading and it says how this guy (who is about 20) watches him every day, and he has never sucked a male (you fill in the blank here) before and apparently, Simeon is the number one candidate for that! At the bottom of the page there is two boxes, one to circle yes, one to circle no...I will leave it to you to decide which one he circled... and leave you with that image tonight!

I had someone tell me in an email this weekend that my openings for next winter were "dismal". I guess that means I better do an entry saying what IS available.
We have great availability anywhere after August 5th up until December 19th of this year! AND the all inclusive charter price for 7 nights (except SCUBA) is $18,900. instead of $20,900 for fully crewed or $11,000 instead of $12,000. for our "a la carte" option. So that is not dismal! We will even put Thanksgiving in that category which is open.

We have a signed contract for Xmas Charter, but we are still waiting to receive the money.
We are open for New Years still (unheard of for us) from Dec 28th until Jan 4th.
Open: Between January 12th and January 29th

Then, yes it is a bit dismal. We have nothing in February. We are also full in March, except:
I have March 7th to 13th that has a hold on it, but no signed contract or deposit.
March 14th to 20th, we are waiting on deposit
March 29-April 5th, we are waiting on deposit.

IF you are confident of your dates and ready to send money, you can "challenge" any dates that have holds on them, then the party who is holding the yacht has 48 hours (during the business week) to either deposit the dates or lose them. You should be ready and willing to confirm the dates however, if you challenge them and they open up.

April 19th through 25th we have a cabin only sailing on. There is two cabins sold on it and 3 more are available!

We are then open between April 26th and May 15th.
We are open again May 24th the entire summer, except for as I just posted, Wreck Week, which is June 12th through 19th and it is available in any shape or form at the moment, you just have one more option on it! Note: IF we do sell a cabin on wreck week, then it will only be available for cabin bookings.
Typically the end of June and July is very popular with families here on Promenade, so if you are looking at any those dates, I would jump on them soon.

Wreck Week 2010

OK, trying to get caught up on web work here...The BVI SCUBA ORGANIZATION, along with the BVI TOURIST BOARD and all us individual operators have come up with our dates for wreck week 2010 and here are our details! Once I get these up I can work on updating the BVISO site on it!

June 12th- 19th, 2010 in conjunction with The BVI Tourist Board, your week on Promenade will include 6 nights and 7 days onboard our wide stable air conditioned multi-hull with all buffet meals, cocktails and h'or d'oeuvres, wine with dinner, all diving, and other water sports including fishing, waterskiing, kayaking. Package also includes a guided narrated tour of Salt Island, your own personal chart to mark your trip around the islands, a complimentary book on the Chikuzen or RMS RHONE, and a souvenir t-shirt! Cost of package is $2000.00 per person, based on double occupancy per cabin. Discounts are available for a group chartering the entire yacht.

Our style of diving on Promenade is casual. If you are a photographer, please feel free to go at your own pace. If you want a divemaster to lead you, follow our crew member, if you prefer diving by yourself after a thorough briefing on the site, go ahead. IF you want to get up very early in the morning and jump in the water (as we tend to anchor over dive sites because of night dives this week) feel free to (as long as a crew member knows that you are in the water).

This is a sample itienary ONLY. We have two wrecks, the Parametta and the ROCUS on Anegada Reef, that if the weather conditions allow, we will be going out to dive. We do however, guarantee to hit as many wrecks as we can in the time as we can and to do unlimited diving.


Day One:
Board Promenade 12 noon . Promenade will welcome you with a light lunch before sailing over to the wreck of the FEARLESS outside Great Harbor on Peter Island to do our first wreck dive. We will anchor for the evening at Little Harbor on Peter Island.
Day Two:
We will dive Carrot Rock on the outside of Peter Island after breakfast, one of our favorite dive sites, with pinnacles reaching from 70 feet up to the surface. Lunch will be at White Bay at Peter Island, with time for a beach excursion or snorkeling trip before we dive “Brown Pants” on the outside of Norman Island, or Santa Monica Rock, so named for the Santa Monica that hit the pinnacles here on April 29th, 1783 and subsequently sank at Water Creek on St John. We will anchor for the night at Privateer Bay on Norman Island. Also known as the Caves at Treasure Point and the setting of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island.
Day Three:
After a snorkel before breakfast with all the Glassy Eyed Sweepers in the caves, we will take a short hop over to the Indians, so named as they look like an Indians feathered headdress from a distance, where we will do a dive before sailing up for lunch at Salt Island. After hearing the history of the wreck of the Rhone we will dive the Rhone in the afternoon, and then after dinner SCUBA to watch the turtles sleeping underneath the wreck and the lobsters and crabs wandering around. This is bar none, not only the Best Wreck dive in the Caribbean, but also in the top 5 dives of the world. We will anchor overnight on Salt Island.
Day Four:
Up and in the water early for a dive before breakfast before anyone else has a chance to disturb the wreck, we will then sail, weather permitting, out to the wreck of the CHIKUZEN, our second most famous wreck. We will dive the Chikuzen before lunch and again, after lunch before taking a leisurely sunset sail into Muskmelon Bay on Guana Island, one of our favorite deserted anchorages.
Day Five:
After a breakfast of watching the pelicans circling while they feed on the billions of bait fish in this bay, we will go around to the outside to dive Grand Central Station. Grand Central Station is so named for the many fish that converge around here, and it is capped up by a spectacular large cave that goes through the island at about 60 feet. We will then sail over to Cooper Island and dive the wreck of the Beata after lunch. We will stay overnight at Haulover Bay there and fit in another night dive.
Day Six:
We have two wrecks on our diving agenda today, the Inganess and the Marie L and the Pat, along with spectacular snorkeling and beachcombing before making our way around to Salt anchorage for our guided and narrated tour of the island, which is a very important part of the RMS Rhone’s history! We will then have a wrap up barbecue that evening on Salt Island!
Day Seven:
Sadly, it is time to sail back to Road Town in the morning to disembark and leave paradise, with great memories.


PACKAGE:

Accommodation with Yacht Promenade Liveaboard

6 nights, 7 days inc all food and beverages (wine with dinner, cocktails, unlimited beer and soda)

Unlimited diving featuring the wrecks of the BVI, inc a minimum of 3 dives on the wreck of the RMS Rhone (inc 1 night dive)

Dive Anegada (weather permitting), inc The Chikuzen and The Rocus

Special souvenir T-shirt

Souvenir Chart to map your week

Dive Book on the Chikuzen or RMS Rhone

Wrap up tour of Salt Island

$4000.00 based on 2 people sharing a cabin.