It's The Least We Could Do

When you own a boat and spend the winter sailing in the Caribbean it's no surprise to find that you have a lot of friends. Our friends, the Langfields, who liked us before we even owned a boat, came down and spent 10 days sailing with us. They actually like us so much that they now want to move to the islands so they can hang out with us all winter. We fully support this wise decision so this was the perfect opportunity to help then in their search for an island home. To give them a proper introduction to the islands, we took them to all of our favorite spots so they could experience what it is that we love about this place. Really, it's the least we could do. 

      From Francis Bay to Anegada we sailed, swam, snorkeled, and soaked up the sun. We also fine-dined on Virgin Gorda , ate the worst fish tacos ever at Saba Rock, endulged in the huge Anegada lobsters, and had some pretty wonderful Pad Thai at Rhumb Lines.  When we weren't eating, we spent most of those ten days in the water. We swam with turtles while snorkeling at Norman Island, saw absolutely nothing while diving at the Playground and splashed in the bubbling pool at Jost.

     We ran bow to stern and side to side, squealing like kids as four dolphins entertained us with their shenanigans when they spent about five minutes swimming alongside the boat. Truly an incredible sight to behold! 

The worst taco's ever...no takers

    I may have been the one to blame for the water fight that ended with all of us in the sea, fully clothed. We had just gotten back on the boat after a hike and I squirted Blondie in the face as I was hosing her feet off. Then I had to hose the dog’s feet off, so she pretended to help me, but then proceeded to hose me off—top to bottom. Karmas a biatch! The Big Guy was bailing water out of the dinghy and not paying any attention to us, so I told Blondie to get the bucket and blast him when he got out of the dinghy, which she did, which in turn immediately caused Big to grab her and throw her overboard. Dagwood was standing on the back of the boat laughing at all this, so I walked up behind him and pushed him off. With all 3 of them in the water, fully clothed, laughing and giving me "the look" that said "instigator", I knew there was no way that I was going to be able to save myself from the drink, so I bailed in.

     We did dry off long enough to go to Giorgio’s Table, one of, if not thee best restaurant in the whole BVI’s. I had buttered up Giorgio on a previous visit, so when he offered to let me take a pasta making class with his chef, I was all over it. Blondie and I spent an afternoon making lobster ravioli, pappardelle, tagliatelle, farfalle, tortellini and more. Later that night we went back for what was an amazing dinner.

Yep, that little speck up
there is Dagwood

     By the end of the trip the Langfields were hooked, the deal sealed by the dolphins, so with their impending move in mind, we began the search for property. 

     Well let me tell you that there is not a thing wrong with the housing market in the USVI or BVI’s.  A cool million will still buy you a dump…or a corner lot with nothing on it. 

     Hmmm, maybe they should just buy a boat, Blondie concluded, after all they now officially have boating experience. Dagwood went to the top of the mast which technically makes him a Captain, and Blondie can mix a cocktail while under sail, gracefully get in and out of the dingy without doing a face plant and spell BOAT backwards AND forwards! That pretty much makes them both every bit as qualified as The Big Guy and me! 

The Langfields new boat/RV combo

     Finally on the last day we found the perfect boat-RV combo for them. Not too expensive, and it came with a charming little deck on the back, a hardtop with a TV antenna mounted on it, and even some showy little lattice work.

Blondie, posing beside their new dinghy

Yeah, so the dinghy that goes with it needs a little work but that's to be expected when you  buy used. Unfortunately they had to leave before they could make an offer, but Big and I could see it in their eyes that they really fell in love with that little piece of heaven. We are surprising them by fronting the money and closing the deal on their behalf. They can reimburse us next week. It's the least we could do, I mean what are friends for? We are looking forward to sailing with them in the winter and RV-ing with them in the summer!  Hmmm, I wonder if they will still like us as much.

The happy couple.
Their new boat/RV can be seen in the background.
I'm sure they'll thank us later!

This is a recipe I created one night when I didn't have about half of the ingredients needed to make the recipe that I really wanted to make.  It turned out to be a keeper.  I made it for the Langfields on their last night here.  If they are still speaking to us I'll ask them to vouch for its yummyness!  Go to the "Recipes" tab at the top of this page to view it.

Ginger-Sesame Marinated Shrimp over Pasta
with Wasabi-Butter Cream Sauce