A look at the Cruising Community

One of the most interesting and fun aspects of this adventure has been meeting (and becoming a part) of the Cruising Community. These are the people that we have met along our travels. Most we have met on the docks, coves and Internet Cafes.

Captain Neil Perks – He was our charter Captain the first three days. He is a “serial entrepreneur” having run several businesses on Tortolla. One of these was flight-seeing rides in a seaplane departing from a floating dock. His plane is a Leza Air Cam - an experimental twin-engine airplane. It has only three seats – all in a row. The first seat is occupied by the Pilot (who must be wearing goggles), the other two are for the tourists. This airplane has no roof so the tourists can see in a 360-degree vantage. Since it is classified as an experimental plane, Neil had some interesting interactions with the aviation authorities, leading to the business being temporarily shut down. Neil had many stories of the famous people who were passengers, these included: Robert (“Bob”) DeNiro, Jimmy (“JB”) Buffet, Keith Richards, etc. He also was a professional boat Captain for a Mega Yacht and now part time Captaining for Sunsail and others as a free-lance Captain. He has many stories of the interesting clients he has served. We really enjoyed our time with Captain Neil and expect to meet up with him over New Years at Foxy’s on Jost Van Dyke Island.

Some of the first folks we met were Mr. Denado and “Greer” from the San Francisco Sailing Club called, “Water Babies”. They chartered two 50’ monohull sailboats and each boat had 8 sailors. Mr. Denado and Greer were the two respective captains. This is an African-American sailing club. They were on a weeklong cruise from Tortola to San Juan, Puerto Rico. They make a one-week sailing trip each year in various parts of the world. Mr. Denado has an extensive sailing resume to include the Straights of Magellan. They ordered their groceries (“provisions”) from a gourmet Grocery Store called “The Hamper”. It was interesting to watch the uniformed Hamper employees marching down the docks with boxes of delicacies to their two Yachts. They had assigned one person to put together the menus and each person had responsibilities for the various meals. It sure looked like they were going to eat well.

Also at the very beginning we met Sondra and John from Cornell New York. We shared a taxi with them to “Bobby’s” the local grocery store. We “provisioned” the low cost way by doing it ourselves. John is a veterinarian specializing in horses. They sailed a 50’ Catamaran along with another family (buddies from their Veterinarian school days). They sailed with a son, 16 and a daughter; 8.This is their third sailing vacation.

Kevin and Keith, brothers, are 50ish physicians (Kevin – Psychiatrist from Wyoming, Keith – Emergency Room from Dallas). They sailed the 50’ Monohull named, “Hacienda II” from Tortola to Culebra and back. They try to take an “adventure” vacation each year – just the two brothers. Kevin said that his wife has not been too interested in joining them – prefers European vacations and museums! Keith’s wife is a Flight Attendant and she travels too much and likes to take her vacations at home. They reported that the 50’ sailboat was “a little too much for them”. We met them on the sail back from Culebra when we both stopped at Crown Bay Marina and then found ourselves together on the Sunsail dock when they were leaving and we were in for repairs.


Anchored at Christmas Cove, our neighbors were a young (upper 20s) Finish Couple with their 18 month old. They had safety netting that wrapped over the stanchions. They were sailing a “well worn” 36’ monohull sailboat. They are live aboards (not sure how long as there was a substantial language barrier). They were no longer at Christmas Cove when we came back by in December.

Also anchored at Christmas Cove was a 50ish British Couple residing in the 60’ Pilothouse Ketch sailboat – lovely boat. They were nudists until Sunday rolled around and both took outdoor showers, got dressed up and left on their dinghy toward St. Thomas. They returned after sundown. They also were no longer at Christmas Cove when we returned in December.

David and Chris (from Texas). We met them on the Ferry ride back from San Juan to Culebra. David is the proud new owner of “Yellow Bird” a 44’ monohull that he purchased from Moorings. He and Chris were working on outfitting the boat for some extensive Caribbean travels. They are both currently “unattached” but made it clear that they are “not a couple”. David was enjoying his “first retirement” and hoped to find a wife and have a family some time after this adventure, which he expected to last a couple of years. His family flew in for Thanksgiving and stayed at the Marriott overlooking Pacquereau Bay. We were anchored with them one night before meeting them again in Culebra.

Cruising Couple, upper 50’s, who have been out for 2.5 years in a 26’ monohull sailboat. We met them in the Internet Café in San Juan. They were coming from Turks and Caicos on their way to Venezuela when they stopped over in San Juan, Puerto Rico awaiting their kids who were flying in for Thanksgiving.

Klaus, 60ish, single fellow with paralyzed vocal cords (he speaks in a raspy whisper). We met Klaus at Crown Bay the first time we went through. His “well worn” 60’ monohull sailboat named Sand Castle is anchored just outside of Crown Bay Marina. On our third visit there, we anchored next to Klaus. He spends a lot of time at the Internet Café managing his investments (he carries a notebook of data) and also in “chatrooms”. He says he gets 400 emails a day. Last time we saw Klaus he was Captaining the “Blue Water Dives” commercial boat and headed out with an all female crew. He honked, waved and blew kisses to us as he departed.

Heidi and John from Groton, Connecticuit. They have been working on their 26’ sailboat that was currently in a slip in Marina Del Ray, Fajardo, Puerto Rico. They were waiting for parts when we met them. They were purchasing them over the internet and having them delivered to the marina. Heidi is quite a bit younger than John. John is retired and this is “his dream”. They do not have a refrigerator and are using a standard picnic cooler to keep their perishables. They fill it with a bag of ice each day. Heidi said that she told John that “this is his dream and not her dream to cook on a 26’ boat. So if it can’t be eaten cold or purchased then it wasn’t going to happen”. John works on the boat and Heidi spends the day on the computer in the free WiFi area keeping in contact with friends and family back home. They have been out for five months.

Bob from Miami. We met Bob and his wife at the car rental office in Fajardo. We were both in slips at Marina Del Ray. They have been out for just under two years. Once they “departed” for their cruising adventure, they were surprised to find that 7 months passed with them tied to a mooring ball in Miami enjoying the “Mooring Ball” social life. They finally headed off into the Caribbean. They had been “holed up” in Venezuela for the hurricane season and were just now headed back toward Miami expecting that trip to take another year.

At the WiFi Hot Spot in the Bitter End Yacht Club, we met a fascinating gentleman from McClellanville, SC (originally from South Africa) named Neal Petersen. He was sailing the Virgin Islands for a couple of months with his wife before returning to his investment bank in South Carolina. They were at the end of their adventure. While sorting his hundreds of emails he announced that one of them notified him that he had just won the Pulitzer Prize for the book he wrote documenting his solo circumnavigation in a sailboat he built. On the rare occasions that he is home, his home office is in a tree fort that he built on their property. Quite an interesting chap! Goggle him at Neal Petersen, his book, “Journey of a Hope Merchant”. My brother Luke mentioned that he had met Neal and has a signed copy of his book. Luke said that he thought about sending us his book but it might have convinced us NOT to go on our adventure, as Neal had to overcome significant obstacles on his journey. Jim and I can’t wait to get his book and meet him again when we are in Charleston.

The Family at Prickly Pear – Their boat is a “well worn” 42’ monohull sailboat also with full safety netting. They have 6 kids from a 2 year old to a 16 year old. We are assuming that they are home schooled.

At the baths, Virgin Gorda, we met two families on charter boats. The first group is comprised of three generations of one family who chartered two 50’ Catamarans for a two week family vacation. They were Captaining their own boats.

The second couple was from New York. They were on the charter catamaran, “Good Medicine”. We had seen this boat at Trellis Bay earlier in the month. This couple had hired a Captain and a cook. They have two boys, 5 and 7 and wanted a relaxing vacation without the hassles of navigation and cooking.

Jonathan and his parents from Canada. We met them at the Laundromat at Crown Bay Marina. He and his parents are on a 46’ monohull enjoying the area during Jonathan’s Christmas break. They were headed off the Vieques but planned to meet us (the girls) at Foxy’s for the big New Years bash.

Jeffrey, his girlfriend and their 8-month-old son. This young (20-ish) couple had just completed graduate school and purchased a 46’ sailboat from SunSail. It was being outfitted when I met Jeffrey. He and his girlfriend have “never really sailed” but were ready to begin “living life” with their son for the next couple of years. They were having the netting installed and expected to be off before Christmas. They had not decided where they were headed but were going to let the “wind and the weather decide”.

The Flotilla Group. We met a couple who were apart of a Sunsail arranged Flotilla Group of 12 boats traveling together for the week. This couple and their 11-year-old son went with Sunsail’s Flotilla Group to Greece last year and highly recommend it. Sunsail provides a lead boat with professional Captain. The Flotilla Captain sort of acts like a shepherd, den mother, and maintenance crew all rolled into one.

We saw many cruisers with pets. Cats are common and I was surprised at the number of sailors with dogs aboard.

Most of the long-term cruising sailboats have wind generators that recharge batteries. These make “whirring” sound as the propellers turn in the wind. Many of them also have solar panels that may be elevated above the back deck or on an arch over the cockpit. They also have “dodgers” that protect the cockpit from the elements (wind and rain). A few (mostly the larger boats) have the satellite domes from Sea-Tel providing Internet and telephones. However, the Mega Yachts all have one or more of the Satellite domes and we picked up several on our laptop when searching for WiFi access – all password protected from our prying eyes!