We had each used up all our clean clothes, so we decided today was laundry day. Now to some of you this doesn't seem like a fun activity for a vacation, but Brenda and Mike actually looked forward to this chore. They enjoy seeing the areas of port towns that the usual tourist never sees. It is an opportunity to meet and talk to the locals as well as getting a feel for their day to day lives. Peter dropped Karen, Brenda and Mike off on shore and was planning to spend the day with a good cappuccino and a book. Hmmmm, sounds like Peter has a better plan.
The three laundry specialists, loaded with two big garbage bags of stinky clothes, found a local truck/bus/taxi that would drop us off at the laundromat. We drove just a mile or so and passed a laundromat that was obviously out of business. A couple more miles down the road we stopped at a sad looking building that advertised a laundromat, but looked mighty rough. There were people inside, so out we jumped to get our clothes all fresh and clean. We walked into the door and were greeted with, "No Water, the pipes are broken." Uh-oh! No laundry and no taxi.
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| Nice! |
We waited outside for a passing car and managed to hail down another old taxi. The driver said there was another laundromat downtown by Sea Cow Bay. Off we roared to laundromat number three. We were relieved to find a lovely little building with working water and everything. Being inexperienced Caribbean Laundry Specialists we of course didn't consider whether the laundromat would sell detergent or not. Bad move. We are getting closer to doing laundry though. We have a laundromat, quarters, dirty clothes and working water.
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| Sea Cow Bay |
Inside the laundromat there was a really nice local man doing his baby's laundry while listening to his headphones. The girls asked him where they could buy some laundry detergent and he indicated about 1 mile back there was a small convenience market. He hesitated for a second and told them he would just drive them there and back in his car. How nice was that. While driving, of course Karen and Brenda engaged the driver in conversation. By the time they got back to the laundromat, they had learned that this nice young man was a prison guard in Tortola. However, he was working on a project called "restorative justice". This is where you work with the young offenders to help them overcome what led to their offending in the first place and make some sort of restitution to the victims. He has been working with 20 kids for the past nine months. Seventeen of the 20 have stayed out of trouble compared to 16 of 20 who usually repeat. Really nice guy!
Side Story: On a sailboat the heads (toilets) are mechanical beasts that require valve switching and a LOT of hand pumping. This gets really old - really fast. While at the laundromat Mike walked up the stairs to the bathroom and came down grinning. He said, "The bathroom stinks, it is dirty, the seat is broken and falling off....it flushes and it was wonderful!" How quickly we learn to appreciate flush toilets.
We completed our laundry and managed to find another taxi back to Soper's Hole. Peter picked us up in the dinghy and we enjoyed a well deserved lunch at Pussers and grabbed a few provisions at the Rite-Way.
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| Pussers |
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| Shop in Soper's Hole |
We headed over to Norman Island for our night mooring. We passed by The Indians, a favorite dive and snorkel spot for anyone visiting the BVI. We plan on checking this out tomorrow. Once in the bay, known as The Bight, we of course had to visit the famous floating bar, Willy T. It is a wild party barge that is best known for encouraging people to jump off the aft end of the upper deck. Peter and Mike decided that jumping was required if you ever make it to the Willy T, so off they went.
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| The Willy T |
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| The Jump Spot |
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| Hmmmm? |
We concluded our evening sitting in the lounge chairs on the beach in front of the way overpriced Pirate's Bight Beach Bar & Grill. We bought one drink each and the bill was outrageous. The beautiful evening and the amazing view still made it worthwhile. This was where Brenda quoted our good friend Penny's favorite saying, "Un-Flippin' believable!"
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| The Bight at night |
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