Uh Oh…Busted!

OK…let’s have a quick, lightweight, fun post for a Sunday evening…

Late last week, this BVI police boat hove into view around one of the headlands of Little Harbour. While all of us in the bay were pretty sure we were doing what we were supposed to be doing, given the communications and how things are changing…you’re never quite sure. It’s also a bit disconcerting when the police boat is a good bit bigger than you! No worries though, I wasn’t busted (at least not yet). The police had a VISAR representative onboard (Virgin Islands Search and Rescue). VISAR is coordinating the maritime pandemic response for the BVI.

The VISAR representative and the police were great, they just wanted to make sure we had provisions, weren’t running out of prescription medicines, etc. She also gave me the number of another VISAR person to call this coming week to get permission to move Hazel James for provisioning and to checkout of the country. I’m getting excited to make that call tomorrow morning.

Lancelot, of Go & Lan, took the above picture and he also took the picture below when the police boat visited them.

There’s an old saying that “youth is wasted on the young”. That’s absolutely not the case with Lancelot and Gautier. Leave it to the French to clown-around with the police officer and get a selfie…

Gautier and Lancelot have a waterproof GoPro camera. When we were snorkeling the other day, they told me to dive under Hazel James and pretend I was holding her up by the keel.

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I’ve said before that I don’t learn new songs on the uke lightly. With all my time in curfew, I’ve had a chance to learn or reacquaint myself with seven songs which is a lot for me. I say “reacquaint” because some of the songs I’ve messed around with for years but was never happy with how I played them so never committed them to memory or played them. Here’s a rundown of the songs and I’ll add them to the hjsailing playlist later tonight, I hope you enjoy!:

One Note Samba – A friend and I were talking about how cool sambas are. This is a nice cousin to “Girl from Ipanema” which I just love.

Nature Boy – Lately, I’ve been way into songs that are haunting, and this song is top-of-the-list in that category. I’ll add a couple different versions of it to the playlist given all the different approaches you can take to the song. The final words of the song: “The greatest thing you’ll ever learn is to love and be loved in return.”—there’s not much more that can be said to that.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow/Wonderful World – Iz’s concomitant ukulele song. This is a “reacquaintance” song for me. I’ve messed around with it for years but was never happy with it. It’s tough to sing because it requires a wide range and, in my case, a bit of falsetto. I finally landed on the key of B-flat for my voice and I’m happy with it (or at least getting happy with it).

Blue Moon – Talk about a haunting song…so good. I love what Margot Timmons and the Cowboy Junkies did with it.

Wichita Lineman – More haunting music… Jimmy Webb is such a good composer (Galveston, MacArthur Park, By the Time I Get to Phoenix, etc.). My good friend and Colleen’s brother Tim tells a great story he heard about the band REM and lead singer Michael Stipe. The band had just finished an arduous day of recording in the studio and went out with their crew for a beer after. It was karaoke night at the bar and Michael Stipe—known for being rather shy and reclusive—finally was coerced into taking the stage for one song. He picked a Jimmy Webb tune and was so pumped at the end of it that he stayed on stage and sang every other Jimmy Webb song they had.

Against the Wind – Our good friend JJ is fond of saying, “Everyone’s a closet Seger fan.” It’s another reacquaintance for me and I’m finally getting comfortable with it.

Summertime – Ahhhh, a tremendous George Gershwin tune. There’s a BVI artist Al Broderick who has been live-streaming “The Lockdown Sessions” every Saturday night. One of the yachts in Little Harbor cranks it to a nice volume and we all listen together from our respective boats. Several weeks ago he did a jammy, rhythm-heavy version of Summertime that I just loved—so much so that I worked up a uke version.

Fair winds and following seas! I’ll keep all posted on my departure plans.