One evening I realized that I was a vessel short for the Mustique excursion, a large number of Wind Star passengers had signed up for the tour and I had a logistical problem on my hands! Our friend Rick Cunningham offered the use of his small yacht Mithrandir if Mac would come along as crew, an offer I happily accepted. Problem solved! Little did I know that the sea would be wild the following day, and that Mithrandir would end up carrying 12 passengers who didn’t want to be split up for the sail to Mustique. Mithrandir was fine for 6 passengers, 12 was far too many for such a small yacht, but Mac and Rick assured me they would be fine.
The trip over to Mustique on little Mithrandir was frightful, Mac later told me he had never seen the channel so rough. The 12 passengers LOVED it, they had the time of their lives not realizing how precarious their situation was. Thankfully the little yacht made it to Mustique intact, where Mac and Rick joined their fun-loving passengers for lunch at Basil’s Bar. When the two men walked into the Pizzeria that evening their hair was stiff with salt, it had been quite a day for Mithrandir’s crew!
Mac and I were sailing with the ship that evening, so after saying goodbye to the children and their nanny Arleus we boarded the tender for a three-day cruise on Wind Star. As Port Agent I was welcome to travel on board as long as there was an available cabin, all Mac and I had to pay for were any alcoholic beverages we consumed. On this particular occasion we would sail to St. Lucia, Martinique and Barbados, then fly back home. A lot of the ship’s crew had become friends; Maggie the casino manager and her boyfriend the head Chef, the Dutch hotel manager Herman, the purser Erin and of course my favorite, Captain Kaj Haagensen, all of whom made sailing with the ship a pleasure. Mac and I located our cabin, dropped off our luggage and then joined the passengers on deck.
Mac was in great demand that first night, he had already met quite a few of the passengers during the Mustique excursion, and we ended up joining some of his Mithrandir guests in the dining room. One of the ladies who had been on the yacht that day said that her only regret about the trip was having missed Bequia, at which point I carelessly said, “well, you must come and visit us sometime”. Thankfully Mac said the same thing to her as we disembarked at Barbados so I wasn’t the only one at fault when the lady and her husband took us up on our “generous offer”!
The couple arrived five months later in the throes of the off-season. When they faxed to let us know they were coming I couldn’t even remember what they looked like! Luckily they were the only foreigners getting off the ferry that day so they were easy to identify. The couple stayed with us for a week, and it rained pretty well the entire time. Going to the beach wasn’t happening, neither was sailing or hiking, and as a result entertaining our guests was downright onerous.
Mac and I had nothing in common with the couple and this made the visit even more difficult. Conversation over lunch or dinner was stilted, and I am sure those poor people were bored to tears. I certainly was! FINALLY there was a break in the weather, and while the sun was shining I suggested the couple take advantage of it by going to Lower Bay for the day, they could enjoy the beach and have lunch at De Reef. If not to the beach they could lounge beside the Sunny Caribbee’s pool for the day, the hotel offered a good lunch too.
I sighed with relief as they headed out with beach towels, all that rain had been pretty dismal! I went to work happy in the knowledge that my guests were finally having a nice day on Bequia. At 12:00 sharp I got a call from Arleus who said, “Judy, what to feed de people?” Thoughtlessly I said, “What people?” She replied, “De people dem, de guests, dey’s back for lunch”.
I am now very careful what I say to casual acquaintances I don’t know well. “Let’s have lunch sometime” is OK, but “You must come and visit us someday” is dangerous, Mac and I found that out the hard way! I never made that particular suggestion to total strangers again………