A Rolex virgin
My room's view
by Christine Kling
I'm always up for a new challenge. And lately, I've been in serious need of a distraction, a reason to get out on the water.
So, when the invite came via email asking if I would be interested in heading down to the U.S. Virgin Islands to report on the Rolex Regatta, my first response was, duh! Do seagulls crap on boats? Of course I'd love to go back down to the islands on a press junket.
But then I started to have second thoughts. I'm a cruiser, not a racer. And I haven't written straight magazine articles in a very long while. Could I do this? In spite of my doubts, the allure of returning to St. Thomas helped convince me that I could pull this one off, and here I am masquerading as a member of the "yachting press" and writing this blog to the sounds of the Caribbean surf beneath my balcony here at the Sugar Bay Resort.
Press Pool Party at Sugar Bay Resort
When I first arrived Wednesday evening, we journalists were invited to the press party down by the pool, and I began my first foray into the world of yacht racing journalism. At first, I walked around with my complimentary cocktail in hand and merely observed the crowd. I began to think that due to my natural shyness, I was never going to transform into CK, girl reporter. Remarkably, by the second drink, I found myself joining fellow sailors and writers, introducing myself and learning all about the yacht club volunteers, race committee members, and judges who make a regatta like this run. By the time our hosts from the tourist board escorted us onto the veranda table for dinner at the restaurant, I was a veritable chatterbox. Thank goodness for Cruzan Rum.
Today, we journalists were invited to take a tour around the island in the open air truck/taxi owned by Campbell Ray, our own personal driver for our stay here on St. Thomas. As the rain blew in from St John, Campbell worked the gears to get that truck up the near vertical mountain roads, driving with one hand and narrating in the microphone with the other. "This area is called Anna's Retreat," he announced. "They have the best voter turn out of any neighborhood on the island – it averages 200%" It didn't matter that squalls were strafing Pillbury Sound, and we were driving through the fog of cloud cover on the mountaintop. Campbell had us laughing and our hostesses were handing us Banana Daiquiris, and I was deciding that thanks to a little more rum, maybe I could handle this journalism gig after all.
Lunch at Glady's Cafe
After a spectacular lunch in downtown Charlotte Amalie, we headed out to the Yacht Club for the skippers' meeting and opening party. If ever I was going to be found out to be the fraud I am, I knew it would happen there. I wandered among the beautiful young deck crews and the distinguished sun-tanned owners wondering where I was going to find the stories that would earn my keep, and whether any of these rock star sailors would be willing to let a cruiser go sailing with them for a day. I finally struck up a conversation with some folks while waiting in line for the free Mount Gay rum samples, and discovered that some of these beautiful racing folks were also cruisers. I was scribbling away in my journalist's notebook and beginning to feel like I might belong.
A serious Rolex racer
While all the other journalists were vying to get on the grand prix boats with crews fresh off the Volvo, I told our sponsors that I would like a ride on a non-spinnaker boat. Surely, I figured, there's got to be a place here where I won't get in the way. When it was my turn to find out if I would get to go sailing, the regatta director smiled and said he had just the boat for me. "It's a Swan 60, and the owner is very laid back. He likes to invite all his friends for a terrific sail and they're looking for someone who can pour the rum and run the blender." Rum, I can handle.
I've found my boat.
Fair winds!
Christine
Author of CIRCLE OF BONES
Available for Kindle
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