I don’t know what it is about my luck during this trip, but my flight/entire travel experience on the way home was an absolute shit show. The initial Liat Airlines flight from St. Vincent to Barbados was delayed (with no communication from ground crew) for an hour and a half. We finally took off and landed at Barbados’ BGI airport a half hour later, where I proceeded to wait a whopping 45 minutes for my checked bag to make it to the carousel so I could transfer it from Liat to JetBlue. By the time I made it to JetBlue’s check-in counter the place was “closed” and the only agent around told me I was too late to check my bag. With no cell phone to use as a mobile boarding pass (and the check-in kiosks shut down) I had to beg this woman to print me a boarding pass as I converted my checked bag to a carry on by handing a vacationing family my 12oz bottle of suntan lotion, and gifting one of my very nice Gerber spring assisted knives (my everyday carry) to a guy who was waiting to pick up his brother curbside at the airport. Having ridded myself of the only two non-carry-on-able items I had, I rushed through security and Customs, making a break for the New York bound flight’s gate. To arrive and find out the flight was nearly an hour delayed pissed me off to no avail as I sweated profusely. It seems nobody in the Caribbean has ever heard of air conditioning, and the 85-degree temperatures in the airport combined with the stress of my time there had caused me to sweat through my light t-shirt. The flight to JFK was relatively simple, though I waited over an hour to collect my checked bag in Customs and then re-check it for the flight to Boston. The jumper to Boston followed suit with delays, taking off almost two hours late, but I will say that if I didn’t fly on 100+ other flights a year I’d be even more irate towards these airlines for the way my trip has been. I still plan to write JetBlue an email regarding their performance over the past two weeks. Thankfully a friend picked me up at Logan and gave me a ride home where I dropped off my suitcase, grabbed a change of clothes, and drove up to sleep on my parents couch so that I could see my mom first thing the next morning.
All in all, I think that the cost of this sailing program was in fact worth it. I haven’t run the exact numbers yet, nor filed a complaint with JetBlue for them to reimburse the cost of my missed flight on the way down, but I think it’s fair to say that it cost about $2,700 cash (flights, lodging, meals, incidentals, taxi rides, drinks) and 68,000 JetBlue miles. I haven’t been on a sailboat in half a decade, and haven’t been taught about the principles of sailing in fifteen years. Being forced to read through the American Sailing Association textbooks, study the material, and perform the physical maneuvers on a boat that’s roughly the size of what I’d like to buy was well worth the cost to play. I mentally confirmed the fact that it’s something I’m interested in pursuing, and found myself day dreaming as we sailed about being out on my own with no land in sight, making my way to the other side of the ocean. I think that it will certainly have mundane moments during long days in calm waters, and without a doubt will include instances of incredible fear and trials. Am I crazy? Yes, probably, but this isn’t one of those ideas I’m ready or willing to let go of.
To restate for good measure: There’s no gun to my head, and no timeline I’m forced to meet. This is not a trip I’ll undertake without complete and proper preparation, readiness, and safety measures in effect. At the end of the day the idea of the adventure, the idea of the stories, challenges and experiences call to me in a way I haven’t experienced since first reading Bill Bryson’s A Walk In The Woods a year before my Appalachian Trail hike. With first hand sailing experience rejuvenated and the continued interest confirmed in my own mind, I’ll now turn my sights towards researching and purchasing a boat… a huge undertaking on its own that I won’t pull the trigger on until ideally next summer. I think it’s immensely important that I spend my time sailing my own boat, finding its weaknesses, making upgrades, and learning how she sails. I can spend my summers, where I usually take July & August off, sailing off the coast of New England in rougher/colder seas, and can push myself to learn on a yacht that isn’t a commercially operated sailboat kept to 100% for the customer’s sake. The Barefoot school served its purpose completely by getting me on a boat, expanding my base knowledge of sailing to one of sailing, rigging, navigation, chart reading, basic boat diesel engine repair, etc. It gave me the hands on experience I didn’t yet have on this scale, and got me even more excited to pursue this dream.
On a final note, thank you for following along for another quick adventure, I hope it was at least somewhat entertaining for you and didn’t overwhelm your inbox for those that are still subscribed to updates. The next trip will be coming up in December with Santa and I’ll be blogging a little bit between now and then as he and I prepare to do a hike in a manner that few people seem to have done before... Hopefully there’s some more good reading & photos to come.
Onward & upward, my friends; talk to you soon.
Ryan
All in all, I think that the cost of this sailing program was in fact worth it. I haven’t run the exact numbers yet, nor filed a complaint with JetBlue for them to reimburse the cost of my missed flight on the way down, but I think it’s fair to say that it cost about $2,700 cash (flights, lodging, meals, incidentals, taxi rides, drinks) and 68,000 JetBlue miles. I haven’t been on a sailboat in half a decade, and haven’t been taught about the principles of sailing in fifteen years. Being forced to read through the American Sailing Association textbooks, study the material, and perform the physical maneuvers on a boat that’s roughly the size of what I’d like to buy was well worth the cost to play. I mentally confirmed the fact that it’s something I’m interested in pursuing, and found myself day dreaming as we sailed about being out on my own with no land in sight, making my way to the other side of the ocean. I think that it will certainly have mundane moments during long days in calm waters, and without a doubt will include instances of incredible fear and trials. Am I crazy? Yes, probably, but this isn’t one of those ideas I’m ready or willing to let go of.
To restate for good measure: There’s no gun to my head, and no timeline I’m forced to meet. This is not a trip I’ll undertake without complete and proper preparation, readiness, and safety measures in effect. At the end of the day the idea of the adventure, the idea of the stories, challenges and experiences call to me in a way I haven’t experienced since first reading Bill Bryson’s A Walk In The Woods a year before my Appalachian Trail hike. With first hand sailing experience rejuvenated and the continued interest confirmed in my own mind, I’ll now turn my sights towards researching and purchasing a boat… a huge undertaking on its own that I won’t pull the trigger on until ideally next summer. I think it’s immensely important that I spend my time sailing my own boat, finding its weaknesses, making upgrades, and learning how she sails. I can spend my summers, where I usually take July & August off, sailing off the coast of New England in rougher/colder seas, and can push myself to learn on a yacht that isn’t a commercially operated sailboat kept to 100% for the customer’s sake. The Barefoot school served its purpose completely by getting me on a boat, expanding my base knowledge of sailing to one of sailing, rigging, navigation, chart reading, basic boat diesel engine repair, etc. It gave me the hands on experience I didn’t yet have on this scale, and got me even more excited to pursue this dream.
On a final note, thank you for following along for another quick adventure, I hope it was at least somewhat entertaining for you and didn’t overwhelm your inbox for those that are still subscribed to updates. The next trip will be coming up in December with Santa and I’ll be blogging a little bit between now and then as he and I prepare to do a hike in a manner that few people seem to have done before... Hopefully there’s some more good reading & photos to come.
Onward & upward, my friends; talk to you soon.
Ryan
Standing room only at the St. Vincent airport "Terminal"
The very late arrival of Liat's plane to Barbados
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