In any neighborhood, there is always one person who will vocalize when they see a petty injustice or affront to society. I’m not talking about the Trump-era, bra-burning types. I’m talking about the sort of people who will make a point to mention that your plastic recycling has been out in a black bin, when it should have been placed in a blue bin.

While in St Thomas, I have met many of these sorts of people. In fact, I’d go so far as saying that in Charlotte Amalie, the nit-picker average largely outshines most of the North American population.  There are many amongst the cruiser population. I call them ‘mayors’ of the harbour.

Sine our arrival in Thomas we have had l met with uncomfortable and petty situations. You could call it culture shock. But, it has been enough to have me dream of skipping the Caribbean, and crossing to Central America just to avoid further baloney.

Just yesterday, for example, a cruiser in a ‘Canadian’ baseball hat, lamented to me about the crowded dinghy dock. After some friendly banter, it dawned on me that his obsession with dinghy configuration wasn’t quite normal. Later, as I sat drinking coffee I watched him talk to security, and then the Canadian man retied my dinghy. He also talked to everyone walking past about the dinghy situation.

There are many ‘mayors’ amongst the cruising community. There are people eager to tell you the protocols of parking your dinghy on a beach. There are people who prefer that you don’t use plastic bags.

We have had no trouble with the local people. Today, a woman excitedly tried to sell me some balloons for my son’s upcoming birthday. But, many people who make their living off the backs of cruisers seems to exact their pound of flesh.

The police have stopped by to tell us about the rules of anchoring in the harbour. There are many harbours but you can only anchor in some of them. And, you can only anchor for up to 14 days or risk a fine.

I often follow the motto – if you have nothing positive to say don’t say anything at all. So, if my blog seems quiet it isn’t purely because of the sporadic Internet.

(Our kids, however, are happy as clams.)