When moored up in Rodney Bay, why bother going to shore to buy fresh fruit and vegetables? Better still, just have them delivered straight to your boat at 7 in the morning! After a big supermarket shop the previous day, Shane and I had a good amount of food supplies to last us for some time. Nevertheless, if you see the organic produce on your local vendor’s boat and he greets you with such a warm and inviting smile, it’s difficult to resist topping up on those all important fruits and veggies knowing that they are ‘real’ and that you really are contributing directly to the local community! Shane had explained to me that he had seen the vendor the day before and that the coulours and layout of the produce on his boat was something to behold. Shane wasn’t wrong! As the heavily laden dinghy chugged towards us and Shane gave me the heads up regarding his previous sighting, I stepped outside to witness this floating garden of Eden full of the fruits of paradise. Mangoes, pineapples, papaya, bananas, oranges, passion….all laid out beautifully in a 3 dimensional organic work of art – even better though….this was a masterpiece you could eat! As the little boat put-putted its way towards us, we were enticed by a toothy smile and a loud but friendly call ‘come see what I got brother, I got everything you want’. Happy to investigate further, I stepped down the swim steps at the stern of the boat to sit and get a closer look and the kaleidoscope of colourful fruits and veggies all laid out in what seemed to be a well-practiced order. Shane was busying tying up our delivery guy’s boat (whom we’d already learned was called Gregory). No sooner had Gregory tossed his line to Shane than I was then honing my boatside circus skills by catching various fruits which were already airborne – and coming at quite a pace…. we were in a committed sale situation now! As the fruits and veggies were in the air, Shane handed me a bowl and we were amassing quite the collection! 2 Mangoes, a papaya, a bag of tomatoes, 2 (HUGE) passion fruits, a bag of spinach, 2 egg plants and a ‘Carribbean Apricot’….which more resembles a small yam from the outside – a Caribbean apricot is brown and tough on the outside, with a thick and rough skin..Caribbean apricots are not orange coloured baby’s bottom texture we are used to! On tasting they are by no means as sweet either!). Gregory then explained that his daughter makes coconut candies and handed me a fist sized plastic bag full of what turned pout to be supper sweet ‘coconut chippings’, caramelized in brown sugar. For all this booty we paid $45 EC, so around $17 USD – not bad for a weighty bowl of fresh fruit and veg delivered straight to your boat just off a small island! Should you ever find yourself in the Rodney Bay area, Gregory should be easy to spot – and just to be sure it’s him when you get close by, check out the sticker on the top of his engine….Shane explained that he runs charters in the BVI and may well branch out to other parts of the Caribbean next year – in doing so, Gregory said he looks forward to seeing us as Shane handed him an SV Guiding Light sticker as a memento of our friendly transaction. Gregory promptly unpeeled the sticker, placed it atop the top of the engine, slapped it down for good measure and as he started up his engine and backed away slowly chuckled out loud ‘now I’ll always be able to remember you!’….Until next year Gregory!
