Island Characters: Michael Beans

"Happy Arrrrrr" with Michael Beans aboard S/V Antiquity
in Spanish Town, Virgin Gorda

Michael Beans - aka. Michael Gardner...  A trip to the British Virgin Islands is really not complete without singing along with the modern day pirate that is Micheal "Beans".  Years ago while reading and researching the Virgin Islands I came across writings and videos of Michael Beans and his "Happy Arrrrrr" show.  An eclectic cross of a folk singer, a free spirit, a comedian, and sailor extraordinaire, "Beans" is definitely worth seeking out.

Born and raised in Michigan, Beans left stateside living for a life at sea in the tantalizing warmth of the Caribbean.  His stories of treasure hunting, and his life experiences in the islands are entertainment in themselves.  His life aboard his first boat "Esperanza" landed him in Marina Cay as a one-man band, playing for yachtsman.  The only tales taller than the pirate lore he sings of, are the tales of his "Happy Arrrr" show which has now grown and moved to Leverick Bay in Virgin Gorda's north sound.

While his show is a lot of fun, we were lucky enough to spend some time with him outside of his storied act.  In 2011 while chartering aboard S/V Antiquity, I had asked Capt. David Decuir about Beans.  As it would turn out, our charter was a bit early in the season and his act had not yet started.  To our surprise, upon returning to Antiquity after exploring the Baths, Capt. Decuir informed us that he had invited Beans to join us aboard for cocktails and snacks.

There we were, sitting in the cockpit of Antiquity, docked in the marina at Spanish Town.  We were enjoying "Tickity Punches" (David's own rum punch cocktail) and being regaled with stories of Beans' travels as the sun sank into the sea.  Before leaving, Beans invited us to visit him the following morning in his new home aboard his cement boat "Mangele" which at the time was in the boat yard on stands - or on the hard.

Beans' boat "Mangele" on the hard in Spanish Town

After breakfast aboard Antiquity, we decided to take Beans up on his offer.  The only thing bigger than Beans' personality would be his boat.  Mangele is a 47 foot feral cement boat, donned with dual masts and a black and yellow paint scheme which can only be described as a pirate ship.  Like Beans himself, Mangele looks as if the sea and it's stories have shaped and molded it over time.  As we approached, a head (toilet) came flying over the rail and smashed on the ground in front of us.  These are things you simply can't make up.  Beans was working diligently on a repair list for his boat when we arrived, and apparently a new toilet was the first task at hand.  After being invited aboard, we climbed up a shaky aluminum ladder to be greeted with a full tour of Mangele's venerable topsides and then down below.  After more stories and some treasure show-and-tell, we left Beans and Mangele as we headed back to Antiquity to set sail for Jost Van Dyke.

Spending time with Beans was definitely a highlight of our 2011 BVI vacation.  Check out his website at Beans Music.  Also, while on his website check out his foundation which helps Haiti.

Island Characters: Seddy Callwood

White Bay, Jost Van Dyke

Sharon and I swimming in White Bay, Jost Van Dyke
while aboard  S/V Antiquity, 2011

Each year when we sail throughout the Virgin Islands, one of our favorite stops is the island of Jost Van Dyke.  Located just north of Tortola, Jost Van Dyke is the home to only about 300ish people.  When one imagines the absolute perfect beach bar, this is where that image comes to fruition.  We try to spend an entire day doing a pub-crawl across the island visiting all of our favorite watering holes.

Seddy Callwood's "One Love Bar"

On the western end of the beach in White Bay, "One Love Bar" will be found.  And if you are lucky, it's owner Seddy Callwood will be on hand.  On our first visit to One Love, we walked into the mostly empty sand floor establishment and ordered a couple Bushwackers.  By the way, if you have never had a Bushwacker - I highly recommend it.  As a friendly bartender made our drinks, we noticed that the only other customer at the time was slumped over the bar, seemingly inebriated.  Our drinks were just about ready when our fellow patron slowly sprang to life and began to mumble incoherently to Sharon.  His voice was barely audible, and heavily slurred.  We weren't quite sure he was even speaking English.  He became more animated, and seemingly agitated as he continued to attempt to communicate with Sharon.  It was awkward, and I felt tension rising.  I  put my drink down and moved closer thinking I needed to put space between Sharon and our local drunkard, while inserting myself between them.  This is usually how bad stories happen, so I was trying to be friendly while still positioning myself in case I needed to "thump" this guy.  He became even more animated and was now getting loud, speaking in a tongue which we could not distinguish.  Just when I thought the situation was headed south, he stood up straight, and spoke clear coherent English - we had just met Seddy and experienced his first prank of the day...

Seddy Callwood

Seddy, is son of the famous Foxy Callwood - owner of Foxy's Tamarind Bar and fellow island character.  I'll get to him in a later post...  Seddy is known to provide entertainment for visitors to his bar in the form of magic tricks and pranks.  His slight of hand, and his mystical-Rasta-meets-David-Copperfield demeanor add a whole new fun flavor to his spontaneous bar room act.  He performed quite a few tricks at the bar while we enjoyed a few rounds of drinks.  His bar, One Love, is an open air powder sand floor hut adorned in what seems like a million buoys.  Inside, like many island bars, the ceiling is covered with things past guests have left behind.  There are too many bikinis, t-shirts, flags and pennants to even count.  One Love seems to play second fiddle to the more famous Soggy Dollar bar just down the beach which I think is a bonus.  There are simply less people that venture here, leaving more of Seddy's tricks for the rest of us.  So when you visit White Bay, stop in and say hello to Seddy.  I've found one of his best tricks is making your sobriety disappear.

Not the greatest picture, but the only one I got of us with Seddy

Island Characters: Peter Hoschl

"Angel's Rest" Bar, Coral Bay St. John

As time goes on, I plan on introducing some of the "characters" I've met during my island travels.  What is a character?  A character to me is someone who stands out among others.  A character is someone who stands out not because they dress funny or because they seek childish attention in shock value like present day "celebrities", but rather because they have an interesting story to share.  There is something about them that draws others to them.

Peter Hoschl, owner/creator, "Angel's Rest"

Peter Hoschl is the owner and creator of "Angel's Rest" bar.  If ever there was a horse of a different color - this bar is it.  Anyone who has ever spent time on a pontoon boat will appreciate this.  Peter is a self described hippy, with a background in construction.  He rescued this 40 foot - yes I said 40 foot - pontoon boat and did a frame-up build of Angel's Rest himself.  On top of the massive pontoon frame, Peter constructed a typical island bar, complete with glass table and chairs, entrances to port and starboard, day beds for lounging forward, and a ladder leading to an upstairs "porch" complete with loungers aft.  Under the glass table and chairs is a circular cutout in the floor, allowing for easy viewing of graceful sea turtles swimming below.  I'm not even sure what to call the bathroom aboard Angel's Rest.  On land in a house, it would be called a bathroom.  On a boat, it's called a head.  I'll leave you to decide whether Angel's rest is a floating house/bar, or a boat.

Cutout under the table

Tim swimming from S/V Magewind to
Angel's Rest for cocktails

Angel's Rest resides on a mooring in Coral Bay on the east end of the island of St. John in the USVI.  St. John has only two towns - Cruz Bay to the west, Coral Bay to the east.  Each day Peter fires up the two Evinrude outboard engines fitted to Angel's Rest, and leisurely motors to Hansen Bay in the far east tip of St. John where he sets anchor and opens up bar for anyone that wants to swim or dinghy to him.  Pricing?  That's easy.  Every drink is five dollars no matter what you order.  Drinks come served with entertaining jokes and stories as tall as the hills that make up the surrounding island.  Listening to Peter describe how he "checked out", and how Angel's Rest got its name is in and of itself worth at least a few rum cocktails.  I will warn you though - Peter pours with a heavy hand...  The swim back to shore or back to your yacht can be tricky.

Sharon saying good-bye for another year

Bar is closing - everybody off!

When the day is growing old and the sun flirts with the horizon, Peter will promptly exclaim with a grin - "Bar is closing.  Everybody off my boat".  Like a school of fish, patrons file off the side into the cool Caribbean water and swim off in their respective directions.  With anchor pulled up, and the sun now sinking into the sea, Peter motors off into the distance like a cool Caribbean cowboy.  Time to restock, a new day will soon come.

Usually I go home after the bar - here the bar goes home after me