A catch-up of Robin’s Stuff

So every now and then I need to post an update of photo’s that Robin has captured.  She quietly captures some special moments and I can’t really say they fit together with special meaning other than it’s a look at what’s important to her… and that alone says a lot about what happens in her mind.  No wonder I love her so much I can’t stand it!

On the NE end of St Thomas there’s a little place called Red Hook.  It’s a hogepodge of marina’s, bus terminal and shops that seems to attract tourists, cruisers, and locals.  So we’re wondering down along a path close to the water on our way to Fish Tails for lunch and this lizard scampers right across the path and stops to take a look at us.  Robin grabs the camera and gets these shots:

Stops to look and make sure we're OK to continue along the walkway

 

As we tied the dinghy to the Government Dock to clear customs at BVI there was a very fast herron sitting on the dinghy next to us. Robin captured a blurry photo over my shoulder as it lept into the air at the last moment.

So just to give you an idea of how many opportunities there are to photograph wild life Robin turned around to get a great pose of a Pelican watching her attempting to photograph the herron:

This one was curiously watching Robin photograph a nearby herron... we didn't do too well with the herron but this guy saved the day!

 

One of Robin's absolute fascinations is with rainbows. This one was captured as we emerged from light rain showers on our way to White Bay, Jost Van Dyke on the west end of BVI. Pretty cool huh?

Perspective on boat storage

Here's the view of our boat with tie-down and hull support. Anchors were drilled with an augar about 6' down.

Now that we’re well on our way for the 2012 season I thought it might be helpful to document what we did to prepare and what we’ll do differently this season for boat storage.  Many people don’t store their boats during storm season and choose to just find a good location to “hide out” and a lot of people are like us.  We like a break from the boat and would take time off anyway so hurricane season makes sense as a good time to leave.  There’s a financial incentive too since removing Tookie and placing her in a secure yard, even though it’s in the window save us a LOT of money on insurance.  The savings more than pays the storage costs for us since our hull value and insurance costs are so high.  So here’s what we learned about storage:

• Select your yard early.  The good ones book up early and it’s hard to decide which one as there are good and bad stories about all of them.  Last year we didn’t select our yard ’till late March.  This year we’ll select it in January.  When you do this you have to pay up with a deposit so it forces somewhat of a schedule on you but in reality we all have that anyway as there needs to be a plan for hurricane season.
• How do you select?  Read up in the cruising guides and online accounts but the best thing we know to do is talk to people that have recent first-hand experience with the yard.  Check with your insurance broker; they don’t really recommend yards but you can ask them if they’re familiar with your preferred yard and if they’ve insured boats that use that yard.
• Strip the boat of all windage as much as you can.  Make sure you put this in the hurricane plan you submit to the insurance company as it can help you get a better quote.  It’s a pain to do this but it also gives us a good opportunity to inspect the sails and canvas.  Usually there are some minor repairs that you’ll find and the off-season is a good time to address them so they don’t become major.
• Mold is a big problem for boats being stored in the Caribbean.  Make sure your boat has some ventilation and when you do this it means some moisture can get in during hard driving rain.  Ensure this drains to the bilge or out the bottom somewhere.  We seal the hatches with tape (and yes it’s a pain to get off months later but a little solvent based cleaner works fine).  We also leave solar powered vents set up to flow air through the boat.  Our secret weapon to deter mold is moth balls.  We hang ladies nylon hose “bags” throughout the boat with each holding 1-2 cups of balls.  We know of several boaters that have done this and it seems to work extremely well.  Just plan for 2-3 days to air out the boat when you recommission.  Some people put dehumidifiers on board and pay someone to check them.  I’m reluctant to do this since I’m not real keen on having something with that much power operating and relying on a “service company” to do their job while I’m away.  But I have to say there are a lot of people with way more experience than us that do this and haven’t had any problems.
• Remove ALL food except unopened jars and cans.  We know of cases where insects bore right through plastic bags and make a mess.  Lock-tight containers should be OK but we don’t chance it.
• We leave the solar panels connected with the Solar Boost charger.  We’ve done this for storage at the dock in Florida and at the yard in the Caribbean.  No problems so far and no batteries that need replacement when we get back.  BUT we have maintenance free batteries.  If I had wet cells I don’t think I’d do this unless I had a good battery watering system in place and a guy that would check water level for me that I trust.

Robin vacuum bagging bedding and linens into one compact package. She's taking Yoga now and I think she's invented a new pose. We're calling it the Swan Boob Smash pose.

• Vacuum bag all linens and clothes left on the boat.  We use the kind you can get at Walmart that suck down with a vacuum.  Robin uses the boob smashing technique to help on large items and everything is fresh and usable when we get back.
• Clean all the stainless with Spotless Stainless before you leave.  It’s the only cleaner we’ve used that works.
• Remove valuable electronics’s from the cockpit and store them below.
• Store the dinghy out of the sun below the boat if you have a cat and can do so or deflate it and protect from sun damage.  If you store it outside make sure it’s locked and secured.  There is so much trouble with engine theft we’ll store the engine on the boat this year.
• Double dose all fuel with stabilizer.  We fill the tanks although there is controversy about doing this.  After you dose with stabilizer run the engines a while to make sure it’s circulated through the fuel system.  Run the dinghy engine dry after doing this by removing the fuel hose while the engine is running and letting it stop by itself.
• Flush out the holding tanks.
• Wrap throttles and winches in Saran wrap.
• Make a list throughout your cruise of “parts to get” while you’re home.  Double check it for anything you missed and be sure to bring it with you when you leave the boat.
• We didn’t return to the boat until January and in hind sight this was a mistake.  It meant that the yard moved our boat several times to make room to launch other boats when most people want them back in early November.  When they moved our boat they took all the tie-downs loose and more importantly they didn’t re-attach our dingy with chains as we’d left her.  The boat right next door to us did the same thing and their dinghy and engine have never been found.  Next time we’ll come back to the boat in November like everybody else and launch her unless we have a firm agreement with the yard she’s not to be moved until we get back.  Part of the problem was caused by our late planning last year which resulted in placing the boat in a slot that was not really good.  It had poor access that required moving several boats to get to the ones that were on the inside.
• If you can, hire someone to photograph your boat and check on it.  It makes life a lot less stressful to look at a photo of her periodically.  Obviously you should get local references and first-hand recommendations for this person.

Here's a viw of the bow looking back. You can see the dinghy under the boat. Next year we'll at least remove the engine and store it in the boat.

 

I hope this helps make your boat storage uneventful.

Chris

We’re off again!

Folks,

We had a few hours to kill waiting for the ferry to Spanish Town so we stopped in one of our favorite water front spots, The Green House.

We finally departed Florida again January 5th for another 5 months of sailing, starting where we left off in Spanish Town BVI.  After an uneventful flight to St Thomas we had a couple of hours to kill while we waited for the ferry over to Spanish Town.  We stored our bags and for a small fee had a guy watch them for us while we wondered down to The Green House Bar and Restaurant right on the water front just a few blocks from the terminal.  I pondered about the lifestyle we enjoy and how it’s a little schizophrenic.  Half in eastern Florida as a retired couple that golf and play with other retired friends and half cruising sailors wandering the Caribbean.  Cruising sounds way more glamorous than it really is but it is pretty good.  No it’s fantastic and we’re some of the luckiest people in the world to be doing it…  I drifted back out of the daydream and returned to relaxing over my first “dark and diet” (dark rum and diet Coke) watching the tourists wander around all the little shops and then gazed at the empty spot in the bay where we had anchored many times last year.  “Cheers baby!” I said to Robin noticing her eyes were wandering around probably with similar thoughts.  Soon it was time to head back to the ferry for a short hour and a half ride to Spanish Town.  We arrived just after sunset and zipped through customs and immigration to a cab and up to Fisher’s Cove Resort in  no time.  Bill and Charlene  had arrived earlier in the day and were at the bar waiting for us with son Patrick.  We had a nice visit and they filled us in on what

Beautiful view off the breakfast veranda at Fisher's Cove Resort. Smallish cruise ship in the distance

the boats looked like.  Good news was the boats were in great shape; the moth balls had done the trick and eliminated any mold issues.  The awful news was that Bill and Charlene’s dinghy had been stolen.  I may do a separate entry on the dinghy saga later but for now let’s just say losing your dingy is a real pain in the ass!  They’re expensive but that’s not the tough part.  Getting new one over here is almost as bad a process to go through as losing it.  The yard did take responsibility for the loss and after a LOT of negotiating Bill was kept almost whole on the loss but then began a month of trying to sail around without the “taxi” and finally pick one up.  As I type this it’s Jan 21st and it looks like the engine will be available next week in Tortola and then the dinghy later in the week over in St Thomas.  Our Canadian friends deal with these things better than anyone we know.  Bill gazes off and says something like “there’s people in the hospital that would trade places with any of us”.  How cool is that?  Then we just order another drink and talk about something else. After a nice visit we headed to the room for a great night’s rest.

 

Bill and Charlene splashed first and we were right behind with SV Toucan Dream

Next day our focus became readying the boat to be splashed. We had planned to do some minor repairs on Friday and then splash Tookie on Monday since the travel lift doesn’t operate on weekends. But we got things done quicker than plan and were the last boat splashed on Friday.  Bill and Charlene had planned all along to splash on today (Friday) but we were a “fit in”.  SV RSVP splashed just before Tookie and we gave “dread lock” the bald crane operator a nice tip for staying late to put Tookie in as well.  Then over to a slip in the marina for a few days to get things put back together and start up our systems.  The marina ended up costing almost as much as the resort room so we revised our plan and got out with the bare necessities and finished the rest on the hook.  So with the toilets, water maker, genset and engines commissioned we attached the main sail and jib then departed the marina Wednesday and motored out with almost no wind to St John’s at Caneel Bay, one of our favorite beaches the locals call Honeymoon Beach.  It was good to be back!

Next morning we headed over to St Thomas to start unloading boxes of supplies that we’d sent from the states during our visit home.  We had 5 large shipping boxes containing everything from spare pumps to toilet paper.  We’d planned to stay at Yacht Haven Grand Marina right around the corner from Flagship Yacht Services who were receiving and storing the boxes for us but the season was busy and no slips were available so we anchored in the harbor and ferried the boxes one or two at a time ’till we had the boat so full there was barely room to move around.  It was clear we had to get the stuff unloaded and into storage very soon so we worked pretty hard to make that happen.  Most of the stowing plan was Robin’s and she’s pretty organized about it.  She maintains notes about all of it on her ipad so we know how many of each part and where it is.  As I do maintenance she adjusts the amount in storage.  This becomes incredibly valuable later on.

Over the next few days we got our canvas that needed repair to a shop on the east end of the island and a few minor repairs to the boat done and things got back to normal… well normal for us, some of the most fortunate people in the world!

Around the BVI in 7 days – Part 1

Folks,

My sailing buddy from way back in 2001 came to visit again this past week with his wife Ruth.  We’ve sailed with them several times and one of the trademarks is Trevor’s evening martini.  So we start preparing for their arrival the night before icing down the martini glasses.  After a couple at the dock we headed out in the morning for St John’s.  Ruth is pretty picky about her beaches and wasn’t hard to please.  So we did several days including Trunk Bay, Cinnamon Bay, Watermelon Bay, and Francis Bay.  Then we headed out the short 4 mile trip to Sopers hole to clear in.  Since we’d done this before and now had the forms it was pretty easy.  Customs and Immigration people can be very nice and happy or they can be “little man” complexed monsters that would have been fired a long time ago for being extremely rude if they worked anywhere else.  So there’s always a little anxiety as you approach.  We were luck this time.  The guy was more than decent and easy going.  So we got our fee paid and were back in the dinghy and on our way out the channel to Cooper Island for a delightful lunch and some basking in the Sun.

From here we sailed up Sr Francis Drake Channel to Spanish Town where we planned to take a mooring ball and depart early in the morning for The Bath’s.  A famous snorkeling stop that has a lot to offer in the way of beaches, caves, and snorkeling.  This time it also had something more to offer…

No mooring balls were left so we took a slip in the marina and had a good time wandering around Spanish Town for their local Carnival.  This time of year each island has a carnival and they’re all on different weeks.  We just lucked out and got there for the end of carnival.  Loud music, parades, and special tents were set up all over the place.  After TM’s (Trevor’s Martini’s) we sacked out and were up early to get down to the Bath’s before all the cruise ship’s traffic.  Trevor had this idea to stop at Devil’s point where there were mooring balls and a place to tie up the dinghy only about 50 yards from the beach.  So I landed the dink on the beach, emptied all the people and beach stuff then tied up Tookie II and swam back ashore.  This was a great way to see the Bath’s.  We just walked up the beach a short ways to enter the semi-submerged caves that led right up the the Bath’s.  As we got close I noticed a short cut swim so Robin and I went that way.  About half way I noticed something on my belly that tingled.  Then suddenly everything BURNED BAD!  JELLY FISH ALL WRAPPED AROUND ME!  I turned to warn Robin and luckily she hadn’t gotten any.  As I swam back the pain got worse and worse.  As I trudged up the beach pulling the slippery jelly tentacles I was really starting to weaken.  I’ll spare you all the further details but I got most of them off and back to the dinghy with a lot of help from Trevor and back to our boat on the mooring ball.  After I trying several treatments that did almost nothing Trevor got his electronic medical information device to produce a superb solution.  Almost scalding hot water.  Not exactly the thing you really want to do on something that burns real bad but it worked like a charm.  Then another secret to get all the tentacles off was to soap up with shaving cream and shave with a credit card!  Another great idea that finally got all the buggers off me.  Soon I was relaxing and recuperating.  Trevor went back to enjoy the beach a little at least with Ruth but even that was interrupted with  and elderly lady that had gotten stung and was having problems breathing.  Soon he was in action again helping her out and still not having much fun I’m sure.  Eventually they did get a little beach time but unfortunately this just wasn’t the best day of the trip for Trevor and Ruth.  But I sure was glad he was there.  If he hadn’t found the treatment I was ready to call rescue.  It really hurt that bad.  Thanks Trevor!

Winding Down a Great Sailing Season

Folks,

As you can see in the image above we’ve spent the last few days of this year’s trip sailing from Jost Van Dyke through the scenic Gauana Passage and the Camino’s,  down to Cooper Island then back up to Spanish Town.  We’re winding down another great season on the boat and by far our most adventurous.  As many of you know we’ve overcome adversity a few times but all in all we’ve been very fortunate.   We departed our familiar Florida waters last November 14th so we’ve been out almost 6 1/2 months and logged around 1500 miles.  Next Tuesday we haul out at Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbour here in Spanish Town, BVI.  Before we depart Tookie will be prepared for storage and tied down snugly on the ground for some much deserved rest during storm season.  We pounded the crap out of her in some of the weather on the way and she responded by taking very good care of the crew.  We’re a little nervous about leaving her this far away but she’s in good company with a lot of our friends boats right here in the same yard.

We’ve still got a lot of photo’s to add to the site and several entries about friend’s that came to visit and some of the exploring Robin and I did ourselves.  We haven’t nearly seen all there is around here and we’d still like to do some of the islands further south.  So we might leave the boat here another year or we might just explore everything here thoroughly and then return to the US next year.  We haven’t made our minds up about that yet and have a few months to think about it.

For now our focus is on the storage preparation which is several days of pretty hard work.  Then we’ll relax a couple of days at Leverick Bay and St Thomas before heading home June 6th.  We end this trip on a high note that we made our goal and we’ve had a great time and we’re looking forward to getting back home to see family and friends for the rest of the year.  Thanks for checking in with us on this blog and we hope to fill in the missing entries after we get back to the condo.

As another day closes it’s starting to sink in that the sail of a lifetime has come true for us.

Best regards,

Chris and Robin

There are a LOT of destinations in the Virgins

Folks,

We’re working on a long post that covers the visit last week of Trevor and Ruth Rabie.  They visit us each year and we have a blast and this was no exception.  There are lot of photo’s though which requires better internet to up load it.  So we’re slipping this shorter post in on today’s mediocre internet connection.

The image above show’s our wanderings in just a single day at Jost Van Dyke, BVI.  And we only stopped at about half the spots.  We started at Great harbor in the same bay as famous Foxy’s to visit the customs office to clear in.  Sometimes you get a good officer and sometimes it’s one of those “not my job to do anything but make you wait for me” civil servants that couldn’t hold a job anywhere but the government payroll.  Today it was a mixed bag.  I checked the boat in and when we got close to completing that step the super nice guy suggested Robin do the immigration forms to save time.  Yes!  I love it when we get a real nice and efficient officer.  Unfortunately the immigration lady wasn’t the same at all.  When Robin walked up the youngish lady officer was finishing a very long text message and didn’t bother to acknowledge her.  Things went down hill from there and I’ll spare you the details but this happens about half the time and we’re getting used to it.  To help ease the frustration we walked down the beach a ways to the ice cream lady and loaded up with a butter pecan cone each.  Then back to the dink and a short ride to Tookie to remove the yellow Q-flag again and we’re now legal to go anywhere we want in BVI.  So over to  Diamond Bay where we had a drink at Foxy’s Tabo the new Foxy place that has only been opened 7 years.  There are a few mooring balls and a lot of places to do good snorkeling and swimming.  Plus there’s this place where you sit in the rocks and get a bubble bath from waves that surge in.  All the balls were taken except one and there was a charter boat full steam ahead trying to beat us to it.  We’ve been amazed at how fast they’ll try to go to get to that last ball and even when it’s obvious they can’t beat our cat they still go full power until we’ve got the ball and they have to accept the horror of maybe anchoring with the anchor.  We’ve won this race before and felt bad afterwards since this really seemed to put fear into eyes of everyone on the charter boat.  This loss probably caused them a sleepless night out of only a week or so here and we were responsible!  Ever since if there’s a charter boat on the romp I turn off and let them have the ball.  We’re very comfortable anchoring and that way we all get to have the fun.  So we tucked in over closer to Foxy Taboo and settled in for a trip to happy hour and a real nice evening on the boat.  Next morning we stopped at Sandy Cay to finish some more SS cleaning and then went over to White Bay, one of our favorite destinations.  It’s pretty popular so all the mooring balls were taken but we found a spot to anchor until a boat left a mooring ball.  We could have stayed at anchor but we’d have had to move since we didn’t have enough swinging room to stay the night.  Late afternoon a lot of boats depart and there are good anchor spots and usually a few mooring balls.

One of the neat things about this location is that there are a wide variety of bars.  There’s everything from pretty good dining on the west end to famous Soggy Dollar in the middle to easy going relaxed atmosphere Ivan’s on the east end.  All have in common a pristine white sand beach and crystal clear water that join them.  So after a short wait we saw a boat moving off a ball and in no time we were hooked up and ready to play.  Well to be totally candid this wasn’t such a quick mooring operation.  The ball and grab line had been damaged so it took both of us in a little bit of a shuffle to grab it but we got it done fairly quickly with only a short “anchor dance”.  We got our inflatable chairs blown up and plunged off the back of the boat and paddled ashore and back to the boat for an hour or so and then had the tough decision of what bar to go to.  We have 4 to choose from and started with Ivan’s place and worked our way down to Soggy Dollar since Robin wanted to shop for tee shirts.  No arguments from me since the bar is good and there’s a fair amount of “eye candy”.  No disappointments today and we met up with several couples from California that we’d met the day before at Foxy’s Taboo.   They said their boat name was SV Viagra and they were all of eligible age so we didn’t contest it.    There are always young girls that want their picture taken and this was no exception.  So two of the guys asked if I could take their photo and here’s what I got:

Just so everyone knows, this isn’t what I do at the Soggy Dollar.  I have much more important things to do here:

Special thanks to Trevor Rabie for the photo above!

As you can see White Bay on Jost Van Dyke is one of our favorite destinations.  The word favorite in our vernacular has a little different meaning now that we’ve been cruising the Caribbean.  There are hundreds of favorites only a hair apart but the combination of great anchorage, beach, snorkeling, beautiful swimming and  multiple social venues make this one hard to beat.

Best regards from White Bay.

Chris and Robin

BVI… We Made It!

Folk’s,

Today we awoke in Francis Bay on the north shore of St John’s, USVI.  We played with the main a little at the mooring ball then dropped the ball and headed up the channel just under 4 miles to Soper’s Hole, BVI.  After we checked in we replaced the Q-flag with the last one in Robin’s bag and it was pretty triumphant.  So we did what all good sailors do and went ashore to Pusser’s for the celebration!

Tomorrow we’ll head out to Jost Van Dyke and probably stop at lovely Sandy Cay along the way.  So the rest of our time around here we’ll be sailing during the day and savor sunsets in the evening…

Best regards

Chris and Robin, two of the most fortunate people in the world

Lucky Snorkeling

Folks,

After I wiped the bottom of the boat down today we went snorkeling along some rocks on the far east side of Francis Bay.  It was pretty good but not really spectacular.  After we had our fill we began the swim back to the dingy anchored about 200 yards away.  Half way back we looked down to see very large ray buried in the sand as they often do.  All you can see is the outline and the ridge leading to its eyes.  It was at least 5′ long and we were lucky enough to get two photos.  Lucky snorkeling happens every now and then today was one of those days.

Regards,

Chris

Virgin Beauty

Folks,

We spent almost a week in St Thomas and got to visit some Manta friends on their boat at the real fancy marina close to the main cruise ship dock.  We also finally had time to fix all the stuff on the mast and boom that had been tie-wired to work but needed permanent repairs.  Our friends Bill and Charlene were in Crown Bay Marina at the west end of the harbor close to their new dinghy supplier and a pretty good marine supply store so we used their boat as a dinghy dock for little parts needed to finish repairs.  This was real handy for us since tying up to their boat was WAAAY easier than using the very crowded dinghy dock.  Also we’d often time the trip so we could meet for lunch at the great little outdoor restaurant and bar.  We were anchored in the middle of the harbor so a dinghy ride to the marine store was about a mile and a ride over to the other marina was a little less.  “Tourist town” was right straight ahead only a couple of hundred yards.  The last couple of days in St Thomas we were really waiting on the rain to quit more than anything else.  We got 3 days of almost continuous rain, the most since we left the US back in November!  So we’d time our short trips in the dingy to scoot across to the dinghy dock and get to shelter before the next rain.  Sometimes we made it, sometimes we got a little rain by keeping the dinghy just on the edge, and sometimes we got completely drenched!

Two days ago the rain subsided and we headed out East Gregory Chanel to sail a short 7 miles to Christmas Cove.  We’d heard this was a nice little stop on the way to famous St John’s and we weren’t disappointed.  It was stunningly beautiful and there are about 20 free mooring balls installed by some nature foundation.  This really works well since many sailors damage the ecosystem terribly with careless anchoring and often don’t seem to understand how to stay a safe distance from other boats.  The moorings are safely spaced and installed in such a way that minimizes damage.  We couldn’t wait to explore the area so we dropped Tookie II (our dinghy) and motored around.  The water was so gorgeous that we went back to the boat, tied up the dink, and hopped in for a swim.  It was perfect temperature and I took the opportunity to inspect our new bottom job.  It really looked good but in some areas had a whitish film of slime so we got the sponge out to see if it would come off easily.  Luckily it did and Chris now has another chore to knock out of wiping the bottom down.

Soon sun was setting and I got the conch horn out to celebrate the successful end of another day in paradise.

Next morning we retraced our path about 2 miles back toward St Thomas to Benner Bay where we hoped to find a few parts for the faucets at a nice marine store and check out the grocery store Robin had heard good things about.  The  marine store was great and the grocery was very good so we now have a good supply place without having to go all the way back to St Thomas.  The only minor problem was when Chris tried to get too close in at the shallow bay.  As we approached the depth alarm  went off and the bow dipped as Robin looked at him with that “Did you go aground again?” look with eyebrows fluttering.  I gave her the “pathetic yes” look back.  So we back out and anchored further out in about 10′ of water.  People often remark how nice it must be to only draw 4′ of water but I usually respond “that’s what we thought but for us it just means we go aground  in shallower water”.  Soon we were on our way out and headed through current cut to St John’s.  Robin had the helm through the cut which had current opposed to the wind so it was nasty looking but not too difficult.  I gave Robin the high-five as she made it through and we turned off toward Cruz Bay and then around the NW end of St John’s passed all the famous sand beach anchorages.  We decided to head toward the most famous, Francis Bay but stopped just short at Maho Bay.  Grabbing a mooring ball has gotten a lot easier with the new bow cleats and our normal drill worked well.  I approach the ball and Robin grabs the mooring line with the boat hook and gets a line through and tied to one of our cleats.  Then I go up to help deploy the bridle that has two independent lines for added safety.  The whole process only takes a few minutes now and either of us could do either role but Robin prefers I take the helm for the approach.

Once tied up we dinghied ashore to walk the beach and the road behind it to look around.  There were a whole lot of people that had descended down from the camp grounds that are dotted around in the ornate hills that surround the 1/2 mile of beach in this beautiful cove.  We met one couple from Maine that said the camps are little platforms with a great view and mosquito net surround.  “It’s a beautiful view and we get soaked when it rains but it’s a great way to see this place at a great price for couples like us”.  We couldn’t help but admire the couple for getting here with their young family to enjoy this spectacular place.  We wished them well as we started the dink and headed to the Fee Platform to drop off our mooring fee to help pay for moorings, and maintenance… only a lot prouder than usual that we were doing our part to make this place possible.

Next it was time for another swim to wipe the bottom scum off.  Every now and then I had to watch the fish watch me.  They seemed to wonder what I was doing and enjoy nibbling the almost invisible growth that was falling down to them as I wiped.  Soon a conch with it’s huge nasty shell wandered by and there were several other fish and turtles that all seemed to come by investigating what this strange looking animal was doing on the boat that was dropping food to any normal fish that wanted some.

A talented writer could describe exactly how this place looks but all I can tell you is it looks gorgeous, smells gorgeous, and even sounds gorgeous.  We’re so lucky to be here and I’ll leave you with a few more photos.

Best regards,

Chris and Robin

St Thomas!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Folks,

When we departed the US we had a goal of reaching BVI this year and playing there ’till we put the boat in a storage yard then start again later after hurricane season.  So Robin bought courtesy flags for every country between the US and BVI.  We now have only one flag left!  St Thomas is a busy place with huge anchorages and lots of boats.  We had several friends that were already here on other boats and they’ve figured out all the logistics for the area so we don’t have to learn everything the hard way.  We’re anchored off one of the main shopping areas near the center of town in Long Bay.  Our buddy boat RSVP was here ahead of us in Crown Bay Marina since they had their dinghy stolen two nights ago at Vieques.  We had a blast there but were very aware petty theft is rampant and we were sad to hear they were one of the latest victims.  Word travels like fire about these things in the cruising world and when Bill entered the dingy store the dealer’s first words were “you must be the guy that had the dinghy stolen in Vieques”.  After we got anchored up we dinghied over to their marina about a mile away and met Bill and Charlene, their friends from back home Kirk and Gale, and our mutual friends John and Susan on Le Garza Verde we had met in the South Caicos at Southside Marina.  It was another one of those fun cruiser reunions that happen often out here.  We caught up on each others experiences, had a good meal and then walked around to browse the shops.  We departed shortly after as we were both tired and wanted a relaxing evening at the boat.

So here we sit looking across at the building with the big Rolex sign on it with a very gentle, comfortable rock  in this sheltered anchorage.  We’ve kind of got St Thomas in a fish tank off our starboard side and as night falls we can see the street lights lining the roads that run parallel to the coast all the way up the high hills that surround us.  Cars are still bustling along the wharf road and there’s a lot for us do do around here before we move on.  We’ve started to realize the hard part of the journey that started last November 14th is almost over.  Our dream has almost come true and it’s a very good feeling.

Best regards,

Chris