Saturday 2 January 2016

Happy New Year

Happy 2016 to everyone!!  Hope you all enjoyed the holiday season however you chose to spend it.

We have enjoyed having Paige on board for the last 2 weeks, had such a blast.  We are settled on the fact we will never make a sailor out of her but she toughed it out and made her dad proud.  We were able to keep a smile on her face (most of the time) with regular dosing of sea sick meds.

While awaiting Paige's visit and after we were back from Porto Rico we spent our time traveling between St. Thomas and St. John (USVI's).  Circumnavigating both and finding some truly beautiful nuggets along the way.  St. John is about 80% national park land and with that has a quieter laid back feel, not a lot of charter boats and a multitude of hiking options. We loved it.

So 3-4 weeks balancing exploring and fun time with boat projects, maintenance etc.  A leak in our raw water intake pump put us back into Crown Bay for a rebuild of a pump. The guys at the shop were so fabulous, saving us a few hundred dollars and helping Al out with the rebuild. Water pumps seem to be a recurring theme as now we are having issues with the water pump we installed 2 months ago, uhg!

We just got back from exploring the BVI's with Paige. Showing her some of our favorite places as well as checking out areas we hadn't been to before. Lots of snorkeling, paddle boarding and just relaxing.  We spent Christmas in Trellis Bay. Dinner at The Last Resort was underwhelming and over priced!! Fire dancers and great company kept us from seeing red.  That was followed by joining the full moon party on the beach, dancing and people watching. What a blast.
The BVI's were very, very busy coupled with high winds yet we managed to cover everything we had wanted fairly stress free.
Unfortunately the "Christmas Winds" showed up the day before Paige's visit and will only start to settle somewhat tomorrow. We can't think of a day that we haven't had rain and squalls but usually have been short lived and can get back to enjoying the sun and water.

Our new year's eve was quiet but great. Tomatoe soup and grilled cheese for dinner. Backgammon and a few hands of crib finished off with a fun movie. Up until 11pm!!
We are now on St. Thomas, Red Hook for Paige's last day. Decided to grab a dock for a good night sleep and ease for catching cab very early tomorrow morning. A sad day.

We have been watching the weather and it's looking good for a window opening at the end of the week to head to St. Martin. A few things to catch up on with the boat then we will make our way to Virgin Gorda to stage for the departure.

We have thoroughly enjoyed our time here, no regrets staying as long as we did. BVI's, St.Thomas, St. John, Culebra, main land Porto Rico. Some great sailing, beautiful waters, lovely people and lots to do, We will definitely be back again.



Trail hazards! It was as painful as it looks.



Walk to the Petroglyphs, St.John with great friends John and Nina "Sunkissed"










HAPPY NEW YEARS!!
Love to you all, talk to you soon. xo

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