The reason we go...... and the reason we stay

We start our boating season in January, coincidentally right after Christmas.

 Sadie the Pirate and Owen the Dragon 

We have a couple of little reasons for that late start and they are called Sadie and Owen, Ben and Nick.

Our little princess

The family entertainer

Gord would happily head south earlier but I just don't want to miss the adorable little trick or treater's.
Then the amazing choreography work that goes into the annual Christmas concerts.



The hype and preparation for Santa's arrival and the sheer wonder that even though they only behaved well enough to get a lump of coal. Santa loves them and came through just the same.

Junior family members having Christmas fun

Santas arrival



Santa loves Ben too

Karen & Nick

Sadie and Owen Christmas day

Now the reason we leave, especially this year has a whole lot to do with scrapping off cars, trudging through snowbanks, ice storms and power outages.  Not to even mention the -30 to -40 degree weather.  Who would voluntarily stay??? 

 

Boat show Time Oct 2013

Boat shows are the best. you get to preview all the latest gadgets the you probably don't need but manage to convince yourself that you just can't live without, so you buy them and pat yourself on the back for getting such bargains on such great stuff at such a discount because you bought it at the show.

Lots of Nifty Gadgets

We're no different, we love the gadgets. This year we bought the latest and greatest in stainless polish, nifty new fluorescent, indestructible, self wrapping chaffing gear, new snubbing gear, power winch ( we're getting pretty old and worried about all that cranking), latest LED navigation lights and various bits and parts that I'm really not sure what they do.

Rain or Shine, the shopping must go on

We developed quite an intimate relationship with the glue guy this year  after eating lunch at Pussers and breaking off a front tooth on one of their extra unexpected long tined forks.  His glue came to the rescue and I could continue to smile without looking like an old salty dog.



A new 52' Shannon, we can all dream

Previewing the latest and greatest of new boats is nothing short of a drool fest.  Our favorite?  The swing keel Shannon that can take the ocean swells , then come right in to the Bahama shallows.

Then rounding a corner, who should appear but our friends from Toronto; Gar and Helen, owners of a 40 ft Valiant back in Toronto. They were just as shocked to see us as we were to see them, so we had some fun dinners in Annapolis swapping stories.




Gar , Helen & Sue

You'll hear more about Gar and Helen in March when they arrive to share some sailing with us aboard Ocean Wings and check out the Virgin Islands for a future trip down aboard their Valiant.



The Season Begins.... Well almost! Oct 2013

It's boat show time and sure does get the urge to sail kicked into overdrive.
We've put spin on it this year and we are attending the Whitby boat owners Rendezvous for the very first time.

Its held in a small bay with a quaint marines just south of Annapolis. We are staying at Pirates Cove, overlooking the water and walking distance to the marina.

Why haven't we attended before this year, there are so many great boaters and piles of amazing ideas flowing, not to mention good food  and awesome  boats to take a peak at.  Come on! we all know we love to look at other peoples boats, to see what nifty ideas they have that could solve some of our issues, but also so we can walk way feeling really great about the decisions we've made and the ways we can justify purchasing the totally unnecessary, but absolutely can't live without boating stuff , and last but not least so we can say..." That was nice, but I like our boat better".  we're all so different with our wants, needs and wishes that the great thing about feeling that ways is that its always true.

We had such a good time, that we'll be back next year.

Lucille

While sitting in lindberg recouperating from our guests and planning our next move we look over and there sits Lucille. Gary and Penny's catamaran. So, we dinghy over and invite them for happy Hour aboard Ocean Wings. then off to the Mexican restaurant at the Caribe for dinner.
The next day they are off for Culebra and we are heading to re-provision.

Gabi and Rudi take up Sailing

Feb 16- Feb 26, 2013

The travellers have arrived. All the way from Vienna. Before they are barely off the plane they learn that being a boater means pulling your own luggage along a rough caribbean road( no posh limo's for this crowd) and then manuevering it into a bobbing dinghy, keeping it dry and then straight up 6 ft onto the boat deck.
Well, they did say they wanted to try this boating thing.


We did our first snorkel and then headed into the Emerald Beach hotel for a beach swim and a mess of their wonderful BBQ ribs.

Now we want to introduce our newbies to the Island mode of transport. "the Safari"   for $1.00 you can go all the way downtown and half way across the island. For $2:00 you can go to the other end of the Island. We're going a little more than 1/2 way and heading for the Cost u Less to make sure we can feed Gabi and Rudi with some of their food preferrences.

The Safari

We take our little green truck with us so we can be sure that we can get everything we need and of course we have 2 extra sets of hands, so that's a bonus. It's kind of like Mr Toads wild ride at Disney World as we careen around the hills, passing on curves, as we're coming over hills and generally scaring the **** out of us.  Going back we have all those grocery bags to hold onto, so, I think we'll feel more secure





Our Green grocery truck

We're all stocked up and ready to head to Francis Bay. Where we got a great shot of a sea turtle and i got to swim along with him with my hand on his back.

As usual the wind is on our nose, so sailing is out unless we want to make it 12 hr affair by tacking back and forth.

We took rudi and gabi on the hike to Annanberg Sugar Mill. this old plantation has plenty of history and surprising the ruins are in pretty good shape. Enough that you get a clear idea of how it used to be in the days of slavery. They lived in terrible conditions and worked hundreds of acres on a hillside.

The only way to really cool off after a hike is to hit the surf.

The evenings are made for fun and our guests are unrivaled party animals.

North Sound is next on the agenda and of course we must hit the Micheal bean happy hour and then the Jumbies the next night.


Jumbie dancers



Micheal's Pirate show

We rented a car and took a tour of the island.  Rudi took 1000's of awesome pictures.  Yes, I truly mean thousands.  However I am at home writing this blog and the pictures are on the boat, so you'll have to check back later and I'll post some of his amazing pics.
 The view from the top of the island looking down on North Sound and all the yachts is truly one of a kind.

We're lucky to be hanging out in such a safe area, the crime here in the British Virgins is extremely minimal. if fact they must never have any more than 1 lock up at time, judging by the size of their facilities.

still checking out the island and a stop at Savannah Bay is like walking onto the set of Blue lagoon.  Doesn't this beach just make you feel like you're marooned alone.

The baths is next on our list and this wonder of the world never fails to awe even the most seasoned traveller. A hike thru the caves, a swoim in the surf and then on the the Mine shaft cafe for happy hour.



Saba Rock

 Rudi has heard about Bitter End Yacht Club and wants to see for himself, so we are heading over for the day. Now he claims he's in heaven. Not for the beautiful landscaping or turquiose water but for the fact that there is free wifi and a computer plug in. Facebook here he comes.  Then a little stop at saba rock for happy hour and some shots of them feeding the huge Tarpon.



Gabi is a bit nervous about missing their plane so we are heading back to St Thomas a few days early. Sailing down the Atlantic side of the islands in the hopes that we'll actually get some wind on this glassy ocean. Jib an mizzen are pulling us along between 4 and 6 knots. Definitely not racing but a beautiful pleasant relaxin way to travel from one end of the islands to the other.

There off on their long flight back to vienna and we are sitting in Lindberg Bay.

                             Bon Voyage Gabi and Rudiit was nice having you aboard

Housekeeping Chores

Our favorite mechanic- Joe

Feb 2-16

We're on the water and sitting in charlotte Amalie harbour waiting for Joe to fix our genny leak, so we can provision. meanwhile we are unbagging all the stuff we bagged last year and everything appears to be in good shape.

 Now that he has performed his magic we can provision.  Which is like starting your kitchen from scratch.

Everyone always askswhat we do all day, so I will explain that shopping for groceries is a multi day chore.
We get bags and our trundle cart ready to head for shore, pull the dinghy up on the beach or if we're luck have a dock to go to. Walk to the grocery store, which can be blocks away. Keeping an eye on weight and quantity, we load up on the basics, bag it, load our cart and head back to the boat, where it's all transferred to the dinghy and out to the boat. Then 1 small bag at a time, Gord hands it up 6 ft to me on deck and I tuck it here there and everywhere that it can't roll off. Then we transfer it down the companion way another 5 steps and start to unload it into miniscule cabinets, under floor boards and under settee.
By the time we finish, it's late afternoon and of course "Miller Time".

The next day we do the meat run, starting out the same, but grabbing the dollar taxi and heading for Cost U Less. Everything must fit compactly into the cart, so that it will fit into the narrow eisles on the dollar taxi or they won't let us on, then back to the boat with the same routine to get it repackaged and put into the freezer.

The next day, same time, same routine we head in and up to the fresh fruit market and this time when we return to the boat we must wash eerything in a solution of bleach, fully dry, wrap in paper towel and put into cloth bags.

Now that's 3 days to shop, I'm exhausted ! aren't you?

So a few more chores like dropping off a small sail repair to Manfred, some laundry, making up the V berth and a few swims in between we're pretty much ready for Gabi and Rudi to arrive.