Lobster Feast

Back in Francis Bay we ran into Anne and John on "Livin the Dream"  and Mike and Betts on "Papageno" shared a few happy hours and saw the giant lobsters that John and Anne caught out on Johnston Reef.

Dinner

Lady J III

Sounds like a classey big yacht,  it's another cruiser that we met last year, Fred and Phyliss, so we enjoyed a great visit and happy hour with them. Then next day Ann and John on "Livin the Dream" arrive, so its happy hour on their boat.

Next day is a cruise into Francis Bay where Greg and Debbie on " Sonrisa" are on a ball. We haven't met up with them since Fatty Goodlanders birthday where we gave them our extra boat hook.

St Thomas Again

This time it's not to get anything fixed, It's social time.  A short relax with Jim and Patti ( they're between charters) dinner on their boat and then up to Island view Guest house with Jim, Patti, Joe and Jenn for one of their famous steak dinners. We were all so full I think we could have rolled all the way to the dock.
Then we had Jim, Patti and Kevin arrived also for dinner aboard Ocean Wings.
Afer dropping Jim and patti off at the airport for a weeks visit in Florida, I installed the engine cover I made for his new outboard and off we headed to Leinster Bay, on St John

Dance Time- April 1

I need a dance fix badly so we have headed to Coral Bay to catch the Sun Mountain Fiddler with Tom, Meg and their 2 sons & girlfriends.

The place was so packed we ended up eating standing up, but we were so busy dancing anyway that we didn't notice.

Everybody Loves a Baby........Maybe

Lamshur Bay was our next destination, on the south side of St John. While at anchor here, a mother dolphin and her baby spend 3 days playing in the water and circling our boat. Lovely to see and a rare treat to get a look at her baby.

We felt a stretch and a hike was in order so we set off on a cloudy day on the 2.4 mile climb to see the Petroglyphs. Carvings in the rocks beside a natural waterfall made by the Tano Indians somewhere between 900- 1500 AD. Well that will be a one time experience, nothing but climbing for over 2 miles on narrow rocky trails in tropical heat. what were we thinking. But we took lunch and had a picnic and the petroglyphs were certainly magical.

Then we deeked into the next Bay, our favorite Salt Pond, which has a fabulous beach and exceptional snorkelling. The baby we say here is not every Moms dream child. A baby shark sleeping soundly on the sand in just 10 feet of water. Understandably we resisted the urge to go snuggle.

Here we met Kevin, on his Shannon and enjoyed a great chat and a couple of cold ones. He's from across Lake Ontarion at Youngstown and has been down here almost a year single handing his boat. Picks up that mooring ball by himself much better than the 8-10 people aboard most moorings charters.

Adrift

Not us!  one of those large marker bouys in a bright yellow ( which usually is a reef marker) was on a little holiday between St John and St Croix. As we were almost to Salt Pond bay from St Croix, there it was bobbimng where it shouldn't be bobbing and marking nothing. A quick call to the coast guard netted us a call back but not a lot of interest in what we considered a serious hasard to navigation. imaging hitting that in the middle of the night.