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April 2011
Caneel Bay, USVI
Early April we were visited by our son Brad, his wife Kimberly and our grandson London. We started off in a flurry after the airport pick-up in St. Thomas. On the sail back to St. John, London had a bout of seasickness but then quickly adjusted to the movement of the boat. Next morning it was on to Jost Van Dyke to the world famous Foxy's for lunch and then to Taboos. Brad and Kimberly had an exilerating dinghy ride from Taboos around the corner of the bay to Sydney's. I think Brad had more fun than Kimberly but now they have a story to tell.
The next couple of days we visited The Baths on Virgin Gorda, Marina Cay, Water Lemon Bay and finally back to Caneel where we relaxed and enjoyed the beautiful beaches. Then in for a shopping trip and a look around in Cruz Bay. By now London is very familiar with the boat and is running and climbing everywhere, no fear. He really enjoyed the water once he trusted that his vest would keep him afloat.
It was all a delight and every time we have company aboard we enjoy the boat more. Again the pictures will tell the story. You might find that we went overboard with pictures of our grandson.
We have been running into acquaintances from our travels. First we spoke by radio to S/V Ascension. We sailed the Red Sea and the Atlantic in the company of Ascension and it was great to catch-up. After a visit to Canada, Gord and Ginny will be returning to the BVI to become charter captains. Next we saw S/Y Good News,a beautiful 56 foot FP Marquises which we encountered occassionally in the Caribbean and across the Pacific. It was nice to chat with them if only briefly.
We were also visited by our friend Paddy Barry whom we first met in Tonga. Paddy is now working in Florida and he was back for a week to check on his boat in the USVI. Paddy bought us ribs at Joe's Place and we had a few drinks at the Beach Bar to celebrate the occasion.
Before we departed our favorite island we had a little bit of partying we wanted to do with our friends Tom and Amy and all the new friends we have made on the island. It started with a night at Tamarind Inn where our friend John Schuld played the acoustical guitar and sang.
Wow what a talent. John knows the words of most songs we can think of and his elocution is superb. Later in the evening he was joined on stage by "Eighties Matt" the bar tender from JJ's and together they energized the place. John is in the throws of completing a movie which he plans to submit to the Sundance Film Festival this year. This documentary is about John's travels from his military service to his current life in St John. We promised to be at the premiere should John's film be selected for the festival.
Not Yet
Tom and Amy convinced us to stay on a few more days to celebrate Rene's birthday on St John which we readily agreed to. It was brunch at Jake's and then to the Mermaid Lounge (a name given to Tom and Amy's bungalow) for a private showing of John and Brandi's film, Falling From Space. Needless to say we were impressed and can't wait to attend the premiere. Best of luck with the submittal!
Puerto Rico
Okay now it's off to the Spanish Virgins to stage ourselves for a haul out in Puerto Rico. But first we killed some time waiting for the weekend to pass since there is no sense hauling the boat then sitting on the hard wth no one working on the weekend. So we practiced our underwater photography with the camera we borrowed from Brad.
Puerto del Rey Marina was our choice for a haul-out and everything went very well however once on the hard we realized that we were going to work our way into Good Friday and everything would be closed but hey it wasn't all bad. We even took the opportunity to rent a car and visit the old fort of San Juan and then a drive through the El Yunque National Park. We splashed and then spent a couple days at the marina before departing for the Bahamas. With a slick bottom and good winds we were off on the first leg of our trip to Marsh Harbor, The Great Albacos, Bahamas.
We sat in the Bahamas for a couple of days waiting on weather before heading to Annapolis where we put Shiraz in the hands of Tommy Smith of Sail Away Catamarans.
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