I had promised regular blog entries for the trip down to the Virgin Islands. I did not anticipate the Great Storm of 2013 and the general malaise that comes with bouncing around at sea to cause me to miss posting entries, thus this one and the following few until we get to land will be short. Typing at sea for a two fingered typist is an ugly event. I hit letters, just not the ones I want to use. We got underway early on the 6th and had a good first 24 hours before we got headed by a south southeast wind that drove us offshore into a most ugly blow. It was quite the amusement park ride and I hate amusement park rides. Our peak wind was 43 knots which by itself is not overpowering but the fact that we couldn't run with the wind and waves made it a miserable day and night. That storm claimed a number of boats. We don't know all of the details as we have no newspaper delivery out here (731 miles to St Thomas) but we heard Coast Guard helicopters talking to boats that had lost the masts. A sad event for many sailors. By Saturday our appetites returned and we had a great dinner of Joan's home made chicken pot pie and tonight (Sunday) we had the world famous Scholl spaghetti with broiled garlic bread. The weather has improved quite nicely. We are all in shorts and tee shirts and starting to guess when we will make landfall on either St Thomas or St John depending on the time of day. No one ate for the first 72 hours and no one has missed a meal since. We are safe and survived the storm with only a few bits of damage or lost equipment but we didn't lose the boat or our live so getting through the storm is judged as a great success. Joan has hung a �"for sale�" sign out for her half of the boat but I think she may change her mind when we get to paradise. The dogs are fine. Sailor didn't know there was a storm and Gracie survived by sleeping in my arms. Their appetite is back also but they are bored. We miss everyone. Be safe. We will.

John