The boy made it to the Virgin Islands. "The Boy" being Huston, our son who is a freshman at Johns Hopkins. He flew in for spring break. He is the first visitor we have welcomed aboard since leaving the US. Glad to have him!

We considered anchoring in a bay near the airport and walking to meet him. A local advised us to stay in the main harbor of Charlotte Amolie and have him catch a taxi to us. Good advice. It worked like a charm.

He arrived Friday at 12:40 p.m. Meyka had scouted out a walking tour of St. Thomas--the historic area first, followed by a walk through the duty free shops, and concluded with shopping at St. Thomas's exciting K- Mart and Pueblo grocery.

We had a great first day and then hightailed out early on Saturday morning. The sea state has been driving folk off the northern anchorages and put a lot of pressure on the limited places on the south side of St. John. Anchoring is prohibited here and there are limited moorings--24 in total. We held our breath on the trip from St. Thomas to here...hoping we would be lucky enough to find an empty mooring. No room in the inn though until we hit the two moorings at the far southeastern edge of St. John.

Most of the time these two moorings are untenable--completely exposed unless you have a rare calm sea state. Bingo! The two moorings were available and the sea was smooth as glass. We nabbed the next to last free mooring on the south side of St. John around 11:00 a..m. The sun was bright and water clear. "Snorkel time", I declared. Huston got wet less than 24 hours after arriving here and hasn't been dry much since. We've seen sharks, turtles, and an aquarium's assortment of reef fish. It's been a blast.

Meyka and I were both gratified to know that Huston has gills. Snorkeling is one of our favorite things.

In addition, there is a breathtaking hike here up to the top of Ram Head and the view is of St. Croix, St. Thomas, St. John, Tortola, etc...most of the Virgin Islands.

This a.m. we were hailed by Azaya, our friends from Valdez, AK. They were on the way here from St. Martin. When our neighbors abandoned the last mooring in St. John., I tied our dinghy on it.

In light of our honored guest, Huston, and the reunion with our friends, Azaya, we declared it "Mexican night" and are all getting together for a feast.

Fun! Fun!

Don't you want to come see us?