Catching up
16 March 2013 | Fajardo, Puerto Rico
Dennis
Above picture from Playa Flamenco, Culebra, PR
It's been awhile since our last real post. Things have been wild, with almost continuous visitors from January 25th through yesterday at noon (3/15/13) ... and it's been a blast! Not only did we host 16 people from Gorda Sound to Buck Island to Jost Van Dyke to Culebra, we caught up with four of our favorite sailing buddies in the midst of all that ... two whom we hadn't seen since last spring! We also got surprised by catching up with Paul and Monica on Moonshadow in Benures Bay, Norman Island, for some sun-downers. We hadn't seen them for a really long time! We posted pics of all of most of those friends and family, but I'll try to get a few more in now.
As for highlights, there was lots of fun singing along with Allen's guitar playing and sitting back while Allen sailed us up Sir Francis Drake Channel to Virgin Gorda. We hiked up onto Little Jost Van Dyke for some spectacular views and had a fabulous time at the full moon party at Trellis Bay. The moon dancer was awesome!
We lazed in the sun on Sandy Spit, off Green Cay/Little JVD, with Stu and Vicky, while being entertained by hosts of pelicans pigging out on the myriad unsuspecting little prey surrounding the island, and we snorkeled at the Indians off Norman Island. We also had a blast skinny dipping off Little Jost Van Dyke! We were also fortunate to hook up with sailing buddies Mark and Eileen for several dinners, one of which was with Stu and Vicky. It's great when we get the chance to bring our two worlds together in such a fun way!
We dined in style at Le Château de Bordeaux restaurant on St. John with Hugh, Kathryn, Stu and Vicky and had a great sail with them between Lovango and Congo Cays to some great snorkeling around Christmas Cove, St. James Island, off St. Thomas.
We got seriously "bubbled" at the Bubbly Pool, JVD with Vern and Sarah, and we circumnavigated Tortola with some really great and very peaceful anchorages and moorings along the way. The peacefulness was good, because as we were sailing up to JVD from Norman, we got the news that Vern and Heidi's mom passed away. After some tears and reflection, they decided nothing more could be done at that point, so we kept on keeping on, starting with heading up to the Bubbly Pool. The rest of our trip allowed for a mix of fun, peacefulness, reflection, great meals and logistical preparations for Ruth Malin's funeral the following week.
After our return from PA for the funeral and some great catching up with family, Heidi and I came back to St. Thomas and sailed to Culebra, where her three "strong, beautiful women" friends (Brenda, Debbie and Judy) met us. We had a blast together with great dinners, fun excursions and lots of laughter and dancing. Here's where we had another opportunity (multiple, actually) to mix our worlds ... we hooked up several times with Irene and Theo, our great sailing friends from the Netherlands, whom we hadn't seen all season, for some dancing to the Conga players at The Dinghy Dock and a fun-filled evening (and fantastic Greek influenced dinner) aboard Sotirius with, of course, LOTS of music and dancing! (And, yes, Tom, I brought the Ouzo, but alas, we had no takers!)
Also, as a continuation of a tradition started by Hannah last spring in Martinique, Judy, Debbie and Brenda each performed a flying leap off Centime, captured on film for all posterity. Later, in the sparklingly clear waters off Isla Palominitos, they all jumped off together! Thanks Hannah!
So now, after all the great times, fun, reflection and tears, we are readying ourselves for our next big crossing. We are not sure yet where our point of departure will be, but we are looking at a minimum 4 day, possibly 6 day crossing from somewhere up here (PR to Haiti) toward Panama, weather dependent, where we will put good ol' Centime up on the hard for another hurricane season. This crossing will be our litmus test as to whether we will be comfortable, just the two of us, for the larger crossings ahead of us.
We will try our best to keep you posted as to our real start date and our arrival.
Cheers!
PS ... see Heidi's recent post, Celebration of Life, below.