Today is Sunday (3-7) and we brought the kids to Cooper Island Beach Club yesterday. Shortly after we arrived the wind came up and blew from the North. That caused the wind chop to build all the way across the Francis Drake channel from Tortola. All night the wind howled and the boat pitched up and down. The bow to stern up and down motion isn't bad compared to the port to starboard rolling so it wasn't a bad night. It is, however, still blowing and raining this morning. It looks like a day to spend ashore with the kids in their cottage rather than spend it snorkeling. No sun makes for poor visibility under water. It rained off and on for four days. Unusual for the BVI this time of year but the kids said they enjoyed just relaxing and Sue and I had down time on the boat also. Wednesday we they checked out and we headed over to Trellis Bay for their departure at 3:30 pm on Thursday. Today, Thursday, we slept late partly because it was still raining and it makes for good sleeping. We had lunch at the Loose Mongoose and left them at the airport at one o'clock. We dropped the mooring and headed around Beef Island and on down the Drake passage to Soper's Hole to clear out of the BVI, get some more groceries and top up our fuel. We now have eighty five gallons of diesel aboard and should be able to make it to Georgetown, Exuma without any problem. We motored about twenty five minutes across to Waterlemon Bay on St. John for the night. Now that we have left the BVI we really feel like we are headed home. Once again we have the good/bad feelings about that. We are ready to get home but will definitely miss the lifestyle we have been living for the last few years. Sue is already planning what she needs to do to her garden and I have several projects in mind. Looking at the good/bad thing I realize we were sad to leave the eastern Caribbean but now that we are on the way, we want to be home soonest. We sailed West today to Culebra in the Spanish Virgins. The wind was up a little and the north and east swells made for an exciting ride. The weather forecast is for wind and seas to diminish after today and there should be little or no rain till at least mid week. We should be in Boqueron, P.R. by Monday night and we will stay there till we get a good weather window for the 300 mile passage to the Turks and Caicos. I hope I get a chance to upload this blog before we make that jump. I hope these jumps from day to day don't confuse people but it's the best way to keep the continuity. We left Culebra and sailed to Puerto Patillas (48 mi) on the south coast of Puerto Rico on Saturday and then on to Ponce (46 mi) on Sunday. Ponce is the site of my infamous four and a half days in the hospital back in 2008. Anyway the weather looks good for the forty six mile run to Boqueron tomorrow and hopefully we will rest a few days there before the three hundred mile, forty to forty eight hour passage to the Turks and Caicos islands. These roughly fifty mile runs work well for us. we up anchor about 0630 and that lets us stop about 2pm so we get to relax before the next days run. I am sending this update from the WiFi connection at the Ponce Yacht and Fishing Club. I didn't know I could connect here but it works. The picture is of one of our favorite anchorages in the BVI. No I won't tell you where.