"Zen" is happy and moving. Her family arrived and immediately took her out "for a walk". And I do mean "immediately". Within 15 minutes of getting onboard, we had her off the mooring and motoring towards Nanny Cay Marina for a quick haul-out. Our saildrives needed a new seal and the oil was replaced. The job was straightforward, but the best part was the experience our kids had. Within 3 hours of landing in the BVIs we already had our first "local friend". Zoia, a West Indian girl, shared her culture w/Cammi and Cole and invited us to her school play this week. After "Zen" had some new juice, our first anchorage of the trip was Norman Island. Renowned for it's rich pirate history, it didn't disappoint our crew. The Caves were snorkeled in the AM and our next local family was encountered. "Sonny", a beautiful 70' Empacher designed monohull (same designer as Uliad, our 1st cruising boat), was chock full of great people, and a cool dog, Carolina. The owners are from CT, and the crew is from St John USVI. Able, a 13-yr-old homeschooled boy, is the 1st mate/chef's son. He was another window into the future for our children. He and his mom, a teacher and lifelong cruiser who turned me on to another homeschooling option - Oak Meadow, came over to "Zen" that night for "Movie Night". Hearing the kids cracking up in the salon while we chatted on the back deck, was the picture of what cruising is all about to us. As Sara and Able motored away in their dinghy, we promised to overlap this holiday in the BVIs and again in Portsmouth, RI, when they bring "Sonny" up in May.
Getting here was an adventure. Luggage was lost, passports were expired and packages were floating somewhere between USVIs and Tortola. Passports, you ask? We would never have believed it, but we obtained new passports for our kids within 5 hours. No joke. Tom loves to gripe about flights, having been on a hundred too many over the past 6 years. Thursday morning was no different. Arriving at Logan Airport at 6 am was fun, even more so when we were turned away at the American Airlines counter for 2 expired passports. Yup, Cammi and Cole were going nowhere fast. We assumed, yes, go ahead make the slur, they had 10 year jobbers. Wrong. Kids last only 5 years. Off we trotted to Kinkos at 7am for passport photos, birth certificates were faxed there by our savior, Kathi Dunn, and then off to beg at the Boston Passport Agency. As I hobbled in w/crutches, long story, in the snow, with carolers singing in the lobby, we gleefully got through the system with our updated flight tickets. Snow was falling hard and the palm trees couldn't come quick enough. American put us on the next flight, didn't scalp us for change fees, and we left Boston bound for Puerto Rico.
Back to Norman Island. Wind was non-existent when we awoke in the morning. Very rare this time of year when the Christmas Winds are usually in full swing. We motored back to Penns Landing and picked up our mooring, rec'd our lost luggage and a few newly found packages. Only missing our new snorkel gear. All in all, not bad. Minus only one box, we departed Penns Landing with the Baths in our crosshairs. Virgin Gorda is the epitome of paradise. The Baths, huge rock caves, boulders and lagoons formed from volcanic activity, were scampered over with excitement and discovery. Cole could not contain himself. He's small enough to slither through the smallest crevices. Only Cammi, the graceful one, came out with a few cuts and bruises. Everyone loved it. Afterwards, it was game time. We landed at Bitter End in Gorda Sound and planted ourselves at the pub to eat dinner and watch the Patriots stomp all over the Dolphins. Perfect way to end the day!