And now it's time to say good bye to Zephyr! The delivery crew arrived & we'll meet her back in Fort Lauderdale. We're spending the downtime at a house in St. John - which is definitely my favorite island in the Virgins. The house is fantastic and we've been hiking and beaching it every day.

To say that I am sad is an understatement. This sailing trip has been the most amazing experience of my life and I wish hurricane season would wait a few more months. While this might be our last trip on Zephyr, it is only the first of what will be many many sailing cruises around the globe.

Roger's parents (Gene and Sharon) and our nephew Sean arrived June 17th, just in time for Malia's birthday. We set sail the next day for a whirlwind trip of the British Virgin Islands.

We checked in at Sopers Hole in Tortola and then sailed to Jost Van Dyke. We checked out a couple of beaches, did some snorkeling and had dinner at a place called Foxy's Taboo. The next day unfortunately was a complete wash out - 100% rain and stormy so we didn't move an where. Dad ate one snack after another, including two types of cookies, nachos etc and then passed out after his sugar high, in the forward cabin. Mom did some day sleeping also but propped a book up in front of her and claimed she was "reading".

On the 19th we sailed back to Tortola - first to Brewer's Bay and then on to Trellis Bay for the night. Friday was the highlight - we sailed to Norman Island to anchor in The Bight. From there we checked out the Indians, which are basically just rocks but they stick out of the ocean to create a beautiful formation.

We also snorkeled the Caves, which is where treasure was buried in 1750 and discovered about 100 years later. There is a good story about how the treasure came to be buried there - it was stolen by 2 American brothers...if you're curious just google Norman Island treasure. The last day of our visit we sailed back to St. Thomas for the Colvins and Sean to catch their plane.

After 2 nights at Culebrita we set sail for St. Thomas. We stayed in a place called Honeymoon Bay. Great place for the kids because they met a pack of other kids. The beach wasn't special...but we stayed for 4 nights to let the kids enjoy their new friends. We met 2 cool couples as well.

After celebrating the last day of school (on 6/10) we sailed about 10 miles from St. Thomas' Honeymoon Bay to Lameshur Bay in St. John. We did a 360 of the island over the course of the next week & enjoyed each place thoroughly. St. John is small but most of the island is national park, which means the whole place is riddled with trails and protected reefs. The Bays we visited were Lameshur, Coral, Leinster (spectacular reef there), Hawksnest and Caneel.

Each bay had a different curious sea creature - the best one was the 4 foot barracuda who couldn't stay away from the keel of our boat. The keel is shaped like a torpedo...maybe the fish was looking for friends? I was too scared to check him out from in the water. St. John's reefs were some of the best we've seen on the trip.

From St. John's Caneel Bay to St. Thomas was a 20 minute downwind sail. We headed into the marina in Red Hook (the docking was quite a scene...complete with a brief runaground) - and spent 48 hours restocking and cleaning. After 16 nights on anchor or mooring, the boat was completely skanked!!

We headed due east on the 29th to Culebra, which was WAY cool. It was about 35 miles of snotty weather so we were psyched to get to Culebra's amazing harbor called Ensenada Honda. As you sail toward the entrance to the harbor you see a long reef that runs along the island. Behind the reef is one of the calmest anchorages we've found. Basically, you're getting smacked by waves and spray and right next to you (about 250 yards) there are boats sitting peacefully. Anyway - it looks pretty cool. We anchored there.

Culebra is a little island with a bustling town center, gorgeous beaches and a great vibe. We rented a jeep one of the days & drove all over the island. It reminded me a little of block island but with a Puerto Rican flair. We met a family we named the Vikings. They are Danes who came over from Europe in nov & were headed to the Chesapeake. Our kids enjoyed their kids and the parents were neat - one is a Canadian oceanographer and the other a Danish biologist who studies ocean toxins.

After a few days of Culebra we made a 2 mile hop to Culebrita & picked up a mooring. The pictures will not do this place justice. The big event here was the sea turtles. There was one in particular (we named him Tommy the Turtle) who would not leave us alone. At first it was awesome cuz we dove right next to him and got up close and personal, but then he started chasing us and snapping at our limbs. Then he bit the back of our boat. We finally ditched him by calling over some snorkelers to check him out & then he followed them.

From the 21st till the 25th we did a lot of catching up on school and laundry. On the 26th we headed to El Yunque, which is PR's tropical rainforest. We couldn't get a room on the north side of the park, so we stayed on the "more rustic" south side. Here is where "ecolodge" is a euphemism for "mold-ridden, filthy rental opportunity" and "gorgeous trails" a cover-story for treacherous mud-slides. But! It was still fun. The rainforest is just like on the movies - total Jurassic Park-style, and we hiked to lots of waterfalls & swam in the fall pools. The frogs at night were so loud it was like a piped in soundtrack. Parker was in heaven.

On May 15th Rog drove to San Juan to pick up the McCormick kids (Tyler, Cooper, Cassidy). The next day we sailed 6 miles to Isla de Muertos, aka Coffin Island (looks like a sarcophagus on approach) & had a Bahamas-like day. Crystal clear water (most of the DR and PR have bad visibility - muddy bottoms) and a great hike to an 1880's lighthouse. My camera ran out of batteries for the most gorgeous picture at the top of Muertos, of course!

After a great night at anchor we sailed about 15 miles to Salinas & anchored in a mangrove bay. The kids swam for a bit & then we dinghied into town for a little exploration & lunch. We got a good flavor of small-town Puerto Rico. It turns out that Salinas is the cock-fighting capital of PR (it's legal here) & nearly all the houses have roosters in cages in the yard. Indeed, the next morning was like being surrounded by thousands of coyotes because of the endless cock-a-doodle-dooing.

Another 15-mile hop brought us to a great little anchorage in Playa Patillas. We swam, checked out the beach (lots of creatures) and got checked out by the locals. Fun day and night.

Our last hop with the cousins was to Palmas del Mar, which is a marina on the east side of PR. Palmas is a gigantic gated community (it actually has gated communities within gated communities) so it didn't have much PR flavor, but we enjoyed the beach and pool.

Our last day involved getting the McCormicks up to San Juan (on PR north coast) so we left early to see San Juan old town and Castillo San Felipe Fort. Totally Spanish, totally cool. The cousins were sad to part but we had a great time.