After three nights at St. John we decided to head to the British Virgin Islands - our first stop was to Road Town, Tortola. Last year we spent our two week holiday sailing in the BVI`s so were familiar with this area.

Sailed from St. Thomas to St. John without incident - clear skys and some wind. We settled in at Caneel Bay for the night. While sleeping a mosquito decided to bite my eyelid. Needless to say that we spent the next day on board the boat as it looked like Marc took a bat to my eye it was so swollen. The following day we rented a jeep and headed out for our island tour. The island was hilly and very beautiful with alot of small surrounding islands. The maps were terrible with little direction as to location of roads and where you would end up. We just continued to drive and found our way. The island is surrounded by beautiful beaches. Most of the island is a National Park with no development allowed - so the beaches are for sun bathing and swimming with few bars and restaurants to be found. Note to fisherman - remember to reel in your line before starting the engines to anchor!!

Ok, it has been very challenging to get a good internet connection - so our postings have been nonexistant for the past few weeks. We are still afloat and sailing! After leaving Buck Island we sailed back to St. Thomas to pickup up our new batteries for the boat, pickup our repaired water maker, and to drop off my brother Tyson who had to fly home back to work and the cold. We had a few oops moments along the way - backed up the boat without pulling in the dinghy close, results in dingy rope wrapped around propeller (Marc had to go free diving, not one of his better moments). On our third attempt to anchor in St. Thomas harbour, again a failed attempt, we pulled up the anchor and it had a rope caught on it - we started to motor away and then realized that the rope was an old mooring line that was still secured to the bottom on the sea. Thank goodness Tyson was still with us on the boat to provide some muscle to be able to hold the anchor and release the abandoned mooring line.

Today we sailed from St. Croix over to Buck island a small protected island with a beautiful beach. Once there we decided to do some snorkeling, we were in the dinghy heading to the other side of the island to the reef when some dolphins decided to join us and give us a little show!! They were so close it was amazing, you could almost touch them! The snorkeling was also some of the better snorkeling that we have seen. The island is a turtle nesting site so we were not allowed on the island after dark.

Can you see the yellow nylon rope in the photo?? While on our jeep island tour, Tyson spent alot of time standing in the back seat with a prime view of the sites, taking photos. Tyson took this photo just before getting clothes lined by the yellow rope. Thank goodness Marc was driving slow because we were at a dead end and had to turn around. Tyson was busy taking photos and none of us noticed the rope. Luckily Tyson had his arm up while taking photos, with reflexes like a cat. Next thing we know Tyson is laid out in the back seat, with rope burn on his neck and arm, and the yellow rope laying in a pile on the ground. Needless to say Tyson was much more careful watching for hanging things after the close call. We are so thankful that he did not get seriously hurt. Lesson: Arms, hands and head inside the vehicle at ALL times!!

Took the dingy out to Cramer Park on the east coast - a small sandy beach that is crazy busy with locals on the weekends. We pulled in and Tyson figured it was shallow enough to jump in and pull the dingy to shore. All of a sudden Tyson was hanging onto the side of the dingy saying - TOO DEEP, TOO DEEP, TOO DEEP!! He could not touch the bottom, Marc restarted the outboard and got us closer to shore.

Marc has a much better day on the kite. He gets up and is able to stay up, but the winds die down and we have to call it a day.

Today we rented a jeep, took down the top and toured the island of St. Croix. It is a beautiful island with desert at one end and a rain forest at the other. The people are very friendly and laid back. We are slowly getting used to island pace. We did some minor 4x4ing - Marc and my brother would have liked to go further and harder, but I asked that we turn around when the path was only wide enough for a quad. The views were amazing, and the day was wonderful. We ended our day for supper at "Cheeseburgers in Paradise", they were delicious.

One of the things that Marc planned to do on our trip was to take Kite Surfing lessons in St. Croix and then buy the gear if he enjoyed it as much as he figured he would. My brother, Tyson, decided to join Marc and take the lessons as well. They have both been drinking alot of sea water and have been getting dragged along in the water. The first day was at a beach learning how to control the kite - they did not go in the water. The second day was in the water with the kite, but no board, getting dragged around to get a feel for the kite and the power it has and then they were given a board, and tried to get up and ride the waves. Tyson was a little more successful. They have one more day of training - we will see how it all comes together. I will keep you posted.

We left St. Thomas and headed for St. Croix. The winds were in our favour and what we thought might be a six to eight hour tour was done in five and a half hours. Tyson decided to ride up front on the trampoline and get some sleep enroute. The seas were a little rough, but what a great sail - Marc had a perma-grin the whole day! We arrived in St. Croix to a north swell and lots of wind, which means lots of rocking and rolling on the boat, but no bugs!!