Two very beautiful ladies, dont'cha know?? Please read on.....

We checked out of the BVI and headed for St. John's to check into the USA, we're back home sort of. Cruz Bay on St. John is a port of entry so we stopped there and introduced ourselves to US Customs and Immigration. Man is it nice to be an American. No hassle, no cost, just welcome and we were on our way. In the BVI we filled out lots of forms, in the US one form and our passports were scanned. So simple.

Before I continue with today's update from Red Hook Bay, St. Thomas, I'll post an update I wrote in MS Word when there was no internet access......

Alice and I are cruising now, we get up around 07:30, turn on the SSB to listen for the Carib 1500 net, talk with some of our friends, then we listen to Chris Parker's weather reports as he talks to his subscribers. After that it's breakfast, reading and then project selection time. I try and do something for the boat each morning so we can play in the afternoons and the evenings. The project list is no different than yours at home only here if I don't fix something, since our home is floating, we could get in trouble, something I'm trying very hard to avoid.

I'm trying to build up a reliable list of SSB weather frequencies for when we head further east toward Saba and the islands south. From the BVI, islands such as St. Marten are almost due east and the trade winds blow from the east so it's an up-hill battle to get there. Many cruisers head a little further south toward Saba to make the trip a little easier.

We have some time to work out those details, right now we've just checked out of the BVI and tomorrow will be heading back to the USA, to St. Thomas. We'll cruise the US Virgins for a while and then head back to Road Town, BVI to hopefully finish our cockpit enclosure project.

The winds are a little stronger now. As Christmas approaches the famous Christmas winds settle in over the Virgin Islands. Great for sailing, however, some of the harbors we really liked are not very well suited for the north-easterly winds that may fill in later in December.

Today we found an idyllic beach on Jost Van Dyke called White Bay. I'm hopeful we can get our family over here to experience the sandy beaches and no sea grass. I mean this beach is perfect, palm trees, crystal clear water, pelicans diving all around you and no waves. Eighty-two degree water and eight-two degree air, come-on, is this paradise or what?? Again I hope we can get our family over here during the holidays to share this beautiful spot on earth.

So that was yesterday and now for today. We sailed from Francis Bay, St. Johns to Red Hook Bay, St. Thomas, all of about ten miles or less. We had called Sarah Coutlee, daughter of Joanne Cummings, grand-daughter of Jemma Cummings, sister to Alice. I know that's a long chain so I guess Sarah is our grand niece. Anyway she lives here on St. Thomas and she and her boy friend Luke, came to visit us on Lucky Bird. After some lunch and conversation Sarah and Luke gave us a tour of the island. Such a treat, a family tour guide giving us the insider information about the island, the beaches, the harbors and the people. We finished our afternoon together at the Elysian Beach Resort listening to Davis Murray and his Bearfoot Band.

Davis is also one of the Carib 1500 organizers, he inspected our boat and was very helpful along the way. He's an icon of sorts down here with is band, doing marriages on the beach and rigging work for the rich and famous. We had a great afternoon with Luke and Sarah touring St. Thomas. For those of you who have been here you know about the harbors, the beaches and the beauty.