Monday, March 24th, 2014

But I have to admit, it think it is taking me longer and longer to recover from the fun we have when our friends come visit! Lets see if I can recap…and adequately share all the great things we were able to do.

First off after the rain let up, up the mast I went only to discover that the new Mast head unit was not the problem. I dislike (intensely) having to go up the 60 or so feet to the mast head, and like it even less when it is futile. The result is…we have wind direction, but no speed. Whatever, we will just make do!

We rented a mini-van to do our provisioning, and to collect our friends from the airport. As we are getting ready to leave for the airport on Thursday, we decide to try and put the seats up, only to find it is more of a problem than one might think. Even to the point of having our friend Daniel, from the security team here trying to help us, and having to break out the manual, which was no help at all since we were already following all the steps…until, out of desperation I called the rental company, who advised me, ‘oh, sometimes they get stuck, you have to push them down first…then do all the rest of the steps….’ Hmm, well, that worked! Finally, but we seemed to be running a little late to the airport…only to get there and find that their flight was delayed…ahh..ok! we can relax now, until they arrive. Which in short order they do and we pile the luggage, a few regular carry on types, and ‘big bertha’ a behemoth of a suitcase just chock (over)-full of treasures into the van.

For our first night we are going out to dinner at Mim’s seafood house on the south shore. We have been there only once before, so when making the reservations I asked for some directions. My instructions went like this, ‘go past de cruise ships and when you see de Marriott, don’t turn, jus keep comin’, comin’ den you see de big tamarind tree, keep comin’ comin, up past donkey hill, you keep comin’, comin’, den you see de big sign says Mims..and you follow dat road here to us.’
Well, I tried to follow the directions, and turned around once, ok, twice…but really, it was pretty straight forward, and the sign IS pretty big there past donkey hill. We made it, and the food and venue are just wonderful. We all had a wonderful meal and a great and fun start to our trip.

Friday, the 14th, we are up and out to Christmas Cove, but not before Glenn, Terry & Donna whip up a yummy egg sandwich breakfast for all of us (English muffins, cheese, Canadian bacon, and spices, courtesy of Big Bertha). A wonderful start to the day…and a good use of the toaster – while we were hooked up to electric. But then it was off to CC, when we picked up a can on the north side and were rewarded with jumping rays and turtles. Dawn, Terry, Glenn and I take a first snorkel and see stingrays, along with a squid, a puffer and lots of other fish along the ledge near shore. Donna wasn’t quite warm enough yet to hop in. After lunch, we took the long swim over to the south side and had an amazing snorkel with multiple turtles grazing and surfacing all around us. One took an exceptional liking to Glenn and twice surfaced within 3 ft of him…WOW! On the way back to the boat we saw a spotted eagle ray, probably the one that was jumping near us this morning, just cruising around the boat. Today I learned one of this weeks boat mantras….as Glenn informed me….’we keep you alive to serve this ship, row well, and live’ a line from BenHur…which we embraced as our own for the duration. A really great first day.

Saturday, it was the boys in the kitchen, and Glenn and Terry whipped up eggs and sausage with Terry making toast right on the burner…I never knew to do that! That’s what you get when you have experienced campers aboard. Then we were on our way, down the southside of St. John, to Lampshur Bay. The way east is generally rough, however we were exceptionally blessed with gentle weather and the girls who tend to get seasick, are happy and comfortable with their patches tucked behind their ears. (although somehow Donna’s migrated overnight to her upper arm and had to be replaced…hmmmm, now how did that happen??) Ginny and John are here and we made plans to have happy hour but before that we have lots to do! We took the dingy to shore and had a great hike along the Europa trail, and talked to several college age volunteers who were making studies on the agave plants, and wondered over the several dozen live traps laid out…Watch out mongeese…it’s not looking good for you guys! And as it happened, on our way back along the trail we saw one very unhappy mongoose hissing and spitting from inside a cage, while his companion scurried away into the woods. Bad day for him. We continued along the trail over to the VIERS camp where we saw the boldest wild deer, just grazing in the compound and then took a tour of the Tektite museum.
After lunch back at the boat, we jumped back in the water for what turned out to be Donna’s VERY first snorkel experience…it was a big swim, and there were only a few fish, except one largish barracuda as we headed back to the boat. A great start.

Turns out there were two remoras just hanging under the boat, so we fed them some cheese popcorn, which they enjoyed, and got some great video of the feeding frenzy.

Happy hour arrives, and Ginny brings us pepper jelly from Trinidad and Pate & caviar from Martinique…YUM! Since we were all having such a great time we shanghaied them and made them stay for dinner too!

Sunday, Mar 16th, and we are off to Sopers to check into the BVI. We sailed a bit of the way, and once we took care of the paperwork in Sopers, we left immediately and headed to the bight (big surprise) and my favorite can right off the wall. This crew has a wonderful tendency to break into song with only the slightest provocation… so it is a fun and happy bunch who takes to the water to snorkel my wonderful wall. There is a school of fish still here up near the work dock, easily thousand of silversides, 3-4 inches long that we swam right into….very, very cool.

Monday…we are up and out and sails up before 8am, Beating up the channel. We have been so fortunate in the weather, as the seas are very gentle, but the breeze is good and with Glenn taking the helm we begin our tacking up the channel. Three tacks tight to the wind, and our helmsmen definitely has the feel for the boat before we drop sails and head into Leverick Bay, where we have lunch, relax and then swim, and hang in the water until happy hour. As we are all waiting our turn to take our seabaths, we find Donna has a bit of an aquisitory bent…and wanted to keep all the noodles to herself!
Finally, it was time to head to shore for happy hour and shopping and to enjoy the incomparable Michal Beans! While everyone has been practicing their conch blowing, Terry has stepped up to the competition and made an admirable showing for the good ship Regenero with 22 seconds … only to be beaten by a guy who blew, and blew, and BLEW…for 62 seconds!…bummer..but, well, we already have enough rum anyway! We had a great time at the Beans show, a really great happy hour!

Tuesday, March 18…and we are off to the baths, in an old model suzuki Montero that seats 6 (2 bucket seats in front, one bench seat in the middle, and two mini benches facing each other in the way back). Glenn & Terry took the crazy jump seats, and it turns out it was a good thing, as Donna advised she felt more queasy in the car than she felt on the boat! Yikes! Well, the roads here are a little steep! I also discovered that I needed to warn the boys in back when hitting a speed bump, or dip, as their heads were very close to the roof…heads up…or down, as the case might be!

We had a great hike thru The Baths with just a few other people and lots of opportunity to take great photos. It really makes sense to get here EARLY in the day. We did some shopping at the stores at the Top of the Baths, and also down in Spanish town, before heading back up the mountain and to Hog Heaven…and heavenly it was, except maybe not for the hogs, but we truly appreciated their sacrifice, and the amazing views found at this unique little spot.

Wednesday, Mar 19th Running the Channel
We said a fond farewell to Leverick Bay, and enjoyed the southeast winds filling both our sails as we reached our way down the channel. Generally this is a dead downwind run, so this sail was a real treat for us, as first Glenn, then Terry took the helm and ran us easily down to Norman island. The Indians were full, so we stopped instead at the Caves and had a great snorkel inside the deepest cave, thankfully with flashlight in hand. Although not all of us liked being inside, or the dark, or the seagrass that kept drifting into our faces…ok, so maybe it was really only great for Terry and me…but we really liked it! While the others headed to the further cave, Donna and I headed back toward the boat, then under the watchful eye of the captain, went out to Treasure Point, and almost immediately spotted a barracuda, and a turtle chomping on the reef. He was even using his front flippers to try and hold his snack in place while he chewed. After enjoying this amazing portion of the reef, we dropped the day mooring and headed inside, back to my favorite place.

OJ arrived shortly after we did, and they came over and visited with us for a while so we could meet their friends Pete & Janeen, then we decided to have dinner together over on OJ, we brought dinner, Frank cooked it, and for once Denise relaxed … that is until she brought out dessert…4 bags of chocolate treats. Yummy! Another fun time had by us all!

When we got back to Regenero, the stars were all out and the moon not yet, so we piled out to our foredeck positions and were fortunate to see 4 shooting stars! A fine end to a wonderful day.

Thursday, Mar 20th.. we are staying put today… but I was up at first light to wave goodbye to OJ, then relax. Glenn and Donna whipped up another super breakfast, and then Dawn and I took care of cleanup. It has been determined that our ship-wenches are an exceptional trio…but they all do have sea-hag hair!
After breakfast, all but Donna, who is nursing a nasty pinched nerve headed to shore to hike…up, up, up to the ridge, on a very hot desert island. Then down, down, down to the beautiful bay on the other side, where a few hardy souls had hiked (in flip-flops no less) to snorkel. We’ve heard it is good, but haven’t tried it yet. After a few photos, it was up, up, up again, than up a little more to the helicopter landing pad and one more ridge over, before we headed down, down, down and back to the boat….AHHHH, the temperature is much kinder here.

Terry & Dawn took the Kayak for a spin around the bay, while Donna & Glenn soaked up some more sun, then it was time to visit the fishes, so back to the water we went. After enjoying fajita night, we all headed back to our star watching positions and caught about 4 satellites cruising the skies.

Friday, Mar 21st…and we are off to the Indians. The bight was really crowded last night, and so by 6:30, after several boats had already started moving we slipped our mooring and headed over to the Indians. We were the first people there, and while we enjoyed our breakfast the other cans started to fill up until there was no more available. The reason we like to get started early. Shortly after 8 we all piled in the water, while Jim kept an eye on us all, and went to explore this magnificent spot. The corals are amazing and we saw loads of fish as well, especially around the southern most Indian. Sargent Majors, brown Cromis, Blue Cromis, and about 5 Black Durgen, plus a few angel fish and jacks all swirling around looking for food…a truly wonderful experience! Terry, Dawn & Glenn also managed to spot two turtles on the way back to the boat…Love. This. Spot.

After rinsing off we were off the mooring, and on our way to Sopers Hole. We checked out for Saturday, then all headed to shore for some shopping and lunch at Pussers. Busy, busy, busy…Finally, it was back to the boat for some serious relaxation….before happy hour.

Saturday, Mar 22 We are up and moving today, but not before another great breakfast. We said goodbye to the BVI’s and eased our way along the North coast of St. John, spying the gorgeous beaches, and beautiful Caneel Bay which is where Dawn and Terry got their first taste of the Caribbean. They loved it so much, they have been back to the islands every year since! Then along St. Thomas, and finally back into Crown Bay Marina…our home Marina for these past two seasons. We have a lot to do this afternoon, so we rented a car, and at 1pm we were off to take care of customs, then headed along the south shore to check out Bolongo Bay Beach Resort as a possible wedding destination spot. Then a spot of shopping in the vendors market downtown, and along the charming dutch streets and alleyways of St. Thomas. Donna is a champion shopper, and this was to be the final opportunity for treasures along the way. The boys enjoyed some basketball and a drink at a local watering hole while waiting and we eventually joined them, before one last little scenic drive up the hillside, and then off to Hook, Line and Sinker for a lovely fish dinner wharfside.

Sunday, Mar23rd…. none of us can believe that this trip is over. After a slow morning, it was time to pack and get ready for a quick drive over to the airport where we said a sad goodbye. God had blessed us amazingly for this trip. The girls did not get seasick and truly enjoyed the time on the water. The weather was wonderful, the sailing excellent, the snorkeling…ahhh, the snorkeling!, and the time together with good friends relaxing in fellowship was a wonderful refreshment. Farewell dear friends….see you soon (but now…it’s off to bed!)