365 project – Page 71

April 5 – A long day.

Saturday, April 5.

We headed out early this morning, by 7:30AM. Winds are still 20+ knots. 3-5′ seas, very rough. Luckily the rain seems to have passed. We sailed it to Soper’s Hole, to go through BVI Customs & Immigration again. We picked up a few more provisions there, but quickly headed back out to make Cooper Island by sunset, and join up again with Maggie and Tan-a-na.

The BVI Spring Regatta is in full swing this week. We got a front-row seat of some of the races as we cruised across the channel to Cooper Island.

We pulled into Machioneel Bay at 4pm, at exactly the same time Maggie did. After a quick dip we all met up at the Cooper Island Beach Club for Happy Hour and dinner. It’s good to have the gang back together.

Cooper Island has the best sunsets…..

April 4 – Just another day in paradise.

Friday, April 4.

Sunrise view from the v-berth hatch:

LameshurSunrise

The winds have turned nasty, 25-28 knots out of the east. Here in Lameshur Bay, we are very protected, so you’d hardly notice. We’re staying another night. Tan-a-na is going to make a run for Road Town on Tortola to check back into the BVI, as they discovered an error with their visas – they expire today, instead of the day they leave. The guys are heading back to Jost, I think, for the night.

So we look forward to a very relaxing day and night here. We made the right decision, as Tan-a-na told us that they had a terrible passage to Road Town. 6 foot waves, 28 knot winds, rain. Once in Road Town, the winds were so strong, they couldn’t get an anchor set, so they made a run to Norman for the night.

Nestled into Great Lameshur, we went for a long snorkel this morning.

Now, what is it they say about snorkeling among a school of baitfish...? — Now, what is it they say about snorkeling among a school of baitfish…?

In the afternoon Susanne, Laura and I headed ashore to hike the Lameshur Trail. We got lucky and missed the rain completely. We had gorgeous views from the hills along the trail.

View from the Lameshur Trail, overlooking the plantation ruin and Little Lameshur Bay.

View from Lameshur Trail. Great Lameshur Bay in the distance, Little Lameshur Bay in the foreground. That lone boat in Great Lameshur is ours.

Looking SSW from Lameshur Trail. Reef Bay in the foreground.

Another dinner aboard tonight and then we will head back to the BVI in the morning.

April 3 – New day, new country.

Thursday, April 3.

This morning we topped up the water tank, got some ice and emergency provisions (i.e., Dove Bars) before heading out from Great Harbour.

Destination: St. John’s of the U.S. Virgin Islands. Since we’ll be leaving BVI and entering USVI, we have to visit Customs & Immigration to check out before leaving here, and check in at Cruz Bay once arriving in St. Johns. This is our first time to go to USVI by boat from BVI and deal with the Customs/Immigration thing. I’ll let you know later if it’s worth it.

We didn’t go ashore in Cruz Bay other than to clear customs. We caught a ball in Caneel Bay and ate lunch, then waited through some rain showers for the other 2 boats’ crews to come back to make a plan for the night. The original plan was to stay in Leinster Bay on the north side of St. John’s. But we’re getting intermittent rain stroms, and the wind is really kicking up now. So, the NE swells would make for a very rough mooring. Instead, Monte suggested Lameshur Bay on the south side of the island. Maggie stayed in Caneel Bay, since they were unable to anchor if it turned out they didn’t get a mooring ball. But Tan-a-Na and Jim’s Dream decided to make a run through the rain for a very remote and unspoiled Great Lameshur Bay, and got two of the last remaining mooring balls in time to watch a beautiful sunset.

A rain shower in the distance, from Lameshur Bay.

Sunset over Great Lameshur Bay, St. John's, USVI — Sunset over Great Lameshur Bay, St. John’s, USVI

April 2 – Sandy Cay.

Wednesday, April 2.

Today we took a daysail to Sandy Cay. It was a beautiful day for it. This is our 3rd trip to the BVI, and this is our first time to stop here.

Susanne and Laura are getting the hang of this sailing thing…

sailorsintraining

We set an anchor and ate lunch on the boat before snorkeling to shore for a walk around. Tan-a-na joined us. Unfortunately, Maggie’s windlass was not working, so they had to sail on to Cane Garden Bay.

Tan-a-na and Jim's Dream anchored off Sandy Cay. — Tan-a-na and Jim’s Dream anchored off Sandy Cay.

We had intended to moor overnight in White Bay, but its been getting a bit stormy and the wind is really picking up and driving up big NE swells so it would be too rough in there tonight. Instead, we all ended up back in Great Harbour for one more night.

We cooked up our first meal aboard tonight. This is not roughing it!

April 1 – Destination Jost van Dyke.

Tuesday, April 1.

We got up and headed out for our first snorkel of the trip at the Caves in Privateer Bay on Norman.

Afterwards we sailed to Great Harbour on Jost and all three boats met up again.
We took the taxi-ride-from-hell to Abe’s in Little Harbour for dinner: 11 ginormous lobster, many painkillers from the honor bar, and nonstop stories and laughing. 🙂

It’s a good thing we ordered “medium” sized ones, i’d hate to see the “large” ones!

Afterwards we spent the evening dancing at Foxy’s – and seeing some of the more bizarre sights of the trip.

Some found objects from today:

March 30 – Viejo San Juan.

Sunday, March 30.

We headed out to visit Old San Juan this morning. Caught a bus right outside our hotel. The old town is a beautiful place to see. Here are some of the sights….

A guard turret in the old wall — called a garita.

A view looking out at the sea from one of the garitas.

The colorful building facades:

A view of the stunning Castillo de San Felipe del Morro, built in the early 16th century.

We went back to the hotel in the afternoon to meet up with Susanne and Laura. Then we all went back to Old San Juan. We ate dinner at a restaurant Irene recommended – El Jibarito, and I recommend it, too! Great home cooked Puerto Rican dishes. They also make a yummy sangria.

March 29 – Road trip!

We’re on our way to the Caribbean for a sailing vacay! Our flight itinerary takes us there via Puerto Rico. We’ve decided to stay 2 nights in San Juan, since we never visited there before. We won’t have (and don’t want!) internet connectivity while we’re away, so I’m drafting these blog entries as I go along, and am posting them in order, after I get back.

Saturday, March 29.

We are leaving on a beautiful day in Austin. Here’s a great shot from the plane showing Lady Bird Lake, Zilker Park, the booming downtown skyline, the 40 acres, Longhorn stadium, UT tower, Erwin Center, the Capitol, Disch-Falk field, … What else can you spot?

After arriving in San Juan and checking into the hotel, we took a walk around the neighborhood. We stopped into a pub nearby and I found one of my favorite brewskis from my ~~misspent~~ awesome youth!

Our crew, Susanne and Laura, arrive in San Juan tomorrow!

Oh, hail.

A thunderstorm blew by us to the north this afternoon. The wind whipped up and dropped a bunch of leaves from the live oaks in the yard. All we got was small hail. While I’d love an endless downpour, I’m glad we didn’t get skylight-breaking hail (again ).

Thirsty Thursday.

Cheers!

And, some daiquiri humor:

One doctor always stopped at a local bar after work for a hazelnut daiquiri – a special drink the bartender created just for him. One day, the bartender ran out of hazelnut flavor so he substituted hickory nuts instead.
The doctor took one sip of the drink and exclaimed, ‘This isn’t a hazelnut daiquiri!’
‘No, I’m sorry’, replied the bartender, ‘it’s a hickory daiquiri, doc.’

A chair with a view.

Ahhhhhhhhhh. I treated myself to an overdue pedicure today after work.
Niiiice.

Yep. Tulips.

From a week or so ago, but I didn’t get a chance to post.

Tulips. AND they’re orange. Sweet.

Is it spring yet?

St. Paddy’s Day selfie.

🙂
May your week be a short one.
May your weekend come soon.
May your friends and your loved ones help you carry the tune!

Bonnets of blue.

The wildflower patch out back didn’t yield much last year. This year we have a few patches of bluebonnets. They’ve started to show their beautiful colors.

Oh, and Happy St. Patrick’s day!

Birthday!

We enjoyed a nice night on the boat last night, and spent a leisurely morning at anchor. We were back home in time for me to bake a cake for the birthday boy. And, taking liberties with being the big kids that we are, that’s what we had for dinner! #notgonnagrowup

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