St. Thomas, VI!

Back again. Well, it was quite a ride. We had checked out with St. Martin authorithies and wanted to leave on Friday, March 19, only to realize when we were outside in the Marigot Bay anchorage that the forecast did not agree with the reality. It was blowing hard, steady 25 and 35 kn in gusts ... well, was this really the time to go and do an overnighter to the Virgina Islands. We thought no ... and spend the rest of the day to explore the island again, hike up to the fort, have a coffee at the phantastic boulangerie "Serafina", do some Internet ... and postpone the departunere until the next day.

And we left as planned the following noon. The forecast was mixed, but ... well, the wind was ok, 20+kn. But miles out, we experiencend seas coming from different directions, making terrible cross-seas along the way. We rolled gunnel to gunnel through the next 20 hours. Marleyne was unable to rest down below at night, so I took the opportunity to take a nap - if you can call it that. In the middle of the night we got caught be a very, very confused sea which did through me out of my berth and violently into the lee cloth, which, in turn, ripped the attachment points out of the wood, and I ended up on the floor. My comment was ...: ok, something else to fix! Never mind the scratches and bruises.

We arrived mid-day in the BVI and anchored behind Salt Cay and had a swimm to relax and to refresh, followed by a long nap.

We checked in at Cruz Bay the next day, moved over to Great James for the night, cleaned the bottom of the boat in the morning, and went on to St. Thomas with strong easterlies behind us.

Today, while still blowing hard in the anchorage, we fixed the things we had broken on the passage and did some other work we had not time to attend to.

... and are still working on our decision to go back home or stay another year.

But we love St. Thomas and very much look forward to go on land tomorrow! I have to get some T-shirts, mine are getting a bit old and holed ...

Do we really want to go back????