Ink Blot test

We've had no trouble getting back into "hanging around in one place" mode since our arrival in the BVI. An unexpected bonus was that early on our time here coincided with friends we haven't seen in a while. John and Fran from s/v Kia Ora, who we haven't seen since last year in St Bart's, have also gotten into the hanging around in one place mode and we sailed over to meet them in Cane Garden Bay. Our friends Tim and Nancy from s/v Larus were in the BVI to run a charter for a week and made a dash around for just a night to catch up with us too. No photos of Tim and Nancy this time.... they just move too fast! But here's the crew of Kia Ora...

Fran, John and Skip on Saralane (note the new cockpit cushions... sewn during my stay in Nanny Cay Marina)

Everyone has already headed off different directions, but it was really nice to reconnect even for a short time. We nudged John and Fran to make a stop at Mountain Point in Virgin Gorda which has become one of our favorite spots and we kept each other company for a few days there, snorkeling the clear water and taking turns paddling around on their paddle board.

Schools of little fishes are everywhere

Fran goes upside down to check on a lobster we came across under a rock

John goes upside down just for the hell of it. Something about being from Down Under maybe?

Swimming through bubbles from scuba divers below us

We were here for more than a week, during which time a school of squid took up residence under the boat. We'd snorkel around and just watch them each day; by the time we left there were 43 in the squid squad.

Mostly they seemed fine with us being there, as long as we didn't make any sudden moves or dive into the water on top of them (ahem, Skip).

Coloring on a calm cool and collected squid

Coloring on a recently-freaked-out-but-trying-to-calm-down-squid

The squid had at least one rough night while we were there. We felt a few thumps against the side of the boat and didn't think much of it, guessing it was probably just fish feeding around us, but in the morning we saw it was more than that. Somebody either got eaten, or barely escaped being eaten, and left an inky mess on Saralane's port side in the process.

Squid ick/ink.

This isn't really your typical household cleaning problem, and absent any handy "how to remove squid ink from gelcoat" guide, we just scrubbed it with everything we had and eventually got it pretty clean. Next time we'll know....

Scrub scrub scrub.....

Though we're keeping an eye out for a weather window for one more trip to St Martin, we'll more than likely just stick around here until we haul out in a few weeks. The water is crystal clear, the fish (and squid) are plentiful, the sailing is easy, the anchorages are calm and the wifi isn't bad either. That and.... well, we just like it here.