Long overdue wrap up

"If we tear ourselves away from Francis Bay I'll have something to write about...."

I may as well start with the final sentence of my previous post. Full disclosure.... we spent a full month in Francis Bay, wandering off only once for a few days to Culebra in a vain attempt to convince ourselves that we hadn't completely lost our ability to get up and go. It wasn't pure laziness; we got into a comfortable routine of working in the mornings and walking, swimming and socializing in the afternoons and evenings. Before we knew it, a month had gone by.

Lots of lovely changes in the sky while we stayed in one spot

Plenty of time for baking... granola bars hot out of the oven.

Me, coming back from some chore or other.

Another chore

There are a few new flora/fauna photos in the mix here, though admittedly, none of the fauna were moving too quickly. Wildlife photos are not my forte, as we all know by now.

Gulls and terns in the evening sky

Stilts in the mangrove lined pond near the shoreline

Clockwise from top left: flamboyant in bloom, white pintail ducks, vine covered ruins, fawn

New tsunami warning system was installed during our month here

 

Seen along the trail

Curtain of rain clears the hill

It was about here that we headed off to Culebra for a few days. We split our time between the anchorage in Dakity and the one in Almodovar, a mangrove-ish anchorage we hadn't been in before. It was a great spot just behind a reef but open to the breeze. More gorgeous skies, the full moon on a clear night, a fly-by visit with our friends on Demeter (sadly, no photos) and a flamingo sighting were some of the highlights.

Named 'Miss Dakity' by the liveaboards in (you guessed it) Dakity, this lone flamingo has been in residence for a few months

Clockwise from top left: dramatic skies to the east, GIANT sea egg from Almodovar anchorage, evening sky, sandbar in Dakity

The GIANT sea egg was seriously big - here it is compared to a bunch of smaller ones I've collected.

"Hector el Protector", a sculpture made from old pallet wood, sits on the rocks at Culebra's western harbor.

Full moon rising... our neighbors on s/v Orion view it from their deck

We'd intended to anchor a night or two in Culebrita which we loved on previous visits, but this time the wind and seas were from the northeast and the anchorage was untenable. How do we know this? Because against our better judgement, we sailed over anyway "just to see" and ended up turning around as soon as we got into the harbor and saw the waves crashing into the otherwise peaceful shore. Duh.

On our way back to St John we put a line in the water, as is our habit, and actually caught a fish! Having not been on the move much we'd sort of forgotten how much fun it is to catch a fish. This guy was a bit on the small side and Skip tried to get the hook out of his mouth and toss him back but he put up such a fuss (the fish, not Skip) that he ended up tangled in the line and wasn't in any shape to swim again. We apologized to him, and then we ate him with a little wasabi, ginger and soy sauce. A few other little sea creatures sacrificed themselves in a misplaced leap out of the water and into the dinghy, not to be found until the next day.

Clockwise from top left: teeny tiny filefish (?), small tuna, self sacrificed squid, super tiny crabs in the muddy mangroves

As luck would have it, one of my cousins was going to be in St John while we were there and we made plans to meet. Andrea and I are actually second cousins and hadn't seen each other in probably 30 years so this was a real treat. She's a composer, playwright and music therapist for children and was traveling to St John to work with kids at the St John School of the Arts to produce one of her musicals. We got together a few times while she was on island and even had a chance to take her out on Saralane. Her friend Sharon, a fellow performer who'd come to St John to work with Andrea and the kids, joined us and took some baby steps in overcoming her dislike of the water. Andrea and I got to talk about family (aka: the people who are forced to read this blog) and Sharon, who's an actress and comedian kept us laughing the whole time.

Andrea floats with me while Sharon (not a fan of the water) keeps a firm grip on the swim ladder

Andrea was pretty happy out here...

Sharon was pretty happy connected to the boat. Very funny!

Andrea and Sharon soaking up the salt water and sunshine

Not long after we returned these two to dry land, we made our way back to the BVI to get ready to haul Saralane. Plan A was to haul again in Antigua, but we lazed around St John waiting for comfortable conditions to make the passage and they just never materialized so we went with Plan B which was to haul in Virgin Gorda. We left Saralane here our first two years and we like the yard guys, but it did mean missing out on a last visit to Barbuda this season.

Squall takes over the sky in Francis Bay. Notice all the empty mooring balls.... it was pretty much just us here for weeks.

Pretty gato in Trellis Bay - had to make one more stop at the killer laundry there before hauling out

Saralane was the first haul out of the day and we were in the slipway just after 7 AM. Me - not a morning person. Skip - up and making coffee and ready to go.

Maurice and Skip exchange hellos

The captain has coffee while the guys lower the slings in the water

She's out

Spectra sling is still working fabulously!

Skip takes a look at the bottom

We ended up staying on the boat on the hard in the sweltering heat and realized just how fond we'd become of the whole rent-a-villa-while-we-haul-out scenario in Antigua. Ah well. Things went smoothly and Saralane is safely tucked away between some really big boats. We've been back on land for a few weeks now, traveling to visit family and friends we haven't seen for too long. Plans for the fall are under discussion  - so check back with us in a few months!

Saralane's out-of-the-water spot