Pretty quiet here

It's been pretty quiet here since most everyone has sailed off in the past month or so. We both had plans to travel back to the states for a few weeks; Skip had an Outbound to deliver north from the BVI and I was heading north to visit with family, but first we sailed from St Thomas over to the quieter bays of St John.

Passing by Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas

John H skips along behind us through the harbor in St Thomas

Air/marine traffic in the harbor

Francis Bay was so thick with jelly-like creatures it was creepy just to be in the water. We never quite figured out what they were - siphonophores, salps, jellyfish eggs, some kind of larvae...? Someone on the beach described it aptly as "swimming through tapioca". Ick.

One critter on the beach

Zillions of them suspended in the shallow water in Francis Bay

We managed to find a few spots that seemed clear of them though and got in some good snorkeling.

Tube worm and spider crab

Scrawled filefish

Peacock flounder trying to blend in 

We also picked up a little land creature while we were off snorkeling in Francis Bay. He must have hopped into the dinghy and caught a ride back to the boat with us. We managed to trap him and return him to the beach, but it was kind of nice having a little 'pet' on board for a day!

You know it's been a slow few weeks when I have more photos of this little lizard than anything else...

"Hello? Anyone out there?"

"Let me OUT!!!!!!"

Walking the beach on the Maho side of the bay we spotted this Night Heron perched on a branch over the water.

Classic palms (and power lines) in the Caribbean

Another way to tell it's been slow around here is that we decided to once again try to chase down a tiny fresh water leak on the starboard side. It's been with us since we left, and it never gets better or worse. We can not figure out where the water's coming in. Once in a while we go in and clean out the water that's gotten into the area around the tank. Not our favorite chore.

Drip drip drip...

One nice thing about the slow season here is that our charter crew friends are still around and have a little more free time than they do during the season. We caught up with Barbara & Greg from Spitfire and Rik & Ann from Sandcastle - both of whom we met our first year on the hard in Virgin Gorda. Rik gave us a look at the power boat he's running part time now too.

Rik swings by when he sees us arrive in Caneel Bay

Rik gives us the tour... the cushy salon on m/v Satisfaction. Very swanky.

Between visits with friends and time spent snorkeling and swimming we keep at our chores. A trip up to North Sound to do laundry doesn't work out so well.

Looks like it's back to washing in the bucket for now

We scored some good patching material for John H on the beach in North Sound though. This wrecked dinghy has been here since last fall before we left for St Martin, so we figure it's fair game at this point. We weren't the first to cannibalize it either.

Before we tucked Saralane away in Nanny Cay for our time away, we connected with our friends Ted and Claudia and their cool kids Max and Anya. We met these guys our first year out and since then they've left behind life on land and are living aboard their boat Demeter in Tortola. 

Max - dinghy captain

We snorkel around Ted and Claudia's bubbles in Mountain Point

Palms on the beach in Nanny Cay

While Skip and crew were sailing north, I was spending time with family and friends in Delaware - and got to see my niece Carly graduate from high school. Yay Carly!!! She's off to college in the fall, and hopefully we'll get her back down to visit us on Saralane before she graduates from college. 

Carly the high school graduate!

And, because I can (and because I still think of her as a little kid sometimes).... I'm including this photo of Carly at five years old, when high school and college and all that grown up stuff seemed impossibly far in the future. 

The high school graduate, still in elementary school.

Clockwise from L: Carly and her cousins at her graduation party: Gavin, Maya, Carly holding baby Bryson, Aidan and Sasha

Skip and crew arrived safely in Rhode Island; I met up with them there and four of us traveled back to the BVI together. Two of Skip's crew were our friends John and Fran who we met in the customs office in St Maarten a few years ago. They hadn't been to Newport before and took the opportunity to explore our adopted hometown. The mansions were a big hit with Fran... I think one or two mansions would have been enough for John. (Note to self: go see more mansions when we're back in Newport.)

Fran and John on Cliff Walk in Newport

How to spot an Aussie pirate.... John's Crocs.

How to spot good traveling companions... they're still smiling at the end of a long day of travel. John and Fran on the ferry to Tortola.

These two are really fun to spend time with and we've been sharing meals and drinks and swapping movies and stories (and borrowing their paddleboard - thanks guys!). We're going to stick around here for now; it's windy as hell and we're not inclined to head east until conditions moderate. For now we're enjoying the quiet of being in the BVI off season...

Cheery bye now...

The transient nature of this lifestyle means lots of hellos and goodbyes; lately there have been both. Our freezer was full of tuna and mahi from our few recent passages that we were happy to add to shared meals with friends (bonus: it gave us a chance to boast about our fishing luck/skill... mostly luck) and at last we had good reason to cook that extra turkey we picked up after Thanksgiving which had been taking up half our freezer space.

I'm cheating here.... this is the mahi Skip showed off at the end of the previous blog. But I can't resist starting off with a fish photo!

On St John we connected with bunches of friends who were in the area waiting for weather to head north to the US, south to Bonaire or east to the Azores. 

Iain and Fiona on Ruffian, with guest Emma on board, zipped by us as we sailed toward different anchorages on St John. We caught up with them on the south side and negotiated a half-hour-past-the-crack-of-dawn timing for a hike one day. 

Hi Ruffians!

View from part way up/down. Saralane way in the distance, in Great Lameshur Bay, St John

Emma, front and center, with the crew of Saralane on the left and Ruffain on the right

Iain, with... Larry, the stuffed llama... in his mouth. I can't even explain this. 

Iain & Fiona demonstrate proper selfie technique. Larry the llama peeks out of Iain's backpack.

In Francis Bay we caught up with Ed and Elizabeth on Skylark and Dan and Jackie on Chill, and decided to meet up again a few days later in Great Lameshur along with Ruffian and their friends Tony and Jill on Nychea. 

Ed and Elizabeth on Skylark

Luna, Skylark's sailing dog... who, despite appearances, did not just eat a black magic marker

Saying 'cheese' with Ed on Skylark, in Francis Bay St John

Dan & Jackie on Chill. Jackie should be crowned as "Queen of the Conch" for her musical conch skills.

Dan and Jackie spent their past few months hosting so many friends and family aboard Chill in the BVI that they were officially thought to be a charter boat here - but with their last visitors gone, we finally got some time with them. Maybe chartering is in their blood, since they graciously offered to host eleven people for an impromptu belated (or early?) Thanksgiving dinner one night. Thanks Chillians!! 

Clockwise from L to R:  Ed, me, Jill, Iain, Jackie, Dan, Skip, Fiona, Emma, Tony. Missing is Elizabeth who's behind the camera.

I think we'd eaten just about everyone's food stores by this time and the weather was good for traveling so off we all went in different directions. We said our goodbyes and headed to St Croix to visit with Skip's family.

One last sunset before sailing for St Croix

We tried like mad to catch something other than sargasso on our way to St Croix - reeling in and cleaning weed from our lines constantly - but no luck. This big patch of weed was sheltering at least a few tuna and they jumped out of the water and snapped at our lures but they were too fast, too smart or too lucky to be caught.

There's tuna under that thar patch o' weed!

Our week in St Croix was the mix of good time spent with family, cushy square beds, air conditioned rooms, endless hot water and too much good food that we've come to look forward to each year at the Buccaneer. We were SO relaxed in fact that neither us ever managed to pick up the camera and take any photos. Fortunately, our brother-in-law Dan is an avid photographer and he graciously allowed me the use of his. Thanks Dan!!

Cindy & Kathie 

Warren on the beach... the jury's still out on that hat.

Kathie & Cindy fresh from the sea

Skip and me

Kathie enjoys the view

The only issue with Dan being the photographer is that there are no photos of Dan! There are lots on the blog post from last year's visit though so he doesn't get left out.

We had use of a car one day and did some running around for boat 'stuff' and stopped in to see our friend Matt in his gallery, Island Fire Glass, in Fredricksted. Matt is a master glassblower and teaches glass blowing on the island too. 

Matt's whimsical beer drinking pig

We missed out on seeing Matt and Rachel last year when we were here so this time we made plans to meet up at Buck Island for a night after leaving the Buccaneer. They're really fun to hang out with; Matt is easy going and low key and Rachel practically sparkles with energy. Plus, being that she's from Alabama, she's the only person I've ever heard say "Dadgummit!" and mean it.

Rachel & Matt with Skip on the beach at Buck Island, St Croix

Saralane framed by Skip and Matt. St Croix through the haze in the background

We said our goodbyes with promises to visit again and the next morning we sailed north to St Thomas to catch up with the Ruffians before they sail off across the Atlantic. They're heading home with theoretical plans to work for a while, then turn around and set off again on a bigger boat perhaps.

Windblown Fiona aboard Ruffian

You know everyone by now... Fiona (with Larry the llama), Skip, me, Iain

We've had a lot of fun with these guys and it's been hard to say goodbye to them. Odds are even that they'll decide that the working life is 'rubbish' and that Ruffian is big enough, but time will tell. So... cheery bye now Ruffians. We're following your track across the ocean and hope you're catching fish every day. 

Ruffian's anchor comes up for the last time in the blue Caribbean

I'll leave things there for now. We'll be hanging around the USVI and BVI until the end of the month...