First of all, Terry and I wish to thank all of you for your messages. We truly enjoy reading the comments that many of you have left on our internet web page guest book; please continue!
My son reminded me today that we are a bit overdue for a web update; thanks Cory, Mr. Webmaster, for staying on top of the web and us! Cory has done a tremendous and creative job keeping the web page tuned and interesting, thanks Cory. I now see that he has a preface to the page inviting those interested in knowing when the web is updated to be included in his email distribution list. This is a great idea in that you will know when he has updated the web with our travel log. By the way, we look forward to Cory and Carrie’s arrival in Tortola aboard Zelda in mid January.
Where has the time gone? We have been in St Thomas for almost a month. Terry left the workforce in early April and I in early July. We spent the summer cruising the incredible harbors of Maine and onward to Nova Scotia. In the fall, we made our way back to Raritan Yacht Club, NJ, then south to MD and via the ICW to Beaufort, NC. Three crewmembers joined us in Beaufort in early November when we sailed to St Thomas; they flew home from St Thomas around November 15/16; two to NJ and one to Brazil. We originally had plans to spend a week or two in St Thomas before traveling to the other USVI and BVIs. It took us a week to get caught up with odds and ends after the passage. However, we also had required engine maintenance that we thought to be somewhat routine; but Murphy’s Law prevailed. Terry has become very intimate with the ins and outs of our lovely Volvo Penta engine and its related parts. Terry jokes (but not so comically) that his Virgin Island lounge chair is laying on a boat cushion belly down in the engine room doing mechanical adjustments and repairs. Not to bore you with greasy stories; we hope that his time in the engine room lounge chair is winding down. I now truly believe that owning a sailboat that sails around the world requires the recognition that things are “always” in need of maintenance.
We have met folks here in St Thomas that has been sailing the islands for years, doing whatever (other than the corporate thing). Amazingly, we met a fellow who also worked at Merck in Rahway for 10 years in the labs (my previous employer) and who now lives three sailboats from us. People from all walks of life are doing what we hope to do, sail from place to place. It is a somewhat small community in that you do eventually see some of the same boats and folks along the way. Small sailing world! We are getting somewhat connected here in St Thomas, with residents as well as local service providers and marine equipment providers. Hopefully, we will require the latter less and less as our maintenance activities reduce.
The weather in St Thomas is somewhat predictable; hot, sunny, rain in the afternoon. Never leave home (sailboat) with the hatches/ports open, it is sure to rain while you are gone; apparently, this is the rainy season. The rain lasts for 5 minutes and then is sunny and 85 again. We hear that it is cold in NJ, basically 20-30 degrees; don’t miss that.
For a break, we sailed over to Christmas Cove, St James Island, for a few days of R&R and snorkeling. We saw many small to medium sized fish and a turtle; we hear that there are rays there as well, unfortunately, we did not see any. We are back in St Thomas and the weather this weekend is supposed to be very windy (20-25 kts with high seas 8-10 ft), so we will hang out here. We have also taken time to visit Sapphire Beach and lovely Megans Bay for some snorkeling. Terry also took an open water tune up course to recertify for scuba diving while I took an introduction to scuba that entailed the critical basic skills and a 25 and 45 foot dive; I know I need more instruction and practice.
Once conditions improve, we will sail to Francis Bay in St Johns. The snorkeling is supposed to be incredible in St Johns. From there, we will go to Tortola to meet up with Cory and Carrie.
The Christmas holiday seems to be around us in a somewhat unfamiliar presentation. Wreaths, season greetings, trees on car tops, and certainly the Salvation Army, but 85-degree weather. We don’t have quite the sensation of the Christmas hustle; probably because we are no longer in a hustle. We are not sure as to our Christmas Day plans; perhaps we will return to Christmas Cove. Given that Terry and I traditionally hosted a family Christmas Eve dinner in NJ for upwards of 12-15 family members and then attended another great family gathering at an aunt and uncle’s house on Christmas Day, this will surely be a change. One thing is for sure, it will be sunny and in the 80s here.
Hope you all have a peaceful and healthy Christmas and New Years; please stay in touch and certainly sign into the guest book. Should you wish to share your photos with us, please contact Cory so that he can post them to the web page; we would certainly enjoy seeing your special photo moments. By the way feel free to contact us via email at: KC2GPH@WINLINK.ORG.
Marie & Terry aboard the S/V Zelda