Day 6  Monday November 12, 2001

 I wake up several times throughout the night since the wind is really kicking up and swinging us around.  Lying there in the aft cabin I think about moving my butt only to be rudely pushed into gear with the engine being started up.  It’s 6ish again and Jim has already wolfed down both steaks we still had as his breakfast along with the garlic bread.  I simply polish off the rest of the fruit salad and a croissant. 

Sunrise leaving LIttle Harbor JVD

As the sun is rising we are headed out the Harbor saying Good-bye to Sidney’s and the numerous goats on the hillsides.  It’s a sad day when you know you’re headed back to relinquish the boat and it’s the end of a adventure. 

We motor up the South Coast of Tortola making way to Road Town. It’s pretty ‘rocky rollie’ as I head below to do the final clean up prior to handing in the boat. Strip the beds, wash the dishes, and check that all is packed away. This is difficult to do when you’re being tossed around! 

I manage to rouse the Moorings base on the radio as we near the harbor to get our assigned slip.  I don’t understand half of what this guy is saying and until someone else gets on the line I wasn’t sure what the correct slip number was. We get in with some help from Moorings dock staff as I throw the fenders overboard (seems they don’t put much faith in charterers to do it all correctly).

I go over to the office after we dump more than half the split provisions we never touched in the trash.  We give the opened bottles of vodka to the people onboard the boat next to us and leave the unopened gift of champagne in the galley.  I walk over to the office to tell them that we have arrived and walk with the debriefer back to the boat.  We tell them about rudder issue and we are told that they need to investigate it first and should get back to us before we depart.  They never did get back to us before we left. 

I head to the showers.  Silly me, I didn’t notice that you needed a token for use of the showers and pressed for time I need to re-dress get a token, shower and change within 20 minutes before the arrival of our transport back to the airport.  I manage to do this in record time and find Jim seated in the bar watching the news that yet another plane departing from a New York airport has crashed in Queens.  All the New York airports are closed!  I wonder whether I should try to get a room at the base but we jump in the taxi after some confusion instead. 

Yes, they went through my wet soppy laundry in my bag at Beef made us open things that contained batteries but it wasn’t too awful. 

We hopped the Cape Air flight and wondered if we were going to make it home that day.  When we arrived we asked the continental desk if they knew when and if the airports in New York were going to reopened.  Flights had already been delayed and our flight wasn’t scheduled until after 4.  We would really be pushed back.  Jim squeezed the guy until he changed our flight to an earlier one and we headed to the boarding area to wait.  It was almost 3PM in San Juan and they were expecting an update soon. 

There wasn’t really anything worth eating in the boarding area so we ate whatever snack was available while we waited.  A call went out that the airports were re-opened and they needed to have crew make it back to the airport and that if anyone wanted to change to the earlier flight to please approach the desk.  Once again I got the “I told you so” look J   Thank God he had the foresight to secure our seats prior. 

We wound up leaving SJU even slightly prior to our originally scheduled flight even if the 11AM passengers had been waiting for hours already.  After a nice flight home which included the tastier dinner afforded in first class (and much needed since we hadn’t really eaten since breakfast) we landed in Newark.  L  The cooler temps reminded us that we weren’t in the BVI’s anymore and it was back to reality.