Long Overdue - and the Last One

Well, as said, this is long overdue and probably the only one to read it will be me/Cheryl and likely Jason as he has it tagged. Thanks Jason.

I will try to make this short. It has been a struggle since I came home, a struggle I am dealing with by recognizing how grateful I am and trying to convince myself that it is what we did and not what we didn't do that is the important thing. After all, how many people would find much sympathy if I said that I only sailed for 2 years in the Caribbean and never got to the South Pacific. I hope no one!!! But enough of that. It is what it is, I am who I am - and I realize how blessed I am - most of the time.

I came home to wind. I at first thought that my idea that is was windier this year than when we lived here before was just senile memory lapse but after checking things out I am not crazy. the first 5 weeks I was home, the wind blew steadily and usually 50-70 kph. The rest of the weather was great though, with pretty fair temperatures and good sun (to charge my batteries).

Shortly after I got home we acquired another dog. We had not intended to get one so quick but Ryan's (Leila's Ryan) parents had a dog that they couldn't give a lot of time to that kept running home to the farm it was born on so they had to keep it tied up outside. She is a chocolate Lab over a year old so I thought that she would almost be into her adulthood. Found out after that Lab's don't stop growing until they are 2 (No Leila - she wasn't smaller than Katie when we got her!!!) She is a lot of fun though. First dog I have seen who watches TV and checks out the animals when they appear - particularly dogs, cats and rabbits. She also is quite interested in Hershey Chocolate commercials. This happens whether there is sound or not so she definitely sees things on the screen!

Our gazebo, which had started to lean due to the big snow year they had while we were gone, finally succumbed to the heavy snow we had in April and the roof dropped down on one side. We ended up using the truck to pull it down so it was flat on the ground and we then disassembled it, piece by piece. Dusty (our dog) helped!! Of course this took place after I went in for surgery to remove my gall bladder - kind of a surprise thing but it was only a week from onset to removal so it was quick. Of course this idea of only lifting 10 lbs or less for 4-6 weeks is silly. Isn't it???

Yes, that's Dusty up on the gazebo roof with us!!!

We of course visited with people once we were back but it took us a lot of time to get the inside of the house finished from the move back in and the house also had to recover from the surgery of replacing the carpet with laminate so there are still lots of people to see. We were all set to start working on the outside stuff and here we are - May 5 with 6 inches of snow on the ground, our basement flooded because of the big storm last week when we lost power and thus our weeping tile sump pumps. We seem to be starting from square one in having the house livable.

It really isn't that bad though - again, I am grateful:

we have a basement to flood in the first place:

the insurance is covering the redoing:

we have found someone (we hope) to improve our drainage system so it won't happen again:

we are both healthy (although the wealthy and wise are still pending!):

we have people who we love dearly and we have people who love us: and

oh yes, we were also able to sell the boat, which in these economic times is a feat in itself. Although we didn't get what we wanted (do we ever?), we got more than we paid for it. It is still a tender spot for me though, as I would still love to get into the South Pacific. Oh well, maybe by airplane will have to do.

So, this will likely be the last blog on the Adventures of Mystic Journey. We are going to put all our blogs into a book format and have it printed so if you ever decide to visit, you can see it on our coffee table!!

Thanks to all of you who supported us on this fantastic adventure by visiting us, commenting on our blogs or just cheering us on.

Fairs Winds and Smooth Seas

Griff's Home - by Griff

I thought I would give you what is essentially my last post about our 2 year adventure (although my mind has not totally given the journey up). My last post was from East End Bay (part of Fat Hog Bay - I love that name) where I was waiting for Mystic Journey to either be sold or, as it turned out, to take her to Nanny Cay and put her on the hard.

Cheryl was a bit concerned about me getting the anchor up, sailing down to Nanny Cay and then putting MJ into a marina slip, all singlehanded. I must admit that with the way the wind had been shifting so it was coming from a different direction every day and add in the fact that it varied from 0 to 35/40 knots, the anchor raising had been on my mind too. Also, I had requested a slip at the marina situated so that I could go straight in from the entrance rather than maneuver between two rows of boats via a narrow channel but they said they had to give me what was available on the day I was coming in so I knew I would likely be into tight quarters.

To make a long story as short as I am able (being longwinded), the anchor came up with no problems and I was able to move to a mooring ball in East End Bay and hook up with no stress. I had done this (gone on the ball) because I wanted to weigh anchor early in case I had problems and I also wanted to secure the anchoring system while on a ball since it is much simpler than while sailing. I couldn't get into the marina until after 1:00 PM - thus the need to wait.

Leaving East End/Fat Hog Bay

Got to the marina with no problems, about a 6 nm trip and, as Murphy supports, the slip was in a narrow channel with boats on both sides. I asked the marina by radio which side I would be putting to the finger dock and of course the side they gave me was if I backed into the slip - which they didn't tell me. We have mentioned before that MJ does not back up well so when I went into the slip channel and found out, I had to back out, change all my fenders and lines to the other side and go back in.

At the Dock in Nanny Cay Marina

The next couple of days was busy taking down sails, cleaning the dinghy bottom and putting the dinghy on the deck (for on the hard), tying down lines and cleaning. I also took my baggage over to the hotel - lots easier to do when you only have to lift the 3 - 50 lb bags onto the dock, not carry then down a ladder after she is on land. Incidentally, the weight was also a big deal. Fifty pounds is the maximum without paying overweight and since I didn't have a place to take them to weigh, I had to borrow a scale and weigh all my bags on the boat to estimate the weight. Not fun.

Friday morning I contacted the haul-out crew and got a man to come aboard so that I would have someone to handle the lines once I backed (again the backing!!!) into the haulout slip. It all went well though - well, as well as can be expected when I was looking at MJ through pretty misty eyes. It took about 3 hours to get her settled and I spent the rest of the day and most of Saturday cleaning, covering windows and portholes from the inside and removing lines.

My Last View of Mystic Journey

Oops!!! This is actually my last view of Mystic Journey

Saturday evening was an early to bed since I had to get up at 4:00 AM to get the airport for 5:00. I had asked the Liat desk if I really had to be there that early since it was a Sunday morning and it was the only flight out and they insisted I had to. In actual fact I guess that only applied to passengers since none of the staff got there before 5:30. It gave me a chance to weigh all my luggage, however, and re-arrange a bit so that even though I was overweight, it was distributed through the bags and it worked because they didn't charge me any extra for that. I suppose the fact they charged me $120 US for having extra bags (Liat allows only one) may have influenced them.

I had to fly to St Maarten via Antigua/St Kitts - and my reservations were another story. Originally when I had checked availability and cost of Liat to St Maarten and Westjet from there to Calgary via Toronto, the cost had been $64 for the first flight and $304 for the second. As well, the flight from Tortola to St Maarten was direct and left at noon. Pretty good eh?? Well, I didn't book that day because I had to confirm my haulout dates. When I went back to book 2 days later - and keep in mind this was 6 weeks before my flights - the costs were $118 for the first (via Antigua/St Kitts leaving at 7:00 AM) and the second flight was $540. Poor me - poor, poor me!!!

Made it to Antigua, where I spent an hour or so, and then on to St Kitts (didn't get off) and finally to St Maarten where about 12 of us were informed that not all our luggage came with us because the plane was too full. We had to do paperwork and the lady assured me that if the luggage got there before my Westjet plane left, it would be loaded directly and if not they would forward it to any address I wanted. Funny, there are always jerks and in this case there were 2 - one Brit and one snotty young islander lady who were totally off the wall with this poor lady who had nothing to do with the luggage being late. I finally told the guy to go somewhere else and complain to someone who could do something about it. The rest of us didn't want to hear it. Well, I had gotten up early!!!! And he did!!

Nice flight from St Maarten to Toronto although the TVs were not working. The book I had lost in Tortola (forgot to mention that) had been replaced in St Maarten so I read and played DS.

Rob very kindly met me at the airport and we went to his place for the evening. Since Cheryl and I had left a bag at Robs the last time we went through I was back to 3 bags but we had made arrangements for Jason to pick up the extra one when he visits later this spring. I took one of the bags upstairs so I could take the one that had been at Rob's home, since I had no winter clothes to wear. Of course the bag I left at Rob's had stuff I needed so that didn't work out well but again Rob came through and later in the month shipped it via Greyhound. The other bag was sent by Liat but as Cheryl already mentioned, they only sent it as far as Calgary, where Leila and Ryan came to the rescue.

Well, I had intended this blog to be mostly about getting home but as I said - longwinded!! so I will start another blog about that shortly, since you are likely mostly asleep now. Sorry about that!!

Cheryl here - I arrived at the Calgary airport not knowing any of the above. I waited at the door I knew Griff would be coming through. It was amazing to watch him come down the escalator and see his face break into a grin when he spotted me. What a homecoming!!!!!

Griff is Home

Griff arrived home as promised on March 1st, minus two suitcases. One suitcase along with those of 11 other passengers was left in Antigua by Liat because the plane was too full for everyone's baggage. They promised to make sure it was sent on to Lethbridge since it did not arrive in St. Maarten before Griff's plane left from there for Toronto. The second suitcase was left at Rob's place in Toronto for Jason to bring back in April as planned. The only problem being that Griff's medications were in one of those suitcases. That meant before we could go to the acreage we had to drive into Lethbridge and pick up enough medication for a month since we were unsure when either suitcase would arrive. As it turned out we received a call from WestJet on March 2nd to say the suitcase from Liat was at the Calgary airport. Leila willingly picked it up and Ryan brought it down on March 6. Fortunately the medications were in that suitcase. Rob agreed to ship the other suitcase by Greyhound and we are awaiting its arrival. So that was the saga of the suitcases. This is the only time in all the travelling we have done that we have had suitcases arrive much later than we did.

Now since Griff's arrival we have been very busy working at re-establishing our home. I had done the painting and floor etc. as mentioned in the last blog, but I had not made any effort at moving in the furniture. I was essentially living in one room with a bed, lounge chair, TV and of course the computer (essential for communicating with Griff). The first couple of days Griff was home were spent finishing of the floor in the living/dining room. We laid the tile around the fireplace and then laid the last few rows of laminate flooring. Putting down the baseboards would have to wait until we could decide on what style we wanted to get.

We made plans to move furniture on Saturday, March 6th and fortunately the weather cooperated. I can't say it was really warm, but at least it wasn't snowing nor was the wind blowing. Griff went into Lethbridge at 0800 to pick up the moving van and by 0900 he was back and we were ready to get started. All that we needed was the help we had lined up. My brother Dan arrived first at about 0930 and then Jason and Scott arrived from Calgary. Finally about 1030 Ryan arrived having left later than the others so that he could spend some time with Eva that day since he was staying overnight at his parent's house. By noon we had all the furniture in the house in the rooms in which it belonged, but not assembled. We fed everyone pizza and then Dan, Ryan and Scott left. Jason stayed over until Sunday. He helped assemble some of the furniture and then went in to Lethbridge with us to provide us with much needed expertise in order for us choose a good TV and home theatre system.

The next week was spent putting things (pictures, small furniture pieces, clothes, linens etc.) back in their places and figuring out where we wanted to put our memories of the past two years. We went into Lethbridge a couple of times to pick up the TV and home theatre system we wanted and the baseboards for the living/dining room. Spent some time with Randy and Aleitha, my friend Laraine and my mom. Parcels from BVI Yacht Shots arrived with the woven throws we had ordered. They have a picture of Mystic Journey in full sail woven into them. We are very pleased with the way they turned out.

Later (March 22)

Well, this blog has been a long time formulating so we had better get it out. The reason it has taken this much time is that there has been an astounding amount of work to do to get even the basic things in place. We were (are) constantly coming across things - usually when we are looking for other things that we don't find - that we had forgotten we had or that were (are) supposed to fit into places we already put other things.

We finished the baseboards - we put in new ones for the living/dining room areas - I painted them and Griff did the installation (reluctantly - Griff here - shaped baseboards inevitably don't fit for me at the angles they are supposed to, in spite of using the absolutely beautiful mitre saw Deb so graciously provided us with). We have things back up on a lot of the walls, except my office and the basement, and Griff has been doing as much outdoors as the weather will allow. He is definitely missing the outdooors environment and double definitely missing the warmth of the Caribbean sun.

Oh, and we still have not put up anything that we spent the last 2 years gathering. We didn't really bring back a lot - except pictures - so that makes what we did bring back doubly important and we want to make sure it is put in a place that will allow us - and others - to enjoy it as much as possible. One last thing, we have an addition to our family. Griff will talk more about that in the next blog. Stay tuned.

Tiring, But Fun and Satisfying

Last weekend was very tiring, but fun and ended with a sense of accomplishment. Debby, my sister came down from Calgary to help me lay laminate flooring in our living/dining room. She had done this before and I had helped Griff lay the same laminate in our study. However, for both of us it had been a while since we had done it.

I spent Friday taking out the rug, underlay and all the staples and nailboards that were holding those in place. It made for a long day what with moving furniture, my bed and TV, back and forth across the room so that I could still use them and yet get the rug out. I left part of the rug in place so that the furniture left in the room would not mar the underfloor. The hardest thing to move was our upright piano. I had visions of it tipping backwards knowing that there would be no way Debby and I could get it upright again. However with a lot of manoeuvring I managed to get it moved into the front hallway.



Saturday morning arrived and I busily got the rest of the furniture moved out of the room, except for the TV and table which was too heavy to move (besides if I moved it out of the room I would lose the satellite connection and we wouldn’t have any music to work to), and was already to start when Debby arrived at 1100. We started by deciding which direction the boards would run and where we would start. We got one row in place and went from there. Trial and error that first day figuring out how the ‘click and lock’ laminate worked. We managed to get one corner of the room done – approximately ¼ of the whole job.


While I made breakfast Sunday morning Debby decided to read the directions since we both felt there must be an easier way to lay the rows of boards than the method we had used on Saturday. As it turned out there was and Sunday went much faster. We were able to get the entire floor laid up to the area where we would need to cut the boards lengthwise. Up until then we, I should say Debby since she did all the saw work, were able to do all the crosscuts with Debby’s circular mitre saw. I was very grateful that she came to help. She worked the saw like a pro and she had the arm strength to push the boards together that I lacked. She also came up with a solution to the one problem area.
On one wall we have a stone fireplace. Trying to figure out how to get the boards cut to correspond to the irregular edge of the stones was puzzling. She suggested that we lay tile on the floor in front of the fireplace and that would give us a straight edge for laying the laminate against. The fireplace has a raised hearth that has black ceramic tile on it so that seemed like a good solution. I went and bought some black tiles and laid them out where they would be and laid some laminate against that. The result was great. When Griff gets back next week we’ll lay the tile and then finish laying the laminate when we can access a table saw to make the lengthwise cuts.




As I said a tiring weekend, but we had a lot of fun and found the results very satisfying.

Update from a Solo in Paradise

Actually Paradise is what BVI calls itself on their licence plates but I really think that it is a false claim compared to most of the other Caribbean islands we have visited.

Anyway, thought I would update my days here although they are not much different from the last blog I wrote. I am going to try to put in some pictures this time though.

So what do I do with my time - well, I work on the boat on the inside

- and I work on the boat on the outside

- and I take walks up very steep hills (this picture is looking back down but of course since I always start from sea level, I had to walk up to get there.

- I look at the views from the tops of the hills I walk up - this is Trellis Bay and the airport on Beef Island. I walk to Trellis Bay quite a bit. About 55 minutes there and 60 minutes back (I am hot and tired then)
- I look at other views from the tops of the hills I walk up - this is East End Bay or Fat Hog Bay, depending on where you are looking. You can see Mystic Journey down there right behind a power boat

- sometimes on my walks I find hidden and Secret Gardens. I found Josiah's Bay quite by accident after walking for about 90 minutes and turning down an unmarked road.

- as you can see it appears to be a good spot to surf.

Meanwhile, on my way back to the boat I thought I had better take a picture of the last anchorage we will ever have dropped the hook for Mystic Journey. I really shouldn't ever say it is the last anything because who knows what may happen. After all, a few years back I probably would have said the last place you can ever expect to see me is sailing on a 49 ft yacht in the Caribbean with my soulmate.

Finally, although I really love being in the sun and on the water and being warm, as I said before, it is not the same at all when I am not with my life partner. The bags you see below have been packed and in the fore cabin since the middle of January. In a hurry Griff?????

20 Sleeps But Who's Counting

20 sleeps – that’s the number of sleeps left until Griff is back with me. It has been a long time since I came back to Canada. Not that it hasn’t been busy.

When I finally got out to the acreage I discovered evidence of bigger leaks than I was lead to believe by Randy – water spots on the ceiling in the study on the main floor. We decided that maybe it would be a good idea to get our insurance agent involved since it now looked like it would be costing more than our deductible. Very glad that we did!

It turned out that there were four major leaks in the two bathrooms as well as a minor one in the ensuite and in the kitchen. These were the result of frozen pipes caused by the renters leaving a window open and the furnace turned off in -30C weather and a blizzard. Of course bathroom leaks cannot easily be fixed without cutting holes in walls. Part of the ceiling in the study also had to be removed because even though the leaks were fixed there was still water leaking from the ceiling. When they opened the ceiling there was insulation present that was soaking wet. Next to be done was patch all the holes and paint. Thankfully the insurance company arranged for that to be done.

Finally, February 1st and everything was done. I moved in and haven’t stopped since then. I discovered that almost every wall in the house had either large holes from nails or dents from moving furniture. I can’t imagine using drywall screws to hang things, but that is what they used as evidenced by some left in place. I spent a few days filling holes and dents. Then I started the process of painting. It turns out that when I am finished every room will have been painted except for one bedroom upstairs and one in the basement. As well the main area in the basement was still not repaired following the flood last spring – I painted the walls and now I am waiting to get the carpet laid then it will be finished as well.

With the help of my brothers I have moved the bins in from one of the outbuildings and have slowly been unpacking them. However, since we decided to wait until Griff is home to move the furniture in I can’t unpack everything because there are no places to put some things and others are for hanging on the walls which I don’t want to do without Griff’s input. I remembered where some things were stored. Unfortunately some of the things I need to live out here – like our dishes – are stored in with the furniture. Thankfully my mother was willing to lend me enough dishes, utensils and pans so that I can at least cook here.

The weather the last week has been very unusual. It has been very foggy. This is a picture looking west along our laneway. There are other farm buildings about 200 meters from the end of the fence. You just can't see it. Because of the fog I stayed at the acreage. The main reason why I was able to get so much accomplished.

This is a picture of our gnome who sits under our cedar bush in the front yard. Notice the expression on his face - he sits under his blanket of snow waiting for the return of Griff and spring just like I am.

I am actually holding out fairly well. The loneliness is worse on some days. I am sure the next 20 days will go past as quickly for me as January has. I know it has been worse for Griff since he doesn't have the friend and family support close by like I do.

Still Crazy After All These Years

Some of you oldies may recognize the title for the blog. I was going to say still here after all this time but the title fit me better.
Well, I am still in East End Bay, also known as Fat Hogs Bay, on Tortola,BVI. We thought it might be better to leave the boat in the water for as long as we could since it supposedly helps to sell boats if they are on the water but it hasn't worked so far. Of course selling/buying a boat is not like buying a house or car, where you can check out what is in the papers, hop in the car and go and take a look at a whole bunch until you find what you want.
I guess in a sense a boat buyer does the same thing but because all the research is done beforehand, you could say that actually "taking a look at a whole bunch" is done by internet.
The next phase of actually going and "kicking the tires and checking the paint job" usually requires buying plane tickets and booking accomodations etc etc so people are much more careful. That is good for the buyer but for us sellers??? - we have no way of knowing how thoroughly people are researching our boat except for knowing the number of people who choose to scan it on the website. Scanning doesn't necessarily mean researching it and just knowing someone has looked doesn't tell us how long or how seriously. People also focus less on looks and more on what the boat has to offer sailing-wise so, it isn't just the kitchen and the bathrooms (as Rob says) that sells the boat.
Anyway, I have filled in my time doing things with the boat that might have gotten done eventually if we had kept the boat but were not a great priority - painting the toe rails, re-varnishing all the varnished surfaces etc etc. There is not really a lot that needs done to Mystic Journey because over the 2 years we have had her we have done all the musts and most of the nice to do's so it is just paying attention now to the small things that may catch a buyers eye. I have also been walking a lot, between weather fronts that have come through regularly giving us lots of rain and wind. I have walked from here to Roadtown (probably 10-12 miles), Roadtown to Nanny Cay (about 9 miles) and back and up and down various steep steep hills that are the norm on these islands. There is a nice beach about a mile away that I go to and I regularly walk to Trellis Bayup by the airport

There is a marina here at the anchorage run by a very nice man called Walter and he has given me wifi access, free water and showers, access to a fairly large selection of DVDs and books and he is quite helpful whenever I need to know things about the island or how to find things.
There are 3 grocery stores quite close although the meat selection is very poor and there is a bakery with the best banana bread on any of the islands.
I still would rather be home with Cheryl working on the acreage. This has been a fantastic adventure and although we could not do the South Pacific thing due to a number of factors, most recently our destructive tenants, I am truly blessed that we have been able to do all we have. There was never any question, however, that our hearts were on the acreage and I need to get home to help Cheryl put it back into shape and make it lovely again

AND, I am coming home, leaving here February 28th, home March 1st. We decided that we would put the boat on the hard in Nanny Cay so it is accessible for Clive, our broker and we will trust that it sells fairly soon. Clive has said that since MJ is a true bluewater cruiser, people looking to buy this type of boat will be just as happy to see her out of the water anyway so they can look at the overall worthiness picture, not just how pretty she looks in the water.
Keep your fingers crossed. We will likely do another blog "when all is said and done"!!
Don't forget to check periodically

There's No Place Like Home

When last we posted a blog I was waiting to head back to Canada. I arrived in Toronto New Year's Eve and in Calgary New Year's Day. It was a long and tiring trip with a delay in St. Maarten and an overnight in the Toronto airport. My son Scott picked me up in Calgary and drove me to Lethbridge to stay with my Mom.

It took me a while to get out to the acreage. I had to get the key from our friend Karen who had been checking the house since the renters moved out. Then the weather didn't cooperate. As when you are sailing when you live in the country you also are dependent on the weather. The first couple of days it was cold, 25 below zero Celsius, and snowing. I finally got out to the acreage on January 6th. The lane and driveway were covered in snow almost to the depth where our car could not make it without getting stuck.

View from our back deck

I discovered that the leaks hadn't been fixed therefore no water. That meant I would not be able to move out there until the leaks are fixed. Once I can move out there I can start looking for where everything is stored. I can't believe that we didn't make a list of where everything is stored since it is in 3 different outbuildings and the basement. Until that time I will be staying at my Mom's and travelling back and forth to check on the house.

Yesterday when I was going to head out to the acreage again the wind was blowing, 25 kmph, and blowing snow across the highway so I knew the lane would be impassable. I decided to wait and have my brother drive me out later today with his truck.

It is difficult being here when Griff is still in BVI on Mystic Journey. Fortunately we are able to talk with each other every day via the Internet. I know he is finding it more difficult than I am. At least I have family and friends here for lots of support. I have even had a short visit with our granddaughter, Eva. Everyone says it's great to have me home except for the circumstances. We are all waiting impatiently for Griff to come home too!!!

Endings By Cheryl

December 28, 2009

For me this marvelous sailing adventure is fast drawing to a close. It's hard to believe that in four days I will be back in the land of ice and snow. I just hope the weather gods will be kind and there won't be too much of the white stuff and the cold temperatures when I first arrive.

The most common thing we are asked is what is our favourite island. Any of you that have asked this knows our answer is that they all offer something unique and it is hard to pick a favourite. However, I found more relevant one of the questions one of the cruising women asked me when she queried what the most important thing was that I would be taking away from this experience.

That too is a difficult question to answer. I guess the most important thing is the knowledge I have gained about myself and my abilities to deal with new situations. I have definitely learned new skills related to sailing, but more importantly I have learned how to live with another person, Griff, on a 24 hour basis. I think we have grown as individuals and definitely as a couple. While sailing we are able to anticipate what is needed and do it in concert with the other person.

Being away from family and friends has been difficult, but life does go on even if you are not there. I am looking forward to spending time with family and friends especially little Eva. It will be fun watching her grow and develop.

Getting back to the acreage and putting things back in order will be the next challenge. I look forward to that and to Griff joining me when Mystic Journey gets a new owner.

December 30, 2009

While travelling up the island chain Griff wrote about some of the 'lasts' we were experiencing. Well this past week has been filled with more lasts for me. My last sail and swimming in the Caribbean Sea. The last sail was from Norman Island, BVI to Fat Hog Bay, BVI. You may be wondering if this was my last sail how did we get from USVI to BVI - WE DIDN'T SAIL. When we moved on Boxing Day there was absolutely no wind so we motored the whole way from St. John to Norman Island with a brief stop in Soper's Hole to clear in.

The sail to Fat Hog Bay was great! We had all three sails up and no motor. We had decided to check out Trellis Bay as a place for Griff to anchor while waiting for Mystic Journey to sell since he could anchor there, go swimming from the boat and it is close to the airport. However, when we got there we decided it was much too crowded both with moored and anchored boats and it would only get worse this week since 'Full Moon' and New Years Eve are on the same day meaning there would be larger full moon festivities. Since we knew the water in Fat Hog Bay is not condusive to swimming we went onto a mooring ball at Marina Cay, had lunch and I went for my last swim. What an experience. The sea was relatively calm, but there was quite a current. Most of the time there is a current present around the boat. The current that day was unbelievable. I swam for about 10 minutes and never got past the ladder, in fact occasionally I was pushed backwards. Nothing like 'swimming on the spot'. It was a nice last swim though and then on to Fat Hog Bay. Here was my last anchoring which turned into a couple of times since we changed spots. Griff is now set up in what is hopefully going to be a good spot to spend some time and have the boat safe.

As for me, now it's just waiting for tomorrow to come and head home.

Christmas and Stuff

Well, here we are with another year under our belts (does the rope we use to hold up our pants qualify as belts??) It has been a good year although there have been ups and downs just as there would be if we were home.

I have mentioned to Cheryl that I will have to be careful that I don't let my "damn, we are selling the boat" mood slip over into my gratitude for all we have experienced this year.

Although we didn't put as many knots on the boat this year as we did last year, mainly because we didn't sail to the ABC's and up to the Leewards, we still managed a goodly number of sailing days. I think probably we are up around the 3500 nm mark for the 2 years and considering we had never sailed before I guess that is pretty good.

So - our year. We were blessed with lots of people again this year. We started with Holly and Joe in Antigua, then Jason in April and Judy and Ivor in May. We also were able to hook up with Julie, Graham, Alex and Amelia on Artemo in St Lucia. Unfortunately we never did get a chance to sail with them for any distance. Best laid plans...........

That reminds me of some realizations I have been having about where we have gone and where we have not gone. Cheryl and I had many discussions when we were in the ABC's last year about whether to go west or to stay in the Caribbean for another year. When we made the decision to stay in the Caribbean for another year and sail to Antigua and meet with Artemo and Holly and Joe, I was okay with that. By myself I likely would have been leaning toward continuing west but Cheryl leaned more to staying and taking all things into consideration we decided that staying was the better thing to do.

The reason I mention this now is because this blog is a retrospective in a sense and I now find myself struggling with the decision I was part of then. I know, I know, "Accept the things you cannot change' - and you can't change the past etc etc but I will definitely have to work on this!!!

So, onward - we made ourselves consciously more social this year, culminating in the Grenada Carnival where we shared the good times there with a number of couples we had met over the last two years. Another huge social event was the Canada Day celebration at Clarkes Court Bay where we shared a meal (ours was free because we had the best Canadian costume) with over 100 other cruising Canadians. We also became net controllers for the Coconut Telegraph and that was definitely a broadening of our social circle. We both still find that we are quite happy sharing this experience with each other most of the time though and we definitely did not become part of the "happy hour" crowd.

We are both glad to say that we made friends that we intend to keep in touch with when we are back in Canada - I would be remiss if I didn't mention Sue and Maurice on Strider in this intent - great folk!!!

What else - well, we have found ourselves much better sailors than we were when we started but the funny thing is this realization kind of dropped on us out of the blue - actually when we were checking our sailing times here in the Virgin Islands versus our times last year. It didn't seem that we consciously recognized "oh, we're doing this or we are doing that better". Who woulda thunk it!!!

Highlights of the year

- becoming a grandparent (me again and Cheryl for the first time)

- having a chance to go home and see the new granddaughter

- having Jason come down and visit

- being able to share that visit with the crew of Artemo

- having Holly and Joe come for a visit - meant a huge amount to us Holly

- having Judy and Ivor visit

- meeting lots of new people - see above

- we also have to include our sail from Curacao to Antigua, even though it was last year. Although it was tough sailing we can both look back with pride on the fact that we did it!!!!

I think the overall second place for highlight of this year is having the health and (relative) clarity of mind to be able to have these adventures

First place goes to being able to do all of this with each other.

I guess it wouldn't be truthful to paint the whole year as stress free. Our major stressor was of course our acreage - actually not our acreage but the tenants who lived on the acreage and this stressor is one of the main reasons we are coming home early. We also had the ongoing expense of sailing to contend with - but a very positive slant to that is although this whole experience has required a constant and very steep learning curve, we have both been up to the task. There is not very much that we would be unsure we could handle now, be it on the boat or at home. We just hope it doesn't cost as much at home as it does out here!!!

Now on to Christmas.

We decided that since we spent last Christmas on the hard (at the villa with Rob and the Perry's) added to the fact it will likely be our last Christmas in the Caribbean, that we would do it up tropical style. About the 16th we decorated the boat, including our little Christmas tree, tinsel and snowflakes. We have seen a number of the bigger boats with the outsides decorated too. We did some Christmas shopping in Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas and Cruz Bay, St John and of course Cheryl did her pre-christmas thing in September.

It is now Christmas Eve day and we were net controllers for the Coconut Telegraph today so were able to wish all our friends the joy of the season. We are at an anchorage where we should be able to get fair wifi tomorrow so we can be in touch with family at home. We are hoping to go snorkelling today for a while and maybe again tomorrow. Our stockings are hung by the porthole with care and there are presents under the tree. We are both focussing on the fact that we will have this Christmas together even though we will also both miss our families very much. We are also trying not to let the fact that Cheryl leaves on the 31st and I stay until ???? interfere with the gratitude that we both feel for all of the joy that we provide for each other and that we get from our family and friends.

!!!!!HAVE THE HAPPIEST CHRISTMAS EVER!!!!!

Francis Bay, St John - USVI (Jason this is the real one!)

Weeee're back!

Had a pretty good sail from Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas to Francis Bay although we sailed to the wind and not to specific waypoints. The difference is - sailing to waypoints you preplan your course and sail it based on setting up legs designed to get you from point A to B to C etc, meanwhile missing things like rocks and islands and all that stuff. You put the course into the chart plotter and the handheld GPS and then go from point to point. That works if you have winds and seas that cooperate. It is also usually used on longer trips.

Sailing to the wind is just what is says. You know where you are going but you get there using the wind to its' best advantage - each leg is sailed using the wind most advantageously. It usually involves lots of gybing and coming about (tacking) and is great for up here in the Virgins where the sailing is kind of line of sight due to the islands being so close. You still use the chart plotter but more as a map of where you are in relation to those rocks and islands you still want to miss!!

Anyway, back to Francis Bay - we were actually heading for Maho Bay, which is a small bay next to Francis Bay that, on the charts, seems more protected. As I said before, all of the National Park anchorages are protected so mooring balls are mandatory. When we got to Maho, we picked up a mooring ball and then of course the first thing we check is to see if we have wifi. Our friend Dave on Daniell Storey had said there was wifi in Francis so we hoped Maho would have it too but no such luck so we moved about 500 yards/metres into Francis Bay and were able to get a fair signal.

Francis Bay has 28 mooring balls and access to 3 beaches, Francis Bay, Maho Bay and what Cheryl and I called Little Maho. It is in the middle and has a path that leads up to an Eco-camp type resort. You stay in little cabins or tents BUT, because it has "Eco" attached to it they are still able to charge $155.00 Us per night. Go figure.

Some of the things we have done while we have been here - walked to Trunk Bay and Cinnamon Bay by accessing Maho beach and going southwest from there. Walked to Coral Cove (they call it Love City because it is a haven for hippies who still believe they are hippies) by heading southeast from Francis Bay beach. It is funny that although they are side by side, Francis Bay beach and Maho Bay beach do not connect over land and the roads that run behind them are different "highways".

We also walked to Watermelon Bay which is part of Leinster Bay on the north side of St John. While visiting these places we accessed the Annaberg ruins - an old sugar mill and Annaberg school about 5 miles away from the mill. The school was set up to educate the children of the ex-slaves who stayed to work when they were supposedly emancipated. There were supposed to be 5 schools set up but only one got used. This was all during the time that St John belonged to Denmark. The US bought St John from them for $25 million back in the early 1900's.

We also saw ruins of another sugar mill at Cinnamon Bay and we would periodically explore ruins that had no name and no way to tell what they had been or who used them. Incidentally, none of these ruins have been restored in the manner that most historical sites we visited down island have been. Local people have done some volunteer work but that was more just brush clearing and rubble removal and putting up signs that say don't climb on the ruins.

Needless to say, all of these walks that Cheryl and I went on were up and down hills that were constructed with no need to worry about snow so of course they were STEEP!! The shortest walk we did was likely 2 miles and the longest about 8 miles so we were definitely getting our exercise. Oh and we visited the "eco-camp" and noted in the mini-store they had there that the crunchy Cheetos (I used to have a weakness but got all better!!) were $7.70 US and when we looked at the same thing in a store in Coral Cove, they were $3.95 US. Eco-camp indeed!!

On these walks we also noted more animal life than we usually have seen on other islands. Of course we saw the usual goats and sheep, chickens and dogs. However we also saw deer, donkeys, pelicans and lots of termite nests. We even saw a row of termites going across the road. Termites are blind and follow each other head to tail. On the trees you can see their trails as raised dark brown lines on the trunk. There was a similar line going across the road. At one point it had been broken open, presumably by the sheep that had run ahead of us, and you could see the termites themselves. We have also seen lots of fish, both snorkelling along shore and beside the boat. Lots of fingerlings in both places. The fingerlings were so thick that at times you really couldn't see beyond the school. The numbers certainly explain why the pelicans are also numerous here. They sort of "jump" off the water, coast a couple of feet and then head back into the water beak first. Then they float and you can see them 'tossing' the fish from their beaks to their throats. Very interesting to watch.

I wanted to do this blog to catch up because we are hoping to do a Christmas blog from Caneel Bay, which we are going back to tomorrow so we will have a strong Wifi for Christmas Day.
So, next blog - Christmas!!!!

USVI - 2009

As promised, a small blurb first about the sail to St John, USVI. When we left Great Harbour, Jost Van Dyke the skies looked ominous, with a whole bunch of small squalls looming. We had already cleared out so figured, what the heck, we won't have any problems - and we didn't really. I say that now and think of the last blog where I said we are better sailors now than we were then. This kind of showed itself because of course after we left JVD, it seemed all the squalls combined into a line to windward of us and then descended with a crunch.

We had the main and foresail up as we were sailing but the wind picked up quickly so we started to take the f0resail down but before I took the first full pull on the furling line, the wind and rain and total blindness hit us. We immediately turned into the wind to take the stress off the sails and keep us upright but we had left it a little late and I had to use all my strength and a few good primeval howls to bring the sail in. ho-hum, all in a days work.

We got to Caneel Bay, just around the corner from Cruz Bay, where customs reside, about noon. Practically the entire island of St John is a national park so there is no anchoring but the mooring balls are relatively inexpensive and very well maintained so we picked up a ball and went in to clear in and take a look around Cruz Bay. This is the capitol of St John and quite an interesting town although the prices and the kinds of shops they have are very much geared to tourists and cruise ships. Of course all of USVI is a very popular spot for american tourists as it belongs to the US, is fairly easy for them to get to and is duty free.

We stayed in Caneel Bay for 2 days and decided to sail down to St Thomas - Charlotte Amalie to be exact - to stock up and maybe do some Christmas shopping. When we were home in September Cheryl was thinking ahead and got me a Christmas present but of course I am very much into today and maybe tomorrow - further than that and I get confused - so I still had my shopping to do. Charlotte Amalie is the capital of St Thomas and is really kind of a neat city. We went for a long walk down the waterfront street and also checked into customs to ask for clarification on something we had been told by the Cruz Bay customs - that we didn't need to bother checking out when we left. The lady in customs said it was a good thing we had gone there because of course we do have to check out and knowing their paranoia, if we hadn't checked out they would have sent Homeland Security after us!!

After staying a couple of days in Charlotte Amalie we decided to sail up to Francis Bay on St John. This blog is running on so we will pick up the next blog on the way to Francis Bay.

On Caneel Bay