Still in the Virgin Islands!

Well, the best laid plans of mice and men ...

Thankfully I hoisted him up and down safely!

Our plan to vacation sail and have a leisurely trip to St. Lucia has not gone well. We have spent a lot of time completing our checklist on the boat. Some of our new electronics and power equipment needed a sea trial, which was the Caribbean 1500 Rally. At least we learned what still needed attention and have had time to deal with it.

There are always projects!

We are only allowed to be in the British Virgin Islands for 30 days at a time so we left and went to St. Thomas for a week. We managed to pick up our sail and other items we needed as well as relax a little. It seems that when we are at the dock all we do is work on the boat. It is a little harder when we are hanging on the hook in a harbor like Charlotte Amalia.

Interesting Christmas decorations.

It was a good time to do some reading and explore the island. We needed our third Hepatitis A/B shot so we found a clinic in Red Hook. Getting there was an interesting trip. On St. Thomas they have a nice Safari service. The open air vehicles will pick up and drop off anywhere along the route. Each ride is $2 and you go as far as you need. Some nice native men told us that it is only $1 for seniors. Humm. The driver didn't share that!

It was strange seeing Christmas decorations in a land of sun and sand. I can't get my head around the holiday season without the context of snow! When I heard Christmas carols in K-Mart, it took a minute to register!

We were anchored near the path of the Christmas Parade of Boats so we had a great view. This was the first holiday festival we have had this year.

We spent a night in Caneel Bay on St. John as we came back to the BVIs. It seems that no matter where we plan to sail, the wind is directly on our nose! After checking in at Soper's Hole, we stayed on a mooring ball for a night.

Back at Nanny Cay, it was the task of finishing up a couple of issues. One of which is the new antenna for the satellite phone seems to be defective. So much for new stuff! Now one will be sent to us and we will have to figure out how to install it. Actually, there has been a lot of hands on learning that will be helpful as we visit more remote places.

I love the evening sky.

The wind has been absolutely wild! It has been in the 18-30 knot range with gusts into the high 30s. Trillium loves to sail in 17-22 range, especially if the angle is good. Now our challenge is waiting for the Christmas winds to settle a little so we can head south.