Carribean Sailing diary

Saturday Nov 30

12:45pm Check in to Amer Air Have lunch at the Tampa airport. Toaster at Deli Counter catches fire.

1:30pm Board flight to San Juan Start reading the "Complete Book of Wills, Estates + Trusts"

4:30 -> 5:30p Land in San Juan (cloudy) Explore airport - nice. Call Mike in Tortolla to say I'll be arriving ~ 9pm. More of the "Complete Book"

7:15 So far, I've read parts of chapter 8, and 11-13.

7:30 Start boarding, and I get chosen for the full search, even having to unhook my belt.

8pm Fly, starting Forbes 11/12

8:45 Arrive on Beef Island, which is adjacent to Tortola, and is flat enough for airport. Get bags. Customs. Taxi. Much warmer than Tampa.

9:30 Arrive at Tamavind Club. Rum punch with Peter + Ron. Swim. Play with Mike. __________________________________________________________________

Sunday Dec 1

Breakfast. Walk up the hill and down to Josiah Bay beach. Excellent waves! Warm! Take pictures. Walk back. Cows. Swim. Rum punch on barstools in the pool water. Pack.

12:15 Leave for TMM Marina. Boat is not ready so we taxi to Pusser's. Buy new straw hat. Walk to town. Most shops are closed, but in one buy Tshirt for Ben + Sunglass Croakie for me. Grocery store. Pusser's for lunch. "Dont feed the chickens." Taxi back to Marina

4pm Boat is ready, so move in. Take dinghy out for test run, past the cruise ship.

When we get back, Jon + Garrett have arrived. Have some drinks. Dinner at the Scuttlebutt Bar.

8:30 Climb into bed, as Mike is still reading. I'm very tired. It's so hot that it's hard to sleep; but I do somewhat, esp after Temaz.

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Monday Dec 2

Sleep in. Cuddle with Mike. Shower. Breakfast across the street from the Marina at the Continental Cafe, while Mike + John receive instructions about the obat.

10am Ample hamper delivers food. (We are in Read Town, Tortola, BUI.) Check the delivery quite awhile, and then Mike + I take taxi to grocery to get some more items. On the way, another "elder" couple gets in taxi, and woman says "Well this was a wasted step. We should've staying in St. Thomas."

After putting things away we set sail around noon. Iron out bugs in Depth Finder. Ron is nauseous, so he stays below in the head. I steer to head into the wind awhile as others unfurl the mail sail. Tack toward Cooper Island. Partly cloudy en route then a big squall when we arrive there. Chilly, but it lasts only 15 minutes.

2pm Peter and I make tuna sandwiches for everyone. Chat. Get snorkle gear out + wash goggles. Remembered to use life vest since I don't float well. Test out my gear. Fine. Take dinghy aways + snorkle there. Big, bright, tastefully colored fish. Antler coral. Stay in at least a half hour thanks to life vest. Take dinghy back.

4:30 Cocktails. Vodka tonics. Hard to light the charcoal in grill, so Mike fries the chicken. I help with the salad + brocolli.

As we talk after dinner, I realize that today is Dec 2, a year since Mike + I hooked up again. Happy anniversary.

Dinghy to shore for desserts at the Beach Club. View looked like Laurelhurst + Capital Hill at night as seen from Kirkland on a warm summer night.

9pm Dinghy back to ship + to bed. There's more wind so it's much cooler in bed tonite, though the ship is swaying a lot.