Untitled

Untitled seems like the only reasonable start to the skipper's reveries on this voyage.

I don't know where we are  though I know the lat/long puts us at Leverick Bay on Virgin Gorda.

On a hill, overlooking the stereotypical beautiful multi-colored waters of the Caribbean.

Yesterday I was walking down a dock to get block ice, a rare commodity in these parts, vaguely remembering I unsuccessfully tried the same thing at the same dock a couple of years ago, but insisting that I still give it a try once again...and then it suddenly dawned on me:  I have nothing to do.  The identity/anxiety attack did not begin as I still have lots of report writing to finish and send back to Boston.  

But this is a low-impact time down here, and it's actually fun to do some brain work while exploring existential entropy with sunscreen and demon rum.  Ah, for the life of a pirate.

More to follow sometime in the future if the creek don't rise and the good Lord is willing.

Fair winds,

Roger

 

St Croix to Virgin Gorda

Rog and I headed out from St Croix Friday at about 8:00 AM and had a one tack sail all the way to Virgin Gorda. we had the added treat of a pod of about 14 dolphins swimming along with us for over 5 minutes. We couldn't believe it. By 3:00pm we moored off of Spanish Town in Virgin Gorda where we looked out at very big cruse ships, motor and sail. The Stanzlers and Ellen and Ben joined us for the afternoon and then had us for dinner at Little Dix. We loved having friends aboard and Little Dix was simple and elegant with a spectacular setting.

Psychologically, it's been  wild and crazy, for me anyway. The captain can speak for himself.  I have found myself worried about whether I'm having enough fun, whether I have enough to do, whether I can entertain myself, whether I can handle being so aquatically dependent, whether we can afford this. Today I feel happy and settled and feel like this angst is all about being insecure about a life change (albeit time limited) and just going with it and figuring out how to manage all these issues. Finally, Roger and I can do whatever  we want, and will. It's a big adjustment, all of a sudden having no schedule and a completely different lifestyle. So, next, John and Helen arrive on Saturday and we're going to figure out how to have the boat scraped, painted and waxed. Karmela needs constant grooming...All is well, continually interesting.

Looking out at the BIG boats off of Spanish Town, Virgin Gorda

Harris goes up the mast

Karmela's topping lift is replaced

Our topping lift had snapped on the way to St Croix so we waited for 4 days to get it fixed. Happily, Harris was able to get to the top of the mast and run a new line through the mast. Now our boom swings free again, rather than resting on the canvas cover of our cockpit. We are finally ready to head to Virgin Gorda to see Margie Stanzler and family if the weather will permit us to sail. It's very windy and choppy. We hope tomorrow will be better.

Map of the Caribbean

Sunrise in and heading out of Vieques