WINDING DOWN.........AND READY TO GO............

All is not lost............... We sanded, cleaned and painted the top-sides of ARITA right from the dinghy, almost to the water-line...............Beautiful gloss white.........Never had a chance to take a photo ............ We were just too busy, but being on this secluded mooring, tucked in behind the island of ISLETA, it was just perfect ................ The job was supervised by pelicans in shifts ........... Stories of horror are coming in from those that experienced hurricane "EARL" in the Virgin Islands ...................... Laurie's girlfriends, Svetlana and Hafida came to visit from Culebra on the ferry.............. Hafida had to be taken off their yacht "PINTA", by the US Coast Guard, and thought all was lost, but the morning after, still found their yacht intact ............. The anchors had held, unlike another yacht above, left on a mooring in St. Thomas USVI, in the same 'Honeymoon Bay' as "PINTA". .............. We made sure they had a great time, and sent them back to the ferry terminal in 'reasonably good form' ..................



What is rarely mentioned in sailing books and sea stories, is the way relationship change for those that are closely tied, and those who share the highs and lows of this 'sailing life" ....................... But as intense as this lifestyle can be, it also bonds (or breaks) people ............. You are mostly without the daily distractions and bombardment of traffic, TV, visual impact advertising and 'bulldust' verbal nonsense and things constantly moving..........Net result? ....................We call it, "natural sanity" ........... Others may call it something else ................... Personal relationships over time, go from "PLUG & Play" to becoming 'FINELY TUNED ORCHESTRAS' and the 'Queen of Florida' has been heard to whisper, in a moment of tenderness " You know me so well, you have obviously actually read the Owner's Manual " ................ OK, ......Moving on ......... Friendships with other 'yachties' take on this same 'higher level' because of the same personal changes have occurred in all of us .............. We no longer are, who we once were.................. And in the metamorphosis we are no longer fit to live on land .............. There are always exceptions...........



The FERRY TERMINAL in FAJARDO that services all the islands that make up the "SPANISH VIRGINS".............. How bad the weather gets is visible on one of the ferries, with the paint on the hull removed ......... Not sure if this belt on the palm tree was someone hanging on for dear life, strapped to the tree ......... Sure must have been a skinny individual ..........



We should not highlight someone's sad story, but all of these yachts broke free from moorings in St. Thomas during hurricane EARL ........... There was plenty of warning that it was coming .......................There is irony even in tragedy .............................. Double click on the catamaran on the right, and you will see it is called "SERENDY" ........... If that name is meant to be a close cousin of "SERENITY" ....................We would say "That's a bad call....."

Now very carefully double-click on the photo above for some real tragedies, and the end of cruising dreams ........................