IN AWE OF WHAT WE SAW ......................AND ATE .............

We joined our Puerto Rico friends, DWIGHT AND MARJORIE RODRIGUEZ to do a 10 day mini cruise through the VIRGIN ISLANDS ..............Dwight's yacht, TODA VIA has undergone some major renovation and this was to be a 'virgin cruise' ...............And to top it off, DWIGHT said he would do all the cooking ......... Which means incredible food and exquisite cuisine, served like we are on a cruise ship (which of course, we are)............ Speaking of which, there were six big cruise ships docked in Charlotte Amalie, ST. THOMAS when we arrived........... That's like releasing 15,000 people to invade a small town for about six hours.............. And that happens every day, seven days a week ......................And every night ARITA and TODA VIA would be rafted up together ........... Talk about going out for dinner by only having to step over two life-lines ...........



Here's one of those beautiful meals, a fully-fledged "PAELLA" rice with seafood to die for ...........And our journey continued past St. Thomas and St. Johns to the beautiful FRANCIS bay ...........Where we promptly picked up a mooring, not over the bow as most people would, but around the propellor ............... That way, the wind will ensure that you are facing backwards and won't be going anywhere for a quite while .......... Pure sympathy and compassion forced a neighbouring yachtsman, Micheal Bean, to come over with a dive tank after I failed to be able to release the thick mooring line ..............



We invited Micheal Bean and Pamela, "The Queen of Colorado" to join us on board and became amazed at the extent of their stories ........... Definitely need to be continued when we sail south again............. But on to Pirate Bay, NORMAN ISLAND in the BVIs and then VIRGIN GORDA and the 'Baths', those majestic granite boulders that you can never get enough of ............The sandy path that leads between these boulders takes you back to being a kid on an adventure trail, which on this day led to 'DEVILS BAY' filled with 300 to 400 Germans, escapees from one of the cruise ships docked in ROAD TOWN, TORTOLA, in the British Virgin Islands ............ They had been ferried across for a day in the sun to turn 'lily-white' into 'salmon pink'and 'blood red' ...............

Micheal Bean, on the other hand, has a beautiful black-hulled yacht "MANGELE" built in ferro-cement, that will outlast all of us ............ He has been contracted to perform at one of the resorts in VIRGIN CORDA to do the 'HAPPY AARRRGH' Pirate show with songs, stories and ballads and general rape, pillage and plunder routines .................. We need to get with them some more ........... Kindred spirits .............




You just have to double-click on some of the photos above to get the surreal quality and the majestic feel of the place ............. The 'serenity pool' in particular .......... One can stand there for quite a long time and admire the light reflected by the water, as it dances on the walls ............. And note the new stickers on the outboard motor that now say 8 HP instead of 15 HP ............. All in an attempt to prevent the motor from being stolen ......... 15 Hp motors are big ticket items in the islands................ We now have the fastest '8 HP' in the World ............ This Pelican is no fool .............. "Hey, Ma look at me and this Ferarri" ........

We had taken so many photos of rounded boulders and things, that suddenly there was this one photo amongst them all................. Turned out to be that I must have clicked a good shot of my knees ............. And you probably thought it was something else, didn't you.............

We fall asleep with bellies full .............. Dwight's rich food is killing us ......... What a way to die .............