THE WAY THINGS WERE.......................

WE have finally left St. THOMAS to head back to the SPANISH VIRGIN ISLANDS........... That is to say that 'SPANISH VIRGINS are different from U.S. VIRGINS who are different again from BRITISH VIRGINS'...................The Island of St. THOMAS is very steep-sided and most of the anchorages have such a bad swell coming in that you virtually are rolled out of your bunk during the night............. This has nothing to do with "VIRGINS".............But finding a sweet place to put the anchor down was found in a little bay on Water Island, called 'Honeymoon Bay'............And from there we dinghied back and forth to town...................If you weren't looking closely, you could meet a sea-plane head-on as it was landing...............At one end of Hassel Island we got a glimpse of " THE WAY THINGS WERE............"

In days of old, ships and yachts used to be pulled out of the water on a railway........... a colossal flatbed on wheels on which the yacht would be supported with large wooden blocks, placed against the hull underwater as she (the vessel) slowly emerged from the soup........... And in really old days, the engine to pull the flatbed up the slope was a steam engine run by a boiler and a giant smoke stack...........Take a look at the old railway, the engine room and the remains of the boiler below...................You might have to do a double-click to see the details of the bits and pieces of machinery................




In modern times, they use a travel-lift to haul a yacht out, or a dry-dock like the one below, that first sinks down to let the vessel float in, and then they pump the U-shaped hull empty of sea-water............... Many ways to achieve the same end................Then again there is another method that we are trying to avoid..............THAT'S THE ONE WHERE A HURRICANE PICKS YOU UP AND PUTS YOU ON THE BEACH............GENERALLY IN PIECES.............



FLOWERS, FLOWERS EVERYWHERE



The passage from St. THOMAS to CULEBRITA, the first of the SPANISH VIRGINS, is only 18 miles and all down-wind but we need to make power and water..................Funny how the priorities dominate the decisions....................Once again it will be a holiday in PUERTO RICO, this time to celebrate their "CONSTITUTION"................. We will definitely have to join in.................After all, we have brought a goodly supply of 'VIRGIN ISLAND RUM' with sun-hats.............That will just have to be consumed.........

Oh, .............And we missed the flying sea-plane as it landed........... We're OK.

TWO STEPS FORWARD AND ONE STEP BACK..............

RAIN, RAIN and MORE RAIN
.........And it keeps on pouring down... Each day brings on a new batch of greyness and in the afternoon it thunders and roars........... We are now on our way back to PUERTO RICO and none too soon, for the first TROPICAL DEPRESSION has just passed over us here in the VIRGIN ISLANDS and is on its way to FLORIDA. The charter ended most successfully before the heavans opened and Captain GLOBAL GLENN MILLER from the yacht "TREEHOUSE" sailed back with us to St. THOMAS before boarding a flight back to the US. We anchored near a beautiful beach on the island of St. JOHN and before our very eyes a torrent of water came down from the hillside to wash this channel out of the beach where there had been nothing but sand......... (Double-Click on the photo below)..........And out on the water, now muddy brown, not blue, was a new waterworld of vegetation........... It is not hard to see how barren islands soon have palm trees growing on them.............



Still, despite the rain there are moments of sunshine and the beauty of these tropical islands shines through.................... And every beach is a panorama of colour even if each island sells the same stuff...................




Capt. Glenn has returned to his own "TREEHOUSE" to do a bunch of modifications and at the same time be there for his son SPENSER who will undergo what will hopefully be a very successful treatment for his non-malignant tumors that are pressing on his auditory nerves. Everybody wishes both of them strength and endurance...............

But try as we might, we have not been able to get the sun to show its face, not even in the harbour of St. THOMAS, below............ Meantime on the post at the dock of LITTLE HARBOUR on the island of JOST VAN DYKE sits the future "FOXY", because we tried to get him to face us but he really was foxy.....................What a wonderful carefree existance these kids have.............



EVEN THE SEA-GULLS ARE FED UP WITH THE WEATHER..........ITS WRITTEN ALL OVER HIS FACE.

LITTLE HARBOURS.............................

When the anchor is down and the snubber is set, the bag with our snorkel gear comes out, and over the side we go, into that magic world of little things..............Each and every fish unique, marvels of nature, and all of them inquisitive as to what we, in large blue flippers might be..................... LITTLE HARBOURS that are protected from the prevailing winds, equally provide the safe platform for marine growth................... Double click on some of them to see the details, despite the fact that the water is not too clear................ Our submerged resident photographer took these pictures...............in a place called 'Little Harbour' on Peter's Island in the British Virgin Islands (BVIs)...............



YOU ARE NEVER REALLY ALONE..............

THE LIFE OF A CHARTER CAPTAIN................

Now in no way should you get the impression that Captain 'GLOBAL' GLENN MILLER was laid back in any way................He actually did a fantastic job of skippering the Sunsail 44ft Catamaran that totally exhausted him.......(We caught him at Foxy's in the hammock)........ Let me tell you how it was......... Ten years ago, I took this wonderful family on a ten-day charter from Antigua,to the various islands in the Caribbean and with their 50 year wedding annniversary coming up they asked their kids and their grandkids what they would like to do............. and the verdict was "TO GO SAILING"........... Contact was made with Captain Rob, who instead said " LET'S BRING ARITA AS WELL and we will get Captain Glenn to do the skippering on the cat."............. The plan came together and the group of twelve has had a great time despite the inclement weather and some pretty severe squalls.............Glenn has done a great job, and as you can see he positively glows.......................And in celebration of the big "FIVE-O" the grandkids, Andre, Daniel and Michelle all hand-painted each of the family a wine-glass for the champaigne toast.



We should mention that this family is a big supporter of "SPANISH" soccer, hence the Spanish flag on the mast and glued to the TV set in Virgin Gorda for the World Cup Final which SPAIN won,,,,,,,,,,(Thank goodness)................

And do we know how to join in......... or what?



ANNEMARIA and NORMAN THOMAS

FIFTY YEARS of wedded bliss, three daughters and three sons-in-law, also three grand-children and a lifetime of stories and travels................For us, nothing short of the grand adventure to see how well a family can blend in a confined space such a yacht...........and come out smiling, all the time.................



Sailing a big cat looks like a lot of fun till the wind stays at 25knots or above and the seas begin to slam the deck from underneath and the twin hulls start to corkscrew their way down the face of waves............. Then and only then do you want to be on a mono-hull and preferably somewhere in a nice anchorage.......... Cats are great for charter work..... Lots of space, but little storage and wonderful if you have to accommodate at least eleven people........... Capt. 'Global' slept on board ARITA at night.....................The day after tommorow we will say good-bye to them all and who knows...............in another ten years' time?..............

The family goes back to Florida and Switzerland with great memories and the trophy of SPAIN winning the World Cup............Glenn flies back to Lake Champlain to be with his son Spenser and his yacht "TREEHOUSE", and we sail back to Puerto Rico for the hurricane season................now that's a win-win for everybody.