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.