BEYOND THE "QUEEN's BIRTHDAY" WEEKEND .......

Now the "Queen of Florida and the Bahamas" having a birthday is no ordinary event .... After all, when we had the same event last year, all the details appeared in the October 2011 issue of 'Latitudes and Attitudes', a sailing magazine for genuine nautical escape artists ..... Well this year's event lived up to it's reputation ...... "ARITA" was suitably decorated with flags above the waterline, numerous dinghies on the waterline, and a clean bottom below the waterline ..... So nice to have so many fellow cruisers on board in the safe and calm anchorage at CULEBRA in the Spanish Virgin part of PUERTO RICO ..... And it lasted well into the night ....



Just look at the way her 'Highness' was surrounded by well-wishers ......



Don't remember doing the dishes ..... Then again, perhaps I didn't do the dishes ..... But isn't a little wine a most wonderful way of stimulating serious and totally debilitating conversation ....... Can't remember any of that either .....



'Downtown' CULEBRA ..... Let me re-phrase that ...... The middle of the little town on Culebra has a waterway through the middle of it, with a few waterside restaurants and quite a few iguanas that kind 'hang-out' over the edge of the bulkhead lining the channel ....... Fearsome looking, but totally harmless and so is the town ....



But the waters surrounding the island and the enclosed bays are beautifully clear and wonderful to swim in, even in the winter when the temperature here rarely dips below 80 degrees Fahrenheit ........



And anchored behind us was this beautiful 28 ft wooden cutter "OSPREY" that had been sailed all the way from MAINE near the Canadian border to PUERTO RICO ...... Tiny, but oh-so-quaint ........ A true classic Bristol Channel cutter with bronze winches .... The Captain called it a "wet boat", ..... Not hard to see why .....



And barely had the days passed when we hit "Christmas" and we invited our near neighbours over for breakfast, most of whom brought something for the table ...... The near neighbours became eleven, and while there was no 'egg-nog' there certainly was everything else, including the 'Spirit of togetherness' at a time when most of us have families very far removed from the anchorage in CULEBRA ..... A tranquil time, a thoughtful time and a celebration time ...... A tropical Christmas .......



Kind of hard to equate "Christmas time" in the Northern Hemisphere with the climate that we are in, where such beautiful flowers are in bloom ..... Still, we have managed to adjust without any problems ........ Suffering from sunburn instead of frostbite ...... Then again, someone has to do it ........



And four hundred miles to the West of us in CURACAO, our dear friend TIMO is hard at work building his new yacht, after losing his previous one to the rocks in Los Aves, VENEZUELA (refer: Older Postings) ...... Now his construction method is radical, although he says it is 'rational' ........... Each cedar piece is glued and screwed to the previous one, and eventually the hull is covered in cloth and epoxy resin before being turned over and having the keel added .......



Full marks for ingenuity and perseverance ........ For 'rationality' and 'radicalism' ....



Some of that radicalism obviously occurred in Culebra at some point, for these relics sit quietly on the beaches ..... Reminders of past follies or perhaps training exercises for future follies ...... Sadly they sit on one of the most beautiful beaches in Culebra, Flamenco Beach ..... A haven for visitors and campers from the mainland ....




Laurie and Linda went to explore this beach and came across the 'ultra-modern' shower tent with laid-on water and a drainage sump ...... Now that's "STYLIN' ......" .... And so is the town, for there is no shortage of vibrant colours ..... No shortage at all .... The "Queen" fits in just perfectly .....



Fearsome colours ...... Severe colours ..... Enough to knock you out cold ..... even if you are wearing them .......



And you would think that in your senior years there would be smoothness, calmness and serenity and pale pastel shades of Sahara sand and dapple gray ....... Hell no, not in CULEBRA ........ This is Jose, who carves little ships for the tourists and is heading for a glorious ninety and doing just fine ....... Then again aren't we all heading for a glorious ninety plus .......



The place is just plain colourful .... I mean, here's Laurie and Linda asking the bus driver how many 'Johnny Walker's' he's had already .... But he says he's fine .... "Si, puedo pasar un examen de corducir boracho.." .....And he does that Captain Morgan stand ...... Now you have to be quick to win an argument with a drinking bus driver, but pointless to even begin to do so in SPANISH ... What he said translated to "Yes, I have passed the drunk driving test" ..... Ah, well .... They made him drive real slowly ...... Yes, CULEBRA is definitely different ....... And New Year's Eve is just around the corner with a huge street party in the planning ...... We needed a break from boatwork and we are certainly getting it ........

But as soon as the New Year celebration is behind us we're back to VIRGIN GORDA and bringing "SOUTHERN COMFORT" back to tie her alongside "ARITA" and the serious renovation stuff can begin ..... Right here in CULEBRA .... After all, we have Mark and Willie on "LIAHONA" anchored right behind us ...... Now what could be better than that ..... Hard to beat the 'resource' of a couple who have owned a sistership for more than fourteen years and who know every inch of the design ..... In any case, CULEBRA is that 'Pot of Gold' right beneath the rainbow or maybe it is the yacht "KRILL" with friends Michael and Ursula, who we first met in the Dominican Republic several years ago ........ I'm telling you, this place is COLOURFUL ............

P.S. ...... "ARITA" is still for sale .... Check out www.stthomasyachts.com and look under 'ALDEN CUSTOM' .....

CRUISING AGAIN .......YAHOO ....

We paid the marina bills, let go the lines on "ARITA" and headed out to sea to do some sightseeing and sailing through the VIRGIN ISLANDS, on our way back to PUERTO RICO where we intend to do all the major stuff on "SOUTHERN COMFORT", our future 'Home on the Seas' ........ Now the BVIS, (That's British Virgin Islands) have some spectacular locations like these granitic boulders on the beach at "The Baths" ...... And there are many beautiful things to be found on the beaches, particularly at this time of the year, when to the north of us there is snow and ice in the U.S. and Canada ...... Brrrrrrr ..... Don't know how they do it ......



First though, we sailed around to North Sound on Virgin Gorda and spent the day swimming and beach-combing and seeing the tall ships at anchor loaded with tourists out to enjoy the sunshine and the blue water ...... Met up with Steve, Ruth and Heather on the yacht 'Clear Day', whom we hadn't seen since the Bahamas two years ago ..... A beautiful 'Hylas' sloop .... That's "ARITA" not "CLEAR DAY" in the photo above on the right ......



And around the bay are little islands with hide-away resorts, the sort that are perfect for private honeymoon getaway ...... And a little further around the corner is 'Necker Island', Sir Richard Branson's little bit of Paradise ...... Rentable at royalty prices, or at least for a couple of oil wells a week ...... We get the same views for free, every time we anchor .... Now who wouldn't want to go cruising ...... Which reminds me to remind you, that our beautiful yacht "ARITA" is now 'For Sale' and fully equiped and cruise-ready, and we are not looking for an oil well in exchange ..... You can step on board and we'll step off ..... Just like that ....... Our email addresses are down below and all the pictures are on www.stthomasyachts.com ........ Meantime, we'll sail some more and keep working on the new boat ......



A day later we sail around to "The Baths" and show our friend Linda the sights ...... By now you have obviously realized that "The Queen of Florida and the Bahamas" is perfectly at home in a swimsuit ....... And loving it .....



And so is Linda ......... And I specifically asked them for some 'Hollywood Catwalk Poses' ..... And got it ....... I wonder if they walk like that in Beverly Hills ? .......... Must be hell on the pelvis .....



Not everybody is there in swimsuits ........ Doesn't mean you can't enjoy it just the same ...... These boulders really are spectacular .......



Most of the islands are volcanic with fine-grained basaltic type rocks exposed and weathered, with deep bays all around that provide poor holding for anchoring, but here at 'The Baths' there is an outcrop of coarse-grained granite, that over time has exfoliated and the layers have shed like onion peels and left these sculptured fragments and rounded boulders ...... The granite weathers to white sand and that makes this place, with its white sandy beaches and clear blue water, even more exotic ...... A kid's paradise for exploration, and adults don't do so badly either ...... Just caught a glimpse of a pidgeon feeding on sea-grapes ...... Such smooth feathers ..... Almost not real ...... Tried to get a photo from a different angle, but each time I moved he moved also, so as to be fully enclosed by the branches ....... Clever pidgeon and well camouflaged ......



And on to 'Road Harbour' on the island of TORTOLA, but not before spending the night anchored off Marina Cay ..... Look at all the wrecked ships in the harbour when hurricanes two years ago took a swipe at the island, while only five miles away our " SOUTHERN COMFORT" sat high and dry above the ground and sustained no damage at all ....



That cruise ship with the high stern we thought was the World's largest cruise liner .... Some phenomenal statistics not worth repeating ...... But it turned out to be another ...... We saw most of the passengers in town where we went to clear Customs and Immigration so as to officially leave the BVIs and enter the USVIs ...... That's an imaginary line a couple of miles outside the harbour ...... You could sail out there in the afternoon and cross that line a dozen times on a good tack to windward ....... "So which country are we in now"? ..... "Don't know and don't care" ......



But it sure is a colourful 'mecca' for tourists, who may be short of a T-shirt or two ..... Even this rooster doing his aerobics in the middle of the stalls is uniquely colourful .....



Back on board "ARITA" life is peaceful and tranquil unlike the cruise ships where it is hyper-active, day and night .......



Beautiful anchorages in a place where celebrating "Christmas" is almost an enigma ...... The best they can do is hang some coloured lights on a palm tree .... We actually had a wonderful dinner out on 'Bellamy Cay' at a restaurant called 'The Last Resort' .... A really special treat, something we rarely do as cruisers for we are on a cruising budget ......



And it therefore required some special grooming from my personal barber who removed 'inches of excess' ...... Now not everybody gets the benefit of a barber in a swimsuit, though I'm sure many wish it were so .......



A nice little sail to 'Coral Bay' on the island of St. John in the USVI, where the girls swam, snorkeled and shampooed with great delight ..... Just look at the symmetry of this exo-skeleton of a sea urchin ............. Nature is just awesome .....



Then another nice sail along the lee shore of St. Johns island all the way past St. Thomas to the Port of 'Charlotte Amelie', where by now the wind is gusting well in excess of 20-25 knots ...... Blustery and rainy, but we make it ashore to see the sights and buy a little wine for the "Queen's Birthday" coming up soon ...... And yes, this was our dinner out at ' The Last Resort' .....



We've tucked ourselves right into a corner of the bay so as to avoid those gusts that sweep down from the mountains ....... Linda's visit has been good for both of them and they have thoroughly enjoyed each other's company ......



Just have to show you some more tropical flowers in case you thought we lost our touch ......



The same goes for these French and Canadian visitors who admired "ARITA" but did not leave us with a cheque ...... We are likely to see them again next year in PUERTO RICO ......



And sometimes you can't believe what you see .......... Even from far away ..... it was the crew standing on the underwater 'wave-breaker' ........



Just as we were leaving the harbour in St. Thomas this seaplane came in for a landing only to divert at the last moment to avoid hitting our masts and do another circle before landing over the top of us .... These photos were taken on the second time around ...... This time we had warning ..... His approach is through the gap between two hills with limited vision .......



And it all looked pretty calm for a good sail over to CULEBRA in PUERTO RICO, the final leg, but by the time we hit the open ocean, the swell generated by the last few days of stormy weather had left some sizeable waves in various directions ............ Not fun ..... Dropped the mainsail and sailed along under half-a-genoa and still did 8.3 knots ..... Sleigh ride ..... I'ts a Christmas thing, I guess ...... Very bumpy and very, very lumpy ...... But a wonderful feeling to re-enter 'Bahia Honda' in Culebra and to see familiar yachts and wonderful friends ....... One of the many pleasures of cruising ....... Before we left VIRGIN GORDA on this week's little cruise we needed to clean the bottom of the dinghy .... Amazing how much slime and weed can become attached in just four weeks ...... Oh, and I thought someone had painted a blue bikini bottom on the boulders at "The Baths", but it turned out to be just a bit of sky ........