One of our
favorite places is Francis Bay in St. John, USVI. The beaches are calm and quiet, the waters
are crystal clear blue, the snorkeling is awesome, the quiet is welcoming, and
the scenery is tropical with rainbows now and then. We spent almost a week here relaxing and
enjoying nature. A pelican took the time
to relax on our bow and spot his next fish dinner. This was a welcome reprieve from the hustle
and bustle of St. Thomas and our many boat problems. Hope you enjoy the pictures as much as we
enjoyed the experience.
Tuesday, December 27, 2016
Monday, December 19, 2016
St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands in December 2016
We
arrived in Charlotte Amalie harbor in St. Thomas after a 4 ½ hour, 25 mile trip
from Culebra. We like to anchor in this
harbor because it is close to everything and full of activity (sometimes too
much)! The view from Paradise Point
overlooking the harbor is beautiful especially at night with the many cruise
ships. The cruise ships come in so close
to our boat that it seems like a skyscraper just jutted out of the water. Free Wi-Fi here is almost non-existent unless
you are at Hooters, but they do have a Happy Hour with $2 beers! We take the safari bus to Red Hook to
frequent the marine store, dive shop, restaurants and stores. While here, the 2016 Women’s International
Match Racing Series took place on the waterfront, fun to watch. Check out the helicopter on the back deck of
the yacht anchored near us – okay so they are a little bigger than us! Christmas tree lighting was a big party at
the Havensight Mall and we joined in by adding lights strung to the top of our
mast. Our final night here was
celebrated at Island View with a few local friends, it is quite a view and hard
to say goodbye (again)!
Monday, November 28, 2016
Culebra, Spanish Virgin Islands in November 2016
We returned to Fajardo, Puerto Rico, and spent two weeks after launch getting Silent Dream ready to cruise again. We liked
Culebra on our last visit, so we decided to return again for a few days. We left Fajardo and arrived on November 16th after a 5 hour passage, struggling with strong east winds and 4 to 5 foot waves. We anchored in the same area as last time in
Dewey near the Dinghy Dock. We continued
to put the boat back together and get things in order. We are experiencing items not working now
when they worked just fine before we stored the boat – we guess Silent Dream is
angry with us for leaving her so long.
There is lots of rain and no sun, we have to run the generator for power
and the mold is starting to appear inside the boat. Lots of cleaning days in our very near
future. The same restaurants are still
here, Dinghy Dock, Zacos Tacos and Heathers Pizza, where we finally ate for the
first time. Sure hope the sun comes out
soon!
Saturday, November 12, 2016
Summer in the States
Our car now
has 8,000 more miles on the odometer! After
hauling out our boat in July, 2016 and storing in Puerto Rico for hurricane
season, we flew back to the U.S. for four months of traveling and visiting with
family and friends. We started in
Florida and drove up the east coast to Michigan, Canada, then west to Illinois,
Iowa, and south to Missouri, Texas and back to Florida. We had the best times re-uniting with our children,
grandchildren, family and friends! The
boat is just about ready to sail again to more Caribbean islands. Look for more blog posts in the very near
future.
Tuesday, July 19, 2016
Fajardo, Puerto Rico, Preparation for Hurricane Season 2016
Although it
was only 22 miles from Culebra to Fajardo, we didn’t want to make our last
passage of the season in rough weather, so we left for Fajardo a week earlier
than planned. We are glad that we did,
as we were able to accomplish many cleaning maintenance projects. The weather is very hot and humid here with
little breeze in the marina, so our working day is sometimes short. We are storing Silent Dream on land at Puerto
Del Rey Marina, and like other marinas, there are rules. All the sails, canvas, and all items on deck
have to be taken down and removed. The
dinghy needs to be covered with a tarp and secured to the deck. The boat must be secured with tie down straps
to the concrete pads in the hurricane tie down land storage area. Silent Dream was hauled out with a 70 Ton
Travelift and then transferred to a hydraulic boat lift and backed into the
land storage area very close to the other boats. We had to hire a crane to remove the mast so
that the mast foundation inside the boat can be rebuilt. During this time we will have all of our
standing rigging replaced, after all, it is 33 years old! Silent Dream is now securely on land waiting
for her makeover and repairs. We are now
in the States and are very excited to see our family and friends! Come back to our Blog in the Fall when we
return to our home, Silent Dream.
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