Tuesday, December 27, 2016

St. John, US Virgin Islands in December 2016

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.










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.