Happy New Year!

Sorry for the lack of updates lately. Good times with Chris and Pat for the past week. 

Dropped Chris off at airport in St, Thomas this afternoon. Heading back to the BVI tomorrow. Have Pat for another week!!!

Jim Gregory 

Wipeout!!

All through the boat...

Not a creature was stirring....

Merry Christmas!!!

Beautiful.  Hard to describe....

Merry Christmas!

Fwd: So,,,

You simply CAN NOT make this stuff up!!

Jim Gregory 

Begin forwarded message:

From: Deb Gregory <deb@jdgregory.com>
Date: December 23, 2011 9:38:51 AM GMT-04:00
To: Jim Gregory <jim@jdgregory.com>
Subject: So....

We went to check into the ferry this am, and the passport Chris had gotten from the passport authority was his expired one.  I do not know why the passport authority didn't renew it.  Anyway.  No valid passport.

I am trying to contact  British authorities and  get him through, but no ones answering.   

Looks like you are coming here and we r spending a US Xmas.  


Deb

How dumb can you be....

Just saw a girl walking down the beach with wings tattooed on her shoulders.... They were backwards... Feathers to the inside....

Deb

The Day is getting better...

After adventures with expired passports, the day is getting better.

Challenge #136, 137 and 138.

Deb here....

So, Chris is flying in today. Yeah! Chris is not a good communicator during his finals. Boo!

I decided to take the ferries from Virgin Gorda over to St Thomas to meet Chris and do some last minute Xmas shopping. We aren't really sure that he's made his flights, but I have other things to do in town, so it's ok. And getting from St Thomas to Virgin Gorda requires 3 ferries and a cab and a Dollar Hollar bus, so I figure he could use the help getting the last 25 miles.

Get to St Thomas. Got the grocery shopping done, picked up the General Delivery mail, returned the rotting chicken I bought (YUCK!) paid the bills, followed up on about 5 questions on mail, left the groceries at the ferry building.

Chris calls. Flight from Miami is delayed 6 hours due to mechanical difficulties. (The kid is cursed. If anything can go wrong for him, it will.) This means we miss the last ferry back to Virgin Gorda. Arrange for Smith the porter at the ferry building to keep the groceries. I take the Refrig stuff with me. Find a cheep hotel. Power and water go out while I'm in the shower. Its dark Check out. Throw myself on the mercy of the Marriott, figuring they have generators. They found me a room at an amazing low rate, including water and power (for a couple hours. It's off right now... Generators on the fritz.) So I'm at the bar, about to go get Chris. I have a flash light, a glow stick and a glass of wine, and all is good. The guests in the lobby are singing Christmas carrols. We need Rudolph to get here soon.

Deb

Ita - Learning to surf?

Patrick kitesurfing in the BVI

One son onboard, and the other soon!!

It's been great to have Patrick with us the past week.  We've been moving slowly and checking out some out of the way spots.  Christmas Bay, Sandy Cay, Little Harbor & Great Harbor on Yost Van Dyke,  Marina Cay, Kitboarding in Long Bay on Beef Island, and finally The Bitter End Yacht Club.

Lot's of photo highlights, but this is his favorite.

Long Bay, Beef Island

And here are a few others...

Full Moon Tonight!!!

Jim Gregory 

It's going to be a good day!

Jim Gregory 

There be Pirates in these waters!

Took this picture today of the "Bounty" anchored near St. Thomas. 

Unlike many of the tourist focused square riggers around here she looks ready to cross oceans right now!  Really impressive looking ship. 

I'm guessing that she's used for some type of extended journey education at sea program. Will try to look into it and report back soon. 

Jim Gregory 

Christmas cove

We've spent two very nice days here in Christmas Cove.  Just off the Eastern end of  St. Thomas and across the channel from the St. Thomas Yacht Club where we had drinks and dinner last night.  Very friendly down to earth Yacht Club.  Reminds us both of RYC.  Lot's of families out for dinner and kids running around playing with boats!!! 

I forgot to take a picture of the bar in order to continue my "Yacht Club Bar Tops of the World" survey.  However, let the record show that it has yet another very nice varnished wood bar top.  Add yet another yacht club to the list of those with non-formica tops!!

Christmas cove

Moored for the evening. Very nice.

It was icky out there...

I can make ice and we have rum.

Maybe tomorrow the waves will be smaller and not so many squalls..

Out'a ice, out'a beer,

Out'a here.

After 4 beautiful days anchored in Magen's Bay, it's time for us to move on.

We have to restock on some provisions, do some laundry and a pharmacy, so back to the real world for us.

Nudie Beach....

"THIS POST HAS BEEN EDITED TO BE PG"

Jim and I have been anchored off a lovely beach here on the back side of St Thomas. A beautiful 3/4 mile sand beach, calm, clean water, light breeze, and no other boats. We have the entire thing to ourselves, once the cruise ship crowd leaves at 3:30.

What the guide book alludes to is that there is another small beach tucked into the protected side of the harbor (read "the best anchorage") that is a nude beach. That's Cool. I grew up in SD with Blacks Beach. Great beach.

What the guide books gloss over is that it's a Gay nude beach. Ummmmm, even coming from SF didn't prepare me. Apparently, if you can't be seen from land, it's OK, even if there is a boat anchored 30 feet away!

Magen's Bay - St. Thomas, VI

We are the only cruising/charter boat in this incredible bay!  It's amazing really because this is high season down here and all the other harbors along the "normal" cruising route are packed with vacationers.  This is one very well kept secret.

The fact that we like it so much means that we stayed here all day today and who knows we just may stick around for another day.  Here are a few pictures from our day...