Flags - Proper or not?

Ok all you flag etiquette experts....

I'm not sure about this one. 

If you have a boat with more than one mast, is it "proper" to fly a your burgee from the top of each mast?

I really don't know, but it doesn't seem right to me. 

Please let me know.

Jim Gregory 

How to celebrate St. Valentines Day

They certainly know how to celebrate Valentines Day here in St Martin. They really decorate the windows! This is the local Pharmacy. And they run great specials!

Picture of the Day

Morpheus anchored off Simpson Bay

Monsters at the gate

They all made it into the lagoon...

Surrounded by Monsters

Check out the lineup of Super Yachts looking to get through the bridge and into the st Martin lagoon this afternoon!!

I need to find the Super Bowl party that they are all heading to!!

Jim Gregory 

Back in touch....

Sort of....

We are Back in St Martin, which is great, but the Internet is spotty...

Best way to get us is email!

Deb

Ah...memories of my Bermuda Race work list

At least i had two weeks to get it done!!!

Before Bermuda

Attend safety at sea

Get cpr certified

Re seal bolt over seat bench

Crew gear

Tighten rig

Remove radar pole

Remove AP ram

Cut solar cables?

Run satphone antennae

Check backstay

Clean and paint windlass

Polish halyard shackles

Tape head stay junctions

Clean teak

Reaching strut

Inhalers

Spin gear

Switch halyards

Bump reef lines

Check main halyard pin size

Pack things to ship

Service vang

Bolts in stanchions

Strainers

Name on life jackets

beckson marine

Deviation card

Load racing sails

Load food

Double check all lifejackets

Lash hatch board

Offload cruising anchor and chain

Get 2nd fortress onboard

Get proper anchor rode and chains onboard

Assemble anchor

Block covers

Change Watermaker filter

20 gallons of fuel

40 gallons of water

Develop daily schedule with Gibb

Remove a gas bottle

Install lashing on storm jib

Get 2.4 gallons of emergency water

Deck plate for radar pole

Jim Gregory 

Back at St.Martin

Left the BVIs yesterday afternoon and had a nice sail back to St Martin. 

We had use all the time the BVIs were willing to give us, plus we have some friends scheduled to boat us this month, and of course there are boat projects to work on. 

Need to find a spot to watch the Super Bowl!  Go Niners!

Jim

Jim Gregory 

More Amistad

Picture of the Day

Anegada

We need to spend some more time here. Anegada is nicely positioned just off the beaten trail, so it's very easy to find an anchorage or spectacular beach and not have to share it at all.

Anegada Kitesurfing

Doing my best to walk on water... It was all good right up to the last part!

Anegada

We've moved out to Anegada for a couple of days. We've never spent much time here and decided that now might be a great to to do some exploring.

Unlike all of the other islands around us, Anegada was formed via coral rather than volcanic action. While the others all have their hills and mountains, Anegada only reaches 28ft above sea level at its highest. There are miles and miles of incredible beaches all around the island, and very few people (residents or visitors). I'm also told that it sits on the 3rd largest barrier reef in the world.

So far so good. We are anchored in 13.5 feet after not seeing more than 25ft of depth for the last 4.5 miles into the beach!

Pics to follow....

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Ita - It's about time she starts earning her keep!

From Patrick....

Peet's Coffee...

Horrors!!!  Morpheus may have to go on Peet's coffee rationing!  Our (ex) friends who were going to visit around MLK day canceled and we won't have an opportunity to resupply until late Feb.   Gary, who sells Peete's in the Caribbean?  

Deb

Happy Hour at Saba Rock

Our adopted home....

Jim Gregory 

Jim is a bad Dad!

Deb here....

I am sitting on the stern of the boat reading, and I start
hearing Ita wine. I look around, call her, hear her bell, so I know she's close...

I don't see her on the boat, so I look at the dingy floating behind the boat, and there's Ita. All by herself.

Jim had left her on the dingy by herself for about 20 min after he had finished going for a ride with her!

Bad Dad!!!

Deb

The New Dinghy Finally Arrives!

It's here! Finally!

After being beggars for the past month and borrowing a dinghy from the very
friendly folks managing the Moorings office on Saba Rock, we finally have
our own functional dinghy.

 It was over a month ago that the 10 year old
dinghy that we have decided it was time to fall apart. Within days, the inflatable floor sprung a huge tumor which soon became a throne seat for ourdog "Queen Ita", and then the transom board which is glued into the inflatable tanks decided to start "ungluing", and then the handles on the
side started falling off. Ouch, I guess the glue that they use to put all this together has a very specific lifetime and we had reached ours.

The new dinghy is also from Zodiac and since they no longer sell the same
model that we've had, we opted to step up a bit to the same design but six
inches longer. Well, let me tell you. We got more than just a slightly
longer dinghy. This new one is a battleship compared to the old one. More
beam, more storage volume, and much bigger tanks which really make it
stable.

So far we are thrilled with everything. Everything that is except the
color. Humm....that's going to take a bit of getting used to!!

Quiz Answer

Ah yes, the answer that kept you all up last night!  It's finally here....

Yesterday's Picture is a hurricane ditch that the boatyard uses to store sailboats during the hurricane season. This particular boatyard has about 100 of these pits dug and they tell me that during the hurricane season they are all full and spoken for months in advance. 

So there you have it. That's your answer. 

I love the name of this particular boat "Ascension" given it's location.....

Jim Gregory 

Quiz of the Day

What is this?  And, what is its purpose???

Jim Gregory 

Picture of the Day

Different Shades of Blue

		Different Shades of Blue VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Sunsets

Sunsets VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Until we meet again...

Heading in Opposite Directions (for now)

Fellow Richmond Yacht Club Members, Torben and Judy hoisted anchor this morning, and pointed Tivoli towards St. Thomas. They will check back into the United States prior to heading off towards Puerto Rico and the Spanish Virgins.

We on the other hand, found that our dinghy delivery is delayed by approximately one week.  So...our plan is to take our guests (Kevin and Meg) on a bit of a tour of some other spots here in the BVI while we wait.

 Last night we took advantage of the opportunity to get together one more time before Tivoli's departure.  A very good time was had by all, as we continued celebration of Torben's never ending birthday.  The pictures may not show it, but the process of climbing into hammocks after drinking a couple Painkillers was challenging and very humorous.

We had a great time visiting with Torben and Judy for the past couple of weeks, and look forward to finding them again before the end of winter!!

Blast from the Past

A great great moment in time! 

Here I am with Chris and Pat finishing our 17 month cruise home to San Francisco from New Zealand. 

Almost ten years ago.  Time flies. 

\Both boys have gone through high school and graduated from college since this photo was taken.  Deb and I are back on the boat and they are finding their way through the world.  We miss them....

Picture of the Day - No Complaints, but....

It's certainly not looking like this today!

The trades are still roaring here.  We've had four plus days of winds in the 20+ knot range and lots of squalls with winds up to 37 knots.  

With two guests onboard, hot humid conditions outside and hatches closed to block the rain,  things get a bit crowded and stuffy below...

So, being outside in the rain, or even in the water swimming, is often the best plan.

RYC's Torben and Judy are here as well and we've enjoyed seeing a bunch of them.  Deb and Judy are busy doing Pilattes(spelling?) ashore every morning, and Torben and I are having fun comparing our onboard repair accomplishments!!  What a life!

The Trades are Blowing Hard!!

Our forecast has winds in excess of 20 knots here in the BVI for the next four days.  That's just one of the reasons why it looks like we will sit tight here in Virgin Gorda for at least that long.

• Our friends Kevin and Meg (from Newport, RI) show up today after multiple flights, three ferry rides, and a taxi trip!

• Torben Bentsen's Birthday Party is on the 13th here at Saba Rock.

• And most importantly, our new dinghy arrives on the 13th.

Uncle Dan comes to Visit

We had a great time over the past couple of weeks hanging out with Debbie's brother Dan and his girlfriend Margaret.

In between stays at the Ritz Carlton on St. Thomas, and the Marriot at Scrub Island, they joined us onboard for Christmas and New Years.   Not a bad way to visit the Caribbean for Christmas!!

I hope they enjoyed their time on-board Morpheus as much as I enjoyed swimming in their pool at the Marriot!!

They were great "boat guests" and are welcome to return anytime!!!

-Jim and Deb

Happy New Year!!

Dan and Margaret

Great Harbor full of anchor lights

Happy New Year!

New Years Party at Foxy's. Check that one off the bucket list!!