Feb 25, 2008

I guess it's time I update this web page since February is almost gone.

I guess I really have gotten pretty lazy over the last couple of months. I am here in Lameshur Bay on St John and have been working at VIERS since mid November. It's pretty much the same as what I was doing last year but I seem to spend most of my time doing electrical work. The large backup generator that backs up the power utility finally quit and we replaced it with two smaller units. The electric car had a few problems and I ended up replacing some of the electronics and then removing the rear suspension to weld up a couple of broken pieces. Several other little rewiring projects and misc other stuff seem to keep me busy.

I did a few hikes and even though I have hiked those trails before, they till impressed me with their natural beauty. One of the nicest ones is to Cabrite Horn and has great views of the south side of St John. Ram head is one the southwest corner of St John and is a really pretty spot. It seems like there has been at least one squall every day. I caught one just south of Cabrite Horn which left beautiful light and dark patterns on the water.

The trade winds set in with a vengeance this year and the sailing has not been good. Steve Applegate came down for a week in Dec but high winds and seas limited our sailing drastically. We ended up at VIERS and occupied our time by snorkeling and hiking.

Sally Shafer and her daughter Hannah came for a week in Jan and again winds and seas kept us mostly here at VIERS. Again we snorkeled, hiked and loafed on the beach. We did make it to Drunk Bay one afternoon. That's a small bay on the east end of St John that is exposed to the easterly winds so there is a lot of coral washed up on shore. People go there and build little sculptures with the coral and Sally built a nice one on top of a large rock.

John Byrne was here for a few days and again we ended up at VIERS for most of his vacation. It's a good thing that there is lots to do here with good snorkeling, hiking and such things. I think all enjoyed their time in the Islands even though very little sailing was done. My daughter Christy, her son Chris and my sister Sarah are coming down about the end of March for a week so that should be fun.

I have been trying to get Bella Vita ready to put on the market. It will be three years this summer since I moved aboard and even though it has been a great experience, I am getting too old to be out there by myself. I expect it will take a while to sell and am planning on heading north again this summer. If she doesn't sell by fall, I'll probably be back here again next winter. If she should sell, I'm not sure what I'll do.