Left Jost Van Dyke to go over to the Bight, Norman Island on Monday morning. The plan at this stage was to head into Nanny Cay on Tortola on Tuesday to collect our outboard. But the weather forecast remains confused – with different models / sources giving very different messages. So heading out we are running down on headsail alone – and yes, the seas were getting up, about 6ft and running fast…with gusts of wind increasingly strong. Had a blast getting up to 8knts of boat speed…. Looks like a stormy night ahead whatever they say!

Rounding Steele Point on the West End of Tortola we spot this Beneteau Clipper doing weird manoeuvres in the channel – not a place for that type of thing with loads of ferries and commercial traffic coming through this smallish gap between islands. We go over to see if we can assist and it turns out the poor guy has no forward propulsion at all….although his engine goes well backwards. We hang around to see if we can assist but he manages to get into position to reverse all the way into Sopers Hole and presumably some assistance in the marina.

So we take our leave and head off towards Norman – seas and wind continue building – so this time, as we are going into the wind, we sail under reefed mainsail and staysail alone….a great combination which kept us relatively flat and comfortable and we made the Bight on one tack. We picked up a mooring ball close to the hill to get as much protection as possible and headed into Pirates as it had been remodelled since our last visit….. Very nicely done – but I think the white covers on the chairs may be a mistake. Can’t see them surviving many seasons with people sitting around in wet shorts etc… And no stage / area for dancing now – so I guess live music won’t be returning here….

New lunch menu too – much to Richard’s horror – as he had been salivating about their crab cakes all the way over, and had only had a yoghurt for breakfast in anticipation! We then recognised a couple we had seen sitting on their Island Packet as we entered into the bay…and it turns out they are the owners of Hometown Girl, a brand new entry into the Island Yachts fleet. What a small world!   We had a great afternoon with them and eventually took ourselves off to the Willie T for a few drinks.

Due to the weather conditions, the bar was really quiet – no naked dancing or jumping off – and we had a nice few hours speaking to a gang from Cornwall and some cruisers who had just come up island, so we gleaned lots of useful information for when we finally get going.  Back on board about 8pm for dinner and to bed.

Anyway….the weather forecasters finally got it right and agreed….and the wind howled, it rained hard on and off, and Morphie danced around all night…. The forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday was grim – with small craft advisories in place across the region with 25 knts winds constant and significantly higher gusts. Not something that bothers us, although when this happens with serious rain / white-outs / and large seas then it stops being fun. We don’t have to be anywhere.. so we stay put.  Another afternoon in the bar with the crew from Hometown Girl – and the rain came and stayed so that put paid to my ideas of swimming this afternoon.

Quiet night on board trying to stay dry….

This morning we decided to leave Norman and run down to Great Harbour in Peter Island so this gives us a better jump off to get to Nanny Cay tomorrow to pick up our new outboard. We arrived safe and sound – seas still rough out there – and the sun has finally come out so we’re off to make the most of it.

Oh yes, Richard Branson is having an End of the World party tonight in the BVIs being 12 / 12 / 12 – hopefully he’s got it wrong so you’ll be hearing from us soon!

Bye for now

Jan

Headed back up the coast of St John to Cruz Bay to formally check out of the USVIs….  Didn’t used to have to do this when travelling on an ESTA but we do now that we have visas.   Process was simple and painless and we wandered around Cruz Bay for a little while – loving the Church no parking sign – before returning to Morpheus and headed over to Jost Van Dyke to enter the BVIs.   All done – all legal – drop one courtesy flag and raise another.  

Before we were going to head off to the Soggy Dollar Bar we decided to try and solve our IT problems – our new router will not create a boat hotspot as it is supposed to, the set up page refuses to open to change settings…..so spent a few hours in Foxy’s having a couple of beers while we took advantage of their wifi and power.   Grrrr….still won’t work…. even though I’ve done every fix that’s been recommended by the manufacturer – so it’s back in its box for another day. 

Too late for the Soggy Dollar now, so we carried on doing more boat jobs and then we headed to Corsairs for dinner and had a great evening – met some happy Pirates;  hanging out with some new friends  Audrey and Craig from Houston; and met the Movember boys from Tennessee who had decided to keep their whiskers for their holiday.    Had a great time – as always – fantastic food and great company with Vinny, Ghee and Roger…   Back to the boat late and heavily laden with Sauvignon Blanc – and another day is over.  

This morning we listened to the Caribbean Safety and Security Net for the first time on the SSB – huge interference from our refrigeration units and wind generator – so had to turn everything off to get good reception.  But at least it’s working properly now that the grounding problem has been resolved.   This morning having listened to the weather forecast, it seems that the bad weather threatened is now just usual Christmas winds – so we’ve decided to stay put, do more boat jobs, and head off to the Soggy Dollar later.

We did go – even though it carried on raining – and had a great afternoon socialising with Mick, Shaneek and Winsome.   Always a great welcome from these guys … and did manage to go bobbing (with beer) for the first time on this trip!   

Back to the boat before the sun sets – we don’t like to come round the point from White Bay to Great Harbour in the dark in the dink…especially in the confused seas we have right now.    Quiet night on board and so to bed.

Bye for now

Jan

Decided to stay here in Mahoe Bay, St John, USVI today and get on with some boat jobs.   Got quite a few done – including putting up our brand new barometer and clock – which look fantastic on the bulkhead in our saloon.   We also have ‘peek-a-boo’ blinds everywhere now for added privacy – they are fitted inside the ports and slide across to block out prying eyes, looking a little like vertical office blinds when open. 

After boat jobs we went ashore to have a look at the campground in the bay – think lots of trees, wooden hut type arrangements with outside viewing platforms nestling up the hill and loads of steps.  Had a walk up to the top of the hill to the camp’s restaurant – 219 steps, phew! – and took a few photos of the anchorage.

Nice views and all that – but really buggy here – so we retreated to the water and bobbed around for a while (this was beer-less bobbing!)…and then came back to the boat.    Was thinking of going back for dinner – but didn’t fancy the climb again even though was tempted by prime rib night.

People seem to really enjoy this back-to-nature stuff but I think the bugs would get me down personally… maybe that is why so many of them went off to do a sunset cruise on board Heron.

Quiet night in tonight – we are constrained by our need to return to Red Hook to drop off their outboard once we’ve collected ours from Tortola this coming week – on top of some bad weather forecast.   So not sure yet of our plans but tomorrow is a dead cert – check out of the USVIs and check into the BVIs in Jost Van Dyke for a Soggy Dollar afternoon and a Corsairs evening.  Well, it is the weekend….

Bye for now

Jan

We managed to get a hire car – only took a few hours of waiting around cos everyone is on Island Time…. and did all our provisioning (food and boat supplies) and managed to tick a few items of our boat stuff that we needed to buy or pick up as we’d already ordered it.   So we’re now proud owners of a gas BBQ for the rail and loads of storage crates along with some linen / towels etc not to mention bits and pieces of tools.   I’m constantly surprised by how expensive stuff is here….but it has to be imported I guess…and it is Christmas soon, so not really here at the best time for all this! 

But some really important stuff has been delayed coming down from the US – like our liferaft, another anchor, some rode – and one of our new sails was made wrong.  This was done by a Quantum loft in South Africa – so they are making a new one – and we are just hoping for an early delivery…   But we have been really impressed by the quality of the work done on Morpheus by Chuck (Sailmark Designs) and Neal (Tropicom)…   For those of you with any interest, I’ll post some pictures of these things at a later date.

So looks like we’ll be hanging around the BVIs and the USVIs until mid January at this rate – but hey ho, worse places to be!   We were also planning to run down to the Spanish Virgins – but there are 35 knot winds and big seas forecast for the next few days so that doesn’t look like a goer at the minute.  

Anyway, finally, we got off the dock today and ran down to Mahoe Bay, St John, in the US Virgin Islands. We’ve done our appeasement of Neptune as is customary when you rename a boat – although, technically, Morpheus remains Morpheus just had her hailing port added so becomes a very regal Morpheus of London.   We poured some champagne into the sea for Neptune and asked him to take care of Morpheus and ourselves, then poured some over the bow of Morpheus for good luck and then we toasted every god we could think of just to make sure!

We are really enjoying not being in the marina…although this means I have to cook tonight….  Really looking forward to our first sleep at anchor.

Bye for now

Jan

PS – love the new cushion – thanks Heather.

After a good night’s sleep we got up early, had a hearty breakfast, so now we’re ready for the Mall…. The hotel has a shuttle bus but we were so busy chatting in the lobby we missed the announcement!

Oh well, better get a cab then.  Which was our original plan anyway.  Arrived and were surprised by the ‘disneyfied’ main entrance – not sure what we were expecting, but that wasn’t it.  After much wandering we found what we were looking for – including another trolley bag as we were going to have to check another (making six in total!)…

Back to the hotel for a leisurely afternoon and evening – glad we remembered about the US portion size and shared one dinner between two.   Another good night’s sleep and the stress levels have reduced to normal.   This time we thought we’d have a look at the mall attached to the hotel – and found it was aimed at the Latin American market.  Everything was bling bling and some of the women’s clothing was verging on bondage attire – we did take photos but our camera seems to have it’s own censorship so we’ll have to leave this to your imagination (sorry guys)!

So now to the next stage of our trip – onto St Thomas.   At Miami fantastic service from a sky cap who dealt with our luggage and I was optimistic that this time it would all go smoothly.  Well it did for a while – then we were put in the wrong line (again…) and the business lounge experience was woeful – think dentist waiting room with vouchers for two drinks each and you’ll get the picture.  We decamped to the nearest bar and got chatting to some really nice people from Trinidad, who gave us their business cards and told us to look them up when we get there.    Hopefully not in an official capacity as one of them was an orthopaedic surgeon!

Time to board – business class this time as there is no first class on these flights – so we turned left again.   Oh dear…plastic glasses with champagne…and the normal AA chicken or pasta meal offering, although at least we got china plates and metal cutlery.  

Arrived safely in St Thomas and got to American Yacht Harbor around midnight.   Fun and games getting all the luggage down the pontoon and there was Morpheus of London proudly waiting for us.  Been sorting out boat stuff since we arrived, but here are some photos of our surroundings for you to enjoy:

Got to commission some systems on the boat for the next couple of days which is a bit mundane so we will be off line for a little while.

Bye for now

Jan

Yesterday we woke up really early as we still had last minute tasks to do before our taxi arrived to take us to Heathrow.  Final weigh in of cases – have never seen such a huge pile of luggage in all my life!  Finally… Ready…. Let’s go…..

Stress levels should come down now – this has been a rough couple of weeks as the time has reduced and the pressure has built on both of us….and emotionally charged too saying goodbye to friends and family.  We’ll miss you all.

So cab arrives – hurrah – and we take a quick last minute look around our home.  I’m so excited so why am I upset to leave?   No idea….just swallow those tears…and get going!   Last look behind and we’re on our way, waved off by Sharon (our neighbour and close friend) with her little Union Jack.   Lovely thought.  

Going through lists in my head of everything and just hoping we didn’t forget something…but after about 30 mins into the journey I start to relax.  Thankfully a good run round the M25 and we’re at Heathrow checking in at the British Airways first class desk…  This is the first and only time I’m travelling this way – according to Richard – and what a fantastic way to start our new cruising life together.   I’m so glad we saved up those AA airmiles – definitely wouldn’t have been able to pursuade him to spend circa £12k on two flights!!!! 

Love the service – wow – fast track security into the lounge….and before I know it we are sitting in our own personal cabana having a late breakfast drinking bucks fizz.  Then to the bar for another before heading off as late as possible to board the flight.  

Straight around the huge queue at the gate and hey, we turned left…  Wow, huge seats and more champagne.   Take-off on time and then it’s time to eat again…   What food!  Amazing – and loved it that Richard joined me as my guest in my seating area and we had a formal dining experience together.  Oh I could get used to this…

So now time to play with the seats and before I know it the stewardess has made it into a flat bed and given me my own personal sleepsuit – think ‘onesy’ – but that’s a step too far so I just got in and went to sleep.  A few hours later and I’m awake and, oh no, it’s time to eat again!   Really really can’t manage sandwiches, scones, cakes or even fruit….so just settle for a nice cuppa…how British… 

All too soon we are landing – never thought I’d say that about a flight….and into Miami we go.  As usual there is the three mile hike to the immigration desk – hurrah they’ve put in a single line to follow which moves fast – then disaster, the officials allocate us into the line behind a range of people all of whom appear to have a problem of some sort.   So an hour later we’re still waiting – and no chance of moving lines – they are coming behind us thick and fast.   Almost at the front and then some diplomats get fast-tracked through in front of us in our line – I’m getting really frustrated now.  Why our line, everyone elses was moving faster….  Grrrrrr…..

Finally it’s our turn – hurrah – and in front of the official to find out that having just got US visas in London we have to fill in a special form which no-one told us about or issued us with.   This is the first time we have travelled since acquiring them – so all new to us. So rejected, frustrated and more than fed up we head off to the back to get the forms – fill them in – and then we pushed back to the front and got waved through.  I think they were starting to feel sorry for us…

Finally – we’re in – now for the luggage.  So much for priority luggage – we’re the only people from our flight who haven’t collected so far!  Now where is that porter?   Oh, right, all the sky caps have gone into hiding…so a massive search happens and eventually after about 30 mins we find one.  OK – time for customs – guess what, I’ve declared some stuff, so we are moved into another queue for our luggage to be scanned. That was the final straw – I’m getting tearful again and being a complete and utter wuzz!  I could see all the tools, dive gear, electronics etc causing quite some excitement on the x-ray – thankfully it all passed without having to go through it again.

OK so it wasn’t that bad – just a build up of tension – and the minute we got a taxi to the hotel I was fine…and then my faith in human kind was restored when the receptionist upgraded us to a suite;  gave us a late checkout on Saturday without charge; and supplied us with complimentary breakfast vouchers.   Thank you Hilton.  To our room and fall thankfully into bed.

Awake early this morning as we get into the time zone.   Time to chill now and then go shopping!  Yes, there is more we need, and probably another bag to check in at the end of a couple of days here…

Bye for now

Jan

So you think of an appropriate date, check out the frequent flyer airmiles, book flights and hotel – hop over to Miami for a couple of (shopping) nights and then fly down to St Thomas. Simples…. assuming American Airlines don’t change the schedule (again).

Then quit work and get ready to go…. but OMG the lists are huge and what you think will be a five minute job turns into a two day trial of ups and downs as you hit proverbial brick walls…. And other things that we were dreading trying to organise have been really easy. But some of the paperwork is nightmarish – we just want to go sailing, please.

Thankfully the cruising refit of Morpheus is coming along nicely with new signage, new sails, an arch with dinghy davits and other new toys like a watermaker, additional solar panels, wind generator, additional house batteries, radar, AIS etc etc are already in place – but we can’t see Morpheus or play with the new stuff to check all OK and go through our lists – we are so far away we could be on Mars and we can’t wait to see her for ourselves. In the meantime we have to make do with photos coming through.

Of course loads of shopping has been going on over this side of the pond as well – and not all for clothes!  Some boat stuff is cheaper in the US so we get it shipped straight down to St Thomas to await our arrival. Other stuff we have here at home to go travelling with us. Not sure what UK security and the US TSA are going to make of all the tools we will be carrying in checked luggage though! I’m sure Richard’s newly acquired collection of Jubilee clips will also look a bit odd on the x-ray. Then there is the dive gear and all the portable electronics to go… plus a treasured selection of specialist tea, Indian spices and the odd jar of marmite… Oh boy this is going to be fun…

Add domestic things into the mix like a range of insurances / car stuff / house stuff / wills / tax returns / this blog / going out every night of the week to say farewells to family and friends (those we didn’t get to see I’m truly sorry and hope you forgive us) – gives you a flavour of my stress levels right now with only a couple of weeks to go.

Richard on the other hand is uber confident we’ll get it all done and is getting really excited – I am so envious of his confidence and he just ticks his blue jobs off effortlessly without fuss. The list of pink jobs remaining is enough to send me into a tizzy. Underneath I’m really excited too although, right now, I don’t think I’ll personally believe it until I’m sitting in the airside lounge in Heathrow waiting to fly on Thursday 29th November!

Oh yes before I forget recently we were given Bubo the owl as a gift to provide wise guidance for our trip (inspired by Jason and the Argonauts or was it the alcohol?) – so here is a photo of our latest crew member. Richard says enough – no more toys! See our crew page to meet the others.

But that’s not all we’ve been up to – I’ve done my long range radio practical and theoretical exams and got the very posh certificate to prove it. So looking forward to playing with the SSB radio now that I know what I’m doing. We’ve both done the radar course, a rigging course and have a hands-on diesel engine course scheduled for next weekend.

Phew…. Getting ready is hard work – don’t know how we found time to actually hold down demanding jobs.  Bye for now.

Jan