Mancala, Blues, Rain, and Sharks.....

Andrea left this morning after a week aboard the Mary Elizabeth. We had a great time, but it was a strange week.

First, the weather was awful. Before Andrea got here I told her not to even bother to bring a sweatshirt since the weather is always warm, always sunny. Not true. We had only one nice day of weather the whole week she was here....

Andrea arrived late Tuesday night. We had reservations at the marina until Thursday morning and an itinerary full of different islands, beaches, and snorkeling planned. Wednesday Andrea and I did some errands and hung out at the marina pool. We soon realized we probably weren't going anywhere soon though.

(Pic: Andrea and Lauren at the Eco Camps, Maho Bay)

The main headline in the Wednesday edition of the Daily News (the local newspaper) was"Big Waves to Pound Islands". The paper reported "meteorologists called it one of the largest swells to hit the region since 1991, the year of the 'Perfect Storm' of blockbuster movie fame." There was a gale warning in effect and a small craft advisory. So... we decided to try to stay in the marina for at least another day before leaving. We were lucky - the marina was completely booked but someone never showed so we got their slip for the night. Everything was crowded because it was Easter week and everyone felt the same way we did about being at sea - no way!

We ended up leaving Yacht Haven Grande on Friday morning. We saw some big swells - residual waves from the storm - and ended up going to Maho Bay, St. John since it was fairly close and protected.

We had a nice couple of days on the mooring. Andrea introduced Bill and me to Mancala - which has since become the new board game of choice these days...

On Saturday night we took a taxi to the other side of the island and went to the St. John Blues Festival which was fun.

Sunday we hung around and Andrea and I tried snorkeling but the visibility was just awful.

(Pic: Yacht Haven Grande)

On Monday we moved the boat to Watermelon Cay, St. John. The three of us snorkeled the Cay, and Andrea, who had never snorkeled before, enjoyed herself. She was OK with snorkeling because I assured her that there are no sharks (big sharks anyway) in the Caribbean. Well, about half way through our snorkel, Bill and I saw a huge (6 feet!!!!!!!!) nurse shark right there in the reef. Thankfully Andrea didn't see it and we didn't say anything until we were back on the boat so she wouldn't freak out. I actually wasn't sure it was a shark until Bill confirmed (he swam after it to get a better look.) Either way, it was scary to see something, anything in the water that is that big......

(Pic: Bill and Andrea during the sail back to St. Thomas in the rain)

Tuesday we sailed back to Yacht Haven in the pouring rain...We watched the replay of the Sox win in Japan and had drinks with friends. She left early (5:30 am!) this morning. And of course, today it is sunny, warm and beautiful weather.

We really enjoyed having Andrea here - despite the bad weather. It was nice to hang out and enjoy the boat. And since we didn't get to show her all that we wanted, she'll just have to come back for another visit.

Tomorrow Bill and I fly to DC for a week to take care of a few things so we'll be in phone range. Talk to everyone soon.


(Pic: Andrea and Bill playing Mancala)

(pic: Bill, Jason, Keith, Andrea at the Fat Turtle, St. Thomas)