We chartered a family size sailing catamaran, Solar Winds, in Compass Point in the US Virgin Islands. Solar Winds is about the size and shape of a New York apartment. At 800 square feet, it uses space wisely with 3 full bathrooms, 3 queen “staterooms” and one family sleeping are with a queen bedroom and a smaller room with twin bunks for the grandkids.
Flying to the USVI is an easier flight and avoids customs prior to boarding the boat. Everyone arrived with limited flight delays the night before departure.
Rebecca has captured a rare moment of quiet. The adventure and work sometimes yield moments of calm and beauty.
The gallery of memories and a special video of the trip are located below. Several moments are worth thinking about:
I wonder what Dylan is thinking when he is deap in thought looking off into infinity. He has always shown these special moments of calm and has occasionally shared a few with me.
Sierra shows the excitement and happienss that spreads among everyone who shares rhe moment. She has a special energy and shares it with everyone lucky enough to see her in action.
Every big boat has a small boat we use to go to shore or further explore our anchorages. This tender (dinghies are embarrassed to be called dingy) reliably carried us to and from shore and occasionally provided more excitement than we requested.
Once we finally get to the perfect beach for the day, we jumped in and enjoyed the warm, calm (usually) and happy water. Years of swimming lessons and swim team have made Sierra apparently unafraid and always happy in the water. This image was captured with Miguel’s Go Pro and a special attachment that permits half above and half underwater clear photos. Neat!
Miguel followed my interest in drones for several years. He is a master flyer, producing the above move filled with art and flavor. I strive for simpler goals. The movie below shows a well know boardwalk surrounding Francis Bay on St. John. The unique part of this boardward is the natural tunnel formed by the growth in the boardwalk area. This tunnel is similar to the mangrove tunnels in the keys and was “captured” by Homer, the drone gift from Miguel.
St. Thomas is a tourist city with some lovely sections of older and sometiomes restored buildings. One common feature of the older areas is the construction, local stone and masonry decorated with materials salvaged from sailing ships of the time. The doors of St. Thomas are made from materials salvaged fromthese old ships. They are lovel and often works of art.
The hills of St. Thomas are left over from its volcanic origin. They are so steep and the turns are so tight that taxi cabs sometimes have to back up into a 3-point turn to navigate the street’s. We walked up these hills after dinner on our last Friday to attend services at the second oldest Temple in the Amereicas. The Jewish congragation at St. Thomas is housed in a beautiful sand floor building high in the hills.
My family gathered to help celebrate my 80th Birthday. We sailed the Virgin Islands on a chartered sailboat, swimming, visiting, sunning, and enjoyuing the lovely waters surrounded by striking mountains.
