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Arrival in St.Thomas
Walk to Best Western Emerald Beach (easy walk)
Great little tiki bar and nice beach, nice rooms, really good bushwackers
Took the tram ride to Paradise Point and watched the sunset. (more really good bushwackers)

Took the 9am Smith’s ferry from Charlotte Amalie
Nice breakfast at the Petit Pump Room and a straight ride to West End
Some quick provisioning at Harbour Market
Arrival at TMM and the rest of the provisions arrived via Bobbies and Caribbean Cellars

Took a Captain for the first day because we had converted from power to sail and we really wanted to be sure of our skills.
The Captain does the briefings and we got underway as soon as the provisions were stored.
We tacked a few times, Jibed a few times and sailed on over to the Bight where we caught a ball and dropped the Cap at the Wily T for his ride home.
Dinner at Pirates and we turn in early.

We sail up to Salt to snorkel the Rhone and then sailed over to Marina cay.
All the balls were gone so we attempt to drop anchor, but could not get the hook to set, so we head over to Lee bay to try again, but still no hook. By now it’s getting late, so we motor over to Scrub and take a slip.
Kind of a bummer because we really wanted to catch the happy arrrh, but we settle for dinner aboard and a swim in the hot tub and pools at the resort.
The next morning we take a quick tour of the resort and pay the bill (Pricey at $2.25/ft)
It’s going to be a really nice place but I hope they cater a bit more to Yachties to make it more affordable.
We motor to Trellis to catch up with Captain Rick, and moor just a few balls away from Saildoggie and crew.
We catch up with Rick, who is flying out in a couple hours for holiday. We drop off the new TTOL flag and a swing for Lucky and let Rick pack up.

We catch up with Saildoggie and Tradewinds bloody marys and then set off for Leverick where we have a slip reserved for the BBQ. The sail takes us twice as long as Saildoggie because of our lack of experience, but we get there safe and sound.

What can I say about Leverick that hasn’t already been said a thousand times over, what fun and what great folks Nick and Monica are! Secret handshake, tats, great food, great company. We meet Orangeburst and crew, Doug and Wendy, Virtual Ed and of course Saildoggie and the crew. The Jumbies and the party were a blast.

Up early the next morning for the sail to Anegada. Since Saildoggie and the crew are also headed there, Chris (Tradewinds), who somehow lost his hair last night, graciously takes up the challenge of sailing with a couple of novices so that we arrive safely, which we did and didn’t even disturb Tradewinds from his nap until he guided us into the anchorage... We had a great sail and didn’t see Saildoggie until we arrived at Anegada as he emerged out of a squall line, looking like Capn Barbosa and the Pearl… but I digress. We had great fun and dinner at Potters and meet up with WildMeridian (and crew) who have sailed up from FatHogs bay on his first day to meet up with the rest of us.
The second day at Anegada was spent at Cow Wreck. We rented a couple Jeeps (Dean is great to deal with) and spent the entire day just limin’. I seem to remember the Fly Boys (Keith, Scott and Jason) attempting to have one of every drink on the menu… Dinner at Neptunes that evening was fantastic. Somewhere in the two days was a water balloon fight complete with cannon fodder. I think Chuck (wildmeridian) must have some naval experience because it appeared to me that he won the battle (sorry Keith and Scott).

Up early the next morning for the sail to Jost. We managed quite well, even sailed goose winged for a bit. We decided to take a ball in Little harbor because we had not visited there until this trip. We met up with OrangeBurst and crew again as well as Chuck and his group. Chuck had done a bit of fishing at the drop after leaving Anegada and picked up a few nice fish. We taxied over to White Bay for a couple of PainKillers and a soggy man and dinner at Gertrudes. Back at Harriss’s we enjoy some of Cynthia’s bushwackers (best in the ilons) and wish Colleen a happy birthday! Back to Wildmeridian’s boat for a taste of tasty fish and a couple drinks and off to bed.

The next day we contacted TMM and set up a meeting in Road Harbor to fix a steering problem (we had none). We motored to RoadTown because we were headed directly upwind. Got the steering fixed and went in to port. We spent some time unwinding and went to Dinner at Fort Burt. Great food and Great atmosphere.

Our final day took us on the Road Town Fast Ferry, which was the Provincetown 111. Kind of ironic because we spend a lot of time on Cape Cod and in P-Town, but have never ridden the ferry there. Anyhow, it was the best ferry ride we have had while in the ilons. Lunch at the Petit pump Room and a leisurely trip to the airport, a couple more cocktails at the airport… and home.

High points:
Lots of wind for great sailing
Great company for the whole trip (lots of TTOLers)
Keith, Scott, Jason and Jenny were great fun (Flyboys and group)
Anegada for the first time
Sailing

Low points:
We missed meeting the Canadiannns.
Lots of wind made for rough anchorages and cloudy waters (we did very little snorkeling)
Longgg Tacks (The Admiral says I go too far before tacking) she is right.


M&M