We crossed the Drake Channel between 8-9 AM this morning, and were back home in Philadelphia by 10 PM! We took over 400 photos, so a few of them may be deemed worthy of posting over the next few days. I was amused to see that the boat we chartered from Conch Charters both last year and this year made the cover of the Virgin Islands Cruising Guide - "Snow Goose". Not a common boat type in the BVI, but our top choice 2 years in a row. Warlock: you left it in fine shape - thanks!
Remarkably, both the Bonnie and Charley storms passed south of us while we were down there, and you would never have known it. They were only tropical depressions at their closest point to the BVI, but even still we didn't hardly even notice a gust of wind on their account.
The jellyfish were out in massive numbers - in some places such as off shore from Leverick we could see dozens alongside the boat. Some of them had long tentacles, but most were "moon" jellies. Prompted by earlier threads on the subject, I picked one of the moonies up with a bare hand, let it slide down my arm, and didn't feel even the slightest tickle.* If I had previously applied SafeSea to my hand and arm, I guess I would have been rather impressed. Since I had not, however, this little experiment just shows that not all BVI jellyfish sting, and it increases my suspicion that SafeSea is of no value in preventing jellyfish stings (see my previous posts). All 4 of us actually did a lot of snorkeling, and were never stung.
Really enjoyed meeting the Meandering Moores, and our flotilla of 2 with the Hildebrands!
More later ...
Paul, Becky, Daniel, and Katherine
* don't try this at home!
