This trip was a bit impulsive but a very much needed escape for us. We are three sisters and two brother-in-laws who have been through the death of our Dad in November and moving our Mom to a nursing home. All of the stress and sadness takes its toll and we all needed to go off radar and to the islands.

We chartered the Timeless Passage from Brent Fennell at the Captain’s Compass. We knew the boat was smaller than we have had in previous trips but the price was right and we were prepared for no AC. (We thought).

We arrived at STT and no issues getting to ferry and to RT with plenty of time to stop at Riteway for the rest of our provisions. We had packed meat and some cheeses with techni-ice and had no problem getting through customs. The guy was actually really nice and said that THIS time they wouldn’t charge but next time we would have to pay 10% of the value of the meat.

The boat was as we had expected and Brent was great. There is no longer a restaurant at Manuel Reef Marina but we were exhausted from getting up at 3 am so we just had sandwiches on the boat and our first night under the stars. There are nice bathrooms and showers at the marina as well as a laundry facility. They are building a Riteway (or some grocery store) but it was not completed. There was food on the shelves but they had to drill through the concrete to install electrical hookups. (Can you say poor planning?)
Liquor and beer were delivered on time as well as snorkeling gear so we were ready to go!

to be continued..