Day 9

We got up before the sun this morning because we had to meet our repairman bright and early at the docks off Sopers Hole in Tortolla.  The morning came early but it was beautiful...

Here's a look back at Great Harbor, all the boat still have their anchor lights on...

Connor was extremely happy to find a hidden gallon of milk buried in the belly of the freezer--it was milky manna from heaven for a young boy held captive on a small boat...

 We met Melton and his son and ferried them over by dingy to our boat and they did a quick belt change:

Sopher's Hole is a little posh port with lots of colorful buildings which offer plenty of shopping.

While the boat was getting repaired Kathy and I found an equally posh grocery store and had a hayday in there…much to Connor’s angst.  He appears to have fully channeled Peter on this trip.  Look at the way he sits and waits for shoppers:

It’s Peter reincarnated.  Ol' Pete would be so proud of his little buddy Connor.

But we found an amazing grocery store and thought some food provisioning was in order.  Look at this place…

And these equally amazing prices...

I treated the kids to ice cream bars for being patient and waiting.  Connor helped us load the groceries in the dingy and ferry it all back to the boat and then we were off to St. John--part of the USBVI’s. 

First things first was a stop at customs to check in and get our passports stamped.

Since we were on shore we decided to walk around a bit and check it out.  We had plans to make the passage to Magen’s Bay where both both our families had spent Christmas day back in 2007. 

St. John’s was too captivating to make it quick.  We found some great shops although the boys did not think they were so great...

 

 

We also learned that stray dog are not the thing to be wary of, it's the giant gecko's that come charging at you while you're minding your way down the sidewalk.  Kathy doesn't seem to mind them and lures them in with some sort of gecko snack though he's probably coming for her fingers.

Chloe decides charging geckos are a bit too much for her and insists her dad giver her a piggy back. 

 We spotted this kid on the grassy hill trying to play a little football (soccer) and another mammoth gecko stubbornly insisted upon sunbathing in the center of his playing field, so what's a kid to do??  I wish I'd caught his clever solution with my camera, which was to kick the ball at the offending gecko...

 

Then run for dear life...

 Seems to have worked.

We also enjoyed great smoothies made by Thomas...

who taught the kids the rules of greeting each other on the island...

 which is to always put your hand over your heart after you fist bump!

Oh, and we learned a new way for the boys to board the dingy...ladies first:

By the time we wandered back to the boat we decided there wouldn’t be enough light to make the passage to Magen’s Bay so we went for Red Hook Harbor instead.

Ahh, back at sea...

Once again it took us a couple of tries to set the anchor.  Here's Mark our bona fide anchor checker in his classic 'peer over the dingy' pose.

 

Then he takes a closer look:

 As we were getting the anchor all set, Kathy—our resident dingy expert, spotted a stray dingy adrift and sent Connor and Mark off to catch it.  Once they did they went from door to door, or boat to boat, inquiring if anyone had lost a stray dingy.

The boat that had lost it had been sailing by and it had come loose out in the open sea and somehow made it’s way to the little harbor where we were anchoring.  Word spreads fast amongst sailors and soon “Good Medicine” was circling her way back to pick up their stray little boat.

With the anchor finally set and the dingy returned, Keith and Kathy set off for town to fill our propane tanks and buy a chart for the Spanish Virgins.  It seems we may set sail for some extra islands in Spanish territories and we'll need a chart for that.

 

Most of the shops in the small harbor town were still closed for Thanksgiving and they discovered that they’d have to take a cab farther in to find propane.  Here's Keith with his new cabbie buddy:

They had a whole escapade in town that I can't even recall the specifics of at the moment but suffice it to say they had quite an adventure running errands.

Meanwhile back at the boat, the Skillmans decided our shallow anchorage lent itself to some excellent snorkeling.  We saw lots of fish, prickly sea urchins, and a bunch of turtles swimming right beneath our boat.

 

We spotted this ferry that had unusual deck decor:

Palm Trees.

Then under a beautiful rainbow...

 ...Chloe and I ended the day with a nice shower off the back deck and did a little laundry.  Nothing like clean clothes and freshly washed hair to end the day.  Maybe we’ll even brush our teeth!  Hehehe.

I headed for my favorite spot...my hammock:

Earlier Connor had spent part of the afternoon working on his weather and sailing merit badge requirements for Scouts and practiced more of his knot tying skills:

Then in the evening he entertained himself by putting his knot knowledge to some good use:

He lashed himself a shoulder strap with all the essentials tied onto it; a water bottle, dull rusty kitchen knife, and bug spray--all you'll ever need in the tropics!


Cheers!