{"id":1018,"date":"2013-02-06T16:26:56","date_gmt":"2013-02-06T20:26:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tusentakk2.com\/wordpress\/?p=1018"},"modified":"2013-02-10T20:25:53","modified_gmt":"2013-02-11T00:25:53","slug":"virgin-islands-jan-17-feb-2-2013","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/tusentakk2.com\/wordpress\/2013\/02\/virgin-islands-jan-17-feb-2-2013\/","title":{"rendered":"Virgin Islands, Jan 17 \u2013 Feb 2, 2013"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Jan 19 we left Charlotte Amalie and traversed over to Salt Pond, St. John, where we snorkeled, harvested some lambi (conch; later prepared by Devi and served to the appreciative crews of Tusen Takk II<\/em>, Awakening<\/em>, and Arctic Tern<\/em>) and attended Sunday brunch at Concordia Resort.\u00a0 On Jan 21, back over to Great Lameshur where we dove Tektite Reef and I caught a lobster.\u00a0 Next day, back over to Francis Bay to refill our scuba tanks and dive Johnson Reef and Whistling Cay, where I again caught a lobster.\u00a0 Our stay included a Friday evening, so of course we hiked up the stairs to Maho Bay Resort where most of us (Liahona<\/em> and guests, Nirvana<\/em> and guest, Persephone<\/em> and guest, Arctic Tern<\/em> and Tusen Takk II<\/em>) ordered their world-famous prime rib.\u00a0 We also attended several sundowners on Nirvana. <\/em>On one such the moonrise was spectacular; Morgan\u2019s guest (Lindsey, on Nirvana<\/em>) let me use her camera to catch the moment and later emailed the pictures.\u00a0 Thanks, Lindsey!<\/p>\n

Our water maker ceased production yet again.\u00a0 Hunter (Arctic Tern<\/em>) and I removed it from TT2<\/em>\u2019s Holy Place and disassembled the beast up in the cockpit.\u00a0 We managed to break an elbow, but were told that a repair facility was available at Nanny Cay, BVI.\u00a0 Three trips: the first to pick up the wrong seals, the second to get the correct seals, and the third to deal with the broken elbow, which required retapping the threads. \u00a0Since we were already in the shop for the retapping, I let the tech put the ETD back together while I watched and was gratified to see that he didn’t do anything that I would not have done. \u00a0Back at the boat, the ETD was installed back into its frame and the whole unit reinstalled back into the Holy Place. \u00a0Yippee!\u00a0 It worked (and is working)!\u00a0 Not only working, but working at the advertised full capacity of the unit!<\/p>\n

While in the BVIs, we spent a night at The Bight on Norman Cay, where we snorkeled the caves, and two nights at Cane Garden Bay, where we had never been before.\u00a0 Nice quiet little bay, with a number of beach bars\/restaurants, and a very old and small rum factory whose entire annual production is consumed on the island of Tortola.<\/p>\n

Then, on Jan 31, back to Cruz Bay to check back in to the USA and to get our mail and then double back to Francis Bay, where we got an email from Arctic Tern suggesting that we get together for a dive on Tektite Reef.\u00a0\u00a0 So next day we swung around the island to Great Lameshur, where we had a very nice dive.\u00a0\u00a0 Saw lots of fish and each couple snagged a lobster, some of which Barb turned into two delicious pizzas.\u00a0\u00a0 On Feb 2 we moved over to Salt Pond, where we hiked out to Ram Head and then harvested five conch, some of which Devi turned into delicious curried lambi.<\/p>\n

For more news of more hikes, tune in to the next exciting episode of “Barb and Chuck go cruising”.<\/p>\n\n\t\t