{"id":3031,"date":"2014-01-28T11:11:01","date_gmt":"2014-01-28T15:11:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tusentakk2.com\/wordpress\/?p=3031"},"modified":"2014-01-28T11:11:01","modified_gmt":"2014-01-28T15:11:01","slug":"friends-from-savannah-bvi-usvi-jan-14-21-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/tusentakk2.com\/wordpress\/2014\/01\/friends-from-savannah-bvi-usvi-jan-14-21-2014\/","title":{"rendered":"Friends from Savannah; BVI & USVI — Jan. 14-21, 2014"},"content":{"rendered":"

Friends from Savannah, Beth Logan and Steve Ellis, arrived at Charlotte Amalie late on the afternoon of Jan. 14.\u00a0 We got them settled in and oriented and had dinner aboard.\u00a0 Steve was heavily medicated for his cold \u2013 an affliction that nearly caused the cancellation of their visit \u2013 and was much quieter than usual, but as the week wore on he became more and more his usual voluble self.\u00a0\u00a0 Next morning we departed Crown Bay Marina and motored up to Jost Van Dyke, where we checked in to the BVIs and had lunch at Foxy\u2019s.\u00a0 Later that day we caught a taxi over to the Soggy Dollar, where our guests did some swimming and we all did some sunning and some drinking of Pain Killers, the libation which became the drink of choice during their visit, with those served at Soggy Dollar clearly the best.<\/span><\/p>\n

On Jan. 16 we moved around the corner to the east end of the island, where Beth and Steve got in some serious beachifying on Sandy Spit.\u00a0 When they were suitably browned and toasted, we moved over to the mooring field just off Foxy\u2019s Taboo.\u00a0 We took the dinghy in and hiked the short distance to the Bubbly Pool, where Beth and Steve enjoyed being thrashed about by the breakers that occasionally came crashing in.\u00a0 Next morning I returned alone and photographed the White-cheeked Pintail ducks (and several other birds) that populated a path-side pond.<\/span><\/p>\n

When I returned to the boat we headed for the Indians, but found all of the moorings occupied.\u00a0 So we went in to Pirate\u2019s Bight on Norman Island and took a mooring and dinghied over to the Caves and snorkeled there instead.\u00a0\u00a0 Then, a visit to the restaurant\/bar\/beach at the east end of the Bight, for more Pain Killer sampling.\u00a0 And then a trip to the famous Willy T\u2019s, for, um, a Pain Killer.\u00a0\u00a0 We were on the upper deck when a couple of young things decided to honor the Willy T tradition and bare their upper torsos and jump over the edge.\u00a0 I had only Barb\u2019s camera, which suffers from the usual point-and-shoot malady of a long delay between pressing the shutter button and actual image capture.\u00a0 #$*@!!!!<\/span><\/p>\n

Next morning (Jan. 18 \u2013 are you keeping up with this chronology?) we moved over to the Indians and were the first to take a mooring.\u00a0 Great snorkel, after which we took the boat all the way back to Caneel Bay, St. John, USVI, so we could dinghy in to Cruz Bay in order to check in to the good ol\u2019 USA.\u00a0 After some shopping and some lunch at the Beach Bar, we returned to <\/span>TT2<\/em> and motored over to Cinnamon Bay, where we took our guests ashore so Beth could do some reconnoitering for a possible site for a family reunion.\u00a0 Later that day we had prime rib at the campground restaurant. \u00a0Next morning we moved to Waterlemon Bay, where Barb took a break and the rest of us snorkeled.\u00a0\u00a0 Then we took the dinghy to shore and walked up to the ruins at Annaberg Sugar Plantation.\u00a0\u00a0 We were back on the boat when a dinghy approached our stern and its lone occupant asked about our boat name.\u00a0\u00a0 Turned out he was on the boat <\/span>Viking Spirit<\/em> and is from Kristiansand, Norway, where our friends Lars Helge and Tove Brunborg live.\u00a0 Not only did Arild Anderson know the Brunborgs, he is a former colleague of Tove!\u00a0 <\/span>Lite verden<\/em>! (Small world!)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Waterlemon is such a popular place for snorkeling that we felt guilty about continuing to occupy a mooring after having already snorkeled there, so we moved over to Francis Bay, where Barb and our guests did some snorkeling along the point separating Francis and Maho Bay.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On Jan. 20 our guests did more snorkeling (along the north shore of Francis Bay) and then we moved to Christmas Cove in order to stage for our return to St. Thomas.\u00a0 Next day — you guessed it \u2013 Beth and Steve did one last snorkel before we moved to Charlotte Amalie. \u00a0We had lunch at the Green Garden and our guests did some window-shopping before we sent them off to the airport in a taxi.<\/span><\/p>\n

It was a great visit; we hope they enjoyed it as much as we did.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\t\t