imageI know it’s a little late but I hope all who read this blog are enjoying festive seasonal activities and special times with family and friends.  This is our second Christmas in the Virgin Islands but it felt rather strange without our two much loved children who are kids no more.  The photo of the Christmas tree and gingerbread house (with a few missing edible chocolate kisses) was taken on Christmas morning in the lobby of the Peter Island Resort Hotel where we made use of their wi-if to contact our diverse family with my cousin, Roger and his wife, Gay.  We later gathered onboard ‘Desert Wind’, R&G’s boat for a fabulous Cristmas spread and good cheer with Cornish game hens cooked onboard ‘Second Wind’, roast potatoes and gravy cooked onboard ‘Desert Wind’, stuffing cooked onboard ‘Snow Shoe’ (by Kim & Mahrnez) and lots of veggies and other goodies before and after.  Sue and Ash decided to stay in Penns Landing marina for Christmas, as they were leaving their boat early the following day while they return to the UK for a few weeks.

Since my previous post, we are very pleased to report that we have tested our new batteries while on a mooring ball or at anchor in St John (USVI), Peter Island (BVI) and now in the North Sound, Virgin Gorda.  They clearly were helped enormously by the Christmas Winds (strong easterly trade winds; 20-25 it’s) which arrived right on time this year so our wind generator worked well to top up the batteries overnight while the solar panels supplemented them during the day.  After 3 days of no engine we still had over 13 volts in the house batteries, which is something we have never seen before! For you landlubbers 13v is great as it means we can run the fridge and freezer, without too much concern, it makes Hope very happy and we can enjoy cold beers!

The other good news is that we have a definitive plan of action for boat repairs.  We have been concerned about some gaps appearing under the nav station following our trip from Hampton so we consulted a surveyor, obtained 4 estimates and then, given the diverse range of estimates, consulted our insurance company who has now appointed the surveyors to confirm the diagnosis and oversee all work that is done (a huge relief to us).  So, last week a second surveyor from the same company took a look then requested that we go for a sail in the brisk conditions that day so he could observe if there was any movement (there wasn’t).  The outcome was that the boat is considered to still be capable of ocean passages but repairs are needed to the bulkhead between the nav station and the forward head, which is not the most accessible spot so even though the repairs are fairly straightforward, it will involve removing some furniture.  We have settled on a contractor who will do the work the week of January 11th in Nanny Cay Marina.  We are still planning on heading ‘down island’ as soon as we can after the repairs are completed.

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Meanwhile, we can enjoy some more of the BVI.  We are now back in North Sound, having had a great beat up the Sir Francis Drake Channel yesterday.  Last night was spent on the hook off Prickly Pear Island as no mooring balls in relatively protected spots were left.  Thankfully the new Manson anchor held well as winds picked up to over 30 knots overnight and the boat behind us was rather expensive so probably wouldn’t have appreciated us dragging.