The distance from Bermuda to the Virgin Islands is approxamately 800 miles as the crow flies.Since crows don't normally make the route we both felt it would be more like 1000 miles. Every evening at 6:00 p.m.we tuned the short wave radio to listen to Herb Hidelberg. Herb is a saint of man who is a ham radio/ meteriologist buff broadcasting weather reports for boats transiting to and from Bermuda.He spends 2 hours of his lunch hour everyday preparing his reports and does this free of charge during the evening.Boats communicate with him from different areas and from the information he recieves and compiles he broadcasts possible weather scenarios .It is both informative listening and a routine that we looked foreward to every evening.The first few days out Herb was predicting southwest winds eventually becoming northerly and as it turned out he was correct. The 8 days that it took to sail to the Virgins is now a blur to me as I sit and write this information comfortably in Gorda Sound but I can recall spending hour after hour gazing at the steel blue water looking for signs of life,watching the clouds and daydreaming about food. After leaving we did not see a ship for 7 days.

I saw a bird or 2 and a few things floating in the water.At night the stars filled the sky with light and the wake of the boat glowed with photplankton.On the 7th day I heard a roaring sound and turned around to see a coast guard plane flying 50 feet above the water right next to the boat. I hoped they weren't looking for us.They circled around again and then disappeared off into a cloud. Based on our course and the direction of the wind it looked like the best landfall would be a small island called Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands.The only precaution being an island to the north of it called Anegada. Anegada has a large reef around it which should be given a wide berth owing the large number of boats that have been gone aground on the reef.There is something to be said about sighting land after a long voyage.Often one's mind plays tricks on you with hallucinations at sea of land,large restaurants and an occasional whale or two so when I first thought I first sighted land on the 8th day and when I pointed it out to Carolyn she thought I was fantasizing.

Eventually The spot got bigger and Virgin Gorda hove into sight. It wasn.t until 10 O'clock during the evening after navigating thru a narrow pass that we entered Virgin Gorda Harbor and had our first real dinner on board with plates and everything. We had arrived and for the most part had stopped moving ...Virgin Gorda is a hilly volanic island dominated by lush green hills with the southern half characterized by house size boulders scattered around in an area called the baths,a wonderful swimming grotto where the water is as clear as Gin. The day we arrived we deposited Sixpence(the boat)at the most convenient spot and rented a cottage on the edge of a cliff overlooking the ocean.Carolyn said that she enjoyed "Looking at the ocean from a Distance!".Eventually I convinced Carolyn to get back on the boat after bribing her with exquisite dinners out and a promise that we won't go far for a 'while'. My advice to anyone considering a long voyage in a small boat. Bring plenty of pictures of food, (color preferable)drink a tiny bit of salt water everyday and make sure you really know and like the person your going with !!!.

Virgins ----------- Staying in Virgin Gorda proved to be a restful experience.The only complication being upon our arrival Carolyn developed a problem which had us both concerned. One of her pupils was completely dilated and would not constrict with light. Prior to this symptom she had been struck in the face with a winch handle while underway on Sixpence which did not have a positive effect on her attitude or her love for sailing. Since she could count backwards by sevens and hop on one foot we assumed that there was no major neurological damage but just to be sure we consulted with the local doctor on the Virgin Gorda.Dr.Bulley was his name and by my estimates and his shuffling walk he was old enough to date hippocrates. After he asked Carolyn what day it was and had her walk backwards while reciting the pledger of allegance he surmised, and probably rightly so, that Carolyn had gotten some of the seasickness patch medication in her eye and she would be fine in a couple of days.Eventually her eye returned to normal though the nickname "Roundeye" stayed.

The memory of the passage from Maine seems like years ago as we sit anchored in Coral Bay on St.John in the U.S. Virgin Islands.Belfast is not so far away as one might think though. Before leaving on this trip I had made tentative plans to meet Dave Talley,also a Belfastian,in this harbor around Christmas time. Dave was also sailing down from Belfast and I thought it would be a fine reunion to meet in the Virgins. Finally I spotted his boat while I was in Cruz Bay shopping and I ran to the edge of the harbor,perching myself up on a rock waving my hands screaming and yelling Dave!!!.A boatload of tourists passed by and everyone waved thinking I was just another friendly native as Dave sailed off into the sunset. The next morning I noticed Albion(his boat) in the Coral Bay harbor and went over in my dinghy to greet him. I knocked on his hull and yelled "What took you so Long ".

Daves trip,like so many others,had been eventful with a knockdown west of Bermuda. For those non-sailor types a knockdown is when the sailboat mast is 90 degrees or very close to the water.Usually this is the result of a wave throwing the boat on it's side or having too much sail up in a very strong wind.Either way it is not a sought after experience and certainly does not make for a tidy boat down below.Dave said that he was down below at the time and suddenly all of his books as well as his radio were coming towards him to be deposited on the other side of the boat.

Well we all went out to dinner that night and joked about the passage vowing never to do it again until next time. Other highlights in adventure involved returning to Sixpence after a day in Cruz Bay and finding my boat gone!!.There is nothing like the experience of finding one's vessel missing only to be compared to driving home after work and noticing your house not where it was !!! Luckily for me it was still light and we could see the boat floating out in the Bay about a mile away heading for a reef. We motored out in the dinghy and luckily rescued the boat which seemed to be happily drifing north towards Belfast on it's own. It seems that the anchor dragged off of a shelf and had nothing to grab onto.I took this situation as a message that it was time to move on so we sailed onward glad that fate did not have it to end the journey so soon/.

With Carolyn having endured all the hardships at sea as well as having to be with me non-stop since October I decided it was time to buy her something nice so I purchased a diamond engagement ring on St.John. I attempted to give her the ring one night on Sixpence mumbling something about engagement but unable to say the M word.The M word of course being Marriage,a word some men have great difficulty in pronouncing in English or any other language. Sensing my hesitation she refused the ring and we consigned it to it's box in a corner. The next day while in a clothing shop I confided to the native lady running the shop my dilemma and she told me to "Force her to take the ring !".I considered this approach as well as the possibility that the diffculty in the process was that I gave her the ring on the boat of all places.Carolyn's associations with Sixpence at this point were not all pleasant. So considering all the facts the next night on Sixpence I told Carolyn "It would make me very happy if you would take the ring",and I shoved it on her finger!. She has been wearing ever since !.

As for future plans right now . Spend the next couple of months reading paperback novels,a swim once a day whether I need it or not and try not to get a sun burn. Probably head down Island when the urge arrives. And Also Get Carolyn to land at least once a day! Hello to all

Life on the Hook ---------------- New years was ushured in with a trip to an island called Yost Von Dyke in the British Virgin Islands.Yost is a small island with a population of around 100 people notable for a bar and restaurant called Foxy's.Foxy's is run by a fellow who is known as Foxy,who call's himself George, and later we found out his real name is Guiseppi.He is known for the song's that he makes up on his guitar after finding out about his customers.The ditty he played after meeting us was "Up in Maine I've been told it can get very Cold". Well it turns out that the place to be according to the New York Times,on New Years eve is Yost Von Dyke at Foxy's and that turned out to be an understatement. We arrived on Wednesday and by Friday the Harbor was packed with Yachts from all over the world. I found it a bit unnerving, particularly in light of the fact that if the wind switched direction we would never get out. Finally there were so many boats and they were packed in so close that you could literally walk from one boat to another to get to shore.Even Donald Trump in his barge "Princess Marla" was in attendance. Seeing their boat pull into the harbor we thought that they would want the opportunity to meet us so we set out in the dingy prepared to be welcomed by Donald,Marla and their new baby Tifanny. Well, all we got out of the process was a good soaking and a few pictures of the barge as the water was rough ..Their loss ! As for the New Years Party on shore,the only comparison I could make was Time square in the tropics.We eventually retreated back to the boat at 10:00 and blew the boat horn at regular intervals watching the mayhem from a somewhat safe position.

After being on Yost I decided it was time to get away from the throngs so we traveled to another island called Norman Island.Norman Islands claim to fame is thought to revolve around the days of pirate lore and the caves that buried treasure is thought to reside in.There are 3 caves on the island and one is large enough to take one's dinghy into.We were hopefull of finding a stash but to no avail.Robert Lewis Stevenson was purported to have written the book "Treasure Island" while camped on the Island. As of January, Carolyn and myself had been together non-stop for 4 months living in a space about as large as one's bathroom. We had developed a system whereby if one person is seated and the other wanted to pass by, the one sitting had right of way and did not have to move.Carolyn had managed to adjust to her new life style and many times I marveled at her abilities as she sat in the cockpit and washed clothes by pounding them on the side of the boat and dunking them in salt water.To think that this was a person that was once surrounded by luxury.

Our idea of a rousing good time was to go into town and find a pool table and play a few games while sipping something cold. Another adjustment to this life style that Carolyn made was washing her hair and taking showers. We had previously discussed this as a possible problem as the boat has no shower.Luckily there is plenty of water in the ocean and the only drawback to washing in salt water is that her hair became a little bit curly. Well maybe a lot curly.In fact Carolyn was mistaken for a Rostafarian with dreadlocks.For those of you who don't know what a Rosta person is,get a picture of Bob Marley. Luckily we are still talking to one another at least once a day. I'm sure Donald has a shower on his boat.Probably gold plated !

Next:Stuck in Paradise