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Another
group we had onboard had sailed before with us on 'Sophisticated Lady' up North
on Georgian Bay. Brent & Cathy couldn't wait to experience the Caribbean
from onboard 'Sophisticated Lady' and even recruited their relatives all the way
from British Columbia Canada to join them. Brent is a fellow sailor who bought
himself a little daysailer that he keeps on the lake at his cottage...
apparently his new favourite thing to do is go out and scare the heck out of
himself, and anyone else willing to accompany him!
Brent, our Resident Blues Master!
We remember Brent being really good on the guitar the last time they visited so we made sure to put him to work again this time! Turns out Brent has played with a band for years and is an excellent guitarist, he can play almost any request, and even made Rick's fiddle playing sound good when he accompanied him! lol There was even talk of recruiting Brent next year for a few weeks of 'Blues Cruises' as Brent is quite an exceptional teacher of the guitar as well. Keep an eye out for him and Cathy in future emails, you never know what we're going to be doing next!
We ended their last day with an absolutely fantastic meal at The Last Resort... a restaurant in Trellis Bay and home to the Singing Chef... He prepares delicious dinners all evening, and then tops off the night by coming out and performing for all his guests... and he's good too, how cool is that! 
Terri & Edye with our Group at The Last Resort Restaurant
If you remember Edye from our last email, it's because Edye stayed with us for several weeks to train as a hostess to work with us next season in the Caribbean. Edye was a banking executive in a past life, and having recently retired has decided to follow her 'dream' of living on a sailboat and traveling all over the place... Sounds like a good match for Wind In My Sails Inc.! She was great to have onboard and brings a ton of experience with her as in another past life she cruised a sailboat up and down the US East coast and Bahamas... we're sure you'll be hearing more about Edye in the near future as our expansion plans start to unfold this year!
We had the pleasure of entertaining 3 generations of one family on board. Darrol, the grandfather, had always wanted to take his wife, his daughter and her husband and their children on a sailing adventure and we were happy to help make that happen. Darrol figured this might be the last family trip they all took together before the grandkids were too old and into their own things.
The Galloway Family Taking in the Bubbly Pools, BVI's
It really was great to be with the whole family and to watch each of them discover activities or islands that interested them. Everyone had a great time and it was so cool to see how this kind of holiday appeals to all ages and people!
Mackenzie Sporting Her New Island Braids!
Beautiful Sunset From 'Sophisticated Lady' in Gorda Sound
Having an Elegant Dinner onboard 'Sophisticated Lady'
We had been hearing rumours of a rather 'largish' sailboat roaming around the islands lately, and then one day while sailing past Sandy Cay with one of our groups we saw this silver 'thing' off in the distance that looked like it had taken over the island! Upon closer inspection with the binoculars we determined that this thing must be some kind of an alien spacecraft as it was all shiny silver on top and had 3 strange looking 'antenna's' sticking out of the top of it! We watched it perform a few manoeuvres in front of the island as we passed by and it was motoring around in circles while turning the antenna's through rotation of about 180*... we figured it was trying to tune in the mother ship!
'Maltese Falcon' Sighting in Virgin Gorda Sound!!
Later on, after showing some friends the pictures we took from a distance, we discovered that it was indeed the 'Maltese Falcon', the biggest privately owned sailboat in the world that had just been launched recently and has been making quite a presence in the Caribbean this winter!
Close-up of the Falcon
This 'sailboat' reportedly cost over $100US million to build, is 300ft long, has 3 free-standing rotating masts, each with push button control of each of the sails that are stored in the masts and pulled out by motorized tracks in the spreaders! It is designated as a Clipper Ship and it is quite a sight to watch it deploy all of it's sails, one at a time until it looks like it has 3 fully symmetrical wings on top catching what I can only imagine to be an unbelievable amount of wind! Looks like the dawn of a new age of pirate ships has come... only this time, apparently they already have all the gold!!
'Maltese Falcon' Setting Full Sail
Wind In My Sails partner, Dr. Charles Vanderwater, and his girlfriend Paula came flying on board full of smiles, laughs and ready to relax and have a great time. It was great to see them and to watch them totally unwind and lose the stress of the 9-5 struggle. They quickly became sun loving pirates who leapt into the ocean ever hour of so! They brought tons of books, many wardrobe changes and lots of laughs and great feelings of home.
Charles and Paula at Myett's Beach Club
Rick & Terri at Myett's Beach Club
Rick's parents, Mary & Jack, also came on this charter and it really was wonderful to hang out with them and watch them fall in love with all our favourite islands and anchorages. This was a dream vacation for them and it was cool to watch them say at each place " now this is the best island so far, this is my favourite". Only to have them say at the next one " wait, no this one is my favourite!".
Mary & Jack onboard 'Sophisticated Lady'
The Whole Group Having PainKillers at Saba Rock Beach Resort
The end of our last charter marked the full moon, and those of you that have been reading our emails since last year know what that means... Full Moon Party!! We have always enjoyed taking in the full moon parties, and one of our favourites by far is the Trellis Bay party. Our friend Jeremy owns the Trellis Bay Cyber Cafe, and every full moon they host a fantastic party with live music, dancers, fire balls and campfires, and just plain old fun! It is a great stop to make if you happen to be around during a full moon. If you see Jeremy there, be sure and say Hi from Rick & Terri! PS... the Cafe also makes some of the best sandwiches and home-made soups that we've found anywhere on the island!
Fire Ball at Full Moon Party in Trellis Bay
Skywalker Dancers Under the Full Moon at Cyber Cafe
Well, at long last we dropped off our last guests at the airport and wrapped up our second season of charters in the Caribbean. It's been a great season, but now it is time to head home to Canada where we'll be doing charters in Toronto for the summer. We spent the last few days welcoming our new offshore crew aboard, and preparing 'Sophisticated Lady' for the rigours of open ocean sailing. We start our trip with a 5-day sail almost due North up the Atlantic to the tiny but beautiful island of Bermuda. You'll remember that we absolutely loved it there last year... we never get to stay long as we have to press on, but even a couple days stopover in Bermuda is well worthwhile! From there we will sail on to New York City and anchor under the Statue of Liberty before heading up the Hudson River and Erie Canal system which will lead us back into Lake Ontario and on to Toronto Harbour... The entire trip is about 2500 miles and should take us about 3 weeks. We'll be sending some updates as we travel, so stay tuned if you'd like to see some pictures of our adventures as we go!!
Final Inspection for 'Sophisticated Lady' Before Heading to Sea!
Take care
and we'll talk to you soon!
Cheers, Rick & Terri 'Sophisticated Lady'
Wind
In
My Sails Inc.
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