Sailing with 'Sophisticated Lady'

Rick & Mark (Absent Mike) accepting our trophy for 2nd place in the Rally

We still had a great time, we crossed the line and toasted our success with some 'island' coffees at 7:35am, and pulled into our slip at 11am after sailing the entire way, even from the finish line while we tidy'd up the boat underway and made her presentable for landfall. Of course, just as we were on final approach, a huge squall entered the area... our first island squall... and it lasted so long we finally gave up waiting on it and headed into the dock in torrential downpours! Of course, not long after we arrived, the sky cleared and the sun came out... figures!

Phil & Crew accepting 1st place trophy... It should have been ours! lol

We were greeted at the dock by many smiling faces, and many congratulations... and even an ice cold bottle of champagne to toast our arrival! The Rally was great fun this year as usual, thanks so much to Steve Black for hosting such a great event! Phil & I had many great discussions over beers after the rally, turns out we were both monitoring each others actions very closely... he was very aware of my turning East to try and capture the trades on the beam which would have left him struggling upwind in a catamaran... lucky for him, the gamble never paid off and he kept sledding downwind the whole trip! Good race Phil... but watch out next year... that 1st is mine!! lol

Mark enjoying our first daysail in the islands

After a few days settling into 'land life' again, it was time to get back to work. 'Sophisticated Lady' was already taking shape nicely, luckily we didn't break a single thing this year on the entire trip... we had a few repairs at sea, but nothing that stopped us, and nothing that held us in port for repairs... good job Mike and Mark! The guys were both excellent at sea, and I'll hope to see them both again! Cheers to you both for a great job in the Rally, and in keeping 'Sophisticated Lady' safe!

First sunset in de Islands mon!

After the ralliers started clearing out, it was time to get back to work. I headed 'Sophisticated Lady' over to Trellis Bay which has long been one of my favorite places in the islands. Not only is it where we conveniently pick up and drop off guests at the nearby airport, it is now my new base of operations. I'll be starting to work more closely with my friend Jeremy, who owns the Trellis Bay Cyber Cafe, and wants to add the services of 'Sophisticated Lady' as a local daysail boat to the newly dedicated Trellis Bay Village! This will be a great thing, and I'm proud to be a part of it... thanks Jeremy!

My new backyard in Trellis Bay!

Jeremy's famous full moon party in full swing on the beach

After spending a few days in Trellis Bay working on the boat and catching up on email, etc, it was time to head over to St John as I needed to pick up some parts for the dinghy, and the supplier for Brig was Caribbean Inflatable's, conveniently located in Red Hook, St Thomas. My new friend Bill came along for the ride as he had a few days off and wanted to check out some more of the local islands, so off we went! Bill is a cool guy I met in the rally, he's actually a recently retired air force pilot. Turns out, after flying F-15's in the military for 20 years across several combat missions, he traded in flying 500knots at 10g's with a pressure suit to hold his face together, to meandering along at 8knots in his brand new Island Packet 50 center cockpit... nice boat! You could say Bill definitely has some good stories! lol

Bill helping pick up a mooring in St John

We had a cool couple of days checking out the local hangouts in the USVI's, then it was time for me to head back to BVI's to pick up my next charter. A good friend Melanie arrived from Florida the day before, who was going to be my fill-in hostess for this charter. Melanie is also a professional yoga instructor and you'll see her onboard several more times this year as we're offering her training onboard 'Sophisticated Lady' for our Share-the-Sail Yoga Cruises! Thanks Melanie! Our group arrived at noon the next day in Village Cay Marina, and we quickly whisked them off to Jost Van Dyke to begin their 'decompression' from North American life... They flew in from Motor City, Detroit Michigan, so this could be quite a task! lol

The Maynard's toasting their arrival with trusty Painkillers!

Melanie taking over the galley!

Melanie on top the world at Jost Van Dyke showing a great yoga pose!

The Maynard's were great fun and we took them to several favorite spots in the local islands. Soggy Dollar Bar has always been a great stop, the water is unbelievably clear and turquoise, the sand is perfect white, and soft as you can imagine under your feet. The beach is lined with beautiful palm trees, and even hammocks strung up everywhere for your ultimate relaxing pleasure! Soggy Dollar is the home of the original painkiller, so it's always interesting to see how guests compare ours to the original! So far it's held up fairly well, I think... With that much rum in them, it's hard not to like them, lol.

Enjoying painkillers at the Soggy Dollar Beach Bar in White Bay

Rowing the dinghy back to 'Sophisticated Lady' waiting patiently at anchor

After that it was Virgin Gorda Sound, home to the world famous Baths, Saba Rock Beach Bar, and Bitter End Yacht Club. We all went ashore to Bitter End that night and enjoyed a fantastic Barbeque Buffet dinner while listening to live steel drum music... thanks guys!

Steve and Sheila in front of Saba Rock Beach Bar... look at that water!!

A sordid looking crew for sure!

Getting ready for a great meal at sea!

Now I'm back in Trellis Bay and picked up Lana who will be helping with the next couple charters. She just flew in from Canada, but is originally from Russia... I can't even imagine what winter is like there! It's been funny watching her settle in to the fact that there really are places on Earth where there is no snow in December, lol. I'm sure guests will love her easy going, fun to be around personality. Thanks Lana!

Lana at Foxy's Taboo

Settling into Island Time at Sandy Spit

Well to wrap up this email, we'd like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and an exceptionally Happy New Year! I took many photos of all the lights of Road Town recently... you can clearly see this small island town really enjoys Christmas, they go all out and everything is lit up... buildings, houses, streets, palm trees... everywhere! It really is quite spectacular to see at night, so for your enjoyment, here are just a few of the pics from Road Town this week.

Even Santa has a hammock!

Christmas Tree at Main St. Square