November 25 - December 08 2019

November 25 - November 27 2019

Monday November 25 - Travel Day
Flight AC 7721
Sydney (YQY) -> Toronto (YYZ)
15:45 - 17:39

Flight AC 8820
Toronto (YYZ) -> Baltimore (BWI)
20:25 - 21:49

While waiting for the first leg of my itinerary to begin at the Sydney airport I ran into an old friend, Michael Fong.  Michael was on route to Brazil to attend a friends wedding.  After catching up, in walks Gary Tighe, another friend.  With scheduled layovers in Toronto we decided on a gate side bar to properly catch up.

Gary - Michael - Donnie

Gary left for his flight to the West while Michael & I tried out the Gin & Tonic.  Of all the gin joints in the world.  I have to say this menu item was very nicely presented with juniper berries and cucumber.  I will have to keep this place on my radar.  Bar 120 (Terminal 1 near gate D20)

Gin & Tonic

Landing in Baltimore was as schedule.  Eric's flight arrived shortly before mine.  Within an hour we had pulled into Captain's Cottage (Port Annapolis Marina

November 28 - 29 2019

November 28 - Travel Day

Flight Jetblue 1347
Washington DC (DCA) -> San Juan Puerto Rico (SJU)

8:02 - 12:49

Seabourne 5501

San Juan Puerto Rico (SJU) -> Tortola BVI (EIS)

13:50 - 14:35

Lamber Beach Resort is one of the many resort operations trying to recover from the hurricanes.  With much of the infrastructure now renovated, rebuilt or revisioned they are well on their way to success.  It will be worth a revisit just to see how the landscaping and plantings have taken.  It was not a busy spot.  It was our speed with great food and service.

Dark 'n Stormy

Practice Time
I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas

With our Guitar groups Christmas Party scheduled for December 08 (my arrival day back home), I had to get practice in.  A rented guitar (BVI Water Toys) while sitting on my patio overlooking the white sand beach would have to do.

November 30  - December 06 2019 

COOPER ISLAND

Eric and I took a 15 minute taxi ride to the Port Purcell and met the supply boat that brought us to The Cooper Island Beach Club.

A Boat of Boats

A Room with a View

This time our rooms were located on hill, slightly above the other rooms.  That little bit of elevation produced an incredible view of the mooring field fronting the resort.

Oh Christmas Tree

As Cooper is a remote, the supply boat makes a daily trip to Tortola supplies.  We needed a few supplies too so we went for a day trip on Monday with some of the employees.  Here is Marin photo-bombing the Christmas Tree picture with Glen holding onto his Amazon package.  Yes, Amazon delivers everywhere.  

Eric getting that sunset shot

Sunset - Cooper Island

December 07 - December 08  2019 - Travel Day

December 07

Being that Sam was also flying off island, she arranged for a water taxi to pick us up on Cooper Island and drop us off at St Thomas.  After a short car ride we were at the Airport.

Flight UA 1481

St Thomas (STT) -> Newark (EWR)

13:05 - 16:29

Flight UA 3586

Newark (EWR) -> Halifax (YHZ)

December 08

Flight AC 8808

Halifax (YHZ) -> Sydney (YQY)

7:55 - 8:44

Planning - Packing - Pondering

Planning - Packing - Pondering

Plans are well underway for the makings of another winter season south on the Caribbean Sea. And although plans do change, you have to start somewhere.  Last year our plan was to meet DeLeifde in St Lucia (mid January) and begin our journey north, stopping at islands as we like and ending up in the Bahama's (late March).  Because of weather issues faced by the delivery crew, we flew from St Lucia to St Maartin, met the boat and crew and began our voyage from there.  We also decided to not include the Bahama's leg of our itinerary.  This decision was made with postponement in mind, 'maybe next year'.   Little did we know that 'next year' would not be possible.  The Abaco's (Bahama's) are a fun, beautiful string of islands with white sand floor bottoms covered by clear green/blue water.  Hopefully, we will be able to return some day.

Excursion 2020

• Fly to St Lucia (mid January)
• Board DeLeifde in St Lucia  
• Sail south to the Grenadines with Captain Neil
• Sail back to St Lucia, explore
• Sail to Martinique, explore
• Sail to Antiqua with Captain Ted
• Sail to St Maartin, explore
• Sail to BVI's, explore
• Sail to USVI's, explore (late March)
• Fly Home

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DeLeifde plays a big role in the coming season.  Tasked with being our main accommodations, transport and entertainment venue, she needs to be prepped and stowed before leaving her slip at The Port Annapolis Marina. 

On November 25, Eric and I will meet up in Annapolis MD.  While staying ashore at the marina, we will decide what is going aboard and what is not.  We need just the right amount of stuff (gear, clothing, appliances, spare parts, galley-ware, electronics, musical instruments...).  Judging by the amount of luggage we both travel with, some would say that we are not the right ones for the job.  One time in Tortola, while we were waiting to board our charter vessel, 2 vans pulled up with 12 passengers anxious to board their 2 charter boats.  Eric and I had more luggage than the 12 of them.  We tend to want access to everything we think anyone may want.  DeLeifde is a large sailing vessel at 52 feet with many storage areas and we know them all.  So, if you happen to be fortunate to join us on some leg of the journey, please know, we stowed some of this stuff with you in mind and if you find you wish you had brought something, ask one of us.  We may be able to help you out. It just may take us a while to find it/one/them.  

DeLeifde on mooring off Jost Van Dyke, BVI (March - 2019)

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On November 28, after a couple of days working on DeLeifde, we will fly down to the Copper Island Beach Club for a pre-Christmas escape/rest before flying back to our respective homes for the holidays.  Cooper Island is one of my 2 exile islands.  The other is Islay Scotland.

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In early January the DeLeifde delivery crew will board and sail her to St Lucia where we will meet them after their 2 weeks journey.  The delivery crew will fly home leaving DeLeifde in our command as she becomes our mothership for the next few months.  Then, we get to unpack some of our stuff.