Gloria's arrival ... posted Thursday 14th Dec 2017

Tuesday 12^th – Wednesday 13^th December

It was just before 4pm Atlantic Standard Time when Gloria walked into baggage claim at Charlotte Amalie airport, St Thomas, USVI. It had been a little over six weeks since we last saw each other, the longest we had been apart in over 30 years. Needless to say it was a happy reunion. Gloria’s journey started with a taxi from home to Logan airport, Boston, followed by flights to Miami and on St Thomas. Despite expectations to the contrary, all her flights and connections went fine. I think the hardest part was preparing everything at home to leave for six months. For my part, I got a taxi from Nanny Cay to Road Town and caught the 10am fast ferry to Charlotte Amalie, which takes one hour. Once I cleared customs I had a few hours to walk around town, try and figure out anchorages for when we return with Cotinga to pick up Tasha and generally explore. After lunch (an excellent pizza) I hiked the two miles out to the airport where I arrived hot and sweaty.

We spent Tuesday night at a very peasant hotel called Olga’s Fancy Hotel, which everyone seems to abbreviate to “Olga’s fancy”! Anyway, it's tucked in by the water at the southern tip of French Town, in a pretty area within close walking distance to bars and restaurants. We had a nice meal down by the marina in a restaurant called “Hook, line and sinker” … Caesar salad to start, followed by blackened wahoo for Gloria and chicken and shrimp pasta for me. 

The following morning we had the opportunity to chat to the hotel owners before we left. My impression is that St Thomas was nowhere near as damaged as Tortola by the two hurricanes. Having said that, the aging electricity system was severely impacted and you see quite  a lot of roof tarpaulins around. Very few hotels are open in Charlotte Amalie so we were lucky to find "Olga’s Fancy" (Tasha, thanks for the help with arrangements). They do not yet have all their rooms open but are making steady progress. We took the fast ferry back to Road Town and George’s taxi back to Nanny Cay. I don’t think it mattered that I told Gloria that it is hot here. There’s simply no way to prepare for the transition from freezing temperatures to mid 80s, so the walking tour of Nanny Cay under the heat of the midday sun may not have been my best idea. After that, we retired to the pool for a cooling swim and lunch at the bar. Shortly after lunch we saw Numada (one of the ARC1500 boats - Richard, Rafaella, Sebastiien and Matthew) coming into the fuel dock. Later in the afternoon I chatted with Rafaella and she told me they had a minor disaster, putting some diesel fuel in their water tank before realizing their error. It’s something we have all dreaded doing and it would be so so easy to unscrew the wrong cap in a moment of distraction. I know Richard was trying to clean the tank with washing up liquid, but honestly I really have no idea how they are going to clean out the tank adequately.

Our plans are to leave Nanny Cay this morning (Thursday) and spend three days cruising the BVIs, before returning on Sunday to meet the Dave, Kathy, Julie and Ellie who will be cruising with us for five days. We will then drop them off in Charlotte Amalie on the 23rd December and await Tasha's arrival on Christmas Day.

Charlotte Amalie

Murals on waterside buildings in Charlotte Amalie

Murals on waterside buildings in Charlotte Amalie

Old building in the heart of Charlotte Amalie

Gloria - in her element in the Nanny Cay pool

This large (3-4ft) and beautiful iguana was on a dirt road right next to the pool

A handsome devil !