Typical Day in Paradise

Today has been a very typical day for us in the BVI. First, you need to understand what we are doing here: waiting. Waiting in paradise, but waiting nevertheless. 

After crossing the Atlantic, we made plans with a variety of friends and family to meet us. The first would arrive in early February in the US Virgin Islands, then we would meet the next pair in Puerto Rico. A few weeks later we would pick up a pair in the southern Bahamas and take them with us to the northern Bahamas where we would meet one final family of visitors for a few days before they fly back to Colorado and we head to Florida. The best laid plans...

Earlier this month, right about the time we arrived in the BVI, we realized that we cannot go to the USVI or Puerto Rico at all. Because we purchased Sila in France, we need to import her into the United States legally and formally. It would be complex, costly and time consuming to do so anywhere other than on the mainland USA.  All to say, we need to avoid those places so we asked our friends to change their plans and meet us in the British Virgin Islands. So now instead of spending a couple of weeks here before heading west and north, we are spending nearly 6 weeks here. Like I said, we are stuck waiting in paradise. 

But it does mean we have a very open agenda. So what do our days look like? Today was very typical.  Christopher made coffee at about 6:30am and then we made a classic Sila breakfast: fried leftover rice with eggs basically poached on top.   Then family brush, when we all spend 3 minutes on dental hygiene.  After some initial instruction, the boys worked on math, Christopher sat nearby to help with the occasion math question while he brushes up on his meteorology, and I did the dishes, scrubbed the cockpit, and got the boat ready to sail. After 90 minutes of math, we all shifted gears and prepared to sail off the anchor. Incidentally, today was a big day for the Rabbit as he completed 4th grade math, a years growth in half a years time... The upside of homeschooling. For homework, he will start his 5th grade math program.

The Rabbit was at the helm with Christopher in the cockpit to help trim sails and provide directions to the young helmsman. I raised the mainsail and put in a reef with some help from Porter, who then raised and secured the anchor.  A short sail to windward, 25 knots of wind allowed us to go about 6 knots, and we picked up a national park mooring in the lee of Great Dog island.  We ate a quick lunch and then the boys and I dove in for round one of snorkeling.

Right under the boat, there were at least thirty fish. Porter, the family marine biologist who has has taken a keen interest in everything related to fishing, tells me they were yellow tail snappers (I knew that one) and bar jacks. We then swam closer to shore along another reef where we saw a fantastic variety of fish. If Porter is most interested in the fish, it is fair to generalize that Jack Rabbit is more excited by the underwater landscape. He loves to swim underwater and flip all around because he says he feels like he is flying (a theme emerges...). 

After a fresh water rinse on the stern, we dropped the mooring and motored across to an anchorage outside of Spanish Town.  After setting the anchor, the boys each worked on their daily writing while Christopher and I made dinner and then enjoyed some quiet reading time in the cockpit as the sun set to our stern. 

As I type, Porter is washing the dinner dishes (he does them on even days, Rabbit on odd days), the Rabbit is playing a game on his kindle and is playing songs on the iPod to entertain Porter, and Christopher is lying on his bed reading. We have already put the boat to bed by turning on the anchor light, raising and securing the dinghy, putting the sail cover on the mainsail, coiling and stowing the various lines, and bringing in the now dry swimsuits and towels down from the life lines. Once the dishes are done, we will gather to listen to a chapter of Patrick O'Brien's book, Master and Commander, and then we will be rocked gently to sleep. 

Today was certainly a typical day in the BVI for us and tomorrow is a chore day.  We need to visit immigrations and then customs to extend our stay by a few weeks and then we have a propane tank to fill so that we can continue to cook delicious meals onboard.  Filling propane is often an adventure in and of itself and tomorrow will include a cab ride to some as yet unknown location. As far as waiting goes, I feel pretty lucky to be waiting here of all places. - Molly