Back on the Boat Again

Ahh, back to the warm Virgin Islands again! We arrived back at Frolic on January 5^th. Friends of ours, Gordon and Suzanne on Oceanwings, had rented an apartment and invited us to share it with them for a few days, which we did. It was nice to come back after a hard day’s work and take a shower and sleep in air conditioning.  It was to be a long yard period as we had some extra jobs to do this year. However, not as many as Oceanwings, as they came back to termites in their boat! They luckily found an exterminator who knew h is stuff and he got them some spray to get rid of them, but it meant a week of tearing apart their boat and spraying all the tracks. They found two big nests, one was in a cabinet 1 square foot by 3 feet. They did get them all in the end. As for us, besides the checking the engines and replacing the impellers, I also replaced the prop zincs. Because I had wrong information about which way to turn the shaft cone, I had to wait for someone to come take the props off. We also found the outboard engine frozen again. I was able to get it turning by putting a wrench to the fly wheel, but it pulled to slow to start. So it went to the mechanic to see what was wrong and fix it. In the meantime I needed to replace 2 thru hulls the surveyor said last year were corroding. After pulling the first thru hull I found the new Marlon ones I was installing did not have thread down far enough to tighten on the hull as the hull was only about ½” thick. So I had to get backing plates made for them. I ended up replacing 4 of the 6 thru hulls on the boat.

Carl hooks up the hose to the new thru hull

Carl spreads out on the boat

Carl painting the bottom

Leslie admires her good work

We also had the hull sanded, but even though we had asked for this job to be done several months ago, the work didn’t get done until we had been back almost a week. We painted the bottom and I got the little portable generator working. We had a day with no wind so we put on the jib and furled it up. We had a waiting day so I went on a dive to the Rhone and used Nitrox for the first time. I really didn’t find much difference from regular air.

A big ray on the bottom

Carl's dive partner 

The Plack for the Rhone

The dive master and his white
 Scubapro Jet Fins

The ship's ribs

We swim past the ship's prop

The lucky porthole

A turtle at the stern

Frolic is ready!

last dinner party with all our boat yard friends

We went in the water the 15^th with me biting my nails worried about leaks as I had replaced 6 thru hulls. The launch went well, we had 1” clearance in the well on each side, and the engine started right up so we headed to North Sound.

Frolic at the dock at Leverick Bay

Michael Beans starts his show

At North Sound we went on the dock and washed down the boat and put up our deck lights and deck equipment. We were only on the dock a couple of days before going on a mooring, but while we were there we met friends of ours, Greg and Lizann on Lagniappe, and their son Connor. Timing was good and we got to see the Happy Ahrrr Show with Michael Bean and enjoy the pig roast and Jumbies show.

Lizzanne and Leslie Join Mr. Bean

He is  one man band and plays
percussion with his feet on a box

Connor got into the whole scene

We all sail away

Greg, Lizzanne, and Leslie are winners!

Michael Bean's boat

Lance and Karen start the hike to hog Haven

We arrive at Hog Haven

Our friends Gordon and Sue, on Oceanwings, showed up with other friends we met in the boat yard, Lance and Karen on Bon Temps, and we went and anchored off the Sand Box at Prickly Pear Island for a couple of days.

The view from Hog Heaven

Looking out at Trellis Bay

The Full Moon Party begins with the Fire ball

Then it was off to Trellis Bay for a few days and the Full Moon Party.

We headed to Cane Garden Bay, but a big North Swell made it a poor anchorage so we went over to Jost Van Dyke for a few days to wait for the swell to die out. While there we of course went to White Bay and had drinks at the Soggy Dollar as well as stopped to visit Foxy and have lunch at his place.

The Jumbies were at the party

The fire man. See his face?

A fire ball in the water with all the dancers

Myett's is ready for the party

Sunset at Cane Garden Bay

The Northern Swells subsided so we went to Cane Garden Bay, one of our favorite beaches, and anchored in preparation for the cruisers party put on by Myett and Bob Bitchin, a biker turned cruiser and publisher of the old Latitudes and Attitudes magazine, now Cruising Outpost, and Tradewinds Radio. It was a great party, made mostly by the cruisers attending, and a farewell to our new friends Lance and Karen on Bon Temps as they head to St. Eustatia and St. Martin. We still will be cruising on with our friends Gordon and Sue on Oceanwings.

Bob Bitchin and Leslie

The party is in full swing