Hi Everyone, this is Sandy

Long time, no talk! We've been without internet for some time. There is marginal coverage and it tend to be "island specific". In other words, what works in Tortola in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) won't work in the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI).

Shortly after our last blog, we traveled to St. John USVI. We rented a Jeep for a day to travel around the island, seeing many wonderful sights. These included overlooks over the ridgeline of the island, goats/sheep on the roads, a lot of termite nests (?) in the trees, and the "Tektite" sight on the SE side of the island. Google "Tektite" for cool info. on the 1969/1970 project! This year was the 40th anniversary of the original "aquanauts".

We also spent time learning to be better PIRATES!! We pretended to be guests at a fabulous resort on St. John, getting served drinks and snacks, by accident. Then we used their beautiful pool and had many drinks. Yes, we paid for the pool drinks. We also sneaked onto their lobby internet computer to check emails (it sure was a slow computer) and swapped books at their used book exchange. We met some new friends at the pool, Paul and Lisa, who kept our pirating secret to themselves. They were really interested in learning more about our lifestyle and we hope to see them out on the water someday.

The anchorages we have been to have produced some great friends as well. Mike and Kathy Cooke and their daughter Captain Cooke (Leslie) were very helpful and kind. Mike even gave a cool flagpole to fly the US flag from and a shirt for me. Leslie has promised to take Karen snorkling for conch to make stew or other meals from. Kathy and Mike have told us all of the different ways to prepare it.

I will post the next blog in a few minutes about our next trip...St. Thomas, USVI

Take care and write back when able!!