Heading Home 4/28

The van is already waiting for us as we finish our breakfast, so we quickly head up to the room to get all the luggage and then check out. The ride takes us back past Fat Hogs Bay, and we wave good bye again to Seabbatical, still sitting at the dock where we left her the day before.

While waiting in line at the airport, we are able to go up and weigh the luggage. Of course we are overweight on a couple of them. We planned ahead, and have a duffel ready to take the excess, so with some quick re-arranging we have all the bags under 50 pounds, and just one extra carry on.

Our flight to San Juan is on time, but because the airlines have changed schedules so many times since we booked, the connection is still a little tight. We have some added stress, when our porter mistakenly leaves the secure area with our bags, and we are stuck going through and agriculture screening, then back through main security, and then back to the main ticketing and check in lines. I am not happy that the guy turned what should have been an easy trip through customs/immigrations into this huge ordeal. After security, I have to run ahead to the gate. The kids are starving and Tracy stops to buy pizza to take onboard. I’m waiting at the gate, to make sure they don’t close the door or give our seats away, and they arrive at the final boarding call. We are fortunate that the flight is not full, and there is ample room for our carry-ons and even room for us to spread out a little in the first two rows.

The rest of the trip is uneventful, with plenty of time in Atlanta for dinner. In Detroit our limo is waiting for us, and miraculously all of our luggage arrives.

After another very long day, we are finally home!! The house seems huge (and cold)! It’s nearly midnight and we are all tired, but now have a surge of adrenaline, and no one wants to go to sleep. I have to re-light the hot water heater, and spend some time checking things out to make sure everything is still ok. The furnace is gradually heating the house, but it will be a chilly night, especially with our thin blood. Finally exhaustion catches up, and we get the kids up to bed.

This cruise is officially over. Its been something I have dreamed about for a lot of years, and its pretty special to actually realize it. It may not have been exactly as I imagined it and we certainly had our ups and downs, but overall  it was great!

Until the next adventure, so long from the Ross family, better known as the crew of Island Sol.

Mike, Tracy, Noah and Delaina Ross

April 28th, 2010

Tortola 4/27

Our last morning aboard Seabbatical.

It will be a busy day, so we are up early for breakfast. We hoist the dinghy and then quietly slip off the ball to shoot across the Drake channel to Fat Hogs Bay. Surprisingly there is no wind, so we just motor (slowly). Delaina says goodbye to one of her coconuts and sets it free.

We called David while motoring over, and he is waiting on the dock when we arrive at Fat Hogs Bay. We pull into a slip near the fuel pumps and top off the tanks. We start unloading gear, but there is another boat coming in for fuel, and we need to move to another spot. David moves the boat over, but its a tight fit and take three of us on the dock to pull lines to work him in. I’m actually glad I didn’t have to be at the wheel for this. The new spot is right up at the base of the dock, and makes unloading much easier. David has to leave to help out another boat, so we begin the unloading process and final cleaning. Even though we did a lot the night before, it’s still a lot of work. Its amazing how much hotter it feels here in the marina with no breeze. With the work done, we say our last goodbye to Seabbatical.

 

Soon the van arrives to take us over to Maries by the Sea, our hotel in Roadtown.  After the ride over in the hot van, the air conditioning in the hotel feels great. The kids don’t want to leave, but we’re hungry and I want to head over to the moorings base to check out the catamarans in brokerage.

We are able to tour a couple of 47’s, 43’s and 46’s. The 47 is exactly like seabbatical, with a slight larger swim platform. The 43, very similar just a little smaller. Before the cruise I thought the 43 would be our perfect boat. Its still high on the list, but they all pale in comparison to the 46. This is a great boat, with lots of room,a great layout, and  low beds that are easy to get in and out of. (don’t underestimate the importance of this!) We saw a lot of these cruising the BVI, but they all have at least one more year before coming out of charter. We will be watching closely to see where the prices are when they hit the market next June.

We have a quick dinner at the hotel, and make it an early night. We are all tired from a long day, and we have to leave early get to our flight.

Cooper Island 4/26

Its our last day here at the Scrub Island Marina. In the morning we take advantage of the hot tub and shower one last time, then prepare to shove off.

We leave the dock around noon and begin the short sail over to Cooper Island. We had visited this island during the first few days of the cruise. Noah liked it because he was able to take the kayak into shore for the first time.

The wind is forecast to be light overnight, so we choose a ball a ways offshore to get the most breeze. We are in 50’ of water, but can look straight down at the bottom. I am going to miss this amazingly clear water. We take the dinghy into shore, and the kids play on the beach for a couple of hours. Once back at the boat, we all jump in and take our final ceremonial swim around Seabbatical. The rest of the evening is spent packing and cleaning, as the reality that the cruise is ending sinks in.

Scrub Island Marina – Day 2 4/25

We start the day with a dip in the hot tub – what a change from what we have been doing for the last 2 months. Afterwards we have a great hike around the island. The road is well up the hill, and the views are great. There are only a half dozen or so houses here on the island, but signs of a few more ready to start construction.

After the walk, its back to the pool to cool off. Delaina has made friends with 2 of the flower girls from the wedding, so she has someone to play with. She even gets to enjoy a kiddie daiquiri from the pool bar.  After lunch, we take the dinghy across the bay to a snorkel site. There are a couple of mooring balls and a rope stretched between them to tie off to. Similar to what was at the baths.
The snorkeling is nice, but not great. We did see several small jelly fish. Not like the box jelly fish from the Baths, but small round ones the size of a golf ball. They were floating just below the surface, but did not seem to bother us.
We had a great dinner up on the patio, looking out over the water and to Marina Cay.