Rum and more rum...

After our tour of Bacardi and our 2 free drinks, we went back to Old San Juan. We walked around the city wall and had mojitos and tapas at El Convento. Walking back through the town, we stumbled on the Rums of Puerto Rico festival. Live music, dancing, all the food and rum drinks you could want as well as eye poppingly beautiful Latin lovelies.

Cheers!

Enjoying our 2 free drinks at Bacardi.

Celebrate!

Whew! We are smiling because we all survived 6 nights and 7 days of an immersion sailing class. None of us thought it would be this intense. There was very little down time. But at least we were outside all day and there was no shortage of laughs. Jane said this was the the best ab workout ever. We all had major test anxiety. There was SO much to learn. Jesse got the highest grade (95) and Neil and I got the same grade (94).  I still find that a little hard to believe (so does Neil). 

Today we are in San Juan. Turns out there is an Iron Man triathlon today and is stopping up traffic. We are on our way to the Baccardi distillery for a tour followed by a rum festival in Old San Juan. Then napping by the pool.

Yea, we all passed!

Before the test.

Killing Pain

After a day of strategic sailing, including MOB skills and heave to, followed by power snorkeling and snorkeling just inside caves, we are drinking Pain Killers at Pirates Bight (Norman Island) while waiting for dinner. The sun is setting over St John. You can see a field of sailboats on mooring balls. Priceless!

Recipe: Pain Killers

Orange juice, pineapple juice, Coco Lopez, rum, ice. Stirred and served with a cherry, orange slice, and freshly grated nutmeg.

Soper's Hole BVI

We're checking in @ customs after motoring over from Maho Bay, St John.  Colorful buildings here @ port. Making lunch to eat while sailing to Norman Island and world class snorkeling this afternoon. Grilled chicken on charcoal grill on board last night. Curried couscous and stir fried veggies. And a little vino. Well maybe a lot of vino! Nothing like this in regular summer camp.

We're taking turns being captain for the day. Neil is captain today. He's in charge of assigning duties to the crew. Captain Gary is a patient and tolerant teacher. He even has gotten in a zinger or 2 on Jesse.  He's getting the hang of being around us while we're learning to sail. Fair trade, right?

First day of actual sailing

After a seemingly endless morning of instruction we cast off for points unknown and panic imediately set in that we needed more instruction. Oops! Each of us then practiced mooring on the hook before we really started sailing and each of us had a couple of chances at being at the helm. You know tacking is a lot different on a 44ft boat vs a 16 ft catamaran! Not to worry each of us did the required drills

This is great. We snorlkeled at maho bay where we were with Mary, Gil and kids 3 yrs ago. Way awesome.

Will try to meet up with John & Jane during the week.

All of this is prep for sharing the experience with all of you at some time or another. Paradise!

Sunrise over Red Hook

Camp counselor Gary gave us our first lessons last night. He already has us pegged as the camp rowdies. Go figure. Only problem is that there aren't enough serious campers to balance us out.

Summer Camp for Adults

Fitz asked us last night if we were excited about our trip. "Excited and anxious" we answered. Sage person that he is, Fitz said, "Just think about it as summer camp. You know, away from home, not sure what to expect, some planned activities and meals, and some free time for fun. You'll have a great time." Fitz was a wise old man from the day he was born. One look at him and I just knew.

So...Summer Camp...I like that analogy. Instead of horseback riding, arts and crafts, and singing Kumbaiya around the campfire with samores, we'll be snorkeling with tropical fish, learning to tie knots, and listening to Jesse's music on the iPod while drinking rum punch after a day of sun and sailing lessons. What's not to like?

Tempest brewing in VI

Jesse, Jane, Neil, and Ria are getting ready for their next adventure: bareboat sailing in the Virgin Islands beginning March 12. Follow their adventures!