11/09/2025-Barcelona Spain
The day started out well. All flights from Barcelona to
Atlanta appeared to be a go despite the government shutdown and the canceling
of hundreds of flights. The taxi was on time and traffic was light on a Sunday
morning as we made our way to the airport. The only airport in Barcelona. We have
been in and out of this airport 6 or 8 times, we know it well. We checked in at
the Delta Sky Priority desk, no waiting.
Next stop was the customs office to get a paper stamped so
we could get our VAT refunded for our Beltrami purchase. It takes some effort
to get the refund, so we typically do not bother with smaller purchases. In
this case the VAT was nearly 300 euros. The line was long, but it moved
quickly. Unfortunately, Beltrami did not give us the right paper and we could
not get a refund.
Moving on we proceeded through the security check with no
issues. They are far more efficient here in Europe, yet I do not feel that they
are cutting any corners. Because we had to wait until the last minute to buy
our plane tickets, we were only able to secure Main Cabin, I was not looking
forward to a 10-hour plane ride in Main Cabin. We boarded early and found our
seats. They turned out not to be too bad in terms of legroom and Suzette was
able to rest her feet on the floor. The plane was ready to go early but this
was the beginning of a series of problems that plagued the flight.
The captain comes on the PA and tells us that there is a
maintenance issue, and they need to replace a part in the cockpit. The good
news is that the part is available here on site, remember it is Sunday, but it
will take about 45 minutes to retrieve it. About an hour or so later we pushed
back and headed to the runway but for some reason we took a lengthy pause on
the taxi way. After about 30 minutes of silence the pilot comes on and explains
that due to the maintenance delay the crew has timed out and cannot fly to
Atlanta. The good news is that we can fly to Kenedy where they will put a fresh
crew on the plane and take us to Atlanta. Since our connecting flight was not
until the next day and we had already arranged an airport hotel in Atlanta this
was only an inconvenience not a deal killer, yet.
We had to pull into a holding area where the pilot received
paperwork and filed a new flight plan. This took more than an hour. We finally got
underway and waited our turn for takeoff and wait and wait. Our 1055 flight
finally took off at around 1430. I find it hard to believe that Kenedy was so
much closer that they could leave three and one half hours later and not time
out. We were just happy to be on our way! I was happy to see that drink cart
come trundling down the aisle, red wine please. Dinner was good and the flight
was smooth. I had already watched 3 movies and was on my second glass of wine
when I drifted off to sleep.
We arrived at Kenedy at about 1530. As we made our way to
the gate the pilot reassured us that the crew change would be quick so we
should remain seated in order to expedite the change. The new crew boarded and
quickly settled in. After about 45 minutes the pilot came on and announced that
the overly diligent ground crew had immediately unloaded our luggage, and it
was sitting in customs. We would have to deplane and go through immigrations
and customs here in New York. Can this get any worse…yes.
We breezed through immigrations with our Global Entry Pass
and retrieved our luggage with no customs intervention. We rolled our suitcases
about 100m and rechecked them. We had to go through TSA security to go to our
gate, but none of us had boarding passes that indicated that we were boarding a
plane at Kenedy to go to Atlanta. Here we waited for about a half hour for
someone to bless this mess and allow TSA to process us. The plane was at one
end of the terminal and customs was at the opposite end, so we did get a good
walk in before reboarding.
At the gate we were told that they would have to check us in
manually because this was not really our airport of departure. They wanted us
in order of zone the same way we boarded in Barcelona. This process was slow
and clumsy. And, of course resulted in some missing bodies that had to be
accounted for. We finally departed for Atlanta at about 2100, now we were
officially a domestic flight. As we pushed back from the gate the pilot warned
us that the runway was backed up, and he did not have an ETA for takeoff. One movie
later we were heading down the runway and on our way to Atlanta, but this is
not over…
We landed in Atlanta but had to wait a few minutes for our
gate to clear before finally pulling in and preparing to deplane, but we were
not deplaning. So, the pilot comes on once again and tells us they are having
trouble with the jet bridge. It turned out that the ground crew stopped the
plane on the wrong mark and they would have to tow us forward to the proper
mark. This requires that everyone return to their seats. After about a half
hour the doors opened, and we were free to go. Our luggage was waiting for us
at baggage claim, and we were on our way to the hotel at about 0230 after a 20-hour
odyssey. We caught the last hotel shuttle that was packed full of arriving passengers.
Fortunately, we were the first stop. My head hit the pillow at about 0300 and I
was gone!
11/10/2025-Atlanta, Georgia
I awoke with a start as the sun was streaming past the
closed curtains. It was a little before 0700 so it was not an issue. I was
afraid that I overslept. You know you are back in the US when the hotel rooms
are huge, the shower is a tub and there is carpeting on the floor. We packed up
and took the 0800 shuttle to the airport. We had already checked in online; I was
reasonably confident that our flight to St Thomas was not canceled. Quick
baggage check in, zipped through TSA pre security and we were enjoying espresso
drinks in the concourse with time to spare. We got upgraded from Main Cabin to
Comfort+ and the plane left on time. It was a beautiful flight to St Thomas
with great views of the islands as we made our approach. When we left Atlanta,
it was 33 degrees, here in St Thomas it was 83.
We decided to rent a car so we could easily get around, sightseeing and investigation of the port for our boat delivery. I did not realize that they drive on the left side of the road, I might have not rented the car. It was another odyssey to find our apartment, but I will spare you the details and simply say that once we found it, we were happy we had rented a car and very happy with our apartment. The place was spacious and well equipped with a panoramic view of the harbor and the Caribbean. We settled in and waited out the bug bewitching hour, sunset, before venturing out for some food. I only found myself driving head long into traffic one time as we navigated the city. Unfortunately, it was on a very busy road, fortunately we did not get hit.
We found a great grocery store with plenty of beautiful
fresh fruits and vegetables as well as a few other necessities. Pasta with
fresh vegis for dinner, a California wine and early bed time. We did finally
get an offload schedule for our boat. Unfortunately, it is 11/13 first thing in
the morning, logistically this will make it very difficult to get to the boat
yard in Tortola and make it to the family gathering in time. Now I have a new
logistical problem to solve.
11/11/2025-St Thomas, Virgin Islands
Up early as my body clock is still on euro time. Plenty to
think about and strategize on. Our apartment is very comfortable and from my
balcony I can see the entire harbor. I also see that my ship has not arrived
yet, which means there will likely be more delays. Reaching out to our boat
yard in Tortola he was already booked to the end of the week and will need to
push us to Monday. He indicated that we could arrange for a captain to bring
the boat into the yard, I just need to get the boat to his marina. Oh yea,
there is a boat show there this week so I probably cannot get a slip.
Early morning rain gave way to a sunny humid day. Temps at about 85 will take some getting accustomed to. We made a dry run to the shipyard and ran into one of the agents that we have been coordinating with. He was happy to give us access to our boat when we were ready. We wanted to pick up some warm weather clothes and get the boat prepped for an early morning splash. In the meantime, there was a bit of shopping in the cruise port for a sun dress, shot sleeve shirt and sandals, mission accomplished. We thought we would have access to clothes on the boat by now, as if Suzette needed an excuse to shop for clothes.
We worked hard on the logistics, but we had to toss in the towel on the east coast visit with family. I just did not feel confident in hiring a captain to do my job. We saw that our ship had arrived and Raffaellesco was still on board. Since we had a car, we decided to do a little land tour and see some of the interior. I do not think that St Thomas is any bigger than Catalina Island, but it is more developed.
11/12/2025-St Thomas, Virgin Islands
Up early anticipating a visit to the ship as our first order
of business. Upon inspection Raffaellesco was just how we left her and she was
very clean, probably yesterday’s rain. We had her ready to unload in no time.
On the way out the loadmaster shared with us that we would be second to
offload, not first. Oh, good I get to sleep in.
We drove to the closest chandlery that turned out to be in the marina, but they had very little of interest. The second chandlery was great and had most of what I was looking for. The most important thing was some fresh cotter pins for reattaching the back stay. Satisfied with our shopping, we headed to beach. Suzette thought that this may have been where she first went scuba diving many years ago. The beach was packed, and the music was booming. The beach was not so attractive, but the water was beautiful and so was the view as we looked north into the Atlantic.
On the way back to the apartment we stopped in the Yacht Haven Village. The big yachts are moored here as well as the cruise ships. As you can imagine, these are stores geared toward the cruise ship passengers. We went to an interesting gourmet market. They had a huge wine selection but what caught my eye was a rack of 50% wines. They turned out to be very old wines originally costing hundreds of dollars. After checking out the other wines and talking to their wine guy I concluded that 50% off old wine that is past its prime is not a bargain.
My new favorite store is Mo’s, they have a great wine
selection at reasonable prices, and the fresh vegetables were great as well. We
resisted buying food, but we did get some wine to go with dinner. At the
apartment it was time to pack up in preparation for moving onto the boat. Dinner
and early bed, it will be a busy day tomorrow.
11/13/2025-St Thomas, VI
Up early to finish packing and get ready to splash
Raffaellesco! We arrived at the ship with perfect timing, 5 min prep and here
come the slings. The boat was hanging next to the ship in no time, and we got
on board. A few more minutes and we were floating freely. The batteries looked good,
and she started right up. We headed to the fuel dock which was literally on the
other side of the pier that the ship was moored on. We took 100 gallons of fuel
for $4.50 per gal. This was cheap compared to Europe where we were paying about
$8.00 per gal.
Our slip was across the fairway, and the dock hands were ready for us. This would be a new experience in docking. The slip had finger pier but further out there were pilings on either side of the slip. We backed in between the pilings and side tied to the finger pier. It was a little less than graceful, but no fiberglass was harmed. We checked in at the marina office; I had already sent my documents digitally so all I needed to do is complete and sign their contract. Hurricanes are very real here, and you are required to leave the marina in the event of a named storm. This requires you or a designated captain are always available to move the boat. They are also requiring a hurricane plan; “go to sea and seek a sheltered cove”.
Now that we will be back on the boat for a few days we
needed some groceries, which are more easily done using the car. We stopped at
Moe’s and managed to spend $255 for a couple days’ worth of groceries,
everything is wildly expensive. I think our mistake was going to Moe’s in the
cruise port and there were a few bottles of wine involved.
Back to boat I was anxious to plug into 110v power and enjoy
air conditioning and all the conveniences of being plugged into the dock. Since
the EU is 230v this will be the first time we have used the 110v system. For
some reason we were unable to get the power to come on inside the boat. I
clearly had power to boat but nothing was working inside. I consulted my heavily
modifies wiring diagram and start back tracking through the system to see if I
had messed something up when I added the parallel 230v system, but I was
getting nowhere.
We had to return the rental car at 1600, and we needed to
retrieve our luggage from the apartment while we had a car. Without power for
the air conditioning the boat would be unbearable for sleeping, we might have
to keep the car and stay one more night in the apartment, the apartment was
already paid for through tomorrow. At the apartment we had lunch while I
explored a few things online relative to my electrical issue. We loaded up our
bags and returned to the boat, but we stashed the apartment key outside of the
apartment in case we had to return or we were checking out early.
With a fresh look at the power issue, I quickly figured it
out. The main breakers where the power comes into the boat do not say “on” and
“off”, they have a red and green mark depending on which way the switch is
thrown. Silly me, I thought green would be on but instead red is on. WTF! With
the power issue resolved we headed to the airport to return our car. Stopping
for fuel Suzette discovered a fantastic local market and bought way to many
walnuts, dates and figs, she simply can not resist the urge to buy good food.
After we turned in the car we flagged a taxi. We hopped in
and the very nice lady driving the Taxi drove us about 100’ and said that we
should take the bus where the guy in the white shirt was loading people and
bags. We were very confused by this, but I guess she thought this would be
better for us. We hopped out and hurriedly boarded the bus. Evidently this bus
stops at the various resorts and marinas. As we drove, I realized that in the
confusion of leaving the Taxi I left my phone on the seat! Our driver called
the taxi driver, and she had my phone. I get to ride the bus and my phone gets
to ride in the taxi to the marina. Alls well that ends well.
On the boat it was time to fire up the AC and go take a
shower while the boat cools. Well… the AC was not working! We were getting an
error code, but the manual did not tell you the meaning of the error codes.
Upon investigation I found that the water pump that supplies sea water to the
system was extraordinarily hot and not pumping. We shut it all down and let the
pump cool. Dismantling the pump, I found that the magnet in the pump side, not
the motor, had seized. The motor could turn but the magnet that drives the impeller
was frozen. I managed to get the pump apart and Suzette cleaned the parts while
I made sure the motor itself was ok. I reassembled the pump and voile, we had
air conditioning.
I was a sweating mess by the time I finished this job and was
wiped out from a stressful day. While we let the boat cool down, we headed off
to the showers and then aperitivos at the marina restaurant. The restaurant was
open-air and recently taken over by a new management group. Tonight was a soft
opening. The staff had a lot to learn but the cocktails and grilled octopus
were really good. There was live music lending to the Island party vibe. Returning
to our nicely cooled boat we were too tired for dinner and collapsed in our bed
for a very good night’s sleep.
11/14/2025-St Thomas, USVI
In the cool of the morning, 80 degrees, we began the process
of recommissioning the boat. Since we would only be here for a week, I thought
we would not do all the things we normally would do but I was wrong. The main
sail went up fairly easily, nothing like a little Mclube in the sail track. Out
with the safety gear, up with the dodger and bimini and hang the grill on the
rail. We accomplished all of this by about 1100, time to hide out below for the
hottest part of the day.
In the afternoon we walk to the Western Cemetery No. 1. As
it turns out my Great Uncle, by marriage, Roy Bornn, was the Government
Secretary here in St Thomas in the 70’s. He would routinely stand in as acting Governor
when the Official Governor would travel. The cemetery was huge and full of crypts
dating back to 1900. We stopped at the funeral home next to the cemetery to see
if they had any king of directory for the cemetery. The sign on the door said
“open” but the door was locked and no one responded to my knock, it was like a
morgue in there… After wandering through the many crypts and finding nothing we
moved on.
We found ourselves in the French quarter and Suzette was jonesing for an ice cream. The French Quarter bistro had French vanilla ice cream for Suzette and an ice cold Heineken for me. The French quarter had a main street with a few shops and restaurants looking something like New Orleans. The day was cooling down as we made our way back to the boat.
Our boat neighbor to starboard was a Nordhaven 50. They had
just arrived after a 10 day bash from Rhode Island. They got pretty beat up but
the Nordhaven can take it. They motored for 257 hours straight through. After
taking a 60 degree roll at night he decided to check the specs on how far a
Nordhaven can roll and discovered 100 degrees!
Our boat neighbor to port was a beautiful Hinkley Bermuda
50. They had just had their boat shipped from Rhode Island and were
recommissioning. They have a home on St Croix, and they were taking the boat
there.
11/15/2025-St Thomas, USVI
Up with the sun to finish our commissioning, raised the jib
and we were ready to go. We checked out with the office and threw off the
lines. Our water tank was empty for shipping, so we motored east to St John and
made water. The water tanks have only ever had RO water from the water maker in
them. The water maker worked like a champ, and we had a half tank in no time.
We anchored in Coral Harbor at the SE corner of St John. There were many derelict boats at moorings and in the man groves, missing or broken masts and seemingly left to decay. We were greeted by a good sized sea turtle as we settled on our anchor. On shore there were wild goats running along the seaside streets. We fired up the generator and enjoyed the AC for the hottest part of the day. Suzette did some laundry, and we continued making water. All systems seem to be working.
As the sun was setting it was a perfect time to relax in the
cockpit with rum and my book. Fortunately, there were no bugs to speak of, but
we have been warned. The breeze was light, and the stars were shing in the sky.
Finally cruising the Caribbean.
11/16/2025-Coral Harbor, St John, USVI
We were awakened around 0330 when a little rain squall came
through and rocked the boat after a very quiet calm night. I got up to close
the hatches and check our positioned relative to the other boats around us. All
was good but now I was up and awake, so was the Admiral. Suzette had been
feeling like our water lines or water heater might be contaminated after
sitting through the hot summer. She felt like there was an odor. Doing some
homework online she discovered that it could possibly be the anode in the water
heater. This chore had been on my list to do, and I had the replacement anode
in my spares. At 0400 the work began, better in the cool of the night than the
heat of the day.
The water heater is buried under the cabinet on the
starboard side of the VIP berth. Accessible if you have long arms and can
contort in odd ways. One out of two is not bad. After consulting a YouTube
video I was full of confidence and made good progress until I encountered the 2
inch nut that screws in for the heating element. Plyers were big enough but not
the right orientation. Then I remembered a tool I bought for removing the oil
filter. Of course, it was buried under a ton of stuff still stored in my work
room but it turned out to be the perfect tool! The anode was completely gone,
shame on me for waiting so long. Suzette cleaned off the scale on the heating element,
and I reassembled and cleaned up my mess by 0700.
We got underway about 0830 and motored to Soper’s Hole where we could check into the BVI. The wind was light, the skies were sunny, and the sea was flat. I was anxious about checking in as we had so many bad experiences in Europe. The customs dock was full of boats, but the dock master encouraged me to flag a dinghy to get a ride in. Lots of small boats around so no problem getting a ride. Suzette put on her captain’s hat and milled about the bay while I did the check in. Admiral to Captain, demotion? Despite all the bad press I read about checking in here the people were nice, and the process was easy. 5 windows and $111 we were on our way. We headed east to Nanny Cay and found our marina for the night. Nanny Resort and Marina are a very well protected little enclave away from the big city of Road Town. We slid into a slip and side tied to the full length finger with plenty of help on shore. It was noon so we wasted no time plugging in and cooling down for the afternoon.
I spent the afternoon removing the canvas and installing the
covers in preparation for storing the boat for 1 month. I say storing but we
are having some work done; paint the bottom, a little fiberglass repair on the
rudder and clean wax the hull. We are probably overdue for the bottom paint. By
the end of the day, we were ready for haul out. Dinner and early bed.
11/17/2025- Nanny Cay Marina, Tortola, BVI
Up early as usual. It
is kind of nice to enjoy the cool of the morning. We packed our bags and
deposited them at the hotel by 0700. We motored over to the haul out area by
0730 and turned the boat over to Bentley Hodges, the yard manager. I liked
Bentley from the first time I spoke with him on the phone, he seems very
competent and confident.
Since we were in a resort we headed to the beach and enjoyed
the cool breeze under an umbrella on a lounge chair. The view was fabulous. We
read and napped for a while as we waited for the boat to be supported on shore.
We got back on board at about 1130 so we could finish putting things away and
battening down the hatches. We collected our laundry and headed back to the
hotel lobby to cool off. The laundromat
was a little rough, but it worked out ok. A couple of margs in the open air bar
passed the time quickly.
With laundry done the time had come that we could move into our room, a perfectly acceptable hotel apartment for the night. We walked back to the boat yard office and paid for our haul out and for our storage through the end of the month. The haul out was about $790 and the storage is about $38/day. This all seemed reasonable to me.
We went for a dip in the pool and met some interesting people. In particular I enjoyed talking to this guy who did boat electronics. He had flown in to do a repair for someone. He was very informative and seemed to be very knowledgeable.
Suzette had premade a beautiful salad for us to enjoy in the
evening. We had the last bottle of our favorite Greek wine to wash it down.
11/18/2025-Nanny Cay, Tortola, BVI
We organized our luggage and made one last trip to the boat.
We had to check out of our apartment by 11:00 so we hauled our luggage to the
hotel office to store it for the day. We enjoyed espresso drinks at the café
and Suzette went to the Spa for a massage which she raved about. Our taxi picked
us up at 1400 and we were off to the airport hoping that American Airlines was
going to do a better job than Delta did. The airport is at the other end of the
island, technically it is not on Tortola, rather it is on Beef Island. We
traversed the island on the main road, a very bumpy road for a main road. We
got the full tour passing through rural areas and the big city of Road Town.
The airport was deserted, and we were early, so we checked
our bags and enjoyed a bench outside in the shade with a nice breeze. Security
was inefficient but with few passengers it went quickly. The flight left on
time, well island time, a few minutes late. It is hard to believe that it is
nearly a 3-hour plane ride to Miami. Our seats were very comfortable, and they
served a delicious dinner and a descent red wine. We landed in Miami early,
such a beautiful airport with fish sculptures on the walls and brass sea life
embedded in the terrazzo floors.
We had an 11-hour layover so I had reserved a room at the in
airport hotel near the international gates. The room was comfortable, and it
was good to get some quality sleep ahead of our last bit of our journey.
11/19/2025-Miami Beach, Florida
Up and out early to find no one in the security line and an
uncrowded airport at 0600 in the morning. Our plane was a little late, but they
were able to make up time in the air. Our first-class seat was very
comfortable, but not as nice as Delta’s International Premium. On the other
hand the American Airlines food was better. We landed early in Pheonix and had
time for some lunch, a delicious soup and sandwich at French oriented
restaurant. Another slightly late departure but a comfortable flight. Touching down
at John Wayne it felt good to be home. Our luggage was first off of the
conveyor and we were off. A short taxi ride home and our journey was done for
now! The house looked great.
This was a working trip in an effort to move the boat to the
Caribbean, though probably less work than sailing her across the Atlantic. I
still have mixed feelings about not making the crossing. For now, we will look
forward to Thanksgiving at Catalina Island on Rascal and catching up with
friends her in HB.
And time for planning the next adventure in the Caribbean!
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