Been a while. WiFi in St Thomas is so slow that its really not possible to post pictures. Also not to good for Paige doing school work. But I'm at home for a couple weeks and bored out of my gourd so I will kill some time and get this thing up to date.

So......    Look at the coconuts on this gal!!!

Hanging out with the Ex Pats in Puerto Rico we were introduced to one of their favorite drinks. Coconut water and scotch on the rocks. So good, and so good for you, was the running joke. But it turns out to be true.

10 Reasons Why Coconut Water is Good For You

1. It has absolutely no cholesterol – this is in addition to being a low-calorie drink.
2. Coconut water is identical to blood plasma. In World War II and even today in very rare cases in countries, coconut water has saved lives by being used as an intravenous hydration fluid instead of the standard IV fluid.
3. Despite being naturally sweet, it is extremely low in sugars.
4. It is low in sodium compared to energy drinks and high in chloride compared to sports drinks.
5. Regulates and controls the body’s temperature and boosts the immune system.
6. It boosts your metabolism, which is an important step in a person’s weight loss process.
7. It is a natural isotonic beverage i.e. is the perfect drink to rehydrate your body and replenish lost electrolytes.
8. It cleanses and settles the digestive tract by actively killing intestinal worms that makes for easier digestion and less chances of digestive illnesses.
9. Coconut water controls vomiting making it extremely important for those suffering from ailments that cause vomiting like typhoid, malaria or fevers.
10. In case you haven’t noticed a distinct connection between the last few benefits –coconut water is an excellent drink for hangovers.

The last one is particularly applicable if you hang out with the Ex Pats in Puerto Rico. I miss those guys! 

Number 8 is interesting. Kill the worms and catch a buzz at the same time. Does it get any better than that?

So did you learn something new? I did.

Another food picture.....

Made these lobster quesadillas and they were so pretty I just had to take a picture. And pretty tasty as well.

After Puerto Rico we hung out on At John for a few days. Most of the island is a national park and it is criss crossed with hiking trails. We really like St John.

View from the top of Canneel Hill. A very steep hike. Did it every morning. Vivo is the catamaran on the left of the three cats in this picture. Spectacular 360 deg view of the islands.

Drop a few granola bar crumbs and you have a St John chicken as a friend for life. I was going to invite her to (be) dinner.

Had some friends and family down for a couple weeks. Had a blast. Did the BVIs. No wind so no sailing but we hit a new island every day.

Some of the crew on Jost Van Dyke. Home of the famous Foxies. Little beach front town. And I mean little. 10 minute walk from one end of town to the other.

Kayak got a workout on this trip.

Some of the more adventurous of the group and I went snorkeling in the caves on Norman island. You are swimming with tens of thousands of little silver siders in a cave. Its like a cloud of fish. Very cool.

Captain Jacki at the helm. Youngest skipper in the history of ViVo.

So....  Back in Crown Bay Marina I'm in the cockpit one afternoon when I hear a very loud POP! Like a gun shot. Then a whirring like the sound of twirling a rope over your head. Looking over my shoulder I see a crane that was off loading freight containers come falling down. Its lifting cables had snapped. Dropped a container and the boom arm onto the pier. I felt the concussion. 

This is the view from the cockpit on Vivo. Its about 150 yards to where the crane came down. The red roof building at the lower left end of crane boom is the fuel depot. Missed it by maybe 70 feet. A three foot section of a cable winding landed at the marina office. Thats a couple hundred yard flight. One of the office staff went to pick it up and it was so hot it burned them.

Zoomed in shot from Vivo. A miracle no one was hurt. Red roof is the fuel dock. The cage looking projection on the crane is the operator. Bet he had to change his drawers after this one. All the cables came crashing into the cage. The boom jumped out of its attachment pivot points and slid down destroying the ladder that the crane operator uses to go up and down. Not sure how he got down but I'll bet we went straight for a coconut and scotch on the rocks!

Destroyed the shipping container. Blew the sides right off of it.

Took a couple of days and two cranes working in tandem to get the boom down. All shipments to and from St Thomas were on hold till they got this straightened out.

Got lucky this time. Look at the stack on the left. See the silver cylindrical tank in the middle of the stack? Don't know what was in it but I'm glad its not the one they dropped. It had some mean looking hazardous contents decals on the end of it.

All for now. Next up will be a trip down island to St Lucia. Vivos summer home for this summer.

peace

M