It was great to be back in Oz and to catch up with the family. It was strange not going back to Queanbeyan where I grew up, rather to Cootamundra where my parents have recently relocated. My father’s dementia has progressed to a stage that he now requires full time care. It is such a terrible disease that has robbed Dad of his memory and removed his ability to communicate. Fortunately Dad seems happy enough with his new accommodation. He now has the security of having people constantly around him. Mum is doing well and loves her new home, chooks and all. Cootamundra is a lovely little country town, this time of year it was very hot, dry and windy. Everyone is so friendly and welcoming. My sister Rachael lives on a property nearby with her husband Steve and their three boys. I met my newest nephew Jax who is five months old, he’s very cute with lots of giggles and smiles.

My 12 days flew by with regular visits to see Dad and what seemed like never ending appointments to see the doctor, dentist, chiropractor, hair dressers etc. I did manage to spend time with my sister and her family going to watch the boys play football and an assembly that included a presentation from Beau’s kindergarten class…so cute. Mum, Rachael and I even managed a girl’s night at home with homemade pizza, a few glasses of very tasty pinot noir and a chick flick.

After a sad good bye to Dad, Mum drove me back to Canberra the day before my early morning flight to Sydney. We had a lovely lunch with my brother Pete at the Arboretum. That evening I caught up with good friend Paulie, Becs and their adorable three year old Charlotte. After a couple of bottles of bubbles and what seemed like only a couple of hours (probably more like five hours), a sad farewell and I headed to my airport hotel. I caught a few hours’ sleep before my early morning flight. It was going to be a very long Thursday.

The flight home was a lot quicker than my trip home as I had less time in transit. I was concerned about getting through the LAX airport customs in time for my connecting flight. Fortunately my flight was one of the first to arrive so it all went fairly smoothly. I did get pulled aside and asked some additional questions by border control but I was the only one in the queue so it was fast. After 4 flights I finally made it back to St Thomas and I found my gorgeous hubby waiting for me in his rental car. It was late Thursday night local time, my longest Thursday ever.

Aura was still anchored in Christmas Cove so it was a dingy trip across the passage in the dark. Fortunately the sea was calm. It was great to be home and to catch up on all the goings on. Si was very busy while I was away between socialising and doing boat jobs. Si had also done a major grocery shop (and just a few bottles of $7 rum) in preparation for our trip to the Bahamans.

Now that I was back on Aura we started looking at the weather window for our five day sail to the Bahamas. Unfortunately there was a big tropical low that formed over the Bahamas that brought windy, raining weather to the Virgin Islands. After a few days, the wind dropped and swung around from the south. Not good sailing weather. I was not too concerned as it meant that I had a few days to catch up on sleep and enjoy being back on Aura.

Over the weekend, we had the opportunity to watch the St Thomas Regatta that was hosted by the St Thomas Yacht Club that was located on the other side of the passage. On the Saturday night we went across to the yacht club to join the fun and to catch up with the Australian crew that were racing on Tas (with the Tasmanian Devil as their logo). They were also anchored in Christmas Cove and had previously come over to say hi. We also had a fun day sail fishing trip sail on El Gatto (Annie & Erics’ Catana 471) trawling for fish. Si had caught up with them while I was away however I didn’t get to see Annie as she was on a short trip back in the USA.

Kim & Alan ("Lets Go" support Tas)

With the southerly wind, Christmas Cove was getting some swell resulting in Aura rolling back and forth. We rolled through two nights before we agreed that we had to move anchorages. Not to mention that a change of scenery would be nice. With the seasonal north easterly trade winds, Christmas Cove is well protected by a reef. On Monday after Si finally returned from a final shopping trip (which took him several hours as the buses were not running and he had to leg it most of the way), we finally picked up the anchor and moved to Magens Bay.

Our friends Ian and Ann on Tourterelle had recommended it as it has a lovely beach, lots of space and very few boats. We were not disappointed. We arrived at approximately 4pm and anchored close to the beach. There were a couple of other sailing yachts and a motor yacht that we anchored nearby. It was great people watching as the beach was crowded throughout the day by visiting cruise liner passengers. By 4pm, the beach was close to deserted and we could walk the beach while watching the pelicans dive bomb for fish.

After a few days the wind swung around to the North East and the anchorage started to get rolley from the swell. We returned to St John and “checked out” in Cruz Bay. We enjoyed an American BBQ lunch with a couple of cold beers. Of course there was that last minute provisioning. The next day at 7am we set sail for the Bahamas.

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