Welcome

Monday, May 15, 2023, San Juan, Puerto Rico

Hi and welcome to our blog! This is a journal of the Davis family sailing trip to the British Virgin Islands in May 2023. The trip was presented by Lisa to Alan on his 60th birthday and also commemorates our 30th anniversary, the celebration of which was delayed by Covid. We did a charter in the US Virgins for our honeymoon oh-so-many years ago and have been eager to recreate the experience. Ryan and Kyle had also both expressed interest in doing a sailing charter, so here we are.

We decided on the title "The JD Sailing Adventure" in honor of my Dad, who's passing last week was a blessing that ended a period of suffering for all of us. Dad was known by many simply as JD, and gifted his love of sailing, boating, and all things outdoors to our entire family. Perhaps coincidentally, and perhaps not, the boat we are chartering is named "J-Dog". Oddly, I did not make the connection until last Thursday, then it hit me. This was destined to be the JD Sailing Adventure all along.

The silver lining of Dad's passing is that it gave my stepmom Bronny and sister Deb, who have been providing Dad with vigilant and loving care for over two years, the opportunity to join our trip. I am proud of them for saying yes under the circumstances. As Bronny said, "Why not?" It's certainly what Dad would have wanted.

In addition to the presence of JD, we also have the presence of Ruth, Lisa's mom who passed away last summer. She had wished her remains to be scattered in the waters of Honduras, where she grew up. We decided the BVIs would be close enough. We plan to scatter her ashes somewhere along the way, and she can find her own way there ... she's always loved to travel.

So on top of our two honored ghosts, our crew consists of myself (Alan), Lisa, Kyle, Ryan, Ryan's girlfriend Erika, Bron, and Deb. Is it a bad sign that there were also seven aboard the ill-fated SS Minnow? I hope not.

Our boat is a 48-foot Beneteau, chartered from BVI Yacht Charters. We pick up her up in Tortola on Wednesday. Lisa, Kyle, and I planned to arrive a day early so that we'd have time for provisioning, and to absorb any contingencies. Well, it's good thing we did -- our connecting flight from San Juan was canceled, so instead of spending the night in Tortola we are here in Puerto Rico.

None of us had been here before so we decided to venture into "Old Town" San Juan to get a taste of the local culture. I'm not sure we succeeded -- Old Town is apparently where the cruise ships embark, so the whole area was full of people from exotic places like Connecticut and Abilene. We did have a nice meal at an authentic-seeming place and got to sample the local rum.

We have a rescheduled flight out tomorrow so hopefully the next post will come from the BVIs!

Some new friends in San Juan (random photobombers from the big boat)

More new friends


The big boat


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