It's time to pull in the Triceratops snow measuring device for another year. We did get measurable snow this year but not much. 2 storms each about 6 inches. Spring is here, the weather is actually getting warmer and it is getting time to take the cover off the boat. We will be putting it in the first week of June. The water is still too cold in May to swim or sail and we usually get a bad storm around the middle of the month. I am working for the UPS store for 1 more week while the new owner in in training in San Diego. I will be really done on April 11. Need to find another part time job to generate some extra funds for beer making and travel during retirement. I am also running for a position on the Open Space Acquisition Committee here in Marion. This will be the first town committee that I will actually be elected to. All the others have been appointed positions.

We were in Florida from March 7 to 17 visiting Tim. Sean & Nicole found us a Time Share Unit in Pompano Beach where we stayed for 7 days and spent the other days in Tim's Condo. Did some beaching, geocaching and fishing. Picture above is of Ellen & I at the South Boca Raton Beach Webcam Geocache, communicating with Tim on whether or not our picture had been taken. Had a great time at the St. Patrick's Day parade in Del ray. The weather was beautiful, nice and warm. It was tough to come back home to the cold weather.

When we were geocaching we went to this park where they do cable Water skiing. Really neat. The cable runs in a large oval and the skiers can do jumps. The lake was very shallow because they were able to walk ashore when they fell.

The Annual USCGAA Fishing Tournament took place on October 6, 2007 under blue skies and some light fog. I fished on the "Patricia Ann" with John & Trish Bock. The 2 other boats that participated "Osprey" with Mimi & John, Mark Leonard and Bill Jordan, "Our Pleasure" Nick Golio & Peter Miller. "My Mercedes" dnf'd due to the first mate being stuck in Arruba. Peter & Nick took top honors for the most fish caught . We came in second with the 2 I caught (more weight than the "Ospreys 2 legal fish, Jordan tried to sneak in a day old one).

I have one objection to the prize situation.
Prizes

• 1st Place A scale
• 2nd Place Nada
• 3rd Place Kid's fishing kit
• Biggest Fish holder for Grill
• DNF Fishing Net

What happened to second place awards?? We certainly did better than the DNF'r Something to be considered for future events. You can check the link section for the rest of the pictures.

View From Villa- looking down on Chocolate Hole

Well, we made it!! This is the view from the porch looking down at Chocolate Hole and on the left Hart's Bay and on the right Great Cruz Bay. The weather for the week was gorgeous 80 to 85 during the day and mid 70's in the evenings. We flew out of Logan non-stop to St. Thomas on Friday March 2. The ride on the bus from the Myer's house to the airport was cold and rainy. At least we did not have the snowstorm that was originally predicted. We had a nice flight down but arrived a little late. The Myers & Bocks headed right for Redhook and the Ferry. The Jordans & Keoghs took the scenic route over the top of St. Thomas to Drake's Seat and then into Redhook to Marina Market for food shopping. We caught the 6pm ferry which did not leave until 7:15pm -island time. So we arrived after dark at the villa. It wasn't until the next morning that we saw what a great view we had.

After breakfast we headed off to the beach. For our first day we went to Hawksnest Bay Beach. The water was warm with blue skies. We did a little snorkeling on the reef, finding many small fishes. A lot of the small coral was dead from the bleaching from the extremely warm water last summer. The large coral- the Elkhorn and Brain corals seemed to be OK but there was a lot of color that seemed to be missing. All the beaches we went to had been damaged in the same way. The fishes were still around, lots of Blue Tangs, Butterfly fish, Parrot fish, and Bonito. we even watched a 3 foot Barracuda cruise the beach.

The beaches we went to were Hawksnest, Maho and Francis. Good snorkeling on all the reefs and in the rocks. I am always amazed about the amount of time I spend in the water and how easy it is to float. At home on Buzzards Bay, an hour for the whole summer for me is normal. I was in the water for at least 2 hours a day around St. John. On the way home from the beach we would stop at one of the drink shacks in Cruz Bay and get a smoothie for the ride home and then a swim in the pool before dinner.

Saturday night we went out to The Lime Tree Inn where we had a very nice dinner and would highly recommend it. The staff was courteous and friendly. We also ate out at the Paradiso in Mongoose Junction. The appetizers were really good, especially the portobello mushrooms and the calamari. The salads were also fresh and bountiful. The entrees on the other hand were not well prepared. A good place to graze but we would suggest eating somewhere else. We also went to Skinny Legs in Coral Bay for lunch and all had some great hamburgers.
And on Friday before we left we ate at the Westin on the Beach. Great meal and great location. The other nights we ate in the villa, dining on Ribs, Coconut Shrimp, Chicken Divan, And Sirloin Strips.

I wasn't able to do any hiking. My right leg was still booted up to protect my broken leg. I was able to take the boot off to go swimming and found it was easier snorkeling with only my left foot in a flipper. Caused some strange looks as I walked up & down the beach. We definitely will have to come back because there were a lot of places I would have liked to have seen but couldn't get to this year.

The pictures of where we did go, can be found under my link section. There aren't enough words to express the wonderful time we had. Couldn't have asked for a better vacation nor a better group of friends to share it with.