Signing off for 2007

This is my last post for 2007, and I leave you with one of my favorite photos of the year. I haven't sailed at all since the BVIs, because there's not enough wind on the bay at this time of year. So I have no new sailing adventures to report.

I'd summarize 2007 as chock full of fun and exciting sailing experiences, quite a bit of travel, some truly great times with friends, eight great months of working at Google, and four very eventful months off from work. It was a year of much personal growth for me, and for that I'm thankful. I've met a lot of wonderful people, both in the sailing community and elsewhere, and many of them have become treasured friends... another thing for which I'm very thankful. (You know who you are!) I also had some experiences that were not so pleasant and some real struggles, but each of those experiences was a growth opportunity for me as well.

If you've been reading my blog regularly this year, I thank you for your time and support and hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Be sure to check back to read about my sailing adventures in 2008!

Happy new year and fair winds to you and yours!

cj

Sailing in the BVIs

I spent 11 days in the British Virgin Islands at the beginning of December, nine of them living on a 40' Beneteau with three people I hardly knew. We were part of a 14-boat flotilla organized by the ASA. Six of the boats, including mine, were occupied by people from my sailing club, Spinnaker Sailing.

My purpose in going on this trip was to do a lot of sailing and get my bareboat certification. What I didn't realize is that "cruising" in the BVIs means a lot of partying and not as much emphasis on sailing as I would have liked. Live and learn...

Needless to say, the trip was ok but not my cup of tea (since I don't drink much). We had only two days of real sailing (up to Anegada and back the next day) and motored around most of the rest of the time. We put up the sails for an hour or two here and there, but we always had the motor on.

So I don't have much to say about this trip, except that I did learn what it's like to live on a boat and got lots of practice mooring and anchoring, since we made two stops most days. Most of the islands looked about the same to me... just a different beach bar at each stop. The two stops I liked the most were The Baths on Virgin Gorda and Loblolly Bay on the north side of Anegada.

Some pictures are available on my Picasa page, and a couple of videos are available on YouTube: Anegada, one of my favorite spots, and Floating Bar, which is indicative of how my boat mates spent most of their days.