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Ship's Log 7/15/02 Chaguaramas, Trinidad 10*40.5N 61*38.3W We arrived this morning and anchored down at 0900. The trip went well...no one was ill. Thank you for your prayers! The last 24 hours were a little rough. There was about an 8 foot swell, with sustained 20-knot winds, frequently 25 knots, and gusting to 30. We had two reefs in the main and jib, so we were able to keep our speed down to about 6 knots so as not to arrive in the dark. K.C. did a fine job, taking watches and at the helm. We have enjoyed having him aboard. Now we will work on preparing the boat for haul out.  GN crew Ship's Log 7/14/02 38 miles WSW of Grenada 11*53.1'N 62*24.3'W   We have had a nice trip so far. Today it is a little rougher. Seas are 7-9 feet off the port bow. Wind is 15-20 knots off the port bow...too close to the nose (head on) to sail. Every few waves we get one over the main saloon...major salt water wash but we'll rinse it away when we arrive. Last night we did scheduled watches and we will tonight, too. I had 8-10pm and 2-4am, K.C. had 10pm-12am and 4am-6am, Mike took 12-2am and 6-8am. I watched the movie Spy Game during my watch...it was good. K.C. and I are watching the Mariners play the Devil Rays right now (2:30pm). 5-2 Mariners. Still no fish, but prepping the dinners before we left the dock has been a godsend. The crew are all fine. We are traveling at about 5 knots and we expect to arrive at Trinidad around 7:30am.    Ship's Log 7/13/02 About 116 miles West of St. Lucia and Martinique 14*10.5'N 63*05.7W   Still enroute to Trinidad. The seas have been forgiving...thank you for your prayers! We are traveling at about 5 knots..nice and comfortable. We should arrive in two days. All is well here. No fish yet, but some really delicious dinners that I had prepared in advance. Seen a lot of flying fish. We are enjoying having K.C. aboard. That's all for now. GN Crew Ship's Log 7/12/02 120 miles west of Guadeloupe 15*55'N 63*47W   En route to Trinidad. We are under sail, traveling at about 5 knots. A little slow, but nice and comfortable. Waves off the port bow 6-8 feet, about 7 seconds apart. Night watches went smoothly. Lots of flying fish. At this rate, we won't arrive until the wee hours of the morning of the 15th. Mike & K.C. enjoyed watching a couple of live baseball games yesterday on the new satelite! The crew are all well, Mike, Val and K.C.    Ship's Log 7/11/02 Just East of St. Croix 17*46.2'N 64*33.7'W   We left Tortola Wednesday morning (7/10) and had a nice trip to St. Croix where we enjoyed dinner with Richard and Sylvia. We also got to see their new beautiful home! The newlyweds seem so happy and we are glad for them. We left Christiamstead at about 12:30pm and we are on our way to Trinidad! It should take about four days. 7/7/02 Great Harbor, Peter Island, BVI On the 4th, we left the dock in Tortola and motored to Cruz Bay, St. John to watch the fireworks. We anchored at about 7:30 outside of the harbor with a few other boats (usually there are no boats out that far). We laid on the trampoline and waited, listening to the loud music from shore. After a while it got cold, so I got my pillow and blue blanket from our cabin, and bundled up, laying on the starboard trampoline and looking at the stars. As the time passed, more and more boats collected around us. Sailboats, a couple of mega-yachts, fishing boats, dinghies and cigarette boats milling around. By the time the fireworks started there were maybe two dozen boats anchored closely around us, and maybe a couple of dozen more motoring around the rest. The fireworks began at 9pm and were fantastic! Once again, we had the best seat in the house! After some of the boats cleared out, we slowly made our way around to Hawksnest Bay, where we took anchor for the night. Friday morning we went to the Indians and did a little diving. Then we moved to Great Harbor and we have been here since. Our friends Mustard Seed anchored in the harbor and we went over for a visit. Besides that and a little snorkeling, we have done nothing for three days!!! It has been sweet. We really needed the rest. The satelite we expected to install on Saturday was not delivered on time. We now expect to have it installed on Monday or Tuesday, and plan to depart Wednesday morning to St. Croix, have dinner with Richard and Sylvia and see their new house, and then depart St. Croix Thursday morning the 11th to Trini., weather permitting. We'll let you know how the schedule progresses and when we depart. Ship's Log 7/4/02 Village Cay Marina, Roadtown, Tortola, BVI   We had a wonderful trip with "the mom's," Mike's mom Charlotte and my mom Betty. They both arrived in St. Thomas on Sunday, June 23rd. We stayed at the dock at Yacht Haven Marina for the first night, and got under way around 9am the next morning. We decided to head straight for Jost Van Dyke. Betty took the helm from Charlotte Amalie to about Great St. James island, and Charlotte took the helm from there to Great Harbor, Jost. After Mike checked us in, we had lunch at Foxy's, and then went around the point to White Bay for the rest of the day. We ended up spending 4 nights in White Bay! It was wonderful. We swam, snorkeled, played scrabble, read, and rested. Betty learned to snorkel and did a fine job. We saw the two young nurse sharks at the East end, and that was exciting. K.C. decided that he wanted to sail with us to Trinidad, so we will pick him up before we go next week. Friday morning we decided we needed to check out a few other places, so we went to the Indians to snorkel, and then anchored in The Bight, Norman Island. Saturday we sailed back and forth in the Sir Frances Drake channel before sailing to West End for shopping and dinner at the Jolly Roger. Sunday Charlotte, Betty and I played scrabble while Mike drove us back to St. Thomas. Mike's mom had an early morning flight, while Betty and I went shopping and had lunch downtown before taking her to the airport. It was an enjoyable and restful week for us all. I think Betty won one game of scrabble, Charlotte won two and I won two. Tournament to be continued... After we dropped off the moms, we left the dock and spent the night at Christmas Cove, only our fifth night at anchor by ourselves! Tuesday morning we took Good News back to Village Cay to have the work finished up on the TV Satelite. Also we had some extra A/C vents added, another grab bar added to the port stern steps to help us get out of the water with scuba tanks on, work done on the watermaker, another support bar for holding the dinghy in place when raised, and some other miscellaneous work. We have to leave the dock tonight as all slips are booked by folks from Puerto Rico off for the 4th of July weekend. We will either go to St. John to watch the fireworks or to White Bay for two days. We return to the dock Saturday for the final installation of the Internet satelite dish system. Then we will pick up K.C. either Sunday and Monday and head off to St. Croix and then Trinidad. Ship's Log June 18, 2002 Soper's Hole, West End, Tortola, BVI 18*23.17"N 64*42.3W   I came down by myself on Friday, June 7th and opened up the boat. It was kind of fun doing it by myself, though we were already hooked up to shore power and the windows were not covered. We had a television satelite dish installed, so I had a lot of cleaning up and putting away to do. The Barretts arrived on St. Thomas on Saturday, June 8th. They visited Coral world, did some shopping, and relaxed before taking the ferry over to Tortola on Monday the 10th. We had lunch at the Village Cay Marina Restaurant, rested and visited, and then ate dinner at the Captain's Table, a great seafood restaurant. On Tuesday, we all went swimming with the dolphins at Prospect Reef Hotel. First Whitnae and I did an open swim with them, where we just swam around, snorkeled, and dove and the dolphins played with us in the water, swimming around us, following us, or whizzing by our faces. It was delightful! Also, Kimbit, a younger male dolphin, bumped Whitnae in the rear! They said that was a show of affection! After the swim, we walked along the shore and had lunch at the Scuttle But Pub. Next Bill, Mindy, Whitnae and Morgan did the structured dolphin swim, where the dolphins pushed them by their feet, pulled them through the water as they held on to their dorsal fins, and jumped through hoops and over bars as they held them up. They were able to pet the dolphins and Bill and Mindy's dolphins gave them a kiss! Mike arrived on Tuesday evening and we were all glad to see him. He had remained in Pennsylvania to stay with Danee in the ICU and to help Dave and Barb. (Would you please continue to pray for Danee's full recovery?) We all walked up the street to Pussers for dinner, and did some grocery shopping on the way back. We were ready to set sail in the morning! On Wednesday morning we motored across Sir Frances Drake Channel to Cooper island. We all snorkeled for at least an hour and saw a peacock flounder, lots of stingrays, and numerous reef fish and small schools. Filet mignon, garlic mashed potatoes, sautÈed mushrooms and salad was our first meal on board. Thursday morning, we headed out for the Baths at Virgin Gorda. As all of the mooring balls were taken, we had to anchor quite a ways out from the shore. We all made the long swim in, which turned out to be fun and good exercise. We hiked up to the "Top 'OF The Baths restaurant" for lunch, where the view is spectacular and they have a swimming pool next to the tables for restaurant patrons only! Then back down the trail to hike through the large boulders and pools to Devil's Bay, where the water was calm and warm. We climbed atop some rocks and dove off of them into the water! It was great fun! We anchored in the beautiful and secluded Lee Bay on Great Camanoe, where dozens of pelicans dive-bomb schools of small fish for their breakfast early in the morning. On Friday we sailed to the Indians, taking advantage of the 20 knot winds and following seas. It was a quiet, smooth, pleasant sail. At the Indians we enjoyed the most incredible snorkeling! The usual schools of reef fish were present, the sergeant majors, yellow snapper, and wrasse, but today there were millions of small fish schooling together to avoid the birds and pelicans who were feeding on them. Mike and I swam through the tunnel, and the others swam over the reef, into a large pool-like area that was completely filled with these little fish! Dense fish from top to bottom, side to side. It was unbelievable! Later on, we went looking for the two nurse sharks we knew that made their home nearby. Whitnae spotted one of them and we enjoyed watching it swim underneath us at about 25 feet. We anchored for the night nearby in the Bight on Norman Island and dinghied in for dinner at "Pirates," the new name for the restaurant that was called "Billy Bones." On the return to the boat Whitnae spotted a satelite. We laid on the trampolines watching the stars and enjoying the professional sound of Whitnae and Morgan singing and playing the guitar. Wow are they talented! While Whitnae and I swam across the bay towards the Treasure Caves, Bill, Mindy and Morgan came across in the dinghy. We snorkeled the caves and the adjacent bay (known as "The Nibble, since it is quite a bit smaller than the Bight). Both Morgan and Whitnae were able to dive down under the water quite a ways. Whitnae dove down about thirty feet to pick up a sea star! We snorkeled for about two hours while Mike changed the oil in the generator. Afterward, we up-anchored and went to White Bay on Jost Van Dyke. We enjoyed the beach for the rest of the afternoon. Bill went snorkeling and came face-to-face with a reef shark in about 4 feet of water by the beach! In prior months, we had seen two baby reef sharks down there at the west end of the beach in the shallow water right up next to the beach. I think this was one of those sharks a little older. In any case, it was exciting for Bill. Dinner was crispy garlic chicken, mushroom risotto, and steamed broccoli...yum! Sunday morning we took the dinghy around to the next bay, Great Harbor, and attended the Jost Van Dyke United Methodist Church. Their service starts at 11:00am...my kind of church! They had a wonderful service and an impressive recognition of fathers. Even Mike and Bill received a special corsage and embroidered shirts! We had lunch at Foxy's following the service, and then spent the afternoon snorkeling White Bay and relaxing on the beach. Bill, Mindy, Whitnae and I snorkeled down at the far west end of the beach looking for the sharks, and sure enough, there were two of them about 3 to 3 1/2 feet long. They swam in the shallowest of water and we tried to chase them to get a closer look but they were too fast for us. It was thrilling! Mindy saw numerous baby flounders, about an inch in diameter, on the sandy bottom in the shallow water near the beach. The remainder of the afternoon was spent relaxing on the chaise lounges on the beach. Company Pork Chops from the Domino's Partners Cookbook was our evening meal, with baked potatoes and salad...delicious. Monday morning a squall came through and we started dragging anchor in the tight little area in front of the Soggy Dollar Bar. Mike decided we should move, so we left the anchorage and motored to Sandy spit, a tiny island with sand all around and a few palm trees and bushes in the middle. You can walk around the whole island in five minutes. It is so beautiful that it is the site of many television commercials. Bill spotted a family of five squid and Mindy and I swam out to take a look. They change color quickly to blend in with the background. We watched each other for about 20 minutes. Back on Good News, we left for Soper's Hole, West End, Tortola, where we would do some shopping and dine at the Jolly Roger. Bill did a great job helping Mike with the boat this week. We watched lots of movies and had great discussions. We all spent a lot of time in the water, swimming and snorkeling. We found pina colada licorice, white chocolate peanut butter cups, lots of shells, and paradise (this side of heaven)! We really enjoyed having the Barrett family aboard. They are a wonderful family. Morgan and Whitnae are outstanding, godly, and precious young women. Bill and Mindy are terrific, godly friends and leaders, full of faith and trust in the Lord. We pray God's richest blessings on them and we know his hand is on them and he is working in their lives. Ship's Log 04/12/02 Christmas Cove, Great St. James   Sharon Knowles, Catherine Simpson, and Sharon Martin arrived on Saturday evening. We had a wonderful evening together dining at the Green House. Coral World was our destination for the next day. By the time we finished viewing the fascinating circular aquarium it was pouring down rain outside! We got completely soaked running down the ramp and across the bridge to the underwater observatory, but enjoyed viewing the reef fish and sharks. It continued to rain, so being already saturated we continued in the rain to the shark feeding and touched a shark, held a sea egg and star fish and saw the entire head, eyes and trunk of a conch before giving up. We stopped by the grocery store on the way back and left the dock by about 4pm, anchoring at Christmas Cove for the evening. On Monday we swung by Trunk Bay and, realizing it was too rough to stop there, we went on to Great Harbor, Jost Van Dyke, where we went in to Foxy's for dinner and had a great time! Tuesday morning we went around to White Bay and enjoyed the beach, lunch, and hammocks, even though the wind was gusting to 20 knots and blowing sand everywhere. Six year old Latoya, Pinkie's daughter (Pinkie works in the Sandcastle kitchen) ran up to Mike at the Soggy Dollar, calling out "Grandpa!" and gave him a hug. Then she came running out yelling "Mama" and gave me a big hug. She brought her friend Jaquema, who also wanted hugs. It was neat. There were not many people there due to the winds, and Joan and K.C. served us all a delicious lunch. We went back to Great Harbor for the night as the swell was too dangerous at White Bay. After returning to White Bay on Wednesday morning, it became apparent that the swell had not reduced enough to stay there safely, so we left and headed for Trunk Bay. We took the dinghy in to the beach and had quite a difficult time getting everyone off the boat safely. We swamped the dinghy completely and the motor died in the process so we lost control for a while, but we all made it ashore without injury to people or boat. We tried to snorkel the underwater trail but the rough water had made visibility only about ten feet! Getting back in the dinghy was even worse than getting in, but once again we all made it, surely due to some help from angels.  Mike was unhappy with himself because he is always so conservative and keeps everyone in ultimate safety. We will not take the dinghy in to the shore again in rough water. We spent the evening in Francis Bay on St. John. On Thursday we went back and spent the day at White Bay. It was gorgeous! Sunny, breezy and beautiful. We decided to move part way towards St. Thomas and motored to Christmas Cove for our night anchorage. On the way all of the girls played Rummikub, a really fun game that Catherine Simpson brought. Friday morning Catherine, Mike and I went for a long snorkel and saw all of the usual wonderful sea creatures. Then we went in the rest of the way to Charlotte Amalie. Us girls went downtown to shop and Mike met us for a great meal at the Greenhouse.  We have really enjoyed having the ladies aboard. We played Rummikub, Phase 10 and Wizard, talked and laughed a lot. Captain Mike said that he's never had as much laughter on board Good News ...or as much hair either! Ship's Log 04/04/02 We had a great time with Rick Flory and his girlfriend Lee Robert. They arrived on March 25th. We spent the 26th in Christmas Cove, Great St. James, and did some snorkeling, seeing a turtle and stingray. The following day we went to Cruz Bay, St. John, and accompanied Rick and Lee to meet with two members of the National Park Service. They discussed a couple of projects that the park needs help with. If you'd like to learn more about Rick's foundation for conservation and the environment, check out his website at http://www.earthfriends.com Later in the week we sailed around St. John to survey the two project areas, Hurricane Hole, where they need moorings to protect the mangroves and accompanying fish nurseries, and Lameshur Bay, where an eco-system among the mangroves was dying off due to the water supply being cut-off by a damaging hurricane. We anchored in Hawksnest Bay. The following morning we dinghied around to snorkel the snorkel trail in Trunk Bay before going to Roadtown, Tortola, where Rick and Lee swam with dolphins. We anchored outside of Village Cay Marina. In the morning we left to snorkel the Indians at Norman Island and anchored outside of The Bight.  The following day we snorkeled the Treasure Caves, where we saw two large puffer fish, a couple of stingrays, and lots and lots of reef fish, followed by a great dive around the Indians. Then we were off to White Bay for a couple of days.  We attended Jost Van Dyke Methodist Church again on Easter Sunday. The service was great and the house was packed with tourists. We gave some films to the brother from Roadtown who led the service. The rest of the day was spent laying in hammocks and playing with Pinkie's daughter's, Latoya and Alisha, in the water. When Ryan and Amber were here, Latoya heard them calling Mike "Grandpa" and so she now calls him that, too! Cute.  On Monday morning we went scuba diving at the coral drop-off at the edge of White Bay. Another excellent dive. Tuesday, we moved to Peter Island (where I had lost my wedding ring nearly 10 years ago). We dove two sites and anchored in Great Harbor. The next morning we had a terrific snorkel, seeing many large schools of fish, three stingrays, a turtle, five squid, and a small eel! The following day we checked out at West End, did some shopping and had lunch. On our way back to St. Thomas, we motored around to look at the project on St. John in Hurricane Hole and Lamesur Bay that is proposed by the National Park Service. Rick and Lee left early Thursday morning. We enjoyed spending time with them! Ship's Log 03/22/02 Christmas Cove, Great St. James, USVI We have had a wonderful week with the Morrisett family! They arrived on the 13th and we went to the Greenhouse downtown for a great meal. The next morning we left the dock bound for Trunk Bay on St. John. We snorkeled the snorkel trail and Mike M., Ryan and Amber built a huge sand castle. It was so big that several passers by asked them if they had a building permit, and one couple had their picture taken with it! We anchored at Watermelon Cay on St. John. The next morning Ryan and Grandpa went snorkeling and Ryan spotted a shark! That morning we motored to White Bay and stayed for three days snorkeling, resting, building sandcastles, and reading. It was gorgeous! Mike M. and the kids built another awesome sandcastle that drew many admirers. Tana saw a small nurse shark while looking for shells! We decided to go to church on Sunday the 17th, so we took the dinghy around to Great Harbor to go to the local Methodist church where the owners of Sandcastle go (Debbie plays the piano and Bruce sings in the choir). We went early and sat down and who should come in and sit behind the Morrisetts but Foxy Callwood! He played his guitar there in his seat as pre-service music. It was very nice. We enjoyed the service and the singing. Lunch was down at the other end of the beach at Foxy's restaurant. He came by our table and we talked a bit. Afterwards we walked toward the beach where Foxy threw a ball to his dog Zook (we think). Amber and I played with Zook at the waters edge while the others chatted with Foxy. He told us a few stories before we went on our way. He is a nice man and a believer I think. On the 18th we motored to Norman Island and snorkeled at the Indians followed by dinner at Billy Bones. On the 19th we took the kids tubing behind the dinghy. It was a lot of fun and Tana learned how to drive the dinghy with someone in tow. That afternoon we took them all to go swim with the dolphins at Prospect Reef. Of course, they loved it! On the 20th we stayed at the dock at Village Cay Marina and the kids enjoyed swimming in their pool, we ate lunch at the restaurant, watched movies and played games. On the 21st we went to the Baths on Virgin Gorda. We took the trail to the top for lunch and a swim. They had a pool in the restaurant, all overlooking a spectacular view of islands, sailboats and sea. After lunch, we hiked through the huge boulders before returning to Good News and motoring down to Norman Island for the night. It rained this morning (the 22nd) so we played Wizard. I won two games and Amber won one! We snorkeled the Caves before heading for Christmas Cove for our last night together. Mike, Mike, Ryan and Tana took a night snorkel and saw several squid and a large stingray! Later after dinner Mike M. saw some large fish off the starboard side. We got out the searchlight and watched a group of tarpon feed on little fish next to the boat. Suddenly, a large spotted eagle ray swam right up to the boat while Mike had the spotlight on it. It looked like it had a baby stingray with it. Later, it came back and swam from stern to bow on the starboard side, right next to the boat. It was stunning. Later we watched it swim in circles about 50 feet of the port side. We also saw two bats fly by! It was an exciting evening.  We have really been blessed this month with all four of our grandchildren visiting...and we were also glad that they brought their moms and dads! We'll miss them all. PS There was a trimaran seized here at the dock for having drugs on board. The owners were really angry. They had lots of customs agents, drug sniffing dogs, lots of guys with guns. The boat now has a 24-hr guard and a large red poster on it saying it has been siezed. We met a couple on a boat who are also members of the Christian Boater's Association. We went with them to a nice service at a Lutheran Church today, Palm Sunday. Ship's Log 03/09/2002 St. Thomas We have had a wonderful week with Carey, Ray, Shelby and Sydney. I was sick the first two days they were here so we stayed at the dock and took a ride in the dinghy, went to Coral World, and played. The first night out we spent at Christmas Cove. The next morning we went to Trunk Bay and had a great time swimming and playing in the sand. Then we went to White Bay and stayed for three days! The girls enjoyed playing in the sand and surf. Carey and Ray snorkeled and we all took naps on the beach! It was very fun and relaxing, too. The next day we went to the Prospect Reef Hotel on Tortola and Carey, Ray, Mike and I all got to swim with dolphins! They have a new program there where for a fee you can swim with their four dolphins and perform tricks with them! We all got to have the dolphins push us through the water by our feet, take a ride by holding their dorsal fins, pet them along their sides and bellies, and other tricks. It was fantastic!! Today, after a day of feeling poorly, Sydney started complaining of an earache so we came into the dock and took her in to the hospital (since it is Saturday). She was diagnosed with an ear infection and Carey will have to stay here with her for one extra day as Sydney shouldn't fly tomorrow. We sure will miss them all.   Ship's Log 2/26/02 Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas After 51 hours against the wind and waves, we arrived safely in Charlotte Amalie at about 9:20pm on the 24th. Shortly after we anchored we noticed that the "Governor", a small car ferry, was drfting nearby. Suddenly, they started lighting fireworks from her deck! We witnessed a long and beautiful fireworks display from a hundred yards. Afterward, we all went down for a much needed night's rest. Early in the morning a pilot for the cruise ships came by and asked us if we would mind moving to make it easier for the cruise ships to enter their dock area. We up-anchored, took some fuel at the fuel dock, and went to a small bay right next to Caneel Bay on St. John for the day. The water was absolutely flat, and we enjoyed snorkeling (saw a dozen more squid) and resting. We went around to Francis Bay for the evening. This morning we returned to St. Thomas and Missy and I went shopping downtown. Missy will leave in the morning. Going out to the Navidad Bank was hard on her but she says it was a good experience, and especially enjoyed the dolphins.  02/22/02 19*52.9'N 68*39.2'W We decided on the 20th to pick up fuel at the gas dock at Yacht Haven Marina and headed out toward the whales on the evening of the 20th. Missy and I prepared food for the trip in advance, I took off the trampoline pads, Mike dropped off the dinghy at the dinghy dock, and we were on our way. It was somewhat rough, but we arrived at the Navidad Bank at 0800 on the 22nd and anchored in about 50 feet. We immediately began sighting whales. We spotted one on the surface behind the boat just 50 yards away, a pair off the port beam about 100 yards away, several tail lobs, and several breaches, though only Mike saw the animal during the breach...the rest of them just looked like a gigantic splashes off in the distance. We all went down for a much needed afternoon nap. When we awoke, we attempted to find an even shallower anchorage. Failing that, we finally decided that we would rather go back to the Virgins and spend a couple of days on the beach than look for more whales. It was a successful trip, but was also a big effort. We will enjoy the beach time.  We are on a watch schedule. Missy takes 6-8pm, 12-2am, 6-8am, and 12-2pm. I take 8-10pm, 2-4am, 8-10am, and 2-4pm. Mike has 10pm-12am, 4-6am, 10am-12pm, and 4-6pm. Now we are going against the waves so it is a little rougher, though the forecast tomorrow indicates the waves may be reduced. Hope so! We have one of the portable DVD players at the nav station and we watch movies on our shifts. Or we rest for 30 minute intervals, or read, though that may be difficult this leg. We should arrive in the BVI the evening of the 24th.   P.S. We got to experience a pod of dolphins swimming and playing off of our boat, including a mother with a baby! They are really fast and graceful and at times would arc into the air! Ship's Log 2/19/02 Christmas Cove, Great St. James Missy and Val both arrived yesterday. After stocking up today, Missy drove to Little St. James where we lunched and snorkeled for 1 1/2 hours. We saw two schools of squid...one school of twenty and one of fourteen! We also saw three stingrays, a large turtle, Barracuda, a sea star, a huge trunkfish and lots of reef fish near the rocks at the southern end. We anchored around in Christmas Cove, where we dined and discussed our trip to the whales, which we are scheduling for the 22nd through the 26, give or take a few hours. Ship's Log 2/8/02 Great Harbor, Jost Van Dyke We have enjoyed our trip with the Tanners and Hammers. We went scuba diving at the Indians, Dead Chest, north side of Green Cay, and Great St. James. We dined at Billy Bones and Foxy's, and of course enjoyed White Bay on Jost. We have played countless games of Wizard (with a blind bid)...lots of fun! On our dives we saw four octopi, two small nurse sharks, a turtle, a few large lobster, and lots of beautiful reef fish, notably a spotted drum, a large scrawled filefish, and a huge, 2 foot porcupine puffer!  Today, Friday the 8th, we had an excellent day! We started with a beautiful ride from Great harbor, Jost Van Dyke to Great St. James. Laying on the trampoline with the jib out for shade, listening to the rush of the water below is heavenly. Once moored, we dove a shallow dive and enjoyed the beauty of the Lord's sea. We saw a very large and very uncommon one and a half foot Atlantic Spadefish among the myriad of reef fish. We then moved around to the lee of Little St. James, a smaller island just to the south of Great. We anchored in about 10 feet of water, enjoyed a relaxing lunch on board and snorkeled the area. There we saw two stingrays, a large turtle, and a barracuda. There is a pretty blue-roofed house/compound or hotel ashore. We then motored back around to Christmas Cove on Great, and anchored in next to a little island in the bay. We snorkeled around the little island, called Fish Cay. Near the end, Sally spotted seven squid! We all watched them for about twenty minutes from a distance of just a few feet! They were spread out in formation and kept a close eye on us. I found some humor in the fact that the six of us were staring at the seven of them, and vice versa. Later, we saw two more stingrays who were tame enough to let us get within a few feet of them before swimming away. Mark and Rudi have been getting lots of experience anchoring, picking up mooring balls, and handling the helm. They have done a great job. We have enjoyed some excellent dinners aboard. This evening is was seared ginger and sesame marinated tuna steaks, cajun spiced chicken, and fresh baked cookies for dessert. Yum. Sadly, the Hammers leave tomorrow. As always, we have enjoyed having them on board. GN Crew Ship's Log 2/3/02 Christmas Cove, Great St. James Island We left the dock yesterday and Becky took the helm all the way to Great St. James. She even kept the helm to anchor the boat. This morning we all went snorkeling around the point and saw a 7 foot nurse shark! Following two games of wizard and a downpour, we got geared up for a dive off of The Cow and Calf rocks. We motored over and picked up the dive mooring ball. On the dive, we saw two small nurse sharks, a spotted drum fish, a turtle, and a large lobster! There was a strong surge. After our dive, we motored to West End, Tortola in the dark with Rudi at the helm. We went ashore to catch dinner and the Superbowl. Ship's Log St. Thomas We had a wonderful week with Mike's parents and brother and sister-in-law. The first day we went to Trunk Bay, St. John. Mike saw a stingray jump out of the water twice right in front of the boat. While snorkeling there, the group saw three turtles, a spotted drum, trunk fish, a puffer and the stingray! After anchoring in Hawksnest Bay, we ran into our friends Derek and Jean on Mustard Seed and they came over for dinner. They are wonderful Christian sailing friends from South Africa. If anyone is interested in chartering, Derek is a capable captain and Jean is a great cook. They are independent and can give you a good weekly rate. Their email address is YachtMustardSeed@hotmail.com. We spent several days at White Bay relaxing, playing scrabble, reading, and laying in the hammocks. Barb and I snorkeled and watched a small turtle from about 8 feet away for 10 minutes. It was fascinating watching him eat the sea grass. On one occasion, the guys took the boat out sailing while Barb, Mom and I played scrabble under the covered restaurant while it rained intermittently half the day. We actually stayed for two nights anchored just in front of the Soggy Dollar Bar. We also ate at Foxy's on Jost Van Dyke, snorkeled the Indians (where we saw two nurse sharks!) ate at Billy Bones on Norman Island, saw the Baths on Virgin Gorda, and anchored at a new place on Great Camanoe. The last day we went back to our favorite spot...White Bay, for final sun-tanning, etc. We played several games of Wizard, with various winners, but Dad Yaw won the last game so he is the reigning champ! I think that makes Mom Yaw the reigning champ for scrabble, though Barb won two games, too! A great time was had by all and we hope they come back again soon! As soon as we returned to the boat from walking Dave and Barb up to the taxi, the men from Island Rigging arrived. Down came the 1100 square foot mainsail so they could take the swivel at the top of the mast off for repairs. Mike and I struggled to fold it up across the cabin top and port side. It is huge! Other repairs will be the starboard water heater (that stopped working today), the washing machine (60 cycle motor), replacing the outhaul, change oil in 3 engines, remove water in port engine room and diagnose problem, mainsail stitching repaired, wire 110 volt automatic transfer switch, fix port forward cabin door, change watermaker filters, strip and redo beds, do laundry, clean and stow used masks and snorkels, pick up dive computers, order Bibles and Jesus films, take AOL email, check on the stock markets and catch the International news, etc., etc. Thankfully, David and Barb took the bar which raises the dinghy to PA to be re-fabricated to fit the new dinghy. After a few days of maintenance, laundry, cleaning, etc., we will host the Tanners, Hammers, and Knulls! Hope you are all well and happy. Love, the Good News Crew. Ship's Log 01/18/02 The Bight, Norman Island, BVI, 18*19'N, 64*37'W We went to the Baths on VIrgin Gorda on Wednesday. It is an area along the beach with gigantic boulders piled atop one another interspersed with a hundred little salt water pools that rise and fall with the tide. We hiked through the rocks and pools and played in the tide. We also took a trail to the top to do some shopping and take in the spectacular view. Back on the boat, we motored to Cooper Island and anchored for the evening. All week Val Mueller has been making us these delicious sandwiches made of lemon garlic tofu, roasted red pepper, dill pickles, avocado, veggonaise and mustard. Incredibly, I found that I was craving these sandwiches! Yumm. After our usual relaxing morning of reading, talking, and miso soup for breakfast (!), we took Good News over to the Indians and picked up a park mooring ball for a few hours on Thursday. The Indians are a grouping of rocks jutting out of the water. They kind of look like feathers in an Indian headdress. They protect a huge area of coral which houses a myriad of reef fish. The hard and soft coral formations and fans create a beautiful garden of color and movement. We snorkeled, read, and relaxed. Glenn was recently certified as a scuba diver, so Mike took him out on a couple of dives for his birthday. Happy birthday, Glenn! After our day at the Indians we headed in to the Bight and anchored. I wanted to make a birthday cake for Glenn but we didn;t have any eggs. While we were at the Indians I had hailed for "Deliverance," a small boat that comes around and sells bread, ice, ice cream, etc. to boaters. After we had the anchor down, they arrived alongside and delivered the goods, and the cake went in the oven. We had a great dinner at Billy Bones, followed up by a game of Wizard, which by the way, Captain Mike won again! More conversation and off to bed before 2am. Mike and Glenn have just returned from a morning snorkel. They are excited about the trip as they saw an octopus, a spotted drum, a crab, a spotted moral eel, a huge trunkfish, and a four foot barracuda followed by a school of about a hundred more! Theres a good reason to start waking up earlier. Also, Mike impressed Glenn by doing his usual 40-50 foot free dive to check the anchor. Well, this is Friday morning and sadly the Muellers and Galloways have to go home today. The trip back to Yacht Haven Marina will take about 2 1/2 hours. We have enjoyed Glenn, Val, Rogers and Cathy immensely and they are definitely invited back! We miss you all! Love, 1st mate Val and the Good News crew Ship's Log 01/17/02 Sandy Cay, British Virgin Islands, 18*27N, 64*43W The Muellers and Galloways arrived Sunday afternoon, January 13th. We picked up a few provisions and motored for Christmas Cove, Great St. James (an island which is, by the way, for sale!) Val Mueller made us a great macrobiotic meal (they are on this interesting diet)and Rogers entertained us with his guitar. He is really good! We have already really enjoyed having Glenn, Val, Rogers and Cathy aboard. Monday morning we went around to Trunk Bay, St. John. We picked up a mooring ball and dinghied in to enjoy a great snorkel trail. Then we sailed over to Great Harbor, Jost Van Dyke at 8-10 knots. Dinner at Foxy's was delicious, and we met another of Foxy's relatives, cousin Ricky, who waited on us. Then we settled down for another evening of great entertainment by Rogers and some star watching. Rogers is making up a song for Good News! Tuesday morning Mike checked us in to the BVI and we moved around to White Bay. We anchored in right next to the beach, backing up to the Soggy Dollar Bar. Then Mike, Glenn, and Rogers towed each of the girls to shore in the little blow-up dinghy that we use to float Shelby and Sydney in! It was extravagant and fun! We greeted K.C. and Joan, ordered up some PK's, and settled in for a day of laying in hammocks, talking, reading, dining, and just relaxing. Mike, Rogers, Glenn and I went for a snorkel. We saw two young turtles, two sting rays, a school of blue tang, lots of reef fish, AND we found three five dollar bills and a ten dollar bill! It reminded me of when we took Ryan, Amber and Shelby snorkeling at Hurricane Harbor and they found coins on the bottom all over the place. It was a great snorkel! Tuesday evening we motored around to Sandy Cay where we were the only boat anchored for the night. We enjoyed another of Val Mueller's macrobiotic meals, played Wizard, and watched a movie. This morning Mike and Glenn swam to Sandy Cay, wrote a huge "Val" in the sand, and walked/swam across to Green Cay. Around noon Mike, Glenn, and Rogers up-anchored and set sail for the Baths, Virgin Gorda. Right now we are moving along at a pleasant 5 knots and we should be to the Baths in about 2 1/2 hours. We have thoroughly enjoyed Val, Glenn, Cathy, and Rogers. It has been too long since we have seen the Muellers. It has been great catching up on their lives and the kid's lives. They are a great family. We have also really enjoyed getting to know Cathy and Rogers. They are a super neat couple and Rogers is really funny! We love you all and miss you. Love, 1st mate Val and the Good News crew. Ship's Log 1/8/02 Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas We are here in St. Thomas working on the boat and cleaning. The Fincannon family left on Sunday and we are remembering some of the fun times we had with them. Like our first lunch at the Shipwreck, where we split hamburgers based on how done they were cooked (I split mine with Natalie, Mike & Nicole like theirs red, Glynda and Jessica cooked through.) Or playing Army Domino's (where you give each tile a silly name/rank as you play it.) Each time one of the girls won, they would have a little celebration. Natalie said it was the old ladies against the young ladies. Lunch at Wendell's World where our entire meal was served to another table! The all-girl dinghy trip to Sandy Spit. New Years Eve midnight noise-making with the ship's bell and airhorns. How Jessica taught us to kneeboard (and I got up for the first time!) and Natalie's tubing antics. Our words for the day: contemplating, mitigate, exacerbate, fastidious, persnickety, spelunker, & caveat (do you know what persnickety means?) At the Baths on Virgin Gorda we girls blazed a new trail (or tried to) through the huge boulders and salt-water pools, topped off with a step-aerobics course on our way up to the "Top 'O the Baths restaurant, a new discovery for lunch, and they even have a pool!. Checking out the crabs between the rocks at the Baths while the surf roared in. Feeding a fish named Chany from the side of Good News at night using flashlights to see him. (We couldn't decide if he liked tuna or chicken better.) Wearing our pirate hats at Billy Bones, and Captain Mike wearing his new eye patch, and Jessica singing happy birthday to Mike in French. Snorkeling by Cooper Island with Nicole, Tony & Glynda, where we saw the 2 octopi, halibut, 2 puffer fish, a trunk fish, bally-hoo,trumpet fish, file fish, and a huge star fish. Visiting with Tony and Glynda in the mornings and evenings, when the girls were still sleeping or watching movies. Fresh-baked bread every day and yummy grilled-cheese sandwiches. But most of all, just sharing time with their wonderful, Godly family. May the Lord bless them, and you, this new year 2002. Ship's Log December 31, 2001 (New Year's Eve) Island of Sandy Spit   We arrived in St. Thomas on Friday evening and set sail on Saturday afternoon. The Fincannon family is aboard until Sunday, January 6th. From St. Thomas we went to Christmas Cove on St. James Island. From there we motored to Trunk Bay on St. Johns and the Fincannon's 3 daughters snorkeled for the first time. We then spent the night around the corner in Hawksnest Bay. Monday we sailed across to Jost Van Dyke and entered the British Virgin Islands. There we were among the hundreds of boats visiting Foxy's where everyone was bringing in the New Year. We tried to count all the boats in Great Harbor and decided that there was no way to count that many boats. After leaving Jost Van Dyke we motored to Sandy Spit Island. This is a tiny island with two palm trees and sandy beach all the way around. We anchored and the girls made a trip to the island and explored. We are spending the New Year's on the Good News and the Fincannon girls are trying to convince captain Mike that he needs to stay up until midnight. We'll see who wins out! Captain Mike (by JF) HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! HI to all of our friends checking out the log from Jessica, Nicole, and Natalie.