DAY #1-Staring Point: Red Hook, USVI

We've arrived at the Atlanta airport and are anxiously awaiting our 8:35AM flight.  Looking forward to fun times with family and with our good friends! We'll arrive in St Thomas at 1:08PM...

Looks like we didn't get much sleep last night #puffy

Doug and Ross starting the vacay off right:

Bring on the Vitamin D!

***just landed! 12:45pm - 30 minutes early!!!

Love that you see the Caribbean immediately!

***update: it's 10:46pm and we are moored at Christmas Island for the night.  Here are the details of today.  We arrived early and taxied to Red Hook to meet up with our friends.

Yes, that's Ross heading down the stairs - yay! WE HAVE ARRIVED IN ST THOMAS!!!

We then got acclimated to the surroundings and the "Lady Margaret" and got ready to set sail.
Our bedroom for the week:

Ross and Will's quarters (although they slept on deck every night)

The Master bedroom

One of two WCs

Here I am sitting at the Navigation area:

And one of the sofas in the main living area

The ship's galley

Ross and Will pick up the first of 100s of Painkillers!

Bring it on!

And we are ready to start this vacation!!!!

Will putting supplies in the "basement"

 Skip (from Island Yachts) was traveling with us for a couple of hours to go over a few things:

Happy Birthday to Skip!

Bill and Peggy

Love these two!

Will and Ross

Maneuvering out of the Red Hook marina

Captain Bill at the helm

Yes, we are happy campers

Two members of the Lady Margaret crew

Is it a dickey or a dinghy????

Peggy and I are getting the party started!

Well there are lots of anti-oxidents in grapefruit juice right?

Ross and Will ready to fish!

Taking the dinghy for dinner:

Will - floating in the clouds...

Sidenote: we can cross off our list having a man overboard!  When transitioning from a moving dinghy to a floating sailboat in the dark (after a few painkillers) it's very easy to find yourself in the briny!  He/she shall remain nameless but fortunately the only real casualty was that person's cell phone...

We then spent the remainder of the night laughing and star gazing.

 We have crystal clear skies and more stars than any of us have ever seen.  Truly the definition of Paradise!  Goodnight from Christmas Cove...

Christmas Cove is an excellent overnight stop - it's popular with USVI boaters on the first or last night out because of the close proximity to Charlotte Amalie and Red Hook. There are 22 mooring balls here, in order to protect coral areas.

Day 1 is in the books!  We're calling it a night.  Day 2 agenda:  snorkeling, sailing and Super Bowl - - - which we're watching at Sunset Grill on a Projection screen on the beach nearby....

Salute!