Virgin Gorda once again!

Last Monday, January 4th, we set sail for Virgin Gorda, taking advantage of the fact that we had no activities planned for the week, and the winds had calmed down a bit. This was our opportunity to go visit our friends for a week. We left at 5pm and sailed all through the night, arriving at 9am. The trip took us 16 hours and although the winds were light, the waves were 10-15 feet in height from behind, which made for a rolly trip. The rolling made the sediments from the gas tank clog up the filters, so that the engine stalled at least a dozen times in the last two hours. It was daylight by then and we were in the last stretch of the trip. We could see land, so close yet so far away. Fortunately, we had spare filters on hand, but Richard only changed them once we arrived. We were happy to arrive but only to rediscover the very rolly St-Thomas bay. The swell was exceptionally strong last week, so much that some people were trying to surf on the waves coming in. We have a love-and-hate relationship with Virgin Gorda, and we remembered why we had decided not to spend the 2010 winter there. We headed in to the marina for one night, but the brothers offered us to stay at the Kingdom hall apartment with the special pioneers, Adrien and Michele, which we gladly accepted.

We spent a busy week in Virgin Gorda, preaching alot with Adrien and Michele, checking in on our old calls, visiting the friends, Spanish meeting, English meeting, and even attended an engagement party. We were delighted to see everybody. Richard droppe in at ''The Arc'', a place where lots of single men live in rooms and where he used to study with Johny, a Haiten man. He had moved to Tortola, but surprise surprise, he was visiting Virgin Gorda the day we passed by. He was happy to see us and told us that he has continued his study in Tortola. He was excited to tell us all the things he had learned. Aside from that, nothing has changed. Everything is exactly the same as it was 9 months ago. The one grocery store still has that same awful smell.

We were happy that the weather conditions were in our favour to leave after a week. Yesterday, on Monday, we set sail back to St-Martin at 10am in ESE winds, which is head-on winds, but they were only a light 6 knots, and the waves were 3-6 feet with a long period. Although we motored the whole time, we made it in a record time of 14 hours, arriving at midnight to the nice, calm bay of Marigot. The daytime trip was very pleasant. Richard let out lines for catching fish, but with no success. We saw a school of dolphins, at least 10-15 of them, swimming alongside the boat and putting on a show for us. The nigh time sky is amazing: lots of shooting stars and once in a while, a brightly-lit cruise ship travelling on the horizon. We’ve also seen lots of sea turtles. These little things in nature are sure to put a smile on anyone’s face.

Today we look forward to catching up on a croissant and cappuccino, and stocking the fridge with all kinds of European goodies. Richard will be making us his new specialty: pizza, thanks to the easy recipe of a fellow traveller.

We both finished our 2010 Yearbook thanks to www.jw.org and we are now motivated to be like missionaries and the early Witnesses, or like Paul even, who had to create their own territory. We will endeavour to speak to as many people as we can in the streets and from house-to-house, mustering up boldness to do what doesn’t come naturally.

New Kingdom melodies: I am pretty sure the French haven’t started singing them yet, so I feel privileged to have been able to start on Jan 1. They are very beautiful, and the words of some are even more beautiful in Spanish. They have been putting alot of emphasis on practicing the Kingdom melodies for the week’s meetings in our family worship, so that is what we have been doing. And although we are sometimes off, as a congregation, we are managing not too bad. We listened to the vocals in Japanese, German, Polish, Tagalog, and Italian and interestingly, they all sound the same!

That’s all for now. In 10 days, we’ll receive the visit of my sister and her husband, who will be initiated to life onboard a sailboat. Looking forward to that!

Thanks again for taking the time to write. We know how busy life is back home but we really enjoy reading your emails and keeping updated on what’s going on at home.