I'm sitting at an internet cafe at Nanny Cay on Tortola, BVI, using my laptop -- everything is getting so convenient. We took the red-eye Saturday night from SFO to Chicago. The airline staff looked at our reservation, "You're not coming back until May!" and found us good seats. After a couple hours of stopover, we flew direct to St. Thomas. We had made reservations at the Crystal Palace B&B in St. Thomas which included airport pick up.
This is the family home of a 4th generation immigrant to Virgin Islands. The islands were originally Danish, so the street names are Danish, and there are still old Danish Colonial buildings in that state of decline that is so charming. The proprietor picked us up; we were the only guests. The house is situated on the hill with a spectacular view of the harbor. He has 4 or 5 rooms to rent, most with shared bath. We walked around town, found most things closed on Sunday, but we found some food, and walked back

up the hill. After spending some more hours chatting with the proprietor, Ronnie, we were too tired to keep going and fell asleep. In the morning, he made us a continental breakfast, and then drove us to the ferry, after finding out what time his friend's ferry service was leaving (8:55am).
    The ferry had about 100 seats which we share with another passenger. The immigration and customs waved us through, without inspecting our bags, which contain an entire radio station as far as I can tell. We took a shared van/cab to Nanny Cay, and met the broker, Bungie Flynn, stashed our bags and went to look at the boat. After showing us a few things, and chatting a while, he left us to inspect the boat. We inspected from bow to stern and made a list of things that are broken, or have issues. Nothing big. The boat was in charter, and has been used hard. The upgrades that have been done were to fix things that were broken, not to improve it for cruising or living aboard. But they are important:

new engine, transmision and sails. The boat has a full complement of sheets and towels, dishes and pots and pans. There are a few water stains, and some of the ports/hatches don't stay open properly. The lifelines are a bit shaky, and seem to be coming loose. All of the stupid plastic fans need to be replaced with something quieter and better -- half don't work. Some lights don't appear to work.
    Tomorrow, the surveyor will turn on check out every piece of equipment on her, and inspect all her plumping, electrical systems, rigging and she will be hauled out to have the hull, keel and prop inspected. We will then decide if we want further negotiations on the price, or whether it is a deal. The broker is giving us a ride to town to find a cheaper hotel -- we can't sleep aboard until we have actually agreed on everything. I hope all is going well at home.