The right tool for the job:
    When you drop a screw into the drain, the right tool is the tweezers on the little swiss army knife that Andy gave us for Christmas a few years ago. Thank you Andy!
    When you can't get the head hoses to attach to the throughhull, the right tool is a torch. Not wanting to burn up the boat, we hired Hastings, who appears with a caulking gun and a propane torch in hand. I went for a haircut and when I got back, I found that somehow, both Lance and Hastings had managed to wedge themselves into what must be the World's Smallest Head (that is the guest head, for all you potential visitors). Hastings uses the Island method: copious amounts of marine sealant applied everytime you put two things together. But I'm not complaining. The head is functioning, no leaks. To mount your ham radio, the right tool is the drill you borrow from Bob, of Technocat. Technocat is a PDQ catamaran that suffered hurricane damage: another boat landed on top of it and hacked off both bows. The other boat suffered almost no damage -- a few scratches. Bob has gotten the factory to build new bows, and is working on repairs to the boat, one week a month since March, with breaks for the summer months. In exchange we helped Bob put the new engines in the boat, which involved Lance lifting from below while standing in mud encrusted with Fire Ants. Ouch. When going ashore in the dinghy, the

waterproof sports pack that Tom gave us is the perfect dinghy bag to take the camera ashore. It even inflates so it floats! And for most everything, the right tool is the Leatherman. Get yourself one today.
    Actually, today is a big day. But I'll get to that. Yesterday, Sunday, we took off just so we wouldn't be hanging out at the dock. We went sailing over to Peter Island again, and checked out another anchorage for lunch. Key Cay (prounounced key key) was very pretty but very rolly, so we left after lunch and went back to Little Harbour, still a lovely spot. Our fourth anchoring with Eaux Vives was much better than the previous ones, so we believe we're getting our teamwork together here. We barbecued chicken for dinner, and established that the barbecue is missing the lower grill that holds the coals up. Either we find one, or we get a new barbecue. In the morning, Lance worked on sewing up the zipper on the sail cover, which had come loose for about 4 feet. The right tool is that thing called a "palm" which is a kind of thimble device which fits over your hand for sewing canvas and the like. After a lovely snorkel (Lance is sulking because I saw and eel an he missed it), we stowed everything and sailed back to Nanny Cay. This boat sails very comfortably and seems just right for these conditions. Even pulling a dinghy, we sailed along at 4-6.5 knots. I am pretty poor at the helm, because I get distracted by all the beautiful scenery, and have a tendency to turn towards what I'm

looking at. Therefore, I use the autopilot, who keeps a much better course.
    At Nanny Cay, we went up to BVI Yacht Sales to see if the paperwork had arrived, and it had. So that's the big day -- we own the boat. Or, as Lance says, we own another boat. So we hitched to town, took care of some more errands (no coffee cone yet), and bought a lot of provisions and took a taxi back here. We'll be searching for a place to hide for New Years. Perhaps Virgin Gorda, perhaps back to Little Harbour. It's a very busy week here. The docks which have been full of boats are all empty -- charter boats are nearly all out. But the weather says the winds and seas will be a little higher.
    For those of you contemplating a visit, our plans are to sail around the Virgin Islands to get familiar with the boat and the Islands for at least the next month, so we could pick up passengers in St. Thomas or Beef Island Airport in Tortola. United flies to St. Thomas, and there's also American, Delta and Continental.
    See you all in 2003, we hope. The radio email is not up and running yet, so we're still dependent on internet cafes, but in the BVI, we're generally not too far from someplace with internet. The seller paid for the slip through December, so now we have to pay expensive rates to dock anywhere. But we can anchor and dinghy in for internet.