See Emily Play

Yesterday we woke up at 7:30. After davening (Rosh Chodesh!), we headed out ASAP. We had to sail back to TMM because of...Tropical Storm Emily.

We ate as we already began to sail away, which was difficult because the winds and waives were rising. We figured the trip (from western St. Thomas to mid-Tortola) would take 3-4 hours.

It took over 6 hours. We saw the highest waves so far (6 feet) and very high winds. The boat rocked really high, up and down, as we struggled eastward, upwind. Both Yoni and CG got seasick. Overall the sail was very tiring and we all got sunburned.

After finally arriving at TMM they tied the boat securely to a dock and we went inside to find out about insurance coverage for a hotel for the night. We spoke to the insurance provider and TMM, which got us hotel rooms, and everything seemed fine. The hotel was across the street so we grabbed some stuff for the night, and everything from the fridge, and went over.

The hotel was actually quite nice. This was because we got deluxe rooms, which were the only rooms available. I actually ended up with the nicest room, so we ate and hung out in mine:

For dinner we ate frozen burritos (heated on the stove in my room).  Then we all went to sleep by 10pm, exhausted.

I woke up shortly after seven and had a nice quiet davening in my solarium. I walked around a little bit, watched the weather on the TV, and then went over to the other rooms after 9.

Sammy, CG, and Yoni went over to TMM to deal with customs and insurance. There was a lot of drama of he-said this, but he-said that, about coming back to TMM and letters for insurance and the hotel, but in the end we hope everything will be alright with the insurance through the charter company we used (which linked to TMM). It was very frustrating, but since Emily seems to have mostly passed by to the south, we no longer will be staying in a hotel. Back to the boat! We split the bill from the hotel four ways. Yoni is on separate insurance, which pretty much only covers a hole-in-one or an act of God.

Now after eating lunch on the boat, we will decide where to go for the evening and the next few days.

Belated Chodesh Tov!

(and http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4436399338243841474)