Matt suggested we get a rental car so it would be easier to cart our provisions back and forth to the boat.  Of course that meant that Matt had to drive as locals drive on the opposite side of the car and on the opposite of the road.  Even though he get’s his right and left mixed up he still drives better and navigates the island with ease.   We saw the last group of the ARC leaving as we left the airport and headed to the marina – which was totally cool knowing that we would soon be sailing across the Atlantic with them.

Matt’s eagle eye spotted a large Carefore grocery store on the top of a hill (he recognized the name from a previous island shopping excursion).  We made a mental note of the exit and location so we could come back and shop there.  This town has a lot of one way streets, and funky round a bouts which adds to the difficulty to driving on the wrong side of the road.  It took us awhile to find the marina as there is only one entrance which is below the freeway with no clear signs.   Maybe they are trying to keep the “riff raff” out by keeping the entrance a secret, but too late – we found it J

The marina is super cute.  We saw some stores (provisioning, bakery, hardware, clothing) and little cafés with people eating and sharing coffee on the side walk – so European, I love it!  We parked near the fuel dock to see if we could find the boat and Matt spotted her across the Marina – it was so good to see her with our own eyes.  We were armed with a VHF radio that we were going to use to call the boys on the boat, but we didn’t need it once we spotted her.  We decided to head over there without notifying them.  Not that we were “sneaking up” on them or anything, we were just so excited to get aboard that we hustled back to the car to get to the boat.

Really strange dragging three large suitcases, a water tight bag, backpack and purse down the dock to our boat – is this really our boat?  But even stranger was asking Marvin (the previous owner) and Ron for permission to come aboard our own boat.  I have to admit that they didn’t seem to even notice that we had a small menagerie of luggage (or they hid their surprise well).  Introductions were made and unpacking began immediately.  Matt opened up one of the large, overweight bags and started unloading boat parts, 5 lbs of peanuted M&M’s for Ron, my 2 bags of ginger snaps, and other miscellaneous necessities.  Ron warmed up some pizza for us as we unpacked and chatted the rest of the night.

Typically Matt and I travel with a small carry on and maybe a back pack or two so it was kinda unusual to look down at the large mass of luggage we were checking in at the American Airlines counter.  Granted we brought a lot of boat parts, food and miscellaneous stuff that we planned to leave on the boat, but wow the lot of bags we were looking at was surprising.  I can only imagine what the boys on the boat will think when we walk up the dock with all this stuff.

We do have a very long flight ahead of us, but I am armed with a super soft blanket (that will stay on the boat), my Ipod with lots of cool music, and of course my Kindle with over 100 new books that are craving my attention!

Turkish airlines completely spoiled me as a coach airline passenger!  They fed us every couple of hours (real meals that were yummy), provided free alcoholic beverages and sweets, had a great onboard computer with a fun variety of movies, wonderful flight attendants and did I say free alcoholic drinks?  Flying on American used to be great.  Even though I still fly AA a lot around the U.S. and have my one and only credit card supplying lots of miles to American, I hate to fly them to international destinations.

The food is less than appetizing, the flight attendants tend to have an attitude and the seats are not nearly as comfy (some don’t recline or have head rests)!  I can’t wait for SWA to get their flight to SJU so we can fly them back to the islands.  AA is losing me

Typically Matt and I travel with a small carry on and maybe a back pack or two so it was kinda unusual to look down at the large mass of luggage we were checking in at the American Airlines counter.  Granted we brought a lot of boat parts, food and miscellaneous stuff that we planned to leave on the boat, but wow the lot of bags we were looking at was surprising.  I can only imagine what the boys on the boat will think when we walk up the dock with all this stuff.

We do have a very long flight ahead of us, but I am armed with a super soft blanket (that will stay on the boat), my Ipod with lots of cool music, and of course my Kindle with over 100 new books that are craving my attention!

Turkish airlines completely spoiled me as a coach airline passenger!  They fed us every couple of hours (real meals that were yummy), provided free alcoholic beverages and sweets, had a great onboard computer with a fun variety of movies, wonderful flight attendants and did I say free alcoholic drinks?  Flying on American used to be great.  Even though I still fly AA a lot around the U.S. and have my one and only credit card supplying lots of miles to American, I hate to fly them to international destinations.

The food is less than appetizing, the flight attendants tend to have an attitude and the seats are not nearly as comfy (some don’t recline or have head rests)!  I can’t wait for SWA to get their flight to SJU so we can fly them back to the islands.  AA is losing me