Caribbean Catamaran Cruise - Days 10 & 11

Saturday. The day of disembarkment and our farewell to David, Alena and the VIP ONE.  A bittersweet day.  Of course we were sad to see this incredible week come to an end but we were missing our kids dearly and felt it was time to get back to reality.

Before I review the last two days of our trip, I wanted to share this video.  One day when the guys were trolling for fish behind the boat, a sea bird started diving at the lure.  David started yelling, "Reel it in, reel it in! The bird will get it. He will get the lure! Reel it in!"  An attempt was made to reel in the lure but it was too late. The bird snatched our fishing lure and it was caught.  Watch how quickly David responds to the situation.


If I'm not mistaken, Matt took this picture of a spectacular sunrise.

We breakfasted and packed our bags.  We anchored in the bay at Phillipsburg and prepared to be ferried to shore.

David took the first trip with Wes, Matt and most of the luggage.  The rest of us followed.

We said our last farewells and sat waiting for the taxi to take us to the hotel.

We had brunch at the hotel and relaxed until it was time to say goodbye to Reid, Elise, Jason and Vanessa who were scheduled to fly out that day.

Scharman and I enjoyed the afternoon visiting while Matt and Wes did one final snorkel excursion off the beach at the hotel.  It was late afternoon and we decided to spend the evening on Front Street in Phillipsburg.

As we were strolling along the waterfront we regarded the sailboats anchored in the bay and noticed one familiar looking catamaran.  We looked more closely and recognized it to be the VIP ONE!  We couldn't believe it!  We knew his next group had boarded earlier that afternoon, but we assumed they would sail somewhere else to anchor for the night.  We waved and texted just to say hello.  The boat is just to the right behind us.

We sat down to enjoy the sunset. And what a brilliant sunset it was?!

We ended up having dinner at the Holland House beach hotel - one of the best meals of the trip! 

Sadly we had received word from our friends that their flight had been delayed and they ended up having to spend the night in Charlotte.  Poor weary travelers!

The next morning we sat in the lobby, reviewing our week and drawing our route on a map we tore out of a travel magazine.

We boarded a taxi for the last time for the airport.  Our taxi driver was extra friendly and we enjoyed lively conversation on the way.  He was from Nigeria but ran a small electronics business in China.  He even had a wife and a couple of kids there. And on the side he drove taxis in St. Martin.  We ended up driving past the Mormon Church we had attended earlier that week and pointed it out to the driver.  He seemed to know a tiny bit about Mormons and started asking questions.  When he found out that we do not drink alcohol and that neither one of us had ever had a drink of alcohol, he could not believe it!  He would not believe it!  He thought it was the craziest thing he had ever heard! We all had a good laugh.  He was a great guy. 

Well we made it to the airport and made it home safe and sound.  We were thrilled to see our kids and were so grateful they were so well-taken care of while we were gone!