Sailing to St. Martin and Beyond

So, I have survived yet another week of sailing without managing to wreck any boats or run over any swimmers. As of yesterday, I am finally finished with six different sailing courses that I took. This was actually a good bit of work to learn everything and study for all of the different test it took. So far, I really have not had a good chance to just sit back and relax except for with a few beers on the boat, late in the evening. Now all is complete and I have a better understanding of navigation and making passage between different islands that are pretty far apart.
The sailing last week took place on a beautiful Lagoon catamaran that was only a couple of years old and 44 feet long. This boat was absoloutely beautiful, and more space than myself and three british x patriots who were with me could use. I had a nice king size bed and bathroom all to myself for the trip. Not bad, I think I should have a photo of it in my albums sometime soon. As for the trip itself, it was an impressive thing to do to spend 15 hours travelling between the BVI and St. Martin. We were heading directly into the wind and waves and did manage to have one sea sick man on board. On the way over, we ran into a slight problem with the Dinghy. After hearing some strange noises, we found that the dinghy, which was attached to the boat, was hanging upside, had been skewered by another pole on the catamaran, and the engine was drug through the water. The instructor decided that the best thing to do at that point was to cut the dinghy loose and leave it. From there, we had no more dinghy, making it difficult to get into shore. We arrived late, and spent the next day exploring some of the towns and beaches in St. Martin. Once out of the bigger port town, it was a wonderful place. Beautiful beaches and wonderful outdoor cafes overlooking the water. From there, we were planning on heading to St. Barts but decided the next day to sail to Anguilla instead as the winds were more favorable in this direction. Anguilla turned out to be one of my favorite places down here. Lots of empty beaches with calm and clear carribbean water. From Anguilla, we spent a long day sailing back to the BVI and docking the boat at it's home in Nanny Cay.
Today, I flew to Puerto Rico where I am desperately trying to upload my first group of photos online and trying to figure out how to unlock my ipod. I am not sure how the ipod became locked, but from what I can tell there is not a good way to unlock it without erasing all of my music! Not a good scenario! Any advice on that matter would be greatly appreciated. Anyway, back to the trip. I am in Puerto Rico till Thursday. I have rented a car and am planning on staying mostly inland, exploring some rainforests, mountains, caves and that giant satellite dish from the movie contact. So, from here, I am heading to Saint Vincents, further south in the carribbean to meet up with some people to sail on a 75 foot schooner. Should be pretty fun, but we will have to see!