While St. Croix is only 44 miles from Road Town, it's just like crossing the Gulfstream to Bimini; a big body of water. The water for part of the trip is over 2 miles deep and the last twenty miles is in open water with a straight shot to Europe in the NE. The weather forecast was for 7-11 knots NE and 3-5 foot seas, less than 4 knots for the return on Friday. We were popping over to take on fuel as the price had dropped to $2.52 on Wednesday. This fuel is refined on demand for the delivery company and is piped directly into the truck that delivers it to the commercial wharf. Less than 500 ppm sulfur and so clear it looks like water if spilled on the deck. We took on 1500 gallons, which at a burn rate of 4.83 gallons an hour with the 15 kw gen running or 4.4 with the 10 kw should last us a year or so. I would like to modify Mike Maurice's statement that any weather forecast out more than 48 hours is a fairy tale to that any forecast is a fairy tale. We actually had 15-18 knots of wind with 5-8 foot seas on top of a 10-12 foot swell rolling in from the NE, no doubt compliments of Florence. With the wind and seas on the aft quarter it was occasionally rather exciting. I had assured Linda it would be calm so nothing was secured except the glass top on the dining room table. This is the angle at which our roll tank is least efficient, although it did keep us from rolling past twenty degrees, which she did regularly pre-tank. My first ride offshore after buying her was Halifax to Shelborne, Nova Scotia, mid November in a force seven from the SE. I was sleeping on the saloon floor when we rolled and the couch, between which and the coffee table I was wedged, flew over the coffee table; it was that night - why is it always nighttime - that made me determined to find some type of roll dampening. The return trip was rather bizarre with the wind out of the NW at 15-18 with occasional squalls at 30+. Swells still from the NE at 10 feet, but seas less than 5 feet with the VI chain making a nice lee. Perfect angle for the tank, 30 degrees off the bow, port for the wind driven seas and starboard for the swell. Never rolled past 5 degrees, although five plus tons of fuel in the bilge tanks helps a bit too. Both ways I was on the flybridge, with a height of eye of 22 feet. At no time was it uncomfortable. Pre-tank, there was no way I would have been up there as forty degrees of roll was the norm in those conditions. I don't have any experience with active fins so I can't compare what effect they would have, but I don't have to worry about what I would do if they failed; there isn't anything to fail on my tank as it has only one moving part, water, and unless I have really screwed up my navigation, there will be plenty around with which to refill as I use sea water in it. Bob Phillips, Another Asylum, Tortola, BVI