It's hard to believe our wonderful BVI is over! We all agreed a new one should be planned for next year by our 2nd night out! Being this is my first trip report bear with me and I'll try to get it right--
6/6-Moorings advised we would be aboard the Dutchess for our glorious week in paradise. It had come in that day and would be ready to go for us, possibly early, on the 8th. Left home 1130pm for the drive to MIA and a 610am flight.
6/7-Arrived MIA no problem, all AA flights on time. We had tried to do all carry on but one of our newbies had a questionable bagg checked on the tarmac in SJU which arrived STT with us. Taxi into CA and straight to the Greenhouse for lunch. As always, it was a great atmosphere and good meal for weary travelers. 130pm ferry on time to RT. Checked into Maria's. Nice location near ferry dock, clean rooms. We walked over to the Moorings (don't do it!--way too long!) and saw Duchess on the outer pier waiting for us! Taxi back to hotel and decided on Pussers for dinner rather than another taxi ride to/from Spaghetti Junction as we were so tired. All food was average except the Mac n' Cheese which tasted fine but was a tiny serving! Took a walk over to Bobby's which is hard to find to add a few things to our provisioning list. So far, so good, until we got back to the hotel. The beds turned out to be slabs, the staff disinterested and we were refused an additional pillow and blanket! They did offer to bring up an extra sheet but it never materialized. Won't be staying there again.
6/8-Taxi back to Moorings for 830am briefing for the guys. Girls went over to try and sign in and were told we couldn't until after briefing so we headed out to the dock to check out Dutchess only to find out it was still in the holding area. The dockmaster advised it would be pulled over soon and reminded us we had a 12n start. Had a late breakfast and swim before checking on boat again-still not ready. At 1215p with still no boat we tracked down the dockmaster who feigned shock that it had not been pulled over and went to get it himself. We waited while it was fueled & linens brought aboard. Bobby's was an hour late, which turned out fine due to the boat delay, but put us in the position of loading everything at the same time. It took 2 additional trips to straighten our order out and we chose to leave rather than wait for yet another trip for the correct hot dogs. The Friendly Skipper had been waiting all this time and jumped aboard and we were on our way with very little boat check out. He was terrific and went over things as we sailed toward Peter arriving there at 4pm. A quick swim and started to make dinner. A little mishap with the grill sent the rack into 40' of water but the libations help us all settle down after such a day! Great sleep in a nice breeze made it all better!
6/9-Our neighbor with the tanks kindly agreed to dive for the grill rack and all was now well again! A little confusion with Blue Water Divers delayed our friends Rhone dive until 6/10 so we headed over to grab a ball at Cooper and enjoy some nice snorkeling. Not happy with the odor from the port head and went down to check. Found the base of the toilet leaking! Yuck! Moorings there within a couple hours and Boots got us all fixed up! We were excited to be back at CIBC and went ashore for dinner which was ok but the view made up for it! During dessert a commotion to my right found Lookinatfifty on the floor after both legs on the right side of his chair gave way. A paramedic from the next table jumped right over to check on him. He had hit his head and shoulder on the tile floor and the broken chair leg had sliced quite a few cuts in the back of his leg. While this great guy checked him out the staff came and removed the chair and broken pieces and supplied us with some large bandages. When the check came I was miffed that they hadn't made any accommodation for this accident and told the manager so. He let me know he must have been leaning back in the chair until I pointed out that the front and back legs on the same side were broken. Then he tried telling me he had too much to drink and I let him know he had a few Diet Cokes and had just got a Painkiller when this happened! I guess he could tell I was getting quite irritated so he took of his food and beverages and I paid the rest of the bill. Said a quick hello to "grill saver guy" on the way back to the dink. A warm night with little breeze didn't make for the best sleep but we were in the BVI and that was what counted!
6/10-Rick got to do his Rhone dive this morning while the rest of us just hung out, got some supplies from Deliverence and took care of our injured captain. When Rick returned, all smiles, we made our way up to the Baths arriving at 230p to find it mostly deserted which was terrific. Lots of exploring and a quick visit the the lovely beach and we were on our way to Leverick by 4pm. We called ahead to let Nick know we were running late and he was waiting for us when we arrived. We really loved the resort, had a swim in the pool and totally enjoyed our showers! We weren't up for a big dinner so ate at the beach grill which was really nice though I thought $20 for a cheeseburger and fries was pricey. A quick "hi" to "grill saver guy" and it was back onboard for a good nights sleep.
6/11-Hit the market and laundry at Leverick and enojyed a big captain-cooked breakfast. A nice sail over to Marina Cay for some nice snorkeling. Just off the restaurant we found a school of fish hiding under where the rocks jut out, some lobster crawling around and a ray trying to hid in the sand. Sweetsailing and her husband dinghyed over to introduce themselves(such nice people!), a nice steak dinner onboard and some cards rounded out a lovely day!
6/12-Morning sail to CGB under an overcast sky and lunch at Stanley's. No one told us they have the most terrific fries! A few raindrops here and there throughout the day and a visit into history at Callwood's Distillery. After dinner aboard we went in to hang at Quito's and enjoyed his music very much! Lookinatfifty enjoyed the table full of ladies who wanted to know if he was the guy who fell at Cooper, Chris bought 2 CD's which Quito signed for him and gave him permission to take down a racy Carib poster for his dorm room! Awakened by a noise at 3am I found a mid-size powerboat getting close to us that wasn't there when we went to bed. Thought we must be swinging more than I thought until it got about 15 feet away and I woke up captain and crew. Lookinatfifty got on the radio to warn the field then hopped in the dinghy and caught up with them after they hit a Sunsail mono. Found the ball still attached and crew there awake and ready to start her up. One they found a new (attached!) ball it was back to bed for everyone.
6/13-Early morning departure to Sandy Spit for the best snorkeling we had all week! Beautiful reef, tons of fish, fan coral 6' tall! The edge of the reef drops off quickly and we found some large fish hanging around there. Great stop! Got the last ball at White Bay JVD and hung out a bit before heading over to Foxy's for the BBQ. It was such a rough ride over that those who sat in the front (me) were soaked and not looking forward to dinner in wet clothes. After we found that all-you-can-eat means 2 plates at the same time we decided that a 2nd plate of cold food didn't sound so appetizing and Lookinatfifty brought me back tot the boat to change while the others headed over to Ali Baba's for a few drinks until we got a taxi back over and joined them for a nice meal. After dinner, at 1030pm, we headed back to White Bay to find nothing open so we got back onboard and called it an early night.
6/14-Yucky day. Gray and overcast on our way to the Bight. Rough ride but good winds! The Indians looked to rough for our newbie snorkeler and the threatening to storm conditions made us decide against running the dinghy up to the caves. Darn! That was one thing I really wanted to do this trip! Grabbed a ball and then a seat at Pirate's before a little off the beach snorkeling. While the other 4 headed to Willy T's for dinner Lookinatfifty and I stayed aboard for some quiet time. The Bight filled up and we found ourselves too close to the surrounding boats. Looked for a ball to move to but remaining ones missing pennants. The lady who collected the mooring fee said she'd have her husband attach a new one to a ball we pointed out and let us know when it was done so we could move. Didn't happen but the seas calmed and we stayed there.
6/15-Lookinatfifty is sure there is no better Father's Day than standing on the back of a cat with your coffee watching the sunrise in the Bight nor no worse one than having to get back to base first thing in the morning. Some trouble getting back in as all slips full but after a 30 minute wait motoring in circles we were in. The guys stayed aboard for the check-out and us girls headed to the showers. Not only is a large, hot shower a treat after a charter but the new showers at Moorings are A++++! Spa style, huge, clean with a rainshower head. Could have spent an hour in there but we were trying to make the noon ferry. Roadtown Fast Ferry was much more comfortable the Native Son and after a 45 minute delay we were headed back to STT for on-time flights to SJU and on to Orlando.
Highlights were the Friendly Skipper from Moorings, snorkeling at Sandy Spit, diving the Rhone, lunch at Stanley's, evening at Quito's, showers at Moorings, Nick and Leverick Bay Marina and "grill saver guy"!
Next time we won't provision so much at the beginning, moor at the Bight, stay at Maria's or fly home the same day we drop the charter.
For our next trip we want to snorkel Indian's, Dog's and caves, go to Anegada, grab another lunch at Stanley's, spend some time at Diamond Cay, Sandy Spit and the North Sound VG and wear more sunscreen!
We've managed to find a great crew who loved the trip as much as we did and congratulate our youngest (Sailing Princess) who asked for this trip and got herself a 5.1 average for graduation in order to have it! Surprised her with a Nikon 40 which she used heavily (over 500 pictures) so I hope to have her get them on photobucket.com soon for everyone to see.
Thanks to each and every one of you who answered our questions and reminded us about "ilon time". This trip would not have been all it was without all of you and TTOL!
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