Saturday Feb 2 - Saturday March 2, 2013 - 4 weeks - longest away from home in our entire lives

Feb 2-Feb 9
MSP to STT to JVD via Dolphin taxi/ferry which worked very well. There were 4 of us as our daughter and husband joined us for this week. Best part of Dolphin is that the Capt cleared us all through customs in WE allowing us to remain in the boat.. Stayed at Sea Crest Inn in Great Harbor with Ivy and Desiree. (See previous posting for lost purse story). This was our 10th stay on JVD. Rented a vehicle as my wife has trouble walking from her MS (we brought a walker for the first time and worked out well). Hung out at Ivan's during the day and ate everywhere - Corsairs, Sandcastle, Foxy's, Ivan's, One Love, Gertrude's, Sidney's, Harris - all very good. Took the Capt Collin's day snorkel trip to Norman and it was very good - $85pp. Played our guitars on the beach at Ivan's - really fun as everyone likes our Buffett and Zack Brown songs.

Feb 9-16
Our daughter and husband left so this week we had it to ourselves - well almost. We hooked up with our best friends for the week at Ivan's who always stay during this week. More laughs, floating, drinking, and relaxing. The two guys talked me into shaving my head on Ivan's beach - not much hair left anyway. Everyone was really nice helping wife Barb in and out of the surf - thanks. We have a JVD reunion scheduled at our Lake Minnetonka, MN home on July 13 after the Kenny Chesney/Zack Brown concert in Minneapolis.

Feb 16-23
Off to Virgin Gorda with Frankie (Bunn's son) and his 30 ft scarab boat. We made it in 45 minutes and skimmed over the top of every wave at almost full throttle (wind was 35 knots)- our knuckles were white from hanging on. Arrived in VGYH and celebrated with a shot of rum. Our vehicle was waiting for us and off to our Guavaberry Cottage - good to see Tina and Valerie again. This was our 28th stay on VG. We hooked up with best friends from back home who were staying for the month and friends who are always on VG during Feb. Our schedule - breakfast, beach, happy hour at Rendezvous, Mermaid, Mad Dog, and then dinner. Our new favorite beach is Mahoe as the access is very close and level for us - we had a time there until the beverages ran out. Had a short guitar jam session at Mad Dogs with an old friend who we had not seen in 5 years. Ate at Mine Shaft (great new bar top), Rendezvous (Edith is the best), Leverick Bay Jumbie night (best BBQ), Little Dix breakfast, The Rock - all very good food.

Feb 23 - March 2 Sailing with Capt Jim on Blue Moon 45ft Privilege.
The Crew - Barb's Fargo HS class '65 friends and husbands. We were all ages 65-70 with one trophy husband at 57. We flew in from Vail CO, Yuma AZ, Cody WY and MSP. Our ailments - MS, healing broken ankle, healing butt, sore wrist, sun sensitive, two knees scheduled for replacement in 2 weeks. Our strengths - cooking and drinking
The Attitude - it's all good but don't run out of beverages.
The Captain - Jim Phillips - laid back, helpful, instigator for fun - also could sail, anchor, dinghy and manage the grill.

Saturday - Capt Jim said he would meet us anywhere so we picked Leverick Bay so we could see the Jumbies Fri night and get an early start Sat. The crew all stayed on VG at Leverick Bay for 2 previous nights. We bought provisions at Rosy's, Bucks, and Wholesale Warehouse - spent more for beverages than food - Capt Jim said it was a good sign. By the time we loaded the boat with luggage and provisions it was 1:30 so we decided to motor over to Bitter End and tie up at the dock. We were exhausted from the tough sail so since the dock fee ($75 including power) included pool and beach usage, we did it. Ate dinner at the BE burger/pizza place and breakfast at the buffet. Our dock neighbor was a 62ft GUN Cat (Elvis) which was the base boat for a Melges 32 - the world qualifying championships were being held in the North Sound. Capt, owner and crew were really nice.

Sunday - off to Anegada. Made it on one heading in about 2 hrs and set anchor off of Potters. Our first dinghy challenge - got 9 of us in but when approaching the dock we said it was too high (3 ft above gunwale) so Jim got us closer to shore and we walked a shore - knee deep. Taxi to Cow Wreck and beached it for the day. Did not see much erosion to beach. The girls did a shot ski - so funny. I got the ring toss from reverse position on 1st try. Walked to the villas that used to be in the water to the south and they are now have an artificial sandbag reef. We met a guy who said he might buy it all for $1 million and use it as a kite surfing base?? Taxi back to Potters via Settlement tour and Purple Turtle gift shop for ladies. Everyone had some type of Lobster meal - my lobster was cooked perfectly.

Monday - woke up to lobster egg Benedict breakfast made from picking the lobster remnants from last night - really yummy. Set sail for Scrub Island with spinnaker. Upon approaching Scrub we tried to drop the spinnaker but the chute stuck so we had to manhandle it down into the forward hatch - Capt Jims cabin. We secured a dock space - very tricky with the wind (good job Capt Jim). Dock fee was $150 with power but again included use of the resort which we thought was a great deal as guests were paying $850 a day. Hung out in the two level pool, went down the waterslide - beautiful 5 star resort. We all used their showers too. Ate pasta salad on board and then took ferry over to Trellis Bay Full Moon party. We walked around for 1 hour and all agreed - too many people, no seating - let's get back to the boat - so we left. I went to Bomba's full moon party several years ago and same deal - way over rated for me.

Tuesday - Our plan was to snorkel today but our first stop off Marina Cay was full of left over full moon boats so we headed to Fallen Jerusalem off of VG. We tried to raise the main but the sail came out of the mast track - bummer. We motored the rest of the way and caught a ball near the nice little beach on Fallen Jerusalem. The snorkeling was OK on the two sides of the beach - lots of fish. Next we stopped at Salt Island and dinghyed ashore. Great story here as the Shipwrecked Rhone passengers ended up here - some were saved and some were buried in the cemetery which is there today. The island was deeded by the Queen to the family living on the island who saved so many if they gave one bag of salt every year to England. This still continues today although no one lives there. Next to Copper Island where we caught a ball for the night. Ate a very good dinner at Cooper - I had wonderful red snapper. Cooper is really fixed up since I was there 10 years ago - I think for the better.

Wednesday - Set out for The Indians but on the way saw a boat with a lobster winch on it. We hailed them down and asked if they had any lobster. They threw 3 lobsters in a bag into out trailing dinghy but refused to take money for them - how nice. Went on to snorkel at the Indians - great sunlight, good visibility - lots of fish and coral. On to Norman and caught a ball for the night. Cap Jim thought we would like the Willy T but it was quiet this time for the day - about 6 PM. We all went to Willy T and made our own party - can't put in print what happened but lots of laughs. Back to the boat and had fresh lobster and steak - delicious.

Thursday - to JVD took, about 2 hours - anchored in White Bay off Ivan's and swam ashore. Had most of the beach to ourselves for the afternoon. Some of the crew hiked over the rocks to Soggy Dollar for painkillers. Our crew like painkillers so much we pre-made them in water bottles and put them in the cooler for 24/7 painkiller availability. Motored over to Great Harbor and caught a ball. Dinghyed into Customs dock and ate at Corsairs. I had the blackened grouped again - my favorite. We walked to Foxy's for some dancing (Barb's walker worked well on the sand road). Walking by I got Ali Baba's ring toss on the 1st try - he gave me a "well done" look.

Friday - We had to go back to Foxy's Boutique as it was closed last night - lots of stuff we really need. Foxy was there telling stories and signing t shirts. He told us he turns 75 on Sept 27 and its having a big party. He has recovered from his throat illness and looks very good - still funny. Back to Blue Moon and headed out - motored into Little Harbor and then to Little JVD where we anchored off a delightful little beach - it must have a name but we did not know it so we named it NSP Beach after our ladies high school group. Then off to Cane Garden Bay where we loaded on water - bad dock location as the intermittent waves really rolled the boat around. We tried to anchor in CGB but waves too uncomfortable so we went to Sopers Hole and caught a ball. We had a great last dinner on board - BBQ chicken, cheesy potatoes and lobster stuffed tomatoes. We worked on draining our beverage inventory and almost succeeded. Sebastians rum is really good stuff.

Saturday - departure day. Barb and I are going back to MSP but our friends are staying at Myett's on Cane Garden Bay for 3 more nights. We ate breakfast at Sopers Hole and said our goodbyes. Capt Jim took us back to STT as he has some sail fixing to do before his next charter. Jim keeps Blue Moon at a dock behind the Schnitzel Haus which looks like a fun German restaurant. As we said our good bye to Jim he looked at Barb and told her "You are awesome" and she is.

7 days - 12 islands - 3 snorkels - shot ski - free lobster - Willy T fun - Blue Moon relaxing
Thank you Capt Jim and Blue Moon - you are now senior citizen certified
---Barb and Jack, Linda and Al, Sharon and Jack, Jean and Don