We made it! Had a great time, details to follow. First off, the cast;<br>Steve, alias Dad, last sailed BVI's 2 years ago with JD (the dude, Daix)<br>Kim, alias Mom, BVI veteran, never SAILED them<br>Heather, alias cupcake or sissy,15, 1st timer<br>Andy, alias AJ, 12, also 1st timer<br>The boat - JD's beloved Beneteau 40CC, DaixDream<br>The plan - take mom and the kids for an island tour, avoid divorce and bankruptcy, and finish up with a few days on Virgin Gorda<br><br>6/17 - Day one: BWI to SJU to EIS - no incidents, we are flying with carry-on only, so no lost-luggage problems. On the return, all will appreciate the joys of a no-incident trip down. We get to the boat at Sunsail around 6:30, after meeting JD's crew at the airport and sharing a taxi down. The "Big Leipoldski" shows me to his boat, and we start stowing. Bobby's is on-time at 7:30 with food - great service, exactly what we wanted, will do again. After stowing food,Caribs and rum, off to Fat Hog Bob's to make first dent in "Drinking Man's Guide" - also a winner! Kids discover conch fritters, and they at once become mandatory for all future stops. Back to boat to sleep, quite comfortable, decent breeze.<br><br>6/18 - Day 2: Up early, quick breakfast, boat brief, and out into the channel. Winds are 15-20, almost due east, so I take her well out to give Kim a chance to get the feel of her before I start throwing sails up. She does well, we get 'em set, and off to Peter Island, Deadman's Bay, to meet JD. After about 10 minutes, I start looking to get sails trimmed, and notice a tear in genoa - probably happened as we set it - not huge, but never good, so we drop it, and sail main only toward Peter. There is a squall approaching, so we drop main,as I have no need to scare the crew first day out, and motor the rest of the way. LOVE Deadman's.......spend the afternoon, then off to Norman, where we meet Herve (Momma Cocha), who is kind enough to dinghy over and give Kim a hand with mooring ball (the only time she needs it - turns out she's a natural). We later see JD sail in on the Bahia he is using, and all meet there for happy hour.After discussing sail options, I choose to sail main only the remainder, and head back to da boat.We later dine on-board (I DEFY ANYONE to light charcoal in the Bight when it's blowing), and again sleep like babies.<br><br>6/19 - Day 3: Up early, breakfast, then off to Cooper Island. I let Andy sail her for a while, main only, and he does wonderfully, immediately has a good feel for the boat. We get to Cooper, and give Mom and sissy a dinghy-lesson, as AJ and I are going for an afternoon dive on the Rhone. We go to dive, they go ashore to (shudder) shop. Our rendezvous is with Casey McNutt of DiveBVI. She is absolutely great, and makes the dive a fantastic experience. Definitely one of the trip highlights, I would recommend them to all! After getting back to the boat, Mom sees us and, relieved that we are still alive, (she does NOT dive), goes to head back.Problem, dinghy will not start - thinking quickly, they paddle out, and I mess with it until it runs again. She has made dinner reservations, so I get to make another mark in the "booze-book". I decide it's a good time to try boat-showers - dive in off swim platform, come up and soap (lemon-fresh Joy), back in followed by fresh-water rinse.Works good until cupcake runs her nose into the boat surfacing; no permanent damage, but she's REAL careful swimming the rest of the trip! Great dinner, I introduce the kids to true "island-style" food, and unfortunately they like it much. Back to the boat, and off to sleep after an hour or two of looking at stars and a libation or two.<br><br>6/20 - Day 4: They now know the drill, and after breakfast, we head to Cane Garden Bay. Great day to be on the water,mom is finally getting comfortable that I actually do know my way around here (thanks JD) and no incidents until, after dropping sail and heading in for a mooring, a squall blows in, and mom and AJ are soaked on the bow. I offer to motor around until it blows through, but mom simply says "Put me on THAT ONE!" She grabs it, and the rain stops. Typical! We go ashore, and after hitting Callwood's for some rum, we sit on the deck at Quito's listening to him while the kids snorkle. Have a wonderful discussion with waitress Karen, whom I last met with JD, and we decide to hit the Elm's barbecue. What a feed! Post dinner walk on the beach, then back to the boat for more star-gazing. The bay is quite busy, as Lucky Dube is playing at Foxy's, and boats are shuttling people to JVD all night. 2am hatch drill for showers, but otherwise a peaceful night.<br><br>See part 2 for JVD and beyond.