BVI trip report – July 2003<br><br>Charter Company: Pro Valor<br>Boat: Off the Scope<br>On Board: Michael (mc4d), Jacomien (looniewhite); Ian (boy_canada) and Alyx.<br><br>Fri. July 19: Left home (Oakville, Ontario, Canada) at 2 AM to drive to Buffalo airport. No problems at the border crossing, and we were in the terminal building at 4am, for a 6am flight. The check-in didn’t open until 5, so we just hung around. Flights with US air – BUF-PHL-SJU uneventful and on time! At SJU we switched to American Eagle for a 37 minute flight to Beef Island.<br><br>Amazingly (or am I just a little cynical) our luggage and the four of us arrived on time at 2:07PM. Jeff and Mindy were waiting for us and we were on the boat at 2:45. <br><br>Found the boat in immaculate shape, icebox cold, ready to receive our order from Bobby’s which arrived at 3:45 as requested. We were set! Had Rum, Tonic, Ice and Lime; sunshine, a boat under our feet – WHAT ELSE COULD WE WANT!<br><br>As we were travelling with our two kids, Ian, 18 and Alyx, turning 17 while in the BVI, neither of whom had ever been here, it was fun to hear their comments, specially Ian who seemed to think he died and gone to heaven – and all this while we were still on the dock at Fat Hog’s Bay! Alyx was a little more subdued – she was missing her boyfriend, Mike – understandable since they had been inseparable for 7 months. (He’s been living in our house.)<br><br>Wandered over to UBS to confirm our rendezvous dive for the Monday and the requirements for rental gear – and filled out the standard diving forms (I shall not die, but if I do, it isn’t your fault, etc).<br><br>With Right Breeze right at the marina, we picked up last minute items (more rumorange juice etc), had a boat briefing with Jeff, had a meal and fell into our bunks early.<br><br>Sat. July 20: Michael and I were up at sparrow fart – 6 am, kids slept in ‘late’ were up at 9. Had to wait for Jeff to give us a chart briefing – we’re pretty familiar with the waters here so the most important info was about Tropical Depression #6, likely to become Tropical Storm “Erika”, possibly hitting about 140 miles to the south, and potentially causing some unpleasant weather in the BVI on Tuesday and Wednesday. We’re to stay in touch with Jeff who will monitor (as we will) the progress of this depression.<br><br>At 10am we were OFF! Decided to put a reef in, as it was a little gusty, new crew, and unknown boat and wanted to do some tacking, gibing and generally getting a feel for the boat. So, first things first, put up the main. “No, problem”: Jeff had said “You won’t even need the winch, its goes up so easily”. In other words, it’s a cinch, don’t need a winch!!!! HAHAHA. Wrong, this time: Had a lot of trouble getting it up, then realized we had the wrong reef in so had to drop it again, and it would NOT come down! I had visions of last years’ charter where we ended up with a potentially serious medical situation from over-exertion as a result of the main not wanting to move down in a situation where we had to get it down fast. It was Deja-Vue and not a nice one.<br><br>Anyway, after some struggling we did get it down, had a good look at the offending car, couldn’t see anything, put it up again (much easier now) and set off for a wonderful sail, ending up in the Bight. Michael and Ian took off to do some exploring at the Willy T, and at Pirates, and met up again with a crowd we had met on the plane from SJU (one father with 7 teenage boys (not all his). M&I came back to the boat and Ian promptly persuaded Alyx to come back to the Pirates with him for a drink. When they came back, just in time for dinner, Alyx proudly announced she had found the drink of her dreams – a Bushwacker – just the sort of thing a parent wants an almost 17 year old to discover – – a Bushwacker – just the sort of thing a parent wants an almost 17 year old to discover – pure alcohol. Thank whomever is up there that we have two –mostly- sensible kids. <br><br>Alyx has also decided she was going to tell everyone that it was her birthday (optionally including that it wasn’t until July 31st) and in the first case got a jello tequila shooter for her efforts. We’ll see what the rest of the trip brings.<br><br>We were in bed early and even Ian who went out partying with his new found friends was home by midnight – early for him.<br><br>Both Michael and I get used to Island time very quickly – early to bed and early to rise. We expect the kids to get into that groove at some point.<br><br>Mon. July 21: We had arranged a rendezvous dive with UBS at 10 am and right on time Scott arrives to pick us up. He was also bringing our rental gear, including 6 tanks, but they had run out of tank racks and there is a minimum of deck storage lockers on this boat, so we didn’t take any of the rental gear at this time, especially with the weather being iffy. Figured we’d get them to deliver it, or us picking it up in the next few days when they should have a rack back.<br><br>Alyx was a little apprehensive; Ian was Gung –Ho and I was just plain looking forward to it. Scott took us to Angel Reef for our first dive, and with the use of an erasable slate pointed out all sorts of interesting animals, plants and fish. For our second dive we went to Pelican Island and again had a great time. Everyone came up happy and looking forward to more dives by ourselves. Alyx, who had said she didn’t want to go under 30 feet and did not want to see a shark or barracuda, went down to 60 and looked at me questioningly when a barracuda swam very closely in front of the two of us. When up on the boat I told her what it was, she was not at least upset by it. I think we’ve won her over! <br><br>After the dives, we left the Bight at about 2pm and beat our way up the Sir Francis Drake Channel, having decided that we’d put into Trellis Bay, or if necessary, Fat Hog’s to ride out this weather.<br><br>It was a great sail, wet (on the foredeck, that is) and wonderful and just as we were rounding the end of Beef Island, Jeff phoned in to let us know that they just downgraded Tropical Depression #6 to a Tropical Wave and that it would be passing even further south of us than expected. Winds for the night were estimated to be in the 35-45 mph range. (At 3 am when I checked it was blowing 25 knots and I don’t think it got above that in Trellis)<br><br>Once moored, went ashore to De Loose Mongoose, but they were closed, and since Alyx was anxious to get through to her boyfriend, she was very happy to find the Cyber Café open. She will be jumping at the bit to go back when she wakes up to see if he answered her message.<br><br>I had my first ever Bushwacker. I had to agree with Alyx that they are very tasty and don’t taste of alcohol at all. Dangerous. Back to the boat just before dark, to start dinner, and very early to bed for all. Oh Yes, and I was very pleased to see Anouk again and bought another pair of earnings from her. <br><br>Tue. July 22: Woke up to grey skies and gusting winds, still nothing like they had expected, but not necessarily a great day for sailing and sunning. Michael and I were up again at about 6, pottered about and when the kids got about at about 8.30 or so we made breakfast of bacon and eggs. Went ashore again to put the kids on the internet and Alyx was delighted to receive an answer from her boyfriend. Wondered over to De Loose Mongoose for a drink and decided that after lunch we would go to Monkey Point to snorkel. Anchoring was a bit of a feat (there were no mooring balls, except for two dinghy balls very close in shore), but with Ian’s skin diving skills he managed to get the anchor set in a piece of sand.<br><br>The snorkelling was great, even in the rain. We had pelicans diving and fishing right beside us, a little unnerving the first time. The viz wasn’t great but good enough to see millions of silver fish and some large (6-8 ft) tarpons as well as just about anything else you can think of on the smaller side. Also a fair amount of jelly fish! Watch out. <br><br>After the snorkel we went to Marina Key for an overnight stop and a dinner ashore. Big Mistake. A very expensive dinner which was not worth it. Ah, well, live and learn.<br><br>Wed. July 23: Morning broke bright and sunny, perfect day in paradise. We got going at about 7 and were at the Baths shortly after eight, one of the first boats. Kids got up, ate and we all donned our gear and snorkelled all around the Baths. Again lots of jelly fish, but luckily nobody got stung. Saw rays, barracuda, and large grouper. Had a quick stop in Devils Bay to warm up and snorkelled back to the boat. At this time all the moorings were taken. Picked up a shirt and wallet and set off to the Top of the Baths for lunch. GREAT lunch, wonderful surroundings, a nice change from our first meal ashore. <br><br>Set sail at 3 with the idea of spending the night in Savannah Bay, but the kids wanted something a little livelier so we opted for Leverick. The beat up to Gorda Sound was exhilarating. Picked up a mooring at Leverick the kids did a run ashore for ice, recce and garbage drop-off. In need of another session on the internet, they were disappointed that the grocery store that holds the computers was closed ‘til the next day. Dinner aboard and after dinner the guys decided to and check out the bar. Alyx and I stayed aboard and in fact, we were both in bed (in my case already having taken my sleeping pills) when Ian came back and said that we had been invited to join Nick and Monica, the Managers of Leverick. Got dressed in 1 minute, dinghied ashore to find the place HOPPING. The “Puerto Rican Navy’ (nickname for the power boaters out of PR) were in full force working up to their Christmas on July 25th. Partying, drinking, dancing etc. <br><br>Between Monica and Nick and the four of us we were the only white, English speaking people at the bar it seemed. Had a great time chatting with Nick & Monica. I should mention that Michael was trying to kill the pain in his hand from a BAD rope burn with Painkillers, and they seemed to work! He finally went back to the boat, and Ian, Nick, Alyx and I ended up in the swimming pool (with our clothes on) to cool off.<br><br>Since Michael had taken the wallet back to the boat and I didn’t know if anything had been left outstanding, I promised we would be back at 8 am to pay the tab, if there was one. We were back on board before midnight, and I personally didn’t hear the partying that went on well into the wee hours.<br>Thu. July 24: Went back to say goodbye to Nick and Monica at 8 am, got the kids some internet time, which made Alyx especially happy since there was a message from Mike, and then took of to the Dogs to do a dive. We went to the Chimneys, but stupid us, didn’t pay enough attention and even though it was a lovely dive and there was lots to see, we didn’t actually see the chimneys as we didn’t set off in the right direction!<br><br>Have to add here that as a result of yet another eruption on Monserrat (sp?), both the air and water are less than clear – viz. is way down.<br><br>The kids weren’t up for a second dive (I had wanted to go to Bronco Billy’s) so we sailed back into Gorda Sound and ended up at the Fat Virgin in Biras Creek. Saw a turtle on our way in. Had a great dinner at the Fat Virgin with very good Conch Fritters – much better than at Marina Key.<br><br>Fri. July 25: Set sail early, were out of the sound at 8 am and made it to Anegada in well under two hours, a nice beam reach which had us moving at between 7 and 9 knots. Even though we had a GPS on board, but no instruction (and we had never used one plus instruction on screen were in French) we followed Walkers visual instructions and had no trouble getting in, although carefully with several buoys missing. What also helped was our 5th crew member, George, the autopilot. Kept us right on course!<br><br>Had a drink at the Anagada Reef Hotel and lazed around for the afternoon. I even had a nap! Booked the famed lobster dinner at ARH, Alyx opting for shrimp since she wasn’t sure she would like lobster. She was a little perturbed to find the shrimp still had their legs on – but the taste overcame the legs very quickly. I shared my lobster with her and as expected the meals was absolutely OUTSTANDING. clapping]<br>Chatted with some locals and some guests, had Ian drive us back to the boat while they stayed ashore for a little longer. Warm night, the wind died down a lot, and us old folk were up again at 5.<br><br>Sat. July 26: Michael had managed to rent a car for the day and we put Ian in the driver’s seat. The car was a little Suzuki with NO shocks – a bumpy ride, but it got us to where we wanted to go. Went to see the Iguana Sanctuary, from there backtracked and went to Cow Wreck Bay – one of my most favourite places in the world. We were early enough for Bell to make a fresh batch of conch fritter – the best – and we had an enjoyable snorkel (with a lot of surge), lounged on the beach, had lunch and met Alex of Harmonic Sounds fame. He is the one who has the band that wanted to go to the festival, but lost their sponsor and Walker was one to set up a TTOL collection (by the way, we paid our money to Sue at ARH). Nice guy, Alex; they are still a little short, but he hoped that with two gigs before the festival date to have covered the full cost. He and Ian got talking cars and bikes and were in seventh heaven. He burned us a copy of his bands’ CD, and signed it, so we might well have a treasure on our hands.[img]/images/icons2/smile.gif[/img]<br><br>Michael’s rope burned hand turned out a lot better than first expected. The first few days it was pretty tender, but a lot of the blisters went down by themselves and when the others broke, new skin had grown underneath. Could have been a lot worse.<br><br>Left there and went over to Loblolly. There it was crowded, another lot of Sail Caribbean was in (a crowd of 13 to 18 year old kids who sail the Caribbean and in the process learn small boat racing; diving etc, apart from living 13 to a boat, a 45-50 foot mono). The day before an even bigger fleet of Sail Caribbean had been in, 7 boats; 77 students and 17 staff!<br><br>Back at ARH we had a drink at the bar and Ian got talking to a lad, Dexter, local from Virgin Gorda, who teaches sailing at the Bitter End. The talk turned to Laser racing and Dexter was totally amazed that you could have 90 boats on the start line, as Ian has experienced when doing some serious racing in Canada. At the Bitter End they have 10 boats, and they were going to have races the following day, and Ian desperately wanted to go, but our course out of Anagada will be for Jost, not exactly on the way!<br> <br><br>Sun. July 27: Left Anegada around 8 – 8:30 and laid course for a point off Great Hatch for a dive. The approx 4 hour sail was great, averaging 61/2 to7 knots and hit speeds of 10+ knots at times. <br><br>Arriving at Great Hatch we looked at two dive sites, but neither had moorings and the seas were less than smooth and it was too deep to anchor. Decided to go into Soper’s to refill empty air tanks and then again, motored over to Great Harbour, Jost van Dyck. Had some trouble setting the anchor but with Ian’s free diving skills we did manage in the end. After eating on board we went to Foxy's which was very quiet, so started wandering down the beach. Next stop turned out to be Wendell’s World, where we stopped off to ask a few questions about local dive sites. Ended up spending many more hours there, with Alyx taking over the bartending job, after Jack (AKA John, AKA JF) – who is the new chef at Fox’s daughters’ place on Diamond Point – had enough of the job. Alyx found an easy way to overcome her lack of knowledge of mixed drinks; if she didn’t know how to make the drink ordered she just told them they were having a shot of tequila! Joanne mixed a ‘slippery Nipple for Ian (Sambuca and Baileys) and Ian’s comment after the first one was:” I have never just seen a single nipple so I’ll need another one”. Joanne advised him that that a soda between the two would be a good idea, but Ian did get his 2nd Slippery Nipple shortly after.[img]/images/icons2/blush.gif[/img] A good time was had by all, but it was a late night (for us anyway).<br><br>Mon. July 28: Woke up late, 7 am! I find that once I’m here I wake up between 5 and 6; Michael shortly after and the kids much later. When the kids got up we went around to Great Tobago (west side) where there was a mooring ball. All three of us did a dive to 100’ and saw 2 nurse sharks one about 6 feet long the other 8. As always, the diving was fantastic, I cannot get enough of it. After the dive, went around to White Bay, where Ian opted to stay on the boat and therefore missed the BEST painkillers at Soggy Dollar Bar. Managed to get a message to Manpot (Malcolm) as I had forgotten his phone number at home and had offered to help with the BBQ on the 1st. K.C. at SDB lived just down the road from him and promised me to deliver the message personally.[img]/images/icons2/clapping.gif[/img]<br><br>Motored around to Little Harbour for Harris’ All You Can Eat Lobster; but there was no AYCE that night. The pea soup with Cynthia’s ‘secret’ ingredient was wonderful, but the lobster was so-so.<br><br>Tue. July 29th: Ten days into the trip, you all of a sudden realize that the end is in sight, specially since we knew we would be in Cane Garden Bay from the 31st onwards, with Alyx’ birthday, the BVI party and sail to look forward to. <br><br>Motored over to Soper’s early in the morning to top up with water, fuel (for boat and dink) and fill up air tanks. Motored to Road Town, wind straight on the nose and not enough time to tack, and picked up a mooring off ‘The Pub’. Planned to dinghy around to Village Cay, but the engine decided to quit – our fault, when we put the fuel tank back on we did it the wrong way around! When we got it going again, all the while drifting near an enormous cruise ship, we changed plans and left the dinghy at the Pub and walked into town. With our handy-dandy radios to keep us in touch, the kids took off to do some shopping and Michael and I had a drink and conch fritters at Pussers. Then we too moseyed into town for some (minimal) shopping, and before long the kids contacted us that they had seen enough and wanted to get back to the boat. <br><br>Our plans had been very open, if Ian and Alyx had wanted to we could have spent the night on that mooring but we all wanted to get out, so we sailed over to Cooper. Michael and I had a interesting snorkel at the south end of Machioneel Bay, Cistern Point, ate and went to bed for an early start to the Rhone.<br><br>Wed. July 30th: Early start it was, we were one of the first boats there. The three of us (Ian, Alyx and I) did our first dive on the Rhone at the aft section, but even though our dive and snorkel guide gave us a good layout of all that part of the wreck, it didn’t relate it to the position of the land (or moorings) so we had a bit of trouble finding it. Water was pretty murky, as it had been at most dive sites. Ian and I decided to do a second dive, but being relative newbies; he being trained Padi with different dive tables; I as PDIC, but couldn’t find my dive tables, and a computer that gave us conflicting non-decompression info, we dinghied over to a dive boat just to make sure we were ok to go down again, and for how long. We had another great dive.<br><br>Sailed back to Soper’s for yet another air tank refill, and Michael and I had a look, inside and out, at a Voyage 380 – wow!<br><br>Alyx had really wanted to go back to Wendell’s World at Great Harbour (JvD) so that’s where we went for the evening and night. Before going ashore Michael did his TTOL call at 5 pm (he hadn’t missed many either morning or night), when we got our very first response. Actually, as I am writing this I realize that was not the first time we spoke to Paul (PBDK), but now I cannot remember when we had made contact (help me here, Paul) We did see Paul, Becky, Daniel and Katherine at Great Harbour and shared a drink with them. <br><br>Once ashore we heard Rudi sing, what a hoot, but we were all tired so again a relatively early night. Got some nice pics with Alyx, Joanne and Anouk (Wendell’s daughter). <br><br>Thu. July 31st – Alyx’ birthday.[img]/images/icons2/queen.gif[/img]<br>As we hadn’t been able to get streamers we had to make do with decorating the cockpit with loo paper. It didn’t last long, but long enough.Made a birthday ‘Thing’ out of an orange with a candle stuck in it. Dutifully she lit it 17 times and blew it out (or the wind did it for her). Unpacked some minor presents had breakfast and tried to go for a dive at ‘Twin Towers’ on the North side of Little Jost. It was very rough and too deep to anchor so we turned around and anchored in the shelter of Sandy Spit instead. From there Ian and I dinghied to ‘The Playground’ (between Green Cay and Little Jost) and did our first dive from the dinghy. There was a mooring ball to which we tied, but with no protection the movement in the dinghy was pretty rough. We had previously devised a way for me to get back into the dink, since I could do it without help, much to Ian’s despair; a thick line tied to two of the handhold, so that I could put one foot into the loop and very ungraciously roll myself over the side. Getting tanks and weights on worked well, even in that roly poly water, with each of us kneeling and the other one helping. The getting up to sit on the side of the dink was hard going for my knees with all that weight on, but that was relieved as soon as we rolled over backwards and into the water. This too was an interesting dive; our 8th for the trip. <br><br>When we got back to the boat we decided that it was a good time and place to mark the anchor chain, something we had promised Jeffrey we would do, and he had provided us with a measuring tape and ties. Michael had found a line in our ditty bag that he marked off at 25 feet, so with the 1000 lbs left in my tank, I went down, tied the line at the anchor, went hand over hand to the 25foot mark, put on a marker, swim back, untie the line, tie it back on at the first marker etc etc. As there was a lot of space around the boat, Ian and Michael just fed out more anchor chain. It was a ‘fun’ ride for me, the boat would swing and drag the chain over the ground, while I was hanging on – scratched up my knuckles somewhat, but we got it marked to 175 ft (there was 200 ft on board). Just as I was tying on the last marker, I also sucked in my last breath of air. No panic as it was only 10 to 12 feet deep, but instead of going up I decided that I better untie the line from the anchor chain. Managed to do that and made a controlled ascent, pretty exhausted and of course without air to but in my BC. The line got fouled in the chain, so I hung on while the guys heaved me another line to tie onto it so we wouldn’t lose it. By the time that was done, I just wanted to get around the back of the boat and to the swim ladder. But just as I got sight of the ladder the boat swung away from me and I was nearly at the end of my tether. I could have dropped my weight belt, manually filled my BC, taken off my tank and towed it, or got Ian to jump in and get it for me, but I am nothing if not pig headed, and let out a great grunt of relief when I finally got a hold of the ladder. Anyway, the job was done and all we had to do now was winch in 200 ft of anchor chain. The locker wasn’t really deep enough, but having two boy scouts and a scout leader on board, we had come prepared with a good set of heavy duty gloves (chain was pretty rusty) so Ian fed it in where it should go. The batteries (or rather the port battery as we later found out) was pretty well drained after hauling all that back in on the windlass. I had a ‘sit down’ while the others got us underway to Cane Garden Bay for Alyx’ birthday dinner at Quito’s.[img]/images/icons2/doh.gif[/img]<br><br>While in CGB Michael did his usual TTOL call on 69 at 5 pm and we got an answer, our second after almost two weeks. This time we were within waving distance of Midori with Rick and Jan Skinner (Rski) and crew onboard. When, in the middle of the conversation our radio (Battery) dried up, they got into their dinghy and came over. Our second meeting with great TTOL’ers, and many more to come!<br><br>Got dressed up for dinner as it was a B’day dinner, and Michael had gone ashore earlier to talk to Nicke at Quito’s to hand over candles and arrange a ‘cake’ of sorts to stick them in. Had a memorable dinner, not least because the 6 TTOL’s off Midori did an impromptu, acappella rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’, everyone around wished her the best and then Quito and staff singing ‘The’ song as they presented her with her b’day cake with candles. Oh, and don’t let me forget to mention that the food was fabulous![img]/images/icons2/clapping.gif[/img][img]/images/icons2/umbrella.gif[/img]<br><br>Were treated to Quito singing solo that night, and I totally fell in love with his ballads.<br><br>Fri. Aug 1:<br><br>Met up with Charmaine (sweetlassie) - after having met her for the first time the night before, just as she arrived at Quito’s - on the beach after a wonderful coffee and fruit juice at Myets. Ian and I had decided to dingy around to Brewers Bay Pinnacles for a dive. Happily it was fairly calm in the channel and there was a buoy (very seldom used by the look of it) to tie up to. Viz was not great, but we still had a good dive. Ian saw an octopus, plastered on coral and even though he tried with many handgestures to point it out to me, I couldn’t figure out what he was ‘talking’ about and missed seeing it. They camouflage well!<br><br>Back to the boat for a snooze and then got ready for the 1st Great BVI TTOL BASH at Malcolm’s house. Charmaine had organized a taxi which we shared with her and the PBDK crowd (Paul, Becky, Daniel and Katherine) and it was fantastic to see the islands and waters from the window, we never spent enough time ashore!<br><br>Party was in full swing and a GREAT success as you have heard from many others. Definitely worth repeating (poor Malcolm). He has a lovely house which he is about to make major renovations to, in a lovely spot. Met so many people, I am trying hard to keep the names and faces together that belong together, but having some problems.<br><br>Went back to Quito’s where Alyx and Michael soon decided to call it quits and went back to the boat. Ian and I stayed and I even got to dance with my 18 year old son and between him and Shadow got quite a workout on the dance floor. Quito and his band were outstanding.[img]/images/icons2/groovin.gif[/img]<br><br>Also met Graham and Cecilia from Oxford, UK again – first talked to them the night before. I hope they will sign up for the board as well.<br><br>Sat.Aug 2:<br><br>TTOL Sail day. We picked Charmaine, Sharon (sharnightqueen) and Malcolm up at the dock and had previously decided to go to Monkey Point, along with PBDK and meeting Capt. Bob there with his crew and Susan C and ??. Rough ride over [img]/images/icons2/sick.gif[/img]but had a fun time snorkelling. Since we still had two tanks left, Becky and I decided to dive, but it being so shallow, I should have realized I needed more weight – so it was a bit of a waste of time. The other thing I got confirmed yet again is that my underwater direction finder is kaput – I might have thought I was swimming in a straight line, but nothing was further from the truth. I guess I’ll have to go for the ‘Advanced Open Water Diver’ with PDIC as soon as possible.<br><br>Motored over to Trellis where we all had lunch at De Loose Mongoose and from where Malcolm, Sharon and Charmaine walked over to the taxi rank at the airport and got a ride back to GBH. <br><br>Sadly, we had to go around Beef Island to end up in Fat Hogs Bay, ready to leave the next day. Upon arrival and after a cleanup we had a very good dinner at the Harbourview where Mindy and Jeffrey joined us and we closed the place down.<br><br>Sun. Aug 3:<br><br>Clean up and pack – Yak! Did not want to leave! Did a debrief with Jeffrey, nothing much to report, everything had gone smoothly (except me being hit over the head (several times) by the lid of the icebox (NOT nice).[img]/images/icons2/yikes.gif[/img]<br><br>Mindy had ordered a taxi for us for 11.45, and off we went (with tears in eyes). Shortly after arriving at the airport we discovered that our flight had been cancelled (prop problems) and we would be put on the next flight to SJU. This meant that we would miss our connection, so they rebooked us via Newark to spend the night in a hotel there, then early the next morning to Buffalo. Other option was to stay in Tortola another night and take the next day’s flights. We opted for the Newark connection thinking we would be in Buffalo at noon and therefore home at about 3 pm. WRONG!<br><br>Flight from EIS to SJU was delayed, missed the flight to Newark. One major contributing factor was that at SJU they have 25 or so wickets in Immigration of which only 2 were for us ‘Aliens’ (Canadian’s in transit). So that took over an hour, and when all the other lines were just about empty, someone finally redirected us to a USA only line. As predicted, the first comment we got was:” This line is for US citizens only, you are in the wrong line” – said with a scowl. After explaining, she did let us through. Picked up bags and went over to the AA service desk which had a mile long line up, a lot of AA flights were late from all over the world. By this time we had missed all flights out of San Juan that night.<br><br>Someone directed us to another line-up where we explained the situation and after some hassle the girl produced new tickets for the next day, on Continental, to PHL and BUF. She showed me the tickets, had to be at the airport at 6:30 for an 8 o’clock flight and handed me an envelop. Finally we were off to the Marriot in SJU, without clean clothes and everything that we had stank from having thrown in wet towels at the last minute. Wonderful to have a real shower though, and after a change into a somewhat smelly sarong and other gear that was least offensive, we went to the buffet dinner. That was OUTSTANDING and at $19.95 very good value for money. M and I ordered a bottle of wine (not such good value) which we couldn’t even finish, we were so tired. We were all in bed early yet again.<br><br>Mon. Aug 4:<br><br>Ian had asked for a wake up call for 5:45 but I guess the person who took the message got it wrong so we were woken up at 4:45. Had a breakfast voucher, but breakfast wasn’t served until 6:30 so we missed that. In the taxi to the airport I checked our tickets to find out our flight number, only to find that the girl from AA had given us our old tickets back (via Newark) and no new tickets. (The other curious thing was that on the Newark tickets they had booked us from SJU to Newark on Aug 3rd and again on Aug 5th – I guess we had to fly Newark-SJU under our own power).<br><br>Back to AA. No we weren’t booked on a Continental flight leaving at 8, but we were booked to Newark on the next day. No ThankYou! Finally rebooked us via PHL to BUF, in theory arriving at 3pm. Did leave SJU but had another delay in PHL and when we arrived in BUF one bag was missing. We waited for the next flight and the bag appeared. Long line-up at the border (the end of a long weekend) but made it home at about 9pm, some 20 hours after we should have been home.<br><br>Some pictures are posted, and more being added regularly. I have at least another 200 to sort through to be patient and go back in a few days.<br><br>http://community.webshots.com/user/looniewhite<br>