Our trip dates were June 23 to July 3. I have recounted the saga of our journey to the islands in a previous post so I won’t go into that.

The important thing is that we arrived in Tortola on the first ferry out of St. Thomas on Monday the 23rd. As we got off the ferry in Road Town the rest of our crew was there to meet us with a cab to TMM. The crew hails from Colorado and Texas and is made up of the following individuals.

Mom- AKA “The Admiral” this is trip 40 or so for her so she has earned the title.
Me – Captain. I only use debit cards.
Julie - My Wife – Willing to spend 10 days on a boat with my entire family. No words to describe.
Daniel – My 23 year old son – Co-Dinghy Captain and in charge of securing sites to watch World Cup games.
Jacob – My 8 year old. Swab
Josiah – My 6 year old. Swab
Tammy – My sister- The Burser
David – Brother in law. Texas Aggie. AKA “Dingmon”
Cassie – Niece. Just graduated from A&M. Woop!
Dalton- Nephew – Co Dinghy Captain.
Ross – Boyfriend of Niece. Chief of fish procurement.

So there are 11 of on the Lipari 41 “Heart of Gold.” I was a bit concerned about room prior to the trip but no need. The boat worked great for our group. We had an efficient but thorough check out with Sam at TMM including a brief sail before heading over to The Bight for our first night. First ball we grabbed looked a little frayed and iffy so we dropped it and grabbed another closer to the Willy T. It was a quiet Monday night so we were not too worried about noise. Everybody took a swim before grilling pork tenderloin for dinner. Ahh. So nice to be back.

Day 2 we are up early and take the little dudes to snorkel the caves before setting out for Leverick. Great sail to North Sound were we grab a ball and head into Jumbies for a beer. Somehow the port head door became locked and we were unable to get it open without an allen wrench. I ran into Nick on the dock and asked if we had one we could barrow. In just a few minutes I had a full set of every size allen wrench you can imagine. No rush on returning it, just drop it of tomorrow. We love Leverick Bay.

We also had some added entertainment in the afternoon when I noticed a cat coming through the mooring field at very high rate of speed. They cruised by the fuel dock and then made an abrupt 90 degree turn and attempted to grab a mooring ball at about 4 kts. Apparently they were not familiar with the concept of momentum and by the time they reversed hard on the engines the stern was over the mooring. That was about the time the ball disappeared under the water like one of those plastic fishing bobbers. I ordered another Carib from Jumbies as now about half of the crew was in the water with snorkel masks. I was surprised that they were able to get the line free of the prop fairly quickly and then got the front of the boat tied to the mooring.

Day 3 the good people at Leverick arranged for us to rent a safari truck that would hold all 11 of us. We ended up with a Great Wall Dear for only $83. I have to be honest, I had never driven a Great Wall vehicle before but the Dear worked fine. I have to say this is the only way I can imagine going to The Baths from now on. We packed a lunch and spent a few hours exploring, snorkeling and playing. On the way back we stopped to take a walk on the beach at Savannah Bay.

Since we were in possession of the Great Wall Dear until the next morning we decided to have dinner at Hog Heaven. We had a great experience here. The food was excellent and the service was laid back and friendly. Of course the views were fantastic. A brief shower rolled in as were driving back to Leverick and my eight year informed us that this was “just a squall. They come on you fast and they leave you fast.” There are times as a parent where you are overwhelmed with pride in your children. The first time your son quotes Captain Ron in the proper context is one of those moments.

Day 4 we decided to go all the way to Saba. After a grueling beat into the wind for 8 or 9 minutes we were safely tucked in behind “The Rock.” We then went to The Pub at BEYC to watch Germany vs USA. The game didn’t end well but the Carib was cold and the pizza was very good. At 5 I took the little guys via SUP to the tarpon feeding at Saba. We stayed for happy hour and the crew decided they really didn’t want to leave North Sound tomorrow. So we didn’t.

Day 5 we hang out on various beaches, drink beer and other assorted concoctions. Some in our group took a hike up the Johnny Horn Trail and others snorkeled in Eustacia Sound. I am not sure how it happened but soon it was 5:00 O’clock and I was paddling the boys back to Saba for the tarpon feeding. As I paddled I thought this would be an Ok “Groundhog Day” scenario for me.

Day 6 we decide we actually should move on and settled on Cane Garden Bay as our destination. As it is Saturday we are hopeful that Quito will be playing with the band. We fill up with water at Saba and slip out of the sound. On the way we catch a couple smallish tuna that are returned to the sea to grow a little more and nearly land a larger mackerel. No one thinks my holy mackerel comment is funny when it comes off the line.

As a kid CGB was my favorite place in the entire world. The first time I sailed in with my parents I was entranced by the beach and the 3 little places on shore. Rhymers, Stanley’s and Jills. Sometimes when I am in Cane Garden I like to sit on the nets, close my eyes and imagine the steel pan music coming out of Stanley’s. But I digress. This was also the day of USA vs Belgium. We found a spot at Myett’s to watch the action. Again, the result was not what we wanted but the scenery was hard to beat and it was a pretty exciting match.

Unfortunately it turns out Quito and The Edge were not playing that night after all.

Day 7. Although dawn comes early on a boat the crew was not up until the crack of 9:00 or so. We made our way towards to Jost at around 1:00 pm. I thought we would just sail over to White Bay and check things out but with our late start did not think we would find much space. However, as we came around the point there were 3 open balls by Ivan’s. I immediately declared that I was on strike and that the vessel would not be moving for a minimum of 36 hours.

We fully enjoyed this work stoppage on day 8 by playing in the water, hiking to the bakery in Great Harbour and getting a little soggy at The Dollar. We also decided to cab over to Little Harbour and have lobster at Harris’. Cynthia was a fantastic host and we decided that the claim of best Bushwacker in the islands was hard to dispute. The lobster was fantastic and we had just enough left over for omelets in the morning.

Day 9 is a Tuesday and the crew is unanimous in their desire to head back to CGB and catch Quito. We decide to sail and enjoy the trade winds rather than just motor over to Tortola. Quito is playing and as always it is a wonderful experience. The first time I met Quito would have been in 1981 when I was 12 years old. The Gazebo was really not much more than a gazebo but the music was magical and still is today.

Day 10 we are heading to Peter Island for our last night aboard. We are sailing up the channel. There will be no motoring for us. In 24 hours I will be back in Colorado where the sailing is not quite the same experience so I am determined to get as much time under sail as possible. Great Harbor is nearly deserted as we pull in and grab a ball near Oceans 7. We are pretty much out of food so we make a reservation at O7. I take the little ones for one last snorkel where we see a school of squid, a few tarpon and a couple of rays.

We were the only guests at Oceans 7 that night. I had the Mahi and thought it was very good. Others were not as impressed with their meals but the service was friendly and attentive.

Early morning sail to Road Town to fuel the boat and then off to TMM for the check out before catching the Fast Ferry to St. Thomas. Arrive back in Colorado Springs at 1:30 am on the 4th.

As you can see from the report we were not intent on getting to as many places as possible but enjoying some of our favorites a little longer. All in all we had a fantastic trip and by the end there were a lot of “the next time we are here” comments being made.

Prior to every trip I get a little apprehension about how much the islands have changed in my absence. Certainly there have been many changes since my first trip in 1981 but the natural beauty of the islands is still incredible, I feel as safe as ever in the BVI and still find the people exceedingly gracious. Thank you to everyone in this community as well for help, ideas and our common love for this special place.