This was the annual cruise with (mostly) members of the Downtown Sailing Center, Baltimore. Used 3 cats from TMM, two for ten days and one for 7 days. We did the fairly-usual, counter-clockwise tour - Norman, Salt (for lunch), Trellis Bay (no donkey, no entertainment at Last Resort), Monkey Point and Dogs (snorkeling), BEYC, Leverick, Anegada, Leverick, Sandy Cay, JVD, CGB, Cooper and back to Road Reef Marina.

Highlights:
- Just sailing in BVI!
- The service and wait staff everywhere were all (exception below) friendly and helpful. Many are from the down-islands.
- Snorkeling at Monkey Point. Huge school of minnows with school of large tarpon feeding on them. Unnerving to see school of minnows "part" and a large tarpon go by about 4 feet under you.
- Day trip on VG. Took taxi from Leverick for day on-shore, including the Baths. Views during the ride "over the hill" worth the whole trip. Looking out from Top of the Baths finally let me show my crew where we had been.
- Sunset from Anegada. One of the few places in BVI with the unobstructed ocean view to see the "green flash" - but too cloudy when we were there.
- Loblolly. Still one of the prettiest beaches, snorkeling and limin location.
- Bobby's, for food, TICO, for drinks. Nearly perfect deliveries.
- Willy T. Ever jumped from the second-floor with an indeterminate height, at night, without your glasses (or anything else, for that matter)? Or, maybe that is a low-light!
- Leverick Bay. First time there and impressed with facilities (showers, pool, grocery store, internet, free water, etc.) Dinner a bit $$$ without the mooring fee refund and coupons from the DMG. We were there for a VISAR fund-raiser dinner. Great buffet on the beach. The Sky Dancers (on stilts) entertained - very colorful and athletic. $.50 from every Heineken was being donated to VISAR so it was solely for altrustic reasons that we saw it as our duty to kill as many "greenies" as possible.
- Cooper Island. Another first, and found it a very pretty beach. The bar is a wonderful place to watch the squalls passing! The mooring field was very exposed to the passing storms.
- Spagetti Junction. Took the full crew there and April fit us in nicely. She continues to be amazed at the beneficial impact of TTOL on their business. Lets keep it up - nice people, great food. The Bat Cave is more like a Roman Ampitheatre!

Low Lights:
- Ferry personnel. As opposed to all other service people, it is jarring and very disappointing that just about the first and last encounter many of us have with BVI is with the ferry staff. They are rude, pushy and, in my case, lied to my face. When leaving Road Town we had the choice of Smith's or the Fast Ferry, which was leaving later. When I asked the (1) luggage handler, (2) the woman selling tickets, and (3) the "agent" taking tickets at Smith's whether this was non-stop and that we would NOT stop in West End, they each looked me in the eye and said "YES". Of course, we stopped in West End and then watched the Fast Ferry walk right past us. Makes me rethink whether the down-side of flying in and out of EIS is so bad.
- Cruise Ships. Regardless of the posting under the TTOL Cruise Schedule, there was one parked off Spanish Town just when we went to the Baths. They dumped their hordes on the Baths. Black shoes and black socks; stickers on their shirt, evidently so they wouldn't forget they were on a cruise ship; complaining that the "briefing on the boat didn't say we had to walk in water"; cursing the gift shop staff because they didn't have specials for cruise passengers; inundated Top of the Baths and the beachs; and, I swear not one of them ever actually saw the rocks in the Baths because they never took their eyes off where they were putting each foot!
- Boats anchoring in NPT area. As mentioned in another thread, we had a half-dozen boats come right in to Monkey Point and drop anchor - in clear violation of the NPT regs. Interestly, they were all Moorings boats. Anything significant about that? (Incidentally, has anyone else noticed that the Moorings boats all have a certain sameness in how they look, kind of like cousins in West Virginia?)

Toys (these, and others, weighed more than my clothes!):
- Tried the "dingy step" (broad strip of canvas with loop in one end and other end tied to dink). Worked very well.
- "Walkie talkies" were very worthwhile for communications among boats and with shore parties.
- Hand held VHF. Gives the convience and safety of communications from the helm, without having to run below to the nav station.
- Range bearing binocs. Not really needed in BVI, but good coastal navigation practice.
- Hand held GPS. I rarely can count on the onboard GPS in a charter boat. In any event, this provides the information needed while at the helm.

'Nuff for now.
Nolan