TRIP REPORT:.

Part One: (land based)

We had an uneventful, (but very long), trip from Juneau to Tortola. All flights on time, all the bags made it - even the ice chest with frozen food. The Coleman Ultra Xtreme cooler did the trick, and the Technice was wonderful. Our meats were still frozen solid after two days of travel. I was glad we had the BVI Meat Permit, as we were asked for it and did have to pay $15.

We stayed at Nanny Cay for 5 nights prior to the charter. Two of their rooms have been renovated, we got one and our friends did not. Larry and I stayed there last year and honestly we could not see much of a difference between the remodeled room and ours last year. Maybe a bit more updated. We were both satisfied with our rooms for the price, and Nanny Cay was a fun place to hang out. We ate at Peg Leg's for dinner and had our first island painkiller of the trip (more to come). It was so much fun to see the excitement of our friends (newbies) as they saw the new sights we had spent so many months telling them about.
Activities:
• 2 days of limin at Cane Garden Bay
• 1 day in Road Town shopping and wandering
• A little more provisioning at Bobby's
Dining not to be missed:
• Spaghetti Junction (a big favorite - we tried to go back before we left - they were closed L )
• The Dove - wonderful dinner
• Cappricio de Mare - we had lunch there on our Road Town shopping day - it was awesome!
• Stanley's (CGB) mango daquari's not to be missed!
• Jolly Roger
Next Time:
• Get a villa or room in CGB with full size fridge/freezer to store the meat (we played rotate the meat & techni-ice in the little tiny freezer box for 5 days)

Part Two: (boat)
Horizon - Borrowed Time; Jeanneau 43DS

We had a rough start to our first day. The four of us all went to the 9:00 chart briefing and felt pretty comfortable in the Horizon briefing room. It was crowded - I think there were about 10 of us total. Then, the power went out. The room got pretty stuffy and hot, but the power came back on so we thought all was well. The air unit was running, but it did seem uncomfortable and hot. I know I thought about walking outside, but did not. Well, Lisa was feeling the same way (but worse), she didn't want to be a wimp and stayed. The briefing was about 1 hr 45 minutes. We got outside and sat down at Gennakers. The wait staff saw Lisa and immediately brought her ice water and wet towels. She started to feel better (she thought) and we were all cooling off. All of a sudden Lisa started to shake and felt horrible - worse than before. We all got her into the little market (with the nice cool air). They were great and obviously had seen this before - seated her in front of the freezer on a stool, opened the freezer doors, got a bag of ice and had her place it on her stomach. In time, she did cool off and ended up coming outside (with her ice bag). She finally felt well enough for a cold shower, and then laid down under the fan. Needless to say, we weren't out of the Nanny Cay Resort at their noon checkout time, and Lisa didn't have to do any of the work getting things on the boat and put away. We had these great plans of getting out of the marina by 1:00pm - ha, more like 3:00pm. We went to Norman Island the first night, BBQ'd on the boat and had a great dinner. Lisa was feeling much better! The 43DS does have in mast furling, and we had problems getting her rolled in - it was way too hard; we got it part way in, caught the mooring ball; then played with the sail to get her furled in properly. Found the main halyard very loose, maybe that was the problem. Jib sheet also improperly furled, but didn't need to use as LOTS OF WIND. **Next time - Lisa is NOT going to the chart briefing...

Day 2 - Off to Cooper Island. More problems with in mast furling… as we rolled her out, the foot had detached and was loose. Horizon was GREAT. We called and reported the problem, that there would be no way we could furl the sail, and we didn't have the tools on board to attempt to fix it ourselves. Horizon sent a chase boat out to meet us and fixed it while we were under sail. Awesome - thanks Horizon! We were told that the problem should have been noticed in a rig check prior to us boarding her. After that, the main worked great! Easy as pie. Lots of wind again. Cooper was a fun place - introduced everyone to the Bushwacker (a favorite) and then started the island search for the best bushwacker around.

Day 3 (4 & 5) - Off to North Sound, Virgin Gorda. There is so much to do in this area, we had planned on 2 nights. Well, we ended up spending 3! Did an island tour one day; the Baths of course, and played at Leverick Bay & Prickly Pear another. Windjammer Mandalay was at Prickly Pear when we were there. Very fun. Oh - Bushwacker quest - I think it would have to be Rolita at Bitter End - very fine!

Day 6 & 7 - Off to Anegada. We spent 2 nights at Anegada. We anchored as our boat had a draft of almost 7 feet. Anchor held well in BIG squall! What a magical place. First night had the lobster dinner at ARH - yummy (I could use some more right now). The next day we discovered Pam's Kitchen & Bakery - wonderful find. We had breakfast there, bought cinnamon rolls, brownies, and an apple pie. Later on that day, Pam's came by our boat in their dinghy filled with fresh baked goods. Had we not had many items already, we could have shopped right at our boat! I also bought a beautiful ceramic teapot made by a local artist (Pat). We spent the afternoon at Flash of Beauty - great snorkeling. Interesting experience watching a Moorings boat while we are at anchor. It was coming in to Anegada under sail, not using the markers of the channel entrance at all!!! They headed in from the east (probably from Gorda Sound) straight for the last green marker, neglecting to use any of the other channel markers. We were all amazed and they must have been VERY LUCKY that day!

Day 8 & 9 - Off to Jost Van Dyke. This was our first time to Jost. We anchored in Great Harbour - first time we drug, so we moved to another spot and dug in nicely. We did see another boat dragging though, so guess it is important to really set that anchor and watch. Went to Foxy's and ran into a fellow TTOL member. It was fun. Dinner at Corsairs - awesome place. Vinny is great, quite the host. We all had a wonderful dinner. The bugs on Jost were out and found me the minute I stepped foot on shore. I bought yet more bug spray and soaked in it! We loved Corsairs so much that we came back for breakfast. Yummy breakfast burrito. The next day was spent over at White Bay, beautiful location - wow! And, yes - more TTOL members! It was so much fun meeting people we have been talking with for quite some time.

Day 10 - Off to Norman. We were going to go to Peter Island for our last night, but with Lisa's heat episode on our first day, we never got time for The Caves. Peter was scratched, and Norman it was. It was much quieter than it had been on our first night. The Caves were wonderful, except both Larry and I got "stung" by something. I paid all that money to get the Safe Sea sent to me in time for our trip and didn't use it. (My own fault) We didn't see anything, but certainly felt it sting and ended up with welts. I did bring my meat tenderizer though, made the paste and it did take the sting away. By the next morning, my welt was just a mark, and Larry's had turned yellow. Small jellyfish? Wouldn't we have seen it? What could it have been? Had a drink (Bushwacker) at Pirates - our last sunset on the boat. Always sad! The Sea Step worked great for getting back into the dinghy from a snorkel by the way. Well worth the money!

Last Day: Got back to Nanny Cay shortly after 11:00. We were told to call Horizon and let them know when we arrived, which we did. They told us to fill her with gas & water and call them again. Well, 2 boats were tied up at the gas dock, so we docked at an end dock until they finished. Little did we know, they left the boats to go and provision. One and one half hours later, they were still not back and/or done and a storm had arrived. I called Horizon again, and said we give up. They were great and said we had waited long enough. They sent someone down to pick us up, and move the boat. We got to unload in the rain. The boat was nice and clean - we left her in good shape and treated her like our own baby. Boy is it sad when you have to leave the boat. The ten days just flew by… Even though we were going to Long Bay and still had 5 more days of vacation, we felt sad to have to leave her. We were very pleased & satisfied with Horizon and are already planning for June, 2007 (maybe a cat?).

Next Time for Boat:
• Pack LESS - way less!
• Don't order as much lunch stuff
• Don't order as much salad stuff and shop as you go for fresh veggies