Just got back from 18 days in the Virgins – we got married in St. John and then spent 14 nights in the BVIs – 13 of them on a 42’ Jeanneau center cockpit from TMM, "Diamond Lady".<br><br>Our trip started on June 5 with an uneventful flight from EWR-STT – then we went to Caneel Bay via their private ferry. Our wedding was 2 days later on June 7 -- at Caneel’s Turtle Bay Point – a stunning location and a picture perfect sunset. Our small (14 person) dinner party was in the sugar mill ruins (near the Equator restaurant) by a single torchlight. Way cool.<br><br>The next afternoon, June 8, we tried to take the inter-island ferry from Cruz Bay to Tortola – but their boat was broken – and the guy who was going to be the replacement "forgot" to come – so we were pleased when a small (6 passenger) boat eventually came for us. A very rough ride through the narrows between St. John and Thatch on the way to Soper’s Hole!<br><br>Thanks to suggestions from Jeff C. and others, we chose the Village Cay Marina Hotel for our night before the charter. Unlike the other hotels in Tortola that we’ve stayed at, this place has a nice vibe for the pre-charter night --- great bar scene, and breakfast on the waterfront is exactly the right touch. Also, the location is superb – a stone’s throw from Bobby’s and Ample Hamper and of course, the Sea Urchin for Jam’s World shirts. And as Jeff said, after dinner you can go boat shopping on the docks.<br><br>As usual, we had dinner at C&F. Clarence did some renovations last October and built himself a new grill room – and he retired his oil drum – but kept the grill. It was just as good, if not better than all the previous trips.<br><br>June 9: Uneventful checkout @ TMM, but I missed a few things that would later come back to beat me up. We wanted to sail to Cooper, but were advised against it by a local skipper who we trusted – we had a great sail to Norman. Hindsight says we SHOULD have dropped the hook @ Privateer, but we thought one of the balls near the entrance to the anchorage would be far enough out – we snorkeled the Caves and grilled aboard. Billy Bone’s DJ played the tunes SO LOUD we could hear them way out at the first ball... This is not a place to go for peace and/or quiet. In spite of the noise, an awesome start.<br><br>June 10: We asked 2 of our best friends to join us for the first 4 nights of our honeymoon… they had never been to the BVIs, and we wanted to show them a bit of our obsession for sailing and the BVIs… we were planning on getting our SCUBA certification (PADI open water) while on this trip, and we needed to do the "open water" dives – since we did the pool and book work in NYC. On day 2, we had "Baskin In The Sun" rendezvous with us @ Norman, and we went to The Indians and Pelican Island for our training dives. Our friends did the "resort course" for non-certified divers. After lunch, we sailed to Marina Cay, topped off on ice, then dropped the hook at Great Camanoe. The sail was somewhat rough – beating all the way – and most of us out there that day had a reef – and that was the only day of the trip that we had to do this. Dinner: Grill<br><br>June 11: AM: motored around the corner to Monkey Point. Who removed all the NPT moorings? Fortunately, the spot was empty and we simply picked up the one remaining ball, but I remember many (5 or 6 at least) NPT balls – we were all alone there – the snorkeling was as good as I can remember - saw a school of squid, a few trumpetfish (which remarkably change colors to match their surroundings or to fit in with the other fish), tangs (lots of them), and all the usual parrotfish, etc..… does anyone know what the "glassy" looking fish that like to hang out in the cave parts are? We stayed there about 90 minutes, then as we were about to leave, the Corinthian from BEYC was pulling in, so we gave them the ball. Then an awesome sail to JVD – White Bay. Wind was about 15-18 kts from E-SE and we sailed headsail only, averaging 5 kts. A WAY mellow sail. Dinghy was surfing. Couldn’t have been more enjoyable. We got to White Bay by 1pm and dropped the hook in 10’ of sand. Only a few boats there – swam ashore and had painkillers at the Soggy Dollar. Then a power boat from St. Thomas with about 20 US Navy guys shows up… An aircraft carrier and its support fleet were parked near St. Thomas and I can only imagine Charlotte Amalie with not only the cruise ships, but add about 10,000 US Navy personnel… eeks. Glad we were far away from that. The Navy guys behaved. As it was Monday night, we decided to move over to Little Harbor for Harris’ lobster feast.<br><br>June 12: AM: great sail to Soper’s Hole (all of 40 minutes). Had to drop our friends off… we topped the water tanks off – next time I bring a non-boating friend out, I must remember to show them how to conserve water… discovered that our bilge pump floater was not operating. Tried to fix it myself… wasting too much time – called TMM base – they agreed to have someone come meet us later. I pumped out the bilge manually, then we sailed to Peter Island – and we were told by TMM that Great Harbor now has some mooring balls – ok – cool. We took dinghy over to the eastern end of the anchorage and beached it – walked the short path over to Peter Island resort – bought some stuff at the dive shop, then went over to Deadman’s Bay for a cocktail. Nice setting – but noticed the anchorage was somewhat rolly. TMM sent a care package of a few missing items over to the beach club @ Great Harbor on the "Prospector" (that we later learned was part of Prospect Reef – had we known we would not have spent a dime there). Hate to say the dinner was superb. A 4 course meal and the setting is spectacular. Only 3 tables that night, all mellow, all yachties (no business from PR Tortola – the boat went back empty). This anchorage is awesome. Please don’t tell anyone. Nice airflow, no noticeable roll, and very mellow. One funny thing though: before we took dinghy over to PIR, we saw a 50’ monohull with about 8 people aboard come screaming into the anchorage at full speed, then full reverse about 15’ before the ball, then remarkably, the woman picked up the pennant, but the boat spun around the ball before settling in… we noticed that their anchor was off the gypsy – dangling only a few inches over the waterline. We pointed it out to the ladies getting sunburned on the forward deck, but they didn’t seem to understand – they mentioned it to one of the men, and he waved, as if acknowledging… we got back to our boat 2 hours later to find their anchor still hanging just over the waterline. Then one of the men decided to do something about it – so he released his windlass and dropped the hook (while on the mooring). No set, just dropped it. Oh well – as the saying goes, "what is the requirement to charter a boat in the BVIs? A valid credit card."<br><br>June 13: Dive – another Baskin In The Sun rendezvous – This time we went to Pelican Island "rainbow canyons" and then "painted walls" near Dead Chest. We were so consumed in the skills for certification, that we really didn’t get to enjoy the dives 100% - but we were one dive away from being certified! It is really amazing down there. After diving, since the winds were just perfect, we went sailing – nowhere in particular – just put ourselves on a beam reach and sailed… then tacked and came back to the same place. Not all that exciting – but it was very peaceful. Grilled aboard for dinner.<br><br>June 14: Dive – this time to the RMS Rhone. And we were now certified. The Rhone is one of the classic wreck dives (the movie "The Deep" was filmed there). Great history and it’s only in 80’ of water at it’s deepest part (most parts in the 30-40’ range). The swimthrough into the hull was a highlight. After lunch, TMM was supposed to have fixed our bilge float switch while we were diving – communication error – the mechanic was never told – he came out right away, but that cost us about 90 minutes of prime afternoon sailing time. They will be beaten up when we get home. We sailed to Cooper, but hopes of picking up a ball at Manchioneel are slim to none after 3pm – so we went around the corner to Haulover – and this night we renamed the site, "Rollover". Grilled aboard.<br><br>June 15: Dive – this time we did the rendezvous with Baskin’s larger boat, Annie H. – about 14 divers were on this trip (as opposed to 2-4 on Apache, out of Peter Island), and since we were simply just 2 more certified divers, we joined in with the rest and had an amazing experience. We went to "Alice In Wonderland" which had amazingly cool coral formations and also "Carval Rock". Now that the skills were behind us, it was simply dive and enjoy the surroundings. That afternoon, we had a fine sail to Savannah Bay, although it was technically off-limits from our charter company. Read the charts and don’t be stupid – put someone on the bow and read the reef… it was nothing, really. Not even close to what I’d consider a "close call". We went past Savannah over to Pond Bay, dropped the hook in 14’ of sand and shared the anchorage with only 2 others. Dinghied ashore to the jetty near Giorgio’s Table, called for a taxi and went in to Spanish Town for some provisions and just to look around – hoped to find an eyeglass repair kit for my polarized sunglasses that had a lens pop out – no luck, so bought a $12 pair of "polar vision" fake polaraized – it would be days before I had my real glasses back… got back to Giorgio’s about 6:30pm and we sat down for dinner, overlooking the Drake… spectacular sunset. If you are in this area and want a treat, Giorgio’s Table is something special. It’s not inexpensive, but for what it is, where it is (on the water!), and the quality, we had a great meal, and the service was superb. Even being low season, I couldn’t understand why it was so empty… Great wine list too. Two Italian gentlemen run the place and they "get it". It was pricey, but no more so than we’d pay for like quality elsewhere. Very peaceful night at Savannah/Pond. One of our favorite anchorages of the trip.<br><br>June 16: we got an early start and sailed to Anegada. 18-20kts from due east. How perfect. Boat speed was near hull speed. Did the trip in just about 2 hours. After a quick lunch on the boat, we took the "taxi" to Loblolly, had a great snorkel and just hung out. I learned how to be a "real" bartender at Big Bamboo. Saw a flock of flamingos on the way back – on the pond side. Their color was deep pink, much more vivid than the ones you’d see in a zoo. How cool. A very lazy, Anegada day. Dinner @ Neptune’s Treasure. Wendell was a great host and the Lobster was awesome. As we had been to Anegada Reef Hotel numerous times, we thought we’d try something different. Very peaceful night with lots of breeze to keep us cool.<br><br>June 17: slept in. we’ve never spent 2 days in Anegada and this time, we were going to do that, as it’s my wife’s favorite spot in the world… we called Cow Wreck for a ride and Alex came to pick us up. Cow Wreck Beach is straight out of a travel book, and postcard perfect. Alex makes the best mango daiquiris we’ve ever had… he uses fresh mango and milk or cream (coco lopez?) and we must have had 8 of them between the two of us (in addition to the beers) – Cow Wreck was the stereotypical perfect lounge in the hammock kind of day. Read a book. Listen to tunes. Listen to the surf. Take a nap. Repeat. We headed back to the boat around 4pm… painkillers for sunset. Then Anegada Reef Hotel for dinner – but no lobster this time, as we were lobstered out – having had lobster every day that week – especially the lobster risotto @ Giorgio’s Table. The dining experience at Angeada Reef Hotel is classic – feet in the sand, tables surrounding the grill, nothing above your head except stars. Another great meal.<br><br>June 18: another quick sail back to Virgin Gorda, this time into North Sound – since we wanted to do a few days of diving before the trip was over, we made arrangements with Dive BVI to do a few rendezvous dives. We had always wanted to have dinner at Biras Creek, and we were lucky to get a reservation, and decided to take a mooring there, if we liked the vibe and the breeze was blowing, etc… Now I’m going to editorialize a bit about our style of cruising – we are into peace and quiet and the sounds of the wind and waves – we’re not the, "crank the tunes, dude" type. We are not the party animals (and at 38 years old, not exactly cronies either) – so when we see BEYC and their one-man-band disco nights and the steel bands appearing at Saba Rock, we want to get as far away from them as possible… we thought Biras would be far enough away from the madness. OK, so on with the story… when we called Biras for a dinner reservation, the woman confirmed that they had a fuel dock for water/ice, etc… we went ashore, had a nice lunch at The Fat Virgin, but learned that the Biras fuel dock has been closed for some time… ok, on to BEYC for water. We called their dockmaster, and was cleared to come in, fenders to starboard… we approached the dock and a woman started screaming and waving that her boat was next --- there was a Sunsail monohull which seemed to be coming in awfully fast… we moved out of the way for them… crunch – they went right into the other boat on the dock. Whoops. As there was a bit of amateur hour going on there – we simply headed over to Saba Rock’s fuel dock… which was empty and we learned that water there was only $.10/gal (as opposed to BEYC $.18/gal) – and if we were willing to listen to the entertainment, up to 250 gallons free with a $20 mooring – not for us, thanks anyway… we headed over to Leverick, did some provisioning at Bucks and finally found an eyeglass repair kit at the boutique next to the dive shop. Back @ Biras, on the mooring – it was just lovely. Dinner there was the dining highlight of the trip. Great service. Great views. Cool breeze. Menu was exceptional. And the price was not unreasonable considering what it was. <br><br>June 19: Dive BVI picked us up right on time – for the 55 minute trip to the Rhone. This time, we really got to experience it as we were no longer doing our training. Saw a sea horse! After the dives, we sailed to Great Camanoe – and we just chilled. <br><br>June 20: We met Dive BVI @ Marina Cay and went to "The Chimney" near Great Dog. Then we went to "Coral Gardens" – which is also the home of the crashed BVI Airlines plane – the dive operators of BVI towed it out to this sandy patch (after removing the engine and the wings) and it is a very cool swim-through. A school of barracuda call it their home (and as you swim in, there’s typically one large barracuda staring you down). While we were hovering at our 15’ safety stop, a 2.5’ long turtle slowly goes by… we all had plenty of air so we followed him around for a few minutes… it was the highlight of our dives. That afternoon, we sailed to nowhere and back.<br><br>June 21: Sailed to The Baths – beating all the way. As others have reported, dinghies are no longer allowed to be beached, but you simply use the dinghy mooring and swim in… had lunch @ Top Of The Baths and cooled off with a swim in their pool. Another perfect day. Quick sail to Savannah Bay for our last night – and as we enter the anchorage, we see about 15 boats there – what happened to our semi-private deserted beach? About 200 high school age kids on a flotilla of monohulls as part of a camp or something of that nature… they were well behaved and were sleeping by the time we got back to our boat after dinner at Giorgio’s Table.<br><br>June 22: Where did the wind go? After 13 days of perfect and consistent wind, our last morning gave us light winds – at times next to nothing… so we eventually had to motor to get back to Roadtown by noon. Uneventful Cape Air flight from EIS-SJU, then CO to EWR. One comment re: Cape Air – their customer service was outstanding. The Cape Air rep @ SJU walked us through customs and personally made sure our interline baggage made it all the way. He wouldn’t accept a tip. Everything else right on schedule – home by 12:45am.<br><br>This was our longest bareboat trip @ 13 days, and it flew right by. I could have stayed out for a few more weeks, but some of us need to make a living too.<br><br>Can’t wait to return.<br><br>I’ll post pictures soon and update with a link as soon as I can.<br><br>cpd<br><br><P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Administrator on 6/25/01 11:15 AM.</EM></FONT></P>