Okay, work with me, folks...I'm gonna get this all down, I promise, although most likely sans wit and humor, since the Dreaded Island Fever is in full effect. <br><br>My group of 7 took out a Beneteau 51 called Dolphin Dance from July 19-26th. Our Captain was Ben Lamson, of Long Beach, CA. His first mate was his sister, Tinka Duvall, of Tulsa, OK. And me? I'm just Jessica....aka Julie McCoy, their cruise director and planner of shipboard activites. The other 4 crew members were: Julie, from Indiana...Jeanna, from OK...Donna, from OK...and Mary, from OK.<br><br>Where to start?! We arrived on July 18th, as usual, because I needed a night in Cane Garden Bay to visit with friends. We had one helluva time flying to Beef Island from the moment we reached the ticket counter in Tulsa. One of our girls had grabbed her daughter's birth certificate instead of her own, and lived 45 minutes from the airport!! With a whole lotta begging and the fact that 6 others of us were on her flight, they let her on the plane. (And informed her to be sweating once she reached Dallas for the San Juan flight) Well, she raced off the plane and directly to the man she was referred to by Tulsa agents and with about 5 minutes to spare makes it to the gate with a SMILE!!! Off we go to San Juan, and all is well. (I forgot to mention 2 of Mike Kneafsey's crew, Sheri and Cindy, were on our flights the entire duration, too! HEY GIRLS!! [img]/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]) We landed at 3:38pm, and were quickly off to Rymer's Hotel in CGB for an overnight stay. We hit Elvet's bar over at The Elm Suites and caught up with him for a good while...apparently too long because we lost Mary to an alcohol-induced slumber REALLY quickly. (Sorry, Mar...) So we continued with Caribe's and Puncha-somethin-or-others until dinner at Myett's. What a cool surprise! Jim Kelly from Welcome BVI mag saw my post about where we'd be that night and came out for a few Heinekens! Very very cool guy... Dinner was awesome, as always, at Myett's. Sandman is doing wonderful, as well as Judy and Pauline. Saw Valerie at the bar but did not want to interupt her visit with someone else. She looked well, though! After dinner we quickly got Mary to bed, [img]/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img]and took off for Quito's for some quick drinks and dancing until we headed to Bomba's for his Wednesday night party with Extreme. YEAH!! Quito was on island, and strumming his guitar to all my favourites! Danced with the captain, Ben, and Tinka met a million new friends at the bar. Great to see Jeffet and Quito, again...always! I always regret not having more time on Tortola to spend with longtime friends.[img]/images/icons/frown.gif[/img] We picked up and moved on to Bomba's...hopping party, not surprising! The only people that made it to Bomba's out of our crew: Ben, Tinka, Jeanna, and myself. Somehow we managed to drop 3 people... WHAT A BLAST!!! We danced our buns off to Extreme....SUCH a great band! Elvet came out, and Mitch was there, too. Met Desmond, and Houdini, and of course Bomba was there, too! A little later in the night (already pretty dang late) Jeanna comes up to us head to toe covered in sand. We're still not really sure how she managed a face-plant on the beach, BUT....she did! [img]/images/icons/rofl.gif[/img] We jumped into Mitch's cab and headed back to CGB, on that note. She was done partying for the night, and Ben, TInka, and I were dancing fools!<br><br>July 19th-Early rise and Mitch picks us all up at 9:45am to take us over into Roadtown to TMM charters. WOW, did the head ever ache THAT morning! Ben and Tinka went to through all the briefings while the other 5 of us headed to Riteway to provision, on Purcell. By the time we had everything and were back at the boat, we were ready to roll! Dolphin Dance was awesome! I had only ever sailed on a catamaran, so was a bit nervous about heeling, and such, when it comes to the monohull. She is a gorgeous boat, though, for sure!!HUGE!!We were off by 1pm and headed to Norman Island to overnight at The Bight. After a quick stop at The Indians to snorkel, we were headed towards our first anchorage. I was shocked at all the moon-jellies EVERYWHERE around the Indians. Kinda made it a pain in the arse to snorkel and most in the group were back up the ladder as soon as they jumped in. Ben and Donna went on in and had a good snorkel... We swam and lounged forever in the water on our rafts, noodles, etc. I have always loved this anchorage for this very reason! Next thing you know, pirates have boarded our boat! Okay, so maybe not pirates, but 3 16 year old boys and their instructor. (sailing school) They had been paying attention to our boat of 6 women and one lucky man and decided if they drive their dinghy around us enough times maybe we'll say hello or wave![img]/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img] Sure enough...Nice kids, INSANE instructor...saw them later that night on the Willy T. A couple of our girls earned their "I came, I saw, I jumped" Willy T teeshirts. Those young-uns got an eye full, that is for sure! [img]/images/icons/yikes.gif[/img] Could'nt believe the size of the tarpons under the Willy T, that night!! HUGE! Did 2 or 3 of the ski shots (the Jose Cuervo water ski) and was feeling invincible. [img]/images/icons/thumbsup.gif[/img] After enough of the Willy T we headed over to Billy Bones. YEAH!!!!!!! Kevin and Kid were behind the bar just waiting for us! [img]/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img] We had SO much fun. Danced like crazy, watched Kid give us some sexy dances, drank Bushwackers like there was no tomorrow, met new friends, etc. An AWESOME night at Billy Bones. It was just our crew there, for the most part. [img]/images/icons/thumbsup.gif[/img][img]/images/icons/thumbsup.gif[/img][img]/images/icons/thumbsup.gif[/img][img]/images/icons/thumbsup.gif[/img][img]/images/icons/thumbsup.gif[/img]<br><br>July 20th- pulled out of The Bight just as a Windjammer Cruise was pulling in. Great timing! We were heading to Jost Van Dyke via Soper's Hole, so we could have a quick shopping fix! Spent a little over an hour there and were reloading onto the boat when Mike and Jen went by us with Debby, from TravelTalkOnline, on board! Our introductions were hollered over the water! [img]/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img][img]/images/icons/thumbsup.gif[/img][img]/images/icons/thumbsup.gif[/img] Whatever works! We reached Sandy Spit in good time, and had an awesome snorkel there. Beautiful water, as usual...AND I found a cool little beaded bracelet underwater. SCORE! [img]/images/icons/wink.gif[/img] Saw some lobster, a small eel, and pretty fish...an excellent stop! Headed on in to Great Harbour to Foxy's for dinner. Good lordy, this is one of the best BBQs around! Had a quick chat with Foxy on the dinghy dock, coming in. There was going to be a one man show tonight, playing, but after we were done eating, Julie and I went back to the boat for some cocktails and to freshen up (THANKS TO OUR ROCKIN DINGHY CAPTAIN, MARY!!!!!)[img]/images/icons/thumbsup.gif[/img][img]/images/icons/thinks.gif[/img][img]/images/icons/grin.gif[/img] and we never made it back! [img]/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img] We were SO full, and so relaxed, we decided to get into our sleepwear, grab our pillows and sheets, and we layed up near the bow on mats. We talked, laughed, marveled at the stars that are only that amazing in the BVIs....and racked out. We slept until about 5 or 6am out there!We never heard the others come back to the boat!! (thank you to the gods for sparing us of the nightly showers!!)[img]/images/icons/crazy.gif[/img]<br><br>July 21st- We are off to Trellis Bay for provisions and then Marina Cay to overnight. A glorious sail up the north shore of Tortola, although we saw something HUGE burning in CGB. Anyone know what this was? It looked like it was on the water! I was concerned... We did some quick provisioning in Trellis Bay and headed on over to Marina Cay. We grabbed a mooring ball and hit the water! A few went snorkeling, and a few of us lounged on our rafts, giggling at the planes leaving Beef Island, teasing about how sad those people must be today, leaving the BVIs.[img]/images/icons/devil.gif[/img]<br>We BBQ'd chicken on the boat that night. CRAZZZZZY night. Our captain AND first mate...aka the only 2 who know jack about boats!!!! went ashore for "the last hour of 2 for 1 painkillers". We knew they'd be back shortly, and the sun was still up. Mike Kneafsey and his group were going up with them, too. Sooo, the rest of us swam, showered, mixed fruity concoctions, and laughed ourselves silly. Next thing you know, it is pitch black, and we have yet to start dinner. Come to think of it, we don't know where to turn on the damn lights!!![img]/images/icons/spook.gif[/img] Well! Thank the good Lord for mooring balls, is all I have to say! To make a VERY long story short, I recalled watching Ben turn the engine on 2 times a day to charge everything up, RIGHT?!?! ANd we all knew it had to be up to 15, whatever that means. SO! I took matters into my own hands, (AND a 51 foot boat [img]/images/icons/sad.gif[/img])and fired her up, pushed forward to 15, looked to my left, and even in the dark saw that I was now cruising past the houseboat next to us and straight forward to a big catamaran!!! The boat was not left in nuetral!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Anyhow, after hearing a bunch of fairly intoxicated girls yell and scream, we managed to stop the boat, and the mooring held us tight. HOLY !*%#!@T$)@!$^Y_(&@#$_)&Y^Q)(^#!&^%&^$! is all we could say. Our captain FINALLY got back to the boat, HAMMERED, and was laughing himself silly telling us about these body shots he had been doing, and we were flipping out over the incident that had taken place 30 minutes prior! CRAZY. We fired up the grill and had a hysterical evening...<br><br>July 22nd- We are following Mike's Aristo-Cat up to Anegada, MY FAVOURITE PLACE ON EARTH!! We are so excited! Okay, remember I was saying earlier that I was a bit nervous about heeling? Oh my lordy!!!! !^$@#*^ We heeled. BIG time. And I think I almost liked it![img]/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img] It was not as scary as I was thinking it may be. Going downstairs was another story!! (Jeanna, are you still making love to the stove???????[img]/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img][img]/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img][img]/images/icons/grin.gif[/img][img]/images/icons/yikes.gif[/img][img]/images/icons/doh.gif[/img][img]/images/icons/rofl.gif[/img][img]/images/icons/hairy.gif[/img]) Funny the positions that heeling can throw you into! We made awesome time to Anegada, and 5 of the 7 of us jumped into the dinghy and took off for the Anegada Reef Hotel were we caught a cab to Loblolly. As soon as we rounded the corner of the Big Bamboo Bar & Grill, I see Glenn! YEAH! SOOOO good to see my friends once again. We greeted each other with big hugs, introduced him to the other girls, and ordered up some drinks. I covered myself with sunscreen, grabbed my Bushwacker, and headed down the beach to go meet George before he left island the next morning. Went up the wrong damn part of the beach and found myself in a prickly patch of Mac's Campground. Saw George outside, gave him a holler and made my way through the path to his lovely home. GREAT to meet him...he's quite the host, and his home is terrific! After our visit, I head back to the girls and we drink, swim, tan, laugh with Glenn, Diane, Sylon, and Kenny, at the bar. We made plans to meet up with the guys later, and headed back to the boat to grill, again, for dinner. We met back up with all the guys at Liston's for drinks and dancing. (right next door to Anegada Reef Hotel) Had a blast...love these guys to pieces...met new friends this year, too. Wiliford, Mitch, Keith, Raymond, and more!<br>I'm thrilled we were there for 2 days!<br><br>July 23rd-Another glorious day on Anegada. We woke up and caught a cab to Cow Wreck for some great swimming! Gorgeous little kids playing in the surf on a board. We played with them for a couple hours...Kesha, Michael, Jordan, and Andrew. We had lunch there, at the bar, while Tessie was getting the best of us! Talk about "Wreck Punch"...crap! It was only 1pm and we were all pretty dang punchy! She was a hoot! An awesome, fun, beautiful gal. We jumped back into the cab with Lawrence and headed to Loblolly, again, so we could be with our friends again. TOO much fun. This was the day that George was referring to with 50 + sailing students on the beach. It was PACKED! And we certainly had our share of fun...Sylon let me play DJ a bit, and the Pink Flamingos just kept on coming! We went back to the boat to shower for dinner at the Anegada Reef Hotel. Dinner was awesome...really, really good. The lobster was impressive, as always. (Hey! Mary was the one who slaughtered them on the dock! You knew they'd be impressive!!) AFter dinner the guys were there to pick us all up in the cabs they rented for us for the night. They took us to shoot pool at a bar in The Settlement called Cardie's. I don't think that place will ever be the same after we took over! <br>[img]/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img][img]/images/icons/doh.gif[/img]We had a blast with the locals, and especially my friends. I kicked some butt on the pool table, Mary played her heart out in Dominos, and we all danced like fools! FUN!!! Went back to Anegada Reef Hotel at about 1:30am and sat on the beach with our buddies talking ane debating whether to stay "just one more day" on Anegada. At about 3:30am, we dinghied the last of us back to the boat and slept in, agreeing to meet Glen, Sylon, and the rest of the guys at the Hotel for breakfast. <br><br>July 24th- Breakfast at the hotel...Diane had brought the guys from Big Bamboo saying that they are "battered children, but work very hard so it was her treat"[img]/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img][img]/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img][img]/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img][img]/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img] She is a wonderul lady...so good to them. So after a quick breakfast and heavy hearts saying goodbye, we were off to North Sound, planning to pick up a mooring ball at Saba Rock. WHOA!!!!! We hit a couple squalls back to back that ripped 40 mph winds across our deck, and 5-7 ft. swells. The rail was'nt QUITE in the water, but it may as well have been! <br>[img]/images/icons/sick.gif[/img] I learned all about "heeling" that day...Captain Ben is awesome, and navigated like a champ.I chewed every single one of my perfectly manicured nails off, on that reach.[img]/images/icons/crazy.gif[/img] We knew, looking behind us, that Anegada was really going to get it good, that day. We made it in to Saba Rock, swam a bit around the boat, showered, and some went it for dinner. Not my favourite stop. Will actually probably skip it next time. Sat on the boat with Tinka, played games, and the 2 of us finished off the rest of the Heineken and most of the Red Stripe. It was fun![img]/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img][img]/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img][img]/images/icons/hairy.gif[/img][img]/images/icons/rofl.gif[/img] She is an awesome lady! [img]/images/icons/thumbsup.gif[/img]<br><br>July 25th- We are now headed to The Baths, and I am hoping we are going to beat any cruise ships there! We do, and drop anchor. I do not think I have EVER seen so many boats there in July. So much for an "off season".[img]/images/icons/shocked.gif[/img] Ben, Tinka, Donna, and Jeanna jumped in the dinghy and headed to shore...Mary was racked out down below, and Julie was'nt feeling so hot, so I stayed, too. I grabbed my book and hit the deck for some sun. Hard to believe we go home, tomorrow. We were planning on overnighting at Peter Island, but both Julie and Mary were no longer feeling so well, so everyone agreed that it was cool to go on in to TMM and overnight there, since we were due back in the a.m. anyhow. We took loooooooooooooong wonderful showers at TMM. WAHOO!! Talk about a highlight of a trip! [img]/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img][img]/images/icons/thumbsup.gif[/img][img]/images/icons/thumbsup.gif[/img]We got cleaned up and went to Pusser's for pizza and beer. We were coming unglued at the thought of it! YUM! We had a great dinner, and then headed to Bomba's, again. VERY cool to have hit 2 of his Wednesday night bashes. We had quite a bit of rain, this time, so it was not as fun as usual. Had a few dances, and a few drinks, and then 5 of the 7 of us headed on back to the boat, exhausted, rained on, and seasick from being on land again![img]/images/icons/crazy.gif[/img][img]/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img][img]/images/icons/sick.gif[/img][img]/images/icons/hairy.gif[/img]<br><br>July 26th- We woke up at TMM and hit the showers one last time, gave the boat a quick clean, and went into town for a bit. We flew out, uneventfully, at 2:07pm...I commented, upon takeoff, about all the boats below us at Trellis and Marina Cay, and how they were probably all giggling at us because we were having to go home today. [img]/images/icons/wink.gif[/img] (just like we did when we were in Marina Cay, watching the planes. So long for this year, BVIs!!!<br><br>Highlights: Anegada...spent 2 and a half days there this year, and could've stayed even longer. All 7 of us LOVED this place. INCREDIBLE people...and the most beautiful beaches I have yet to see. <br> <br>Things I'd do different: North Sound/Bitter End/Saba Rock. I could do without this stop altogether, and the others were fairly unimpressed as well. No biggie, no major complaints, just could pass it up, next time.<br><br>**Anchor in Cane Garden Bay...we did not, this year, and I missed it, GREATLY!<br><br>All the wonderful people I met from TravelTalkOnline while in the islands, this year: Mike and Jen Kneafsey, of course, Debby, George, Jim Kelly, GypseyCzar, and more!<br><br>Sorry this got so lengthy!! Hope it brings back fresh memories of some of these locations for some of you. I miss it greatly, and still have my flip flops on!! <br>[img]/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img] Come to think of it, Mary? Do you still have that swimsuit on??[img]/images/icons/grin.gif[/img][img]/images/icons/blush.gif[/img][img]/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img][img]/images/icons/wink.gif[/img][img]/images/icons/rofl.gif[/img][img]/images/icons/thumbsup.gif[/img][img]/images/icons/thumbsup.gif[/img][img]/images/icons/thumbsup.gif[/img][img]/images/icons/thumbsup.gif[/img]<br><br><P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Administrator on 8/8/01 02:55 PM.</EM></FONT></P>