Monday 6/22 – up at 8:00, and head to Trellis Bay. Winds were on and off, not really a fun sail. We stopped by the Cyber Café for lunch with Jeremy – always a fun stop. Did some shopping at Aragorn’s as well as HIHO, grabbed ice and Dove bars from the market, then headed on over to Marina Cay. Relaxed on the beach for a while, then back to the boat for grilled snapper and rice & peas. Made smores and watched “The Jerk” on DVD, and then it got weird! There were two cats on the balls next to us that had come in together, and one of them slipped it’s mooring – not cleated properly? While they were getting it tied back off, the other cat next to us was swinging out of sync with the other boats, and was coming close enough to us that I could have jumped aboard. It’s crew didn’t seem to care, but there was NO WAY I was going to get any sleep in that deal, so we sent Kim and Andy out in the dinghy with a flashlight to grab another ball, then fired up Mistral and moved it over – the look on Andy’s face when he realized a 50’ boat was coming at him in the dark was hilarious! We tied her off and had a peaceful night.

Tuesday – up and out to Anegada. Had the best sail of the whole trip, broad reach at 7-8 kts the whole way. Because of her depth, we anchored off Potter’s, and went ashore to get a car from Dean Wheatley. Drove to Cow Wreck beach, and totally wasted a day – perfect. Ate at ARH, lobsters were good as always. There was a strong SE wind and 3’ seas, so the dinghy ride out was WET, and getting onto the boat was a test, but all made it. Earlier in the day a ketch had run aground coming in, right around the second red – I am guessing he was a tad too far out of the channel? They used the dinghy and a line off the mast to pull it free, and it was anchored beside us when we returned from dinner.

Wednesday – headed to Flash of Beauty, and spent some time snorkeling, then Andy and I took the van and went exploring; found the flamingoes, went on over to CWB for a while, and on our way back rescued a couple whose rental scooter had died. They said several cars had driven by waving, we were the first people to stop. Took the wife to the scooter rental shop, then picked up the rest of the crew at Flash of Beauty and did a group flamino trip, took the van back, had a “smoodie” at ARH. Ran into a guy from our town – the world is getting smaller. Hot dogs and mac&cheese on the boat, foloowed by key lime pie from Dottsies and more monopoly, and another day in paradise was over.

Thursday – up and out, headed to Leverick Bay. Another fun sail, grabbed a close ball and headed in, lounged on the beach and pool all afternoon. Met Nick for the first time, truly a great host. Saw Rick and Kim along with Lucky at happy hour, dined back on the boat and went to sleep early.

Friday – a big day – sailed to Cooper Island, and while the crew limed away a day on the beach, Andy and I were met by Jeff McNutt from Dive BVI for a run over to the Rhone. There is no way to describe how great this went. We pretty much had the site to ourselves, and if you ever get a chance to dive with Jeff, kill relatives to do it! He is a first class diver, and makes everything fun. We started at the bow, swam through it, then passed over the mid section and ended on the stern – basically did the entire wreck. It was over way too soon. We got back to Mistral in time for Deliverance to drop off more Dove bars, as well as sweet rolls. Dined at Cooper Island beach club, then headed out to pack up, as we were turning Mistral in on Saturday.

Saturday – motored over to Road Town, called-in to BVIYC to make sure they were expecting us. At the boat briefing, Anthony had told me were to bring her in so they could re-fuel, but apparently I misunderstood part of it. I found the fuel truck easily, but I was sure he had said they would move the innermost boats to make room – wrong! After looking down the entry, I called in again for assistance – there was no way I was comfortable trying to parallel-park 50’ of boat in what looked like a 60’ opening! One of the workers dinghyed out, and did a neat job of swinging her right in. Checkout was painless, and we ran over to the ferry dock to head for Virgin Gorda and the land-bound segment.