Hi everyone!
Back late last night...a few scrapes, bruises, sun-rash and so good to shower and sleep on the king mattress.
Day 1:
Went to the Pub for breakfast, stowed all stuff that we didn't stow on our very hot sleep aboard last night. Conch got us briefed and we were able to leave before noon for North Sound. We were against the wind, so we motor sailed and arrived around 3. Weather was great, smooth seas. We ate aboard, then joined in for the Jumbie Party. Met Nick, for the first time, he and I had corresponded a few times prior, and he remembered. The Jumbie Party was really good...I'd of coarse heard all about it, but never seen it..I was thinking it would be a little cheesy, but not at all..there were at least 300 people present, a couple got married that afternoon, and another couple was ramping up for their nuptuals then next day, so lots of revellers. At the end of the Jumbie "act", the D.J. asked the crowd..."do you want the Jumbies in the pool?", and in they all went, stilts and costumes and all....hilarious. Met a guy named Michael at the bar, we drank lots of Margaritas with him..as it turned out, he was the sales agent/marketing guy for the new "Oil Nut Bay" development. He invited Suzanne and I to come for a tour the next morning at 10 a.m.
Day 2:
We woke up, had a dip in the pool. Moved our 36 Beneteau to a ball at Bitter End, and dinghy'd to Oil Nut...where Michael was awaiting us at their dinghy dock and a brand new air conditioned SUV to give us a fabulous guided tour. They are preparing 85 building sites, and most of the roads are graded, some paved already. Their main clubhouse facilities are 1/2 done, with al fresco dining rooms and infinity pools/swim up bars...all very comparable to the facilities at Scrub. This is going to be a very nice place. They have one "spec" house built..We were invited in for a beer and to look around, it's furnished, infinity pool, gorgeous gourmet kitchen, lavish main bathroom, state of the art electronics (sound/t.v.'s), top shelf furnishings. Homes on lots will command 3 - 10 million...fully freehold. The bay is immaculate, and though not suitable for sailboats, you could water ski and tube etc... in a 1/2 sand, 1/2 coral crescent beach protected by an awesome barrier reef with a shallow natural channel that boats with 5 or 6 ft draft could enter. It's expected that they'll be acquiring Bitter End to enjoy yacht mooring facilities...but that's just a rumour...lol.
That was a nice experience, we dinghy'd back to Bitter End, had a nice afternoon at their pool. We moved the boat to a ball at Saba, just because we wanted to get water/ice and see Saba, and bbq'ed on board that night.
Day 3:
We woke early and were off by 8 for Anegada. We asked a cat if they would mind if we followed them, and they said sure...well that didn't work. We were no more than 10 minutes getting stuff organized and off the ball and they were well out of view already....geeesh.. no problem, we had Magnum's Anegada Instructions with us....
We motor sailed up, found the channel without a problem, anchored on one of Neptune's Treasures Balls by 11:00. We then ate some lunch on board, organized the boat a little and dinghy'd into shore to see a handful of silent travelers at the A.R.Hotel bar...weir atmosphere, but no biggie, we asked about a jeep, and went to Lit Bits to get an SUV with air conditioning. It was more vehicle than we had intended, but the last one they had ($80.), but in the end, we enjoyed the air conditioning. We drove up to Loblolly and met Aubrey Levens, owner of the Big Bamboo. I met him back in '81 at the previous "Big Bamboo", in the Yacht Harbor in Virgin Gorda. I've seen him every visit, with the exception of a period of time when he was visiting people "up state", if you know what I mean... He's so nice, and it was nice to be remembered by him too. He keeps that place so clean and the service is fast, friendly and non-obtrusive or pushy. We snorkeled the reef of Loblolly for an hour or so and rested under the comfort of the shade at Big Bamboo with drinks. Aubrey had a cage of about 30 lobsters that he and I pulled 15 from for his lunch guests, took a few pictures holding some (I'll post soon). He also had a fish trap right there with a 4' nurse shark in it...he and I pulled the cage out on the beach and literally wrestled the shark out of the cage. I wanted to pick it up, and Aubrey showed me how..one hand on the tail, one hand on one side fin...It took 5 attempts to manage only to pick it up for a quick picture, that animal is pure muscle, and angry. Aubrey butchered him up for lunch.
We left Loblolly and went see Cow Wreck briefly. It was nice, but not our favorite.
We drove back to the south shore and dinghy'd to our boat for dinner.
Day 4:
Woke to another perfect day. Bit too windy for our intended bonefishing trip so we decided against it. No point when the conditions are windy. We decided to depart after a little island excursion. We drove the roads, with ice cold beers, and saw the settlement and Flash of Beauty, a quick trip in to say goodbye to Aubrey and headed back to A.R.Hotel dock. We got about 1/2 mile down the road and came across a guy from Colorado, walking. He was about 68 or 70, carrying fins and a mask. It was 11:30 and HOT. We drove by, and did a quick u-turn to go pick him up...we knew he could only be heading to Loblolly, so we were happy to help him out. He'd been walking from the south shore for 1 1/2 hours and he had at least 45 minutes to go, in that heat....he told us about his 65' sailboat and how he and his wife were at the end of their 10 year circumnavigation... he thought the walk would only be 1/2 hour....so he was relieved to get a ride, and a very cold "Stella". We dropped him and headed back to A.Reefs. When we got to the bridge, just about all the way back to the south shore, we came across a similar aged woman, walking in a sundress. Well, dispite the fact that we were all the way back to our destination, and where we were about to return the rental, we HAD to pick her up...which we did. I asked, "was that your husband, we just saw way back there"? She said yes, that "he never waits for me"....not only didn't he wait for her as she took some pics of the flamingos, he didn't bother to mention to us, when we drove him to the beach, that HIS WIFE was also walking way behind him....I'd say that must have been an interesting 10 year circumnavigation....nice people though, just a strange situation, in that heat.
Returned the SUV, dinghy'd to the boat and unclipped from the ball and headed for Guana. We left around noon, and reached White Bay, Guana at 4 p.m. after a nice sail with steady breazes.
We had an invitation for dinner on Guana, I was the beach man for the winter back in the early '90's, and the owner and I exchanged correspondence prior to this trip. We called the manager to make arrangements to use a ball, and dinghy'd in to the beach house for showers and a swim on White Bay's beautiful beach. This of course was problematic, as other bareboaters saw us on a ball there and wanted to do the same...We ate aboard and prepared for a full day on Guana in the morning.
Day 5:
We woke early, dinghy'd in to use showers and explore. We met a number of staff that I remembered, and who remembered me. It was a very nice reunion, for which I was grateful to the owner and managers to show Suzanne this special place. We spent the day doing very little but relaxing. In the afternoon, the manager met us and asked what we would like for dinner, Suzanne chose scallops, I went for the lamb...not baaaaaaaddd (my old joke). We showered and changed ashore, and were driven up to the club for cocktails at 6. I made my way to the self-serve bar and mixed up a few drinks for Suzanne and I to enjoy on the Terrace, overlooking Muskmellon during sunset. We had a table for two set for us on the Terrace by ourselves, candles and torches surrounded us everywhere, with a bottle of red and white wine on the table. We enjoyed French Onion Soup, followed by a delicious mixed greens salad and our dinner courses. Dessert was a Key Lime Pie. Not wanting to appear "unappreciative", we managed to finish our wines... hic-up...lol. The manager drove us back down to the dock, and we fell asleep under a gorgeous nearly full moon.
Day 6:
We woke, and showered ashore, said goodbye to everyone, and motored to Marina Cay for water and ice. Then off for Jost, over the north shore of Guana, and into Great Harbour to pick up the last ball...it was actually Foxy's own ball, but we found out on shore that he was off island for the night fishing, and we were welcome to use it..... We had a few drinks and watched the sky for the approaching storm. We had enjoyed 5 days sailing as a couple, we were now expecting the arrival of Suzanne's junior accountant (Suzanne is a CPA) and her boyfriend, joining us for the last 5 days of our trip. They were flying into St. Thomas, ferrying to West End, transferring to a ferry to Jost at 6, and expected to arrive at 6:30 p.m. Well, all good plans, except when dealing with the insanity at the St. Thomas Ferry Dock. The competing ferry companies are brutal. They have their "sales guys" accosting people arriving by cab, luring them to buy tickets on their ferry, regardless of what the situation actually is. They say their ferry is the next to leave, they quote their fares as cheaper, they say their ferry doesn't stop anywhere enroute...all without any regard for the truth. It happened to us on our arrival, only a little lie about the fare and time of departure...but for our friends, they took them and dropped them at Red Hook. The were nearly messed up for the night, until a lady at that ferry dock helped them out. She arranged another ferry that normally wouldn't come into Red Hook, to do so, and pick them up and deliver them to West End in time for the 6 o'clock West End to Jost Ferry...It was a miracle that they DID end up in Jost that night.
I saw the ferry arriving, dinghy'd over to the dock and welcomed our guests. The rain began. It didn't stop for 3 days... We made the best of it, but it was a shame, mostly for our friends since we'd had beautiful weather for our first 5 days. In any case, we had a brief break in the storm, long enough to prepare a great bbg dinner with spanish rice and my mango/coconut grilled chicken. Lots of wine....then ashore to take them to Foxy's for a wild night. There was a large crowd of about 200, including a group celebrating a birthday...the guys (5)all wore womens thong underwear and pirate hats..they were all dancing virtually naked - it was hilarious. The girls danced with us and many local guys also, great night.
Day 7:
Woke up, breaky...watched the sky. Didn't look like it would change, so we went to shore, rented a couple sets of scuba stuff which we arranged to leave at Conch at the end o our charter...It was a good deal, one hundred each for a tank, b.c., weight belt and reg. We then could dive whenever we wished. We moved boat to White Bay, and dinghy'd back to check out more of Great Harbour...Went to Corsairs, met Vinny. Spent $200. (four of us) on drinks there, with rain falling...and falling...and falling. Could be worse. Dinner back in White Bay at Ivans, early night.
Day 8:
Woke up and sailed for Sopers Hole, water/ice/fuel. While enroute, I got a little mixed up. Now, this is the funny part of my trip report, so make all the fun you want of me, I don't care...we were safe and there was actually no alcohol involved that I could place any blame on...BUT, while sailing towards Sopers Hole, the girls all got excited to download their email and make phone calls when we were within reach of AT&T, St. Thomas. I was encouraged to "keep them in reception" of their signals...Well, I did. I got terribly mixed up, with directions, and when I finally made land reconning of Sopers Hole and sailed in...I was more than a bit shocked to see they'd changed the sign post on the dock...it said "Welcome to Cruz Bay, St.Johns".....oops. Ok, everyone together now...what an idiot.....I can't believe it myself, I went around Thatch and a couple other little islands and somehow my sense of direction got completely twisted.
I made a u-turn after receiving on boatload of belly-laughs and ridicule and with the use of an i-phone gps, located where I was and how I went wrong...sailed back into the BVI, found the real Sopers Hole and provisioned up.
We left the real Sopers Hole and sailed to Norman...we got a ball, still with plenty of time to dinghy to the caves for a scuba dive. Back to the ball, and were relieved to have a sunny break, enough to bbq up a leg of lamb. YUMMMM.
Great dinner, fun night on the Willy T. Looked all around for Armand28, even made an announcement at the bar, between songs, but Armand28 who had agreed to meet there, wasn't. We had an early retiree, back to the boat to put him in bed, back to the WillyT and the rest of us left around midnight.
Day 9:
Partly cloudy, partly rainy. Motored to the Indians. Did a scuba dive, left the girls on a very bouncy mooring ball...left there, motored to Sprat Bay, Peter Is. Got a nice ball, for $65. Showers were a relief. Had a buffet breakfast, and morning on their beach. We ate lunch at the beach grill, and made reservations for the seafood buffet dinner at the main dining room. I had been hired the year before to be the chef aboard "Four Jacks", the owners new 150' Palmer Johnson. Their old one is a 168' Feadship, called Enterprise, and it's for sale in Ft. Lauderdale.
The dinner was very nice, great service, very expensive. Worth doing, but not every trip.
Day 10:
The day of the LeverNick Bay Poker Run. We had our tanks filled at Peter and motor sailed early to the Baths. Did a scuba dive and wandered through the Baths. Moved the boat to V.G.Yacht Harbor, where we got a slip for $35.including garbage removal. Very friendly people at the Yacht Harbour. We rented a jeep, drove to Savanna Bay for a fantastic afternoon. We travelled up to LeverNick Bay for the awards ceremony and party following the Poker Run. Great party, I'm sure there were at least 400 people there. Boats everywhere, quite a scene. Lots of garbage to be picked up the next morning for Nick's people, unfortunately...they need more garbage cans around, IMHO.
We had to have our friends to the Ferry Dock in Road Town, early the next morning , so by 11 we had to leave.
Day 11:
Got up at 6, left Yacht Harbour by 8. Wouldn't have had time to return to Conch and get them taxi'd to the Ferry Dock, so we brought the boat right to the ferry dock, and dinghy'd them with their luggage in. The we returned our boat to Conch, taxi for us to get the 11:30 ferry and back to St. Thomas/Miami...Coconut Creek, Florida (Home)
That's it, have you stopped laughing about Sopers Hole West yet...? <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Banana.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Banana.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Banana.gif" alt="" />I'll post some pics as soon as I can (damn, I wish I took a pic of that sign post in Cruz Bay <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Laugh.gif" alt="" /> )


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