Chartered a 46 Cat from Moorings on a rainy sunday morning.
May 2 - Minor boat repairs and off to the Indians for snorkeling, then on to the Bight at Norman. Got a buoy close to Willie T's and had dinner on board. Almost all in bed and an unexpected guest climbs aboard. Seems the capt next door was mad at his girlfriend and tossed her off the dinghy and locked the salon door on her. She stayed for a bit and then they took her back to the cat. (Didn't know what else to do) As they left in the morning she waved, but I hope she got out of that relationship.
May 3 - (Happy birthday son, we're having a blast without you.) Moved on to Treasure Point to snorkel the caves and hubby was "got" by some sweet little innocent looking jelly fish. The snorkeling was ok but then went to the left of the caves and it was much better. Moved a little further down to the other side of Privateer's Bay and some dove, some snorkeled and some beachcombed. Sailed to Peter Island and picked up a ball in Great Harbor. Absolutely tons of bait fish and some enormous Tarpon. Watching the pelican dive was amazing.
May 4 - (Happy birthday mom, RIP) Dropped the buoy and sailed to Salt Island to dive and snorkel the Rhone. Diving was good, snorkeling...not so much. Then sailed to Cooper Island and Manchioneel Bay where we grabbed a buoy.
May 5 - Filled up the tanks and sailed to Ginger Island for snorkeling and diving. Moved on to Virgin Gorda and the Baths for some exploring. Have always seen pictures, but what an amazing creation of nature. Off to St Thomas bay to pick up a ball and did a little provisioning for dinner.
May 6 - Morning found us all shopping in Spanish Town then sailing to Great Dog for more water time. Dropped the ball and headed to Leverick Bay and some dock space. Yahoo!!!!! We got the last slip, good thing for reservations. Took real showers (sorry guys, the woman's had a line and we were hungry). One couple showered in the phone booth.
May 7 - Wandered through the shops a little, more provisioning, and then off to Bitter End since our generator went TU. We shopped (mostly window) while the mechanic met the captain to check out the problem. He thought it was just a fuel problem, so we filled up and headed to Marina Cay for Pusser's dinner and "the phone booth." A few went over to Scrub Island to check out the new hotel. They were amazed.
May 8 - Dropped the buoy and sailed to Cane Garden Bay. Found Michael Beans and his Pirates with a Porpoise fund-raiser. So nice to be on land all day. We ate and swam and ate and swam and watched the show. Myett's had a great dinner and we had a great day. Some crew members participated in the sand building contest and won third with their mantas. The generator still isn't working and the mechanic came and fixed it "again." We returned that night to fuel fumes and some other awful smell under our bed. Spent over an hour cleaning up the mess.
May 9 - Sailed to Diamond Cay by little Jost for some snorkeling... not so good. But finally made it to bubbly pool and had a pineapple tart at the bakery. Adopted a Ramoray (sp) shark. Once again, the generator works and there should be NO MORE problems.
May 10 - The morning takes us over to Sandy Spit for a little snorking (big manta and huge parrot fish) and then sailed to White Bay for some Soggy Dollar time. Called my daughter for the famous webcab picture. The evening took us to Great Harbor and a visit to Foxy's. We ate at Ali Baba's for all you can eat BBQ. Pretty tasty.
May 11 - Leisurely morning, then headed in to the bakery and ended up sitting in Foxy's where the man himself came out to visit and make fun of Seattle with his impromtu music. Great Tobago is the next stop for diving and snorkeling then on to Whistling Cay. While some are diving and some are snorkeling, someone notices our dinghy floating away. One snorkeler and I go after it. He gets there first so I hitchhike my way onto the dinghy for the return. Seems the whole mechanism on the dinghy broke off. Finally head to Soper's hole where we are met by 3 dolphin and 1 ugly barracuda.
May 12 - Fill up with water and ice and head to Norman Island Privateer Bay for another dive and snorkeling. Tons of fish.
May 13 - Sailed to Dead Chest Island for a dive. Awful anchorage, very rough. Then on to Great Harbor on Peter again for more snorkeling and iceburg climbing.
May 14 - Dropped the buoy and headed in to Moorings. 28 knots makes for a fast crossing and gets us in just after 7:00 am.
What a great trip for a BVI virgin. Definitely coming back here again.
