See below for my report. It's built from a series of daily (early morning) Facebook updates, so some of the prose looks a bit strange. The overall context was: -
- We're first timers - family of 4. This all started with an impulsive, alcohol-fueled purchase at a charity auction. With limited dinghy sailing experience I then had to learn to sail!
- Our boat was Wombat - a 40 ft monohull with SailTMM. They required us to have an instructional skipper for the first 2 days. I had no complaints about this. I was generally very happy with SailTMM.
- We flew into STT, overnighted there on the way in, and used Smith's Ferries to Tortola.
- The rest is laid out below!

Day 1
Morning ferry to Tortola cancelled and so was the only backup. Now booked on the ferry to Virgin Gorda, which our operator has persuaded to stop at Tortola on the way. Let's see how this works out. Island life!
Got to Wombat mid-morning. Beautiful boat. A few hours of training and prep and then a quick afternoon sail. A few minor dramas. Moored at Gt Harbour Peter Island - a lovely spot. A bit of dinghy work, some very nice snorkeling, then grilling, chilling and cards on the boat. Visited by pirates - at least they looked like pirates. We sent them away with a couple of beers. They seemed happy. This sleeping aboard thing is going to take some getting used to! Wonderful view this morning ....

Day 2
Lots of sailing yesterday after a lazy breakfast from the galley goddess. Headed down to The Caves at Norman Island for snorkeling and lunch then back to Peter Island to drop our skipper off and we were on our own! Sailed up to Marina Cay for the night - quite lovely! Sleeping is still problematic for the girls - Hattie slept above decks last night. Sam, on the other hand, is sleeping about 16 hours a day. Another beautiful morning today ...

Day 3
Long sail up to Virgin Gorda North Sound yesterday morning. Feeling more confident each day. Took a dock at Leverick Bay - Wombat is a fender down after my attempt at backing her in - then rented a car and headed up to The Baths for the afternoon. Unworldly beauty and had the place to ourselves. Dinner ashore for the first time. Slept with the a/c on last night - a little noisy for my liking, but everyone else is sleeping soundly. Love the early mornings here ...

Day 4
Took a day off sailing yesterday. Did a couple of dives out on The Dogs in the morning - wonderful colour and clarity - then chugged across the sound to pick up a mooring at Bitter End. If there is a prettier spot on the planet then I don't think I've seen it yet. Grilled a leisurely lunch then spent a lazy afternoon on the beach and looking around in our tempremental dinghy. Dinner and cards on the boat. Learning the art of keeping the boat quiet at night. Would love to wake up to this view every day ....

Day 5
Mechanic out early to look at tempremental dinghy - partial fix - no time for the full job - then did the long sail down to Jost Van Dyke. Made heavy use of auto-pilot, which allows me to eat, drink and play cards while sailing the boat. Lunch on the go. Spent the afternoon island-hopping idyllic beaches - Sandy Cay and Sandy Spit then picked up a mooring at Diamond Cay. Hattie and I jumped in the dinghy and cruised the bay looking for turtles but found none - headed back to the mooring and found two right at the boat! Jumped in and joined them. Grilled dinner and then drinks ashore at Foxy's Taboo. Hilarious paddle back to Wombat after I thought dinghy had failed us again, only to find the engine enabler in my pocket. Laughter and condemnation in equal measure. Brilliant day ....

Day 6
Started yesterday snorkelling off the back of the boat with turtles and rays. After breakfast chugged back over to Sandy Cay for some more beach time, then sailed over to Gt Harbour (JVD) for a snack lunch. Our mojo was a little off on the water yesterday - a few errors creeping in and got ourselves into some scrapes - probably getting a little over confident, and a timely reminder that you can't half-arse this stuff. Hope to be sharper today. Did a dive at "The Cathedral" - very interesting site but unfortunately the sea life was a little quiet. Decided to stay on our mooring for the night and had a long, lazy, snacky, drinky, music-y chill-out session on the boat. Dinner at Foxy's and taught the kids Euchre. Very peaceful night and the coffee-view is wonderful again this morning. On the downside I just discovered a grey chest-hair ...

Day 7
Leisurely breakfast in the boat yesterday then stopped off for water and fuel on the way out of Gt Harbour. Chugged around to White Bay for Painkillers at the Soggy Dollar Bar. Lovely spot, but we had to keep moving. Did the long sail down to Norman Island, including a long upwind stretch. Much better out on the water today - some of our tacks were a bit rough, but I'm still training this rookie crew! Quick snorkel stop at The Indians and then into The Bight for an overnight mooring.
Checked out the infamous Willie T, but nothing much happening. Excellent dinner at the Pirate Grill, then back to the boat to use up the remaining drink :-) Started packing :-(

Day 8
Early start yesterday - left the mooring ball at The Bight with the kids still sleeping and chugged over to the Indians for one last snorkel. Wonderful site, although getting Paula back into the dinghy afterwards was probably more entertaining. Quick breakfast, finished packing, then one last sail - the easy reach across the Drake channel to Road Town. With the final challenge of getting Wombat back into dock safely negotiated, our charter was over. The journey home wasn't the best - cancelled ferries, expensive taxis, long air delays - but that's just noise in the grander scheme of things. It did feel good to sleep in a bed last night, although everything is still moving this morning and I suspect it will take a day or 2 for that feeling to pass.

Wow. What a trip. What started at a drunken charity auction 16 months ago turned into a real winner. The BVI is an incredible place - I've never seen the sea so blue and beaches to so golden - and having the freedom to travel around in style at our own pace and see so much of it made it truly special. This could be the start of a nasty addiction for us - Paula already checked out a Cat for next year while at the marina - we'll see. I'm just truly grateful for the life we get to lead and the choices we get to make. Thank you for listening!