Guys...I am writing these trip reports by the day so as not to put you to sleep AND because I am long-winded! After I wrote this I realized some may take the "learning" thing wrong or as arrogant....it isn't meant that way at all - I am trying to highlight things that I would have liked to been told and if you are new to TTOL or BVI....hopefully you will get something out of those.

I will tell you a little about what is coming:
Day 1 Norman
Day 2 CGB
Day 3 and 4 JVD
Day 4 VG
Day 5 Scrub for the ferry to Full Moon at Trellis
Day 6 Cooper
Day 7 - Back to base

Here is the trip there and first day....

TRIP REPORT - Jim (Stoneyusaf) and Ruth Occasionally I will put “LEARNING NOTE” in caps for items that may be useful to other TTOLrs

DAY ONE – Travel and Provisions:

Flew U S Airways from SAT to SJU and Cape Air to EIS. I love Southwest – so it was like cheating with an ugly woman to be flying on U S Airways (and at the time I didn’t know how ugly she was until the return trip!....more on that later) The trip there was uneventful and God Bless Ruth…..she HATES flying so she pumps herself full of Happy pills when she fly. We were supposed to be flying out about 4:30 to get in at 5:18…..not so fast!! Cape Air had other ideas. We were supposed to be on flight 4531, but by the time we got here they had a 4532, 4533, 4534 and 4535!! They had five frigging flights booked at the same time. Well, needless to say, we got out of SJU late by about an hour or more. Ruth popped another pill and by the time we got in the puddle jumper known as Cape Air, I thought she was going to beat us there she was flying so high!! But, it worked well because she just looked out the window like we were taking a ride to town to get groceries! I forgot to take the camera or phone out of the bag (going and coming) – so no pictures of flying in or out – BUMMER!!

After arriving at EIS we went through C&I and claimed the briskets that we brought and paid the duty on those and was out the door! DeDe’s car rental had our car waiting for us with the keys under the mat. //LEARNING NOTE: I see no sense in paying for taxis to and from the Marina, dinner and provisioning and other things. I would rather rent a car and have control of when and where I can go….as you’ll read..it paid off. // So we got in our car and headed towards the Moorings. I elected to follow the coast road instead of heading up into the hills. It was great to come up over that final hill and look down on Road Town!!

We got to the moorings and there was a law firm throwing some formal shindig at Charlie’s on the dock. All of these local folks dressed in formal gowns and stuff…..I had not seen that side of Tortola!...it was pretty cool. I went to the Sun Sail office to get our room (they do the rooms for Moorings) and then got a cart and hauled our stuff to the room. I asked Ruth if she’d like to go with me to get provisions and I could see it in her eyes…that was a “no”. So, I got back in the vehicle and headed to Pasea Riteway. //LEARNING NOTE: I entered a few items on line to ensure they would be there COD for me to pick-up and had a list of other items I wanted to get.// We love coconut rum and pineapple/orange juice (my version of a painkiller)) and so I ordered the rum in advance to ensure they would have it and the lady said I did the right thing as even with the few bottles that I bought…I had cleaned her out of stock that day. After I bought everything, I loaded it up and headed back to the hotel.

Let’s back up a little and tell ya, the Riteway at Pasea is GREAT!! And, //LEARNING NOTE: If you want to walk there from the marina, you can do your provisioning and get a taxi back for $5.00 per person and the taxi guys are sitting out there just for that purpose! Check the hours on line – we got there on a Friday and I think they were open till 11 pm.// I got back to the room and Ruth still wasn’t up to traveling but wanted something to eat – so we ate at the Mooring restaurant. The food was edible and the pain killers were strong!!


DAY 2 – Getting the boat and more

The next morning when we got up, we went to the briefing at 9am. It was sort of cool for me as I recognized Julian Hodge (who was doing the briefing) and we were sitting up front. When he said his name I looked over at Ruth and said, “this is the guy that I know from here” and he pointed at me and said “I thought I knew you!!”…..so it was good to be recognized as I figured things may go that much more smoother…and they did!...sort of! Now, with the briefing done we were told to go get our free cell phone //LEARNING NOTE: With Moorings, you get a cell phone that allows you a certain number of local calls and definite free calls to the phone place and various Moorings numbers. And, for $45.00 we could buy and additional hours worth of time that we could call the states if we wanted and have free incoming calls. // I opted for the $45.00 charge as this was Ruth’s first trip and I wanted her to have that comfort of knowing she could call her kids if she wanted to.

After that we went back to customer service and found that it may be a couple of hours till we get our boat. So, I asked Ruth to go with me to Riteway again. Now, with her head clear, I wanted her to see how nice the store was. And, I felt like Jack in the Beanstalk with the shopping I did…..remember…sent to town and comes back with beans? Well, I was sent to provision and came back with LOTS AND LOTS of Rum and Beer……so I thought it may be a good thing to take her over there and let her have a look-see. So, after picking up just a few more things we headed back to base. But, not before looking at the cash and carry. If you are provisioning for a large group and want bulk like you would get at Sam’s or CostCo – this is your store! We got back to the base and got our stuff out of the room and figured the boat would be ready soon…..no such luck…there were fixing a leak of some kind which appeared to be in the GENSET…so we waited until about 1:30 for our boat.

After and on-board briefing with a nice guy we put some items away and headed towards Norman Island for the first night.

Let’s set the tone for the trip: I have been a mono guy all of my life. For those that have read what I have written on TTOL, you know that I am chartering a Power Cat for Ruth’s first trip with a promise to myself that my/our next trip would be on a mono…..more on that later! So, in our Power Cat 372 we go, we take of across the Drake. High winds, high seas and Ruth not being high wasn’t the best mix….if I knew the waves and wind were going to be what they were I would have had her pop a couple of pills before the short trip (Just joking….I needed her on the ball when we got there!!) So, I pushed the hell out of that cat to see what she could do. We hit about 16mph (not knots according to the speed reading) and I over heated the starboard engine just as we got to the Indians. So, I backed her down and gave it a chance to catch its breath and cool down a little. The light went off and I motored into the bight. Now….as not to cause embarrassment to the captain and crew I will not highlight this with the learning thing but……take this for what it is worth. I did what I thought was a good job of explaining and training picking up a mooring ball……well…not so much!!! I guess I wasn’t specific enough as her first time trying to pick up the ball…..she literally thought that she was to get that big [censored] ball on the boat. And, GOD BLESS HER….she gave it a hell of a go until I realized what she was doing. So, we came around and tried again and I explained what she was really after. Between me possibly coming in to hot and her inexperience….we were the folks that you love to watch when you are on your ball and watching folks come in. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/hammer.gif" alt="" /> Well, after 5 tries and freaking a group out in another boat in front of us….she got it. The next day she had a large mooring hickey on her arm from trying to pick up the BALL! Anyways, I tried to calm her down and reassure her it would get easier. I explained that I bare a LOT of responsibility for not properly training her….it is AMAZING what I took for granted while training her….not thinking apparently what my first time was like. I told her mooring balls are like sex….the first time may involve a lot of screaming and pain but it just gets easier and better from there…. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Laugh.gif" alt="" />.that lightened the air a little for both of us! I figured, unpacking and such wasn’t the best idea….drinks and a dinghy ride are in order. The other stuff can wait until the morning.

So, it’s off to shore we go. We head to Pirates not remembering that I wrote in an earlier post that I wouldn’t eat there….we got a table….decided what we wanted and was told we were given the wrong menus. So, we were given the correct menus and I see the $30.00 chicken breast and remember……Ahh…..I wasn’t going to eat here. But, to heck with that, we decide what we want and when the young lady comes by we tell her we are ready to order and we are told “Oh, the kitchen doesn’t open until 6…you’ll have to wait!” <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Yikes.gif" alt="" /> I thought….no…I don’t “have” to wait….so we took the dingy ride to Willie T’s and got our drinks and a menu and made a selection. The guy at the cooker said he had just fired up the fryer but he would get our order ASAP. Meanwhile, I helped a few folks tie-up to the dingy dock…..help an elderly women get in a dinghy…..and other stuff. Some young pup comes over and asks Ruth to dance and she declines….he persists…..and she declines……finally he tells me there are women up there that I could be dancing with!! Of course I get up and get my ars on the dance floor!!! (NOT)….just joking!! I decline as well….we eat a fair to good meal…have a few drinks and head back to relax and watch the rest of the sunset. End of the day…….Day two…we are heading to Cane Garden Bay in the next trip report.