Just returned Monday after 10 days aboard a 45' cat and 3 days asrore. This was our 5th January in a row so I guess we like the BVI.
Misc. Observations/Comments
Never have we experienced so little wind. Had the sails up toward the end of the trip for an hour just to remind us we were on a sailboat. But wind under 12 kn. doesn't move a 26 ton Privilege very well so we motored everywhere.
The landscape was green, green, green. It was truly lovely - the prettiest we've ever seen, but there was a price to pay for BVI'ers and some of you with incessant rain late last year.
Perhaps because of the rain, small white butterflies were in profusion everywhere. Above the old helipad at Peter Isl. their numbers reminded us of The Birds. Going from Marina Cay to Virgin Gorda there must have been 100+ keeping us company the entire way.
But conditions good for the butterfly population must also be good for flies. At this time of year we've never been bothered by flies in the boat or ashore. This year we had to buy some nasty stuff for the boat that seemed to work after 3 - 4 applications over a couple days. At Sydney's we covered our painkillers with a napkin with the straw poking through to prevent 3 or 4 flies from trying to share.
The old helipad at Peters has been moved and major construction is going on that's viewable from the bay. I keep my fingers crossed that the lower half of the beach will remain open to boaters.
Michael Bean’s show was a highlight for all 8 of us, but it was little different from last year’s. And this year it seemed that the entire audience knew the answers to the pirate questions before Michael even finished asking. Never the less, we’d go again Friday night if we could. And Sat. night as well. But not Sunday night since we'll be watching the Pats win their 2nd Super Bowl in 3 years.
Savannah Bay on VG has looked beautiful on our way via taxi from Leverick to The Baths in the past so we tried it towards the end of the trip. Perhaps a close call with a coral head set us off, but when we were in a nice anchoring area and could see up close the steep beach, lack of shade, and yellowish vs. whitish sand, the unanimous decision aboard was to return to Deadman’s for our last full afternoon.
FYI - Sydney’s water dock is in full operation.
Sebastians, as in the past, lived up to our view as the best moderately priced place to stay on Tortola.
Chuck
