Hi,

We had our 1st (and most certainly not last) trip to the BVI's chartering a Moorings sailboat.

We started off by going to the Indians for some snorkeling, followed by mooring in the Bight. We enjoyed the caves at Treasure Point during the afternoon along with a brief visit to the Pirates beach bar. We had a great meal on Willie T's followed by an introduction to wet Willies at the bar. There was a really fun crowd at the bar, dancing and drinking the night away.

We took off for Cooper Island the next morning and stopped into the beach club for more snorkeling in the area, then it was off to Marina Cay for another mooring ball. During the afternoon we took our books, towels and a few beers to Scrub Island and landed on a beach for part of the afternoon. We had the beach to ourselves so we had a chance to enjoy a little au natural sunning... In the evening we took the dinghy over to Trellis Bay for a beer or 2 and connected with our family via the net. It was a bit of a spooky ride back in the dark but we managed to get back to the bar on Marina Cay without incident.

The next day we dropped by the Baths. The swell was up so it was a little tricky swimming to shore with a waterproof bag strapped to my arm (I won't do that again). The rocks were interesting, I’m glad we stopped by to see them but I kept thinking about swimming back to the boat... We asked if there was a path to the private beach closer to our boat and the local said sure just go over the rocks to the north. Well after a 1/2 hour trying to get to the northerly beach we gave up and went back to the starting point. We started to swim back to the boat and I saw someone in a dinghy and talked him into taking us back to our boat. Unfortunately we had to hold onto the sides of the dinghy and get dragged in the water - that wasn't a fun trip. We had to have a beer once we arrived safely but bewildered just to calm our nerves.... Then it was off to North Gorda were we hooked up on a ball in Leverek Bay. We spent the afternoon around the pool and had a good meal at their restaurant in the evening.

Then it was off to the Bitter End Yacht Club. What a place! There were many extremely large boats and lots of people. We took the dinghy over to Prickly Island to plant our bums on the beach for a while then it was off to explore the other reefs but some weather came in so we just enjoyed the afternoon on the boat. I met a number of nice folks at the bar in the evening while my wife decided to make it an early night on the boat.

Our plan was to take the outside route over to Jost Van dyke the next day but when we cleared Mosquito Island and the associated reefs we were bouncing in 10 foot swells on the nose, so we decided to take the channel route. It was a great sail down the channel lots of wind and more manageable seas. We even enjoyed a little au natural sailing along the way. After around an 18 mile ride we decided to put into Soppers Hole for the balance of the afternoon and over night. They have a very nice on-shore set-up and of course another bar to get some bubbly… We really liked the surroundings, nice houses attached to the sides of the hills and a great restaurant/bar on the north shore – The Jolly Roger. We enjoyed some good local food and entertainment.

Finally we were off to the much anticipated Jost Van Dyke – 1st stop Sandy Cay. It’s quite a pretty Island but the surf was too much to handle from a dinghy point of view. We watched partially concerned and partially entertained by people trying to get off of the beach in their dinghies… We just stayed aboard (oh yea naked again) and enjoyed the surroundings (other boats had a few nudies people as well). We were thirsty and decided it’s time to try the famous Painkiller at the Soggy Dollar so it was off to White Bay were we hooked onto a mooring ball. The bartender kept us quite entertained and munching on the local food was good. We decided to stay in White Bay for the evening and simply dinghy over to Great Bay and eat dinner at Foxys. The food was great and plentiful but the music simply sucked. Try dancing to Bob Marley tunes in slow motion… We left Foxys early partially due to the music (it was putting me to sleep) and the concern for traveling back to White Bay in the dark after the wind came up… It was a slow and wet ride back to the boat but we made it! We both feel that we put ourselves at too much risk on that trip. The next time around we will anchor in Great Bay as long as we hear that the music will be a little more lively. Also mooring behind the reef wasn’t a pile of fun as it was a bouncy night on board.

We had so much fun at Willie T’s so we decided to spend our last night back in the Bight. We chose a mooring ball deep into the bay to get a good night sleep… The meal @ Willie T’s was good again but the bar was a little low key. It seems we were competing with the super bowl… We met a few very nice people and danced the night away. (No wet Willies this time around).

Our last sail back to the Moorings base was a delightful as most of our other sails with good winds. It would be our last au natural sail until the summer so we made the best of it… The moorings staff treated us very well upon our return and gladly showed us a few other sailboats that we were interesting in checking out for our next trip.

Bottom line, we had a fantastic time. We finished off the trip with 3 days at Saint Martin and we are still enjoying the after vacation glow. Needles to say we will be returning as soon as we can.

Thanks to all other TTOL’ers who provided us with input prior to our trip.

Cheers,


Tom & Anne