Hi all,

We just got back, on the weekend. I thought rather than a long trip report, I'd just give a short summary of the good, bad and ugly from our recent trip. Okay, there's no ugly really.

The good:

Fly BVI - I booked too late to get a commercial flight from SJU to EIS, so ended up chartering with Fly BVI. Absolutely fabulous! Talk about getting the red carpet treatment. I'd fly with them again in a heartbeat.

BVI Yacht Charters - they've been managing my boat for four years and are consistently great - and a TTOL sponsor to boot.

New Year's Eve at the Bitter End Yacht Club - the band was great, the setting was beautiful and the evening was fun. See "the bad" for comments on the food and restaurant service.

Lobster dinner at Pomato Point on Anegada - incredibly generous servings, wonderful service and a lovely setting - other than the mossies.

Anegada - it's like a whole different world than the rest of the BVI. The people are much friendlier, the beaches are unbelievable, and there's lots of room in the anchorage, even at high season.

The bad:

New Year's Eve dinner at the Bitter End Yacht Club - the food was really mediocre and overpriced, and they were trying to rush everyone out. The waitress went to take my wife's dessert before she had even sat down to start it! I'd still go back to the Bitter End for New Year's, but we'd make a nice meal on board and just go for the party after.

Pirates at the Bight - dinner took over an hour to be served. The place was half empty, so they weren't overworked. The food itself was fine, but they really didn't seem to care. The bathrooms were unusable.

Taxis in St. Thomas - for a group of five people, they were a total rip-off. Everything is priced "per person". It cost $45 (plus tip) for the five-minute ride from the ferry terminal to the airport.

The airport in St. Thomas - it took nearly two hours from the time we arrived at the airport to the time we got to the gate. Lined up for boarding passes, lined up for Customs, lined up for baggage scanning, lined up for security. I realize that it was one of the busiest travel weekends of the year, but for an airport with about 8 gates, it was ludicrous. I've added it to my list of airports to avoid.

Baggage handling in Philadelphia - we made it back to Buffalo, but our bags spent 24 hours in Philadelphia. The "lost luggage" person in Buffalo said that Philadelphia is notorious for bags not making it onto connecting flights, even when there is sufficient time. This is the second time I've flown through Philly on the way back from the BVI, and the second time they've lost my bag.

Getting back to the grey and brown - I can't really complain about the cold at home - it's quite mild at the moment - but after all the lush blues and greens of the BVI, everything looks so colourless.

The good and the bad:

The winds - on days when it was blowing 20-25 knots, the sailing was great. One day, it was right on the nose at 30-35 with gusts to 44 knots and 10' seas. None of us get seasick, but we ate a lot of plain crackers that day.

The Soggy Dollar and White Bay JVD - SD is fun, the painkillers are great, the view is unbeatable, but both SD and White Bay generally have become way too popular. If I want crowds like that, I'll go to an all-inclusive. (Not!)