Before my memories fade, I decided It's now or never for a trip report from our late June/early July week in the BVI's. <br><br>First , thanks to all who offered information and advice. I had been worred about the changes since my last sailing trip there 6-1/2 years ago. Your warnings alarmed me even more, but that was a good thing because when we actually got there, I was relieved. Some of the development was upsetting (but I had been prepared) and much of the BVI's felt the same as ever. For one thing, my husband and I had almost forgotten how great the sailing conditions are! In the Abacos, winds are erratic and you can't count on anything. On this trip we had ideal weather and great sailing. <br><br>The four of us spent a first night at the Moorings Mariner Inn, which is much nicer than it used to be. Food used to be primitive -- now it was surprisingly good. We did limited provisioning and actually managed to find just about everything on our list at the Moorings store. Saved a lot of time and heat exhaustion -- I have many memories of carrying bags of groceries from the hilltop grocery store which always felt like it was miles away. <br><br>As we told our novice sailing friends, the trip really starts when you get out of the harbor, raise the sail for the first time, and turn off the engine. Ahhhhh--- <br><br>Despite all advice, we somehow ended up checking out Cooper Island mid to late afternoon the first day. There were actually still mooring balls there -- in fact one mooring ball remained unclaimed for the entire night. By now we had discovered the inevitable quirks and problems one always finds on sailboats. The most amusing if annoying quirk of this one was that the shower drain in one head only pumped out most of the water -- the last of the water suddenly shot up in a great geyser through the sink! In addition the radio never worked properly -- we could receive but not send. So I swam into shore at Cooper Island to make dinner reservations. It was fun to emerge from the water, saunter up to the waitress and explain what I wanted. A few tourists who were staying in the cabins looked surprised and told me they were impressed. Had a nice dinner later - our friends were already beginning to fall madly in love with the place - and Cooper Island didn't seem to have changed at all. <br><br>(continued later)<br><br>
