Finally, I am submitting my trip report to the BVI, which was Aug. 19-27, and then I went to Puertp Rico for eight days after that. The first six days of my time in the BVI was aboard Windjammers sailing vessel "The Flying Cloud" and it was a singles cruise. The cruise was wonderful! We started out in Roadtown. We didn't actually sail the first night, but slept on the ship in Roadtown Harbour. The next day we didn't leave until about noon or !: 00 p.m., which gave me a little time to go into Roadtown to do a little shopping and send a few postcards. Then, that day, we headed for Salt Island. I was a little dissapointed that we didn't get to go on the island, so that I could meet Norwell (the salt harvester) and his dog, but that's o.k. For those who wanted to take a dive trip, that was available, and also snorkel equipment was available for snorkelers. We were also allowed to swim off the side of the ship or dive off of a small diving board they had. Since I am not a diver, snorkeler, or springboard diver (I'm lucky to get the courage to get in the water at all, I chose to just swim and relax off the side of the ship. Everyone who chose to to that was given a floating mat to use to stay afloat, and in addition, I put on a small life vest, because we were in deep water. I was the only one to do so, but I didn't care, since I am not a good swimmer, and I value my life more than looking good. For those of us who did not want to springboard dive off the side of the ship, they provided us with steps that we could use to get into the water, which is what I did. Once I got out there and alleviated my anxieties, the time in the water was great! Plus, I told a few people that I didn't swim that well, and they kept a watch out for me. My memory of the order of the trip has faded a bit, so I hope I am telling this in the right orer. I believe we went to Norman Island next, where I think we actually got out on the beach, although I'm not sure ( boy, that's bad since I just went there about a month ago) . However, I do remember this part - We had to spend a day and a half on Virgin Gorda, and skip Jost Van Dyke, due to a storm that was occuring. The first day we spent a half day on Virgin Gorda in a beautiful area called Savannah Bay, where we got out on the beach, had a picnic lunch set up for us on the beach, relaxed, and I even went kayaking. One person and I kayaked a short distance to a (what seemed to be) a rich person's house on a cliff overlooking the ocean at Savannah Bay, and it was for sale. Any takers? I can't imagine what the price is. Anyway, that is the day I got sunburned. I didn't mind that so much, because I have dark hair, and I don't sunburn real bad and then it turns into tan, but I did mind this: I didn't knowit until I got to Puerto Rico, but my lower lip was severely sunburned. It blistered a little in the BVI, but then it got really ugly in PR. I didn't care about the pain, just the ugliness. Fortunately, it is now gone. I forgot to put the anti-blister prescription cream on until afterwards, and I paid the price. Word of warning to those whose lips burn easily. After a beautiful sunny day, the next day a storm came in. We went to Spanish Town, and I hiked to The Baths in the rain. It rained all that day, and the water was a little choppy, but not too bad. I took a Dramamine that day as a precaution, but I didn't get sick. Despite the weather, I still had a good day. It had been upgraded from a tropical wave to a tropical depression, but it didn't go up from there. The next day we were to head to Jost Van DDyke, but we stayed at Virgin Gorda, because we would have been following the storm. Since we were still in Sppanish Town Harbor, this time I hiked up to the Baths in the sun, stayed a while in the beautiful waters there, and then hiked back. Everyone else took the taxi back and forth each day, but I wanted to hike for fitness. Plus, I got to see lots of beautiful flowers, cacti, and some very sick looking cows along the way that I would not have seen up close had I taken the taxi. The next day (or maybe it was that night) we went back to Norman Island, and that night I went to a floating bar and dance place on a boat near Norman Island. The dancing was fun, but the place was a little too wild for me. We ended the trip by returning to Roadtown, when most people got off the ship to take a flight to return home. I however, spent two wonderful nights in Cane Garden Bay at Rhymers Hotel. The area has the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen. I also did some hiking in that area, and went to see the North Shore Shell Museum in Carrot Bay, which is really small, and I don't know if it was worth it. However, I was not there for a meal, and I hear they are great. I got two girls to room with me for those two nights, as they were staying in the BVI for four additional nights, with no specific plans. Not only did it help me cut costs, but I enjoyed the company as well. A few other people from the ship were staying in CGB, some in Roadtown, and some at Prospect Reef. Several of us went to see Quito Rhymer and his band The Edge at Quito's place, and they were great. Regarding the Flying Cloud specifically, I loved the boat, the staff, the food, social activities, and the way we were treated. Since this was a singles cruise, we were put together with roommates, and mine turned out to be a very nice person. I highly recommend a Windjammer cruise to anyone. I also highly recommend visiting and /or staying at CGB, and Rhymers Hotel, which was a great buy for the money. Our room was right on the ocean and had an ocean view, and you could see the lights of St. Thomas from CGB, that's how close the USVI is. I spent the last eight days of my vacation in Puerto Rico, and had a great time, but I will not elaborate on that, since this is a mmessage about the BVI. If you want further details about PR, let me know. For all of us who were on the singles cruise, someone has set up a yahoos group, and we have been communicating back and forth amongst the group. I hope to take the singles cruise again next year, if possible, because the next two are in December and are already sold out. Regarding my question in an earlier post about sharing a taxi, I didn't even have to worry about it, because there were several of us on the same flight and they just put us in one big taxi, and gave us a lower rate, due to the number of people in the taxi. The same goes for the ride to CGB - since there were several of us going ther, we just split the cost. The only time I went in a taxi by myself was when I went to the Beef Island Airport to take my flight to PR, because I had to leave the hotel at 5:30 a.m., and no one else was going at that time, so that wasn't too bad. All in all it was a good trip.<br><br><P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Administrator on 10/29/01 02:12 PM.</EM></FONT></P>
