TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands BEERMAN/MATRIX FINAL (FINALLY)

August 9-19, 2015 (Conclusion)

Ok, first off my apologies to Matt, Stephanie and Conner for the delay of this report, Life sure got in the way the last 2 months!

I believe we left off having a fantastic time at Leverick Bay! We had enjoyed a great dinner at Coco Maya with a group of wonderful TTOL'ers and made plans for the next day, you know... the kiiinda plans you make when you are drinking and having too much fun! We planned for 8am Bloody Marys at the Duck and Dive and I was to bring a pound of bacon? and we made plans to meet Rita and Tim over in their neck of the woods at Guavaberry around 10'ish on our way to the Baths. Well, we woke up early as usual, but unfortunately it was raining, really raining, raining buckets! This would be our excuse for running behind schedule by 1-1/2 hours! At some point later in the morning Nick arranged to have Leroy lead our group up to the Duck & Dive, blind folded if I remember correctly and baconless! We had a blast, what a way to start the day! What happens at the D&D stays at the D&D (except for a couple photos).








We could have spent the whole day with Nick and Monica they are fun, but we had a newbie with us and the Baths are a must see, right?! Thank you N&M for your hospitality! Oh by the way...we had discussed how to get my daughters found piece of driftwood home while at the D&D, Monzi can be very creative, including routing it through Belize on a Turkish freighter? More on that later, next stop The Baths. It was overcast at the Baths so we made the quick hike down and worked our way through the boulders , jumped in the water then hiked back up to the vehicle. I was very happy not to have a toenail issue this trip!





We took our time driving back to Leverick, stopping off at a beautiful wall mural to take photos and a beer stop at Hogs Heaven for the first time ever, great view of the North Sound from there (photos turned out bad though, uggh) Back at Leverick I enjoyed some good old fishing time with Leroy and others on the docks, they didn't seem to impressed with my choice of lure and the fish were even less impressed! Later in the afternoon we were happy to see Rita and Tim walking down the docks! We apologized for not being able to tour Guavaberry, but she remembered we wanted to see her mermaid suit!! HA, great time watching everyone squeeze into this suit!!








We had a great afternoon at Leverick and stayed overnight to avoid the churned up seas. In the morning we were greeted by a nice sunrise and prepared to shove off to Jost. It was a beautiful day for a long sail and everyone took turns at the helm. The fish were liking our presentation and we were liking our Presidente's! First top popped at 9am!!





[img]http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums...to%20CONCLUSION/IMG_0020_zpse3ndzxih.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums...to%20CONCLUSION/IMG_0132_zpsonscejz6.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums...to%20CONCLUSION/IMG_0151_zpsm3jvenjr.jpg[/img]


After a great morning on the water we cruised into White Bay to partake in the Painkiller ritual. We grabbed a ball near Ivan's and I quickly shuttled some of the crew to shore. Making sure the conditions were right for our youngest crew member to safely land I returned to retrieve the remaining crew. The crowd wasn't as large as I've seen, and that's a good thing. It was fun watching Conner try the ring toss for the first time! In between the tasty Painkillers the crew swam and walked the beach. We were on a tight schedule this final full day, so I started dinging the gang back to the cat. On my return from the first run I noticed we had a problem, basically the motor stalled abruptly, setting me adrift and I landed on the beach slightly shy of Soggy's, NEAR THE ROCKS!. I discovered we only had about 1/2 gallon of fuel left, repositioned the can and it primed, off I went with crossed fingers! Everyone was successfully transported to the boat and we headed off to Great Harbor.

[img]http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums...to%20CONCLUSION/IMG_0162_zpspawvuelc.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums...to%20CONCLUSION/IMG_0178_zpsjmlwbnup.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums...to%20CONCLUSION/IMG_0197_zpsltcen294.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums...to%20CONCLUSION/IMG_0225_zps96acox7h.jpg[/img]


At Great Harbor Matt shuttled some of the ladies to shore to shop a little at Foxys. I stayed back and started the grill to make some burgers with the dwindling provisions. Matt returned soon and was thankfully able to fill our thirsty gas tank at a local dock. After a quick lunch we were off again to Little Harbor to pay Sydney's a visit. It was decided that instead of sending our daughters drift wood home through the black market she would create a tribute to her friend and namesake Sidney. It seemed right. The always wonderful Strawberry offered to hang it somewhere in the bar, if you visit and see this piece of driftwood please post a photo for us!

[img]http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums...to%20CONCLUSION/IMG_0256_zpsupify4ro.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums...to%20CONCLUSION/IMG_0275_zpsal8oqi3i.jpg[/img]


It was getting late in the afternoon and we set out for Norman Island for our last night. We arrived in the Bight just before sunset and found plenty of vacant mooring balls. It didn't take long for the swimming and jumping to start. The sunset was amazing this evening. Not wanting the Caribbean buzz to end, a group of us headed over to the Willy-T to see what was shaking, then back to the boat to cook up whatever was left in our provisions. Good times!

[img]http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums...to%20CONCLUSION/IMG_0443_zps8gbj9zjn.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums...to%20CONCLUSION/IMG_0458_zpsnppd8zzc.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums...to%20CONCLUSION/IMG_0450_zpsitlzgtxz.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums...to%20CONCLUSION/IMG_0476_zps1lmvcmnx.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums...to%20CONCLUSION/IMG_0492_zpsg1srgx1l.jpg[/img]


In the morning someone wanted to try something new, not considering that it might cause me to have a heart attack! The ladies wanted to hike to the top of Norman. It was warm and dry, but we took plenty of water. It seemed to take forever, but once we reached the peak we were rewarded with the most amazing views! Another first, I'm glad we did this!

[img]http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums...to%20CONCLUSION/IMG_0509_zpsqs6updf2.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums...to%20CONCLUSION/IMG_0528_zpstqosizib.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums...to%20CONCLUSION/IMG_0529_zps6n84gm8s.jpg[/img]


Back on the boat with relatively stable heart rhythms we started the short journey back to Roadtown. Matt did an outstanding job docking this 48 foot beast! My crew of 4 would be sleeping aboard this final night, but unfortunately Matt's family would have to pack up. We inspected the remaining provisions and found we had ordered the perfect amount, there was a little rum in the bottom of the bottle and Steph made sure it didn't go to waste! We rented a vehicle for our final day and shuttled them to the airport, farewell and thank you for a great vacation!

[img]http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums...to%20CONCLUSION/IMG_0573_zps5kqhdtof.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums...to%20CONCLUSION/IMG_0518_zpsu5kwu9dw.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums...to%20CONCLUSION/IMG_8556_zpsdncxzfuj.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums...to%20CONCLUSION/IMG_8565_zpshnyxezbx.jpg[/img]


Our final afternoon and evening was spent driving around Tortola. We enjoyed our last sunset from Cane Garden Bay, absolutely perfect!

[img]http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums...to%20CONCLUSION/IMG_8628_zpsxxvolj5x.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums...to%20CONCLUSION/IMG_8650_zpsobu3u5qw.jpg[/img]

Now why did it take so long to post this final report from August? Well, the friggen J.O.B. for starters, but more importantly we were getting our daughter prepared for her study abroad trip. She spent the last 2 months in Lugano, Switzerland and is currently in Rwanda, Africa where she is teaching 16-20 year olds. We just returned from visiting her in Switzerland and I'm currently posting reports on the World Wide Forum, please check them out. We are unable to communicate with Sydney while she's in Rwanda, she returns in December and I cannot wait to see her photos and hear her amazing stories.

[img]http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums...to%20CONCLUSION/IMG_8641_zpsrr492mzn.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums...to%20CONCLUSION/IMG_8647_zpsq3nphal2.jpg[/img]

The end.

Thanks for the report.

I don't know how you can manage bring out of touch with your daughter for do long. Good luck. I feel for you.

You are a blessed family. I enjoy your posts.

Never a better report. Thanks

Beautiful family, photos and trip report!!

Great finally!

Beerman ... My daughter, Tatum, is doing the same Lugano trip as Sydney did, but Spring 2016 ... She doesn't want to miss football season ... go Hokies! Last time we were in Blacksburg, my daughter showed me the cover of a newspaper with a pic of a group in Lugano ... she said, look dad, that is Maggie's (her ZTA big sis) old roommate holding the VT flag. I look and guess who has the other end of the flag? ... Sydney! Recognized her from your posts. I love small world stuff. Thanks for taking the time to share your BVI adventures. - Mark (S/V Orion)

Thanks for the kind words, appreciated very much!! SailOrion, your daughter will have the time of her life. It's a great program and we're impressed with what we saw in Lugano. Maggie will surely offer your daughter lots of advice, but we should have our daughters meet. The other young lady on our charter attended the same Lugano/Africa program last year and provided a lot of info. Small world indeed <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Joy.gif" alt="" />

I love winter in New England as we have a 2nd home (primary in the not too distant future) in Vermont and spend our winters up there snowmobiling.. So knowing that season is quickly approaching, I haven't been too disappointed in us not making a November trip as we've done for the past 5+ years. But reading this makes me wish we were headed down!

What a great trip with a great group of friends!

Can't wait to get Conner down again - I think he'll be walking by the time we do though as we're looking at next May!

Thanks Rick for reminding us what an awesome time we had with you guys - we will definitely sail together again!

I enjoy the winter activities myself, but...... <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" /> Had a surprise call from Sydney this afternoon, all's well in Rwanda! Don't blink Matt, Conner is growing up before your very eyes!! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/toast.gif" alt="" />

Hoooooweeee!
Hair of the dog drinking Pussers Rum right out of the bottle!

Great pics and story.

This reminds me that I'm not yet done with the SVI trip report... <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/duh.gif" alt="" />

great conclusion and well worth the wait!