Once again our "crew" undertook our annual bareboat trip to the BVIs.<br><br>The Crew: Skipper Vinnie, lots of sailing experience. Assistent Steve, First Mate John. All with sailing and power boat experience. Crew of Jen, Lorraine, Janet, Joan, and another Jen.<br><br>The boat: Moorings 4500, 4 cabin cat. (Mighty Oak, out of Ankorage AK). We have been on this boat 3 times before. Lots of space. 4 heads. Very comfortable boat.<br><br>Day 1 Sat: <br>Getting there: From Boston on American Airlines. AA has greatly improved their operation at Logan. We were on the 7am SJU flight. THis used to be a nightmare with long lines, etc. They now have plenty of counter agents so checkin was a breeze. Security was quick too (once it opened at 4.30am). The longest line we encountered was at Dunkin Donuts (15 min for the first cup). The plane was full. Seating comfortable. Lots of leg space. "New" inflight entertainment rules: Entertainment, i.e. movies, are "free" if you have your own headphones. (If not they selll them for $2). Good deal. Movie going down was Serving Sara and coming back The Bourne Identity. Comfortable flight, served breakfast even (cereal or breakfast burrito). On time. In SJU, connection to American Eagle was smooth and on time to EIS.<br>New Terminal at EIS was nice. Spacious areas (Immigration and customs timely). This area is not AC (the departure lounges are). We loved that first "blast" of warm air after the dreadful cold we are experiencing in Boston).<br>Met by Moorings staff and off to Moorings base in Road Town. We stay on the boat the first night so boat checkout, provisioning, etc are all done in the afternoon and evening. This allows an early morning get away. We arrived at Moorings about 3.30pm.<br><br>Dinner: C&F in Road Town. This is a great local (and tourist) restaurant and has (in our opinion) "the best ribs in the BVIs". Also good fish dishes too. Reasonably priced (entre ~$15).<br><br><br>Day 2 Sun: Left from Road Town about 9am. Nice early start having already checked out and provisioned. (We do "easy on the chef" and eat out in local bar/restaurants each night).<br>We varied our "usual" route to accomodate Sat night Full Moon Party at Bombas Shack--see below. This necessitated being on Tortola the last night, otherwise we usually end up in THe Bight.<br>Sailed to Gorda Sound. THis was a sailers dream. 15-20 k winds out of SE. Tacked across Sir Francis Drake Channel. About 8-9 knots most of the way. Sunny and glorious. Got to Gorda Sound about 2pm. Picked up a mooring in Leverick Bay. (showers ashore)<br>Note: Drakes Ankorage has no moorings and resort appears dead.<br>Dinner: We went all out and went to Giorgios on Savannah Bay. Took a cab at $10 round trip. Most cab drivers in BVIs come back to pick you up and you don't pay til the return trip.<br>Dinner was outstanding. Excellent and above the "norm" for BVIs. (Like the upscale restaurants on St Martin, Anguilla, and St Barts). Mainly Italian, great Ravioli dishes. Expensive ~$50 each.<br><br>Day 3 Mon. We took a taxi around 9 am to go to the Baths. We have discovered that this is a marvelous way to enjoy the Baths. You get a scenic tour of Virgin Gorda on the way. You arrive at the Top of the Baths and walk down. This is much easier than trying to dinghy in to shore. We spent the morning on the beach and did the trail to Devils Bay. Went up to the Top of the Baths for lunch. Conch burger, fish burger, hamburgers good. They have a fresh water pool so you can wash off after swimming/snorkling at The Baths.<br>Back to Leverick Bay then motored over to pick up a mooring at Bitter End Yacht Club (best showers in the islands).<br>Dinner: Saba Rock. Buffet $25. Excellent. Ribs, chicken, fish and carving station of Roast Beef, Lamb, and Pork.<br>Live band (steel pan) was lame. Back to boat. We usually sit on deck (the tramp) but because of the impending full moon, star gazing was poor.<br><br>Day 4 Tue. Sailed up to Anegada. Glorious broad reach 15-20k winds made 9-10k boat speed. Zipped up in 2 hrs. Were lucky and got a mooring. Went ashore to make dinner reservations and menu requests at Neptunes Treasure. Took a cab to Loblolly Bay and found wonderful shadded space under sea grape tree near Flash of Beauty. This bar/restaurant has expanded and added space and bathrooms since our last trip. Snorkled the reef. It was wonderful, good visibility and very little current running. Enjoyable afternoon. Many Caribs. (and conch fritters).<br><br>Dinner: Neptunes Treasure. Great lobster ($40). Neptunes Treasure serves family style with good side dishes. Entres were fish, beef in addition to lobster ($20-25). Lobster was large (~2.5 lb) and served with lemon butter.<br><br>Day 5 Wed. Another great sail from Anegada to Marina Cay. Got in about 1pm. Moored and ashore to veg on the beach. (more Caribs). Showers hear are horrible. Very little water and cold. You do better on the boat. <br>Did "Happy hour" listening to Michael Bean do his thing at the bar atop the hill. Nice sunset. Very entertaining. He had a "conch blowing" contest that was funny. <br>Dinner: Pussers down on the beach. Good standard BVI food (ribs, chicken, beef, fish). Some very tasty spicey dishes. (~$20).<br><br>Day 6 Thur. Motored and sailed with jib only (down wind) to Great Harbor on Jost Van Dyke. Were lucky and our anchor "stuck" on the first try. Entertaining to watch others try with mixed success. <br>They have changed the ferry dock entrance over to the side and removed the pier that was in the center of Great Harbor in front of the Customs Building. This makes the beach much more beautiful, reduces the traffic and reduces the noice. All the commercial boats come in over on the left side of the harbor. <br>Went ashore to be entertained by Foxy. He actually did several sets. One at lunch time and one later at "happy hour". He was his usual funny self. <br>Dinner: Foxys. Surprisingly good food for what you would expect looking at the restaurant (beach bar). Had Roti. Spicey chicken curry. Cheap at $14.<br><br>Day 7 Fri. We sailed across thru the gap between Sopers Hole and St John and over to Norman Island. Another great sail tacking across made it in 3 tacks.<br><br>The Great Norman Island Adventure: Sailed over to The Indians and snorkled there and had lunch. Excellent snorkling. Then went over to The Caves and snorkled there. Many fish. While we were washing off from snorkling, a dinghy motored around from The Bight for snorkling. The driver was a middle age man and there were 3 passengers. All "young chickies". 2 were topless wearing thongs and one was in a 2 piece. This was "eyepopping" and, quite frankly, out of place for BVIs (except the Willey T). They created quite a stir snorkling by.<br>We left and went into the Bight. The Willy T is still there but wasn't doing much business. The restaurant is now "Pirates Bight". Similar food and decor as Billy Bones. Construction must be going on on the other side of the Island. There is a road up to the top for construction vehicles. Dinner was an extention of the adventure. Ate at Pirates and it was good. Similar to Billy Bones. While we were finishing up. The middle age man and girls arrived. He was dressed typically in shorts and open shirt. They were "dressed" in party garb. One (who we called "the princess" had a tiara and a silver thing across her chest and a silver thing across her waist. Not much else on. The other 2 were in red ("the devil") thong/short dress/ halter top and yellow ("the angel") with angel wings (I kid you not). They were smashed to start out. We nick named them "the Hos". One of our group had guts and went over to find out what was going on. Turns out, alledgedly, the guy was 60 and "rich". The girls were 21, in fact the "princess" was celebrating her 21st birthday. They were dressed to celebrate. The party got "rocking" (better than Billy Bones) and this culminated by the girls getting "body shots" while lying on the bar. What a night. You should have seen the "conga line".<br>Turns out they are all nice people and "not hos".<br>This was a late nite.<br><br>Day 8 Sat Full Moon. We motored back to Sopers Hole and were lucky to find a mooring. (got there around 11am). Moorings would be taken as soon as someone left. We took a cab and spent the afternoon at Cane Garden Bay. Wonderful beach even though full of cruise ship people. (Costa Cruise Line). There were "topless" sightings.<br>Back to the boat, showers, and <br>Dinner: The Jolly Rodger. This was quite good with excellent food. Unique restroom for men "Don't flush the toilet".<br><br>Back to the boat. About 9pm half our group took off for Bombas for Full Moon Party (those who hadn't been before). Bombas was the typical wild party as usual. We weren't that impressed, but we did leave at 11.30pm and don't know if it really got rockin after that.<br><br>Day 9 Sun Home. A sad day. Motored back to Moorings base in Road Town for uneventful checkout, breakfast and trip to airport. The new airport is nice and spacious. There are many AA counter agents but only one person checking luggage. They search all checked luggage, as in open up and probe around . Beware if you have any "embarrassing" items. <br>Very effiecient though. Flights home on time and uneventful.<br>The shock hit as we deplanned in Boston to bitter cold.<br><br>Final Thoughts: Painkillers--we made a pitcher of painkillers each day for consumption on the boat and had them ashore many times. Very mellow trip consequently. Carib was our other favorite.<br><br>Uncrowded. There were many college kids down there. I guess many colleges don't start second semester til after mid Jan. The moorings would not fill up until 4 or 5pm (except for Sopers Hole, which has limited nos and because it was full moon night. Got the feeling they are "hurting" from lack of tourism. My personal feeling is not because of 9/11 but because of economic times. Air travel is actually pretty easy. Even AA. (Prob because of fewer flights). Most of the flights we were on were full. <br><br>The BVIs remain a wonderful place with spectacular scenery, wonderful people, and a fabulous sailing destination.<br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>