04/01/02

St. John USVI

We had a great dinner our first night at the Westin Resort on Great Cruz bay. It wasn't cheap but the champagne was cold & the food was wonderful. The taxi to Cruz Bay (the town) is only $3 & we went in to lunch at the Mongoose Resturant (good salads & grilled food). It is in the Mongoose shopping mall with many little artsy shops. Mostly Sunday (Easter) was spent relaxing & phone calls to catch up.

We are trying to get all of our work out of the way today. We finished & sent our taxes although the idea of letting them try to find us was appealing. We also got our pictures arranged & sent to Doug for the website. I can't say enough nice things about this hotel. They have bent over backwards to help us even though we told them we were on our boat not lodging with them. We did have lunch here today, another great meal, so we have at least spent some money here. It is a beautiful hotel & the grounds are as spectacular as any hotel I have ever seen. Only one complaint, they have not got a public TV to watch the NCAA finals on so we are going to have to move to Coral Bay, on the other side of the island. They called around to help me find the spot, maybe to get rid of us?

04/05/02

We have had two great days at Coral Bay. This is a small community that is very laid back, & not touristy. There are a couple of bars & restaurants & some small grocery stores (like quicky marts). We planned on watching the tournament at "Skinny Legs" but instead got there too early & got to watch the movie Chocolate with dinner. The food is good & cheap, just sandwitches but they had grilled portabello ($7) & veggieburger. They closed before the game began although they offered to let us stay & watch with one of their employees after they closed. We ended up at another bar down the road (Island Blues)& had a great time there with a full bar crowd. The food looked good there so we went back for lunch & had dinner the next night. The food here is great & the price is reasonable (downright cheap for the islands).

We hiked a trail over the mountain to Leinster bay & did some snorkeling over there. I was not too thrilled with the hike up the mountain but just about the time I decided to give up we made it to the top. The snorkeling was great there & we were entertained by several mongooses (mongeese?) that were fighting over our PB&J sandwitch they found it while we were swimming. I was pretty worn out so we had to go back to Island Blues again for dinner. Allen wanted to hear the singer that night that was supposed to be Blues/Rock. We waited & waited while he had dinner. We realized that it was not the scheduled singer when he & his wife went up to sing. It was something like Captain & Tennille. Oh well, they sold us a lot of wine by keeping us waiting.

04/11/02

We left Coral Bay & sailed to Salt Pond Bay where we stayed for a day. There was a good trail up to the top of Ram's Head, the Southeastern point of St. John. It is an easy climb & the view is spectacular from there. We saw a few goats on the way but still haven't seen any of the wild donkeys that are supposed to be all over the island.

The next day we moved to Great Lameshur Bay (just around the point). We stayed for 4 days due to strong North winds. Now they go strong to the North! We hiked up to see some petroglyphs, again pushing my stamina. I will never understand how these trails can lead up so much, down so little & still end up at sealevel! The petroglyphs are carvings in a stone boardering a small pond, some say from the Arawak Indians & some say from the slaves hiding after the revolt here. The pond area is beautiful & the walk to it is through lush forest reminding Allen of the Daniel Boone Park.

We have seen some of the best snorkeling of our trip here. Since the Park Service has installed moorings & restricted anchoring here the coral is pristine & the amount of fish is incredible. We see turtles so often we don't even bother to point them out to each other anymore.

We met a couple, Gene & Shirley (Mike & Mic) that were also hanging around this bay for several days. They have cruised the Caribbean for 5 years. We had cocktails with them one night & had a great time listening to their tales. There's nothing like first hand experience. After that night I can hardly wait to get on with our trip, they have had so many great experiences. I wish we could spend more time with them but they are heading back & we are heading onward. If there is one thing that has been hard about this trip it's always saying good-bye to new friends. As we left the anchorage this morning we were seranaded by Gene on his trumpet playing Bye Bye Blackbird.

04/13/02

Jost Van Dyke

We arrived at Jost Van Dyke on Firday so that we could get checked into the British Virgin Islands. We had lunch at Wendells World café on the beach in Great Harbor, excellent coconut chicken ($10). Then next day we dinghyed over to White Bay to snorkel & hang out at the Soggy Dollar Bar, a spot we had visited years before with our friends during a Windjammer cruise. The Soggy Dollar Bar is at a small hotel called the Sandcastle (809-775-3590), a wonderful spot on a beautiful beach. For a real getaway spot this would make a nice vacation but you would really have to want to be isolated from any activity. The bartender KC was an expert entertainer & mixed a great Painkiller (reputed to have been created here originally). We also had lunch & the sandwitches were very good (fish & jerk chicken $8). We had dinner at Foxy's Tamarind Bar, supposed to be a sailor's institution. The buffet ($25) was very good BBQ & fish, all fresh & well worth the price.

04/19/02

Tortolla

We sailed into Cane Garden Bay & found it full of moorings & many boats. It is quite a bit busier than when we last visited. I still consider this one of my favorite places to visit. The beach is much more built up than when we first came here but the beach is still pretty, the snorkeling great & the sunsets are the best anywhere.

We had dinner one night at the Sugar Mill (Carrot Bay) using the Christmas present from Mom & Dad. We got dressed up & felt like real people taking a taxi & having a nice dinner. Well, almost like real people, most normal people do not dinghy over to the dock in their underwear to keep their nice clothes dry!

One night had to be spent listening to Quito Rhymer at Quito's Gazebo. He is even better than the last time we saw him. This night he played alone with acoustic guitar, which I prefer to his band. The food at the Gazebo has also improved. It is a very good restaurant now & not expensive.

After playing at Cane Garden Bay we moved to Road Town for some work. Allen spent much time & money fixing all of the mechanical problems that have popped up & changing the oil in all engines. I finally got t do laundry & defrosted the refrigerator (think defrosting hanging upside down in a deep freeze). After that it was time to reprovision & fill it back up. The Village Cay Marina we stayed at was perfect. It is convenient to everything, clean & the people very helpful.

Allen was determined to meet our weather forcaster David Jones. It turned out he spent every afternoon at the bar in this marina (which explains a lot) & his office is right next door. Allen had a nice afternoon discussion with him until I showed up & accidently insulted him. Not my fault- he denied he was David Jones & I made an offhand comment! Anyway, I don't think he caught it & I gushed enough about his help on our passage to cover up (I hope). Otherwise we could be getting some interesting weather reports.

04/20/02

Norman Island

The weather has been dreary for several days now. (David predicted torrential rains & storms. We've had a few sprinkles). That was OK while we were trying to get some work done but now we want to snorkel & dive. No sun makes it pretty gray underwater. We did enjoy snorkeling in & around the caves here. I only had one panic attack in the longest, darkest cave & banged my knee. When will I learn that caves are not my thing? Allen always sucks me in by telling me all the neat things he sees & in I go. The snorkeling all around this island is great & there is a floating restaurant in the middle of the anchorage. It's mostly just sandwitches & appetizers but decent & fun.

04/25/02

Anegada   (da vida baby)

I have always wanted to make it up to Anagada & this was my chance. It was a bit of a let down. It looks just like the Bahamas, low & sandy with very little vegitation. We found the people here less friendly & helpful than in the other BVIs. There are beautiful beaches (like the Bahams) & good snorkeling but the current made it pretty hard to enjoy. On the whole, since it is difficult to get here I would give it a miss next time.

04/27/02

Virgin Gorda

We moored for two nights at the Bitter End Yacht Club. This is supposed to be one of the premier spots to stay in this area ($3000-5000/week for 2 people). We found the people here to be very unhelpful & sometimes, in the case of the restaurants, rude. We never did get served there so I cannot remark on the food. The only exception was the operator of the dive shop who was friendly & informative. For the same approximate price (very expensive) you could stay at the Biras Creek Resort right next to it. This is a fantastic spot with all of the same sports equipment available (both have all inclusive rates) & fantastic restaurant. It is very quiet (they do not allow children) & beautiful. The person we met who stayed there was extremely happy with the package. I cannot imagine paying for the Bitter End & being happy with the service there!

We did enjoy our stop at Saba Rock near there. The food was good & pretty reasonable. This is just a rock in the middle of the inlet that had been built up with a bar/restaurant & a few rooms to rent. The view is spectacular & it is problably a pretty fun place to party in season.

We spent one day diving the "Dog Islands" at a spot called "Cockroach". I do not know why they call it that, it was a very pretty dive. I had my usual 1st dive panic but after a while I calmed down & enjoyed the view.

The next day we moved over to the marina at Spanish Town. We spent a day at the "Baths" & it is still one of the most beautiful spots you can imagine. The snorkeling is probably the best we have seen & the beach has changed very little since the 1st time I saw it (20 years ago!). Near the road it has been built up a lot & they have added showers & bathrooms near the beach but, as usual, the BVI has protected the beauty of the beach itself.

We also spent a day at Little Dix Bay, another (more) expensive resort (3600-6000/week for 2 people). This is probably the prettiest of the three resorts. It is on its own bay, very private & beautiful. The Lunch buffet was fantastic ($18 for the cold or hot & $25 for both) & the service was perfect & friendly. I did not want to leave this beautiful spot so we stayed for the afternoon. This or Biras Creek would be a great destination but you would have to be ready to put on a few pounds with the great food. I would probably give Biras Creek the top spot since it is just a bit less expensive & does not allow kids so it is quieter. Little Dix does have a kid center so if you did have children they would have activities to keep them happy.

This is our last stop in the Virgin Islands. I'm sure that it will continue to get better but I really cannot imagine any better cruising than these islands. The people are very friendly & happy to have you visit & everything is so easy & beautiful here. I'm sure I will be back again!

(updated 05/06/02)