May 16, 2011 - BVI - Cooper Island, Saba Rock, and Leverick Bay

Rising early to overcast skies, we set sail to our next destination - Machioneel Bay on Cooper Island. It was a relatively calm day sailing with Dee at the wheel, but, of course, there had to be some excitement. Not too long after raising the sails and cruising at a reasonable speed, Dee hit a weird combination of water current, shore current, and a gusting wind which caused the wheel to spin uncontrollably. Amid shouts of “what’s it doing, what’s it doing, what’s it doing?” the boat spun around while we waited for Gary to calmly tell us...

Jan 24, 2007 - Road Town, Tortola

1/24 The next stop was Road Town, Tortola, in the British Virgin Islands. Here we went ashore and took an open vehicle tour of the island. The tour took us up in the mountains and along the ridge that provided stunning views of the island and surrounding ocean. We stopped at a small village where we visited a 400 year old rum distillery. We sampled a delicious spicy rum.

Dec 29, 2006 - Lunch on the Beach

Thursday was an idyllic day. Our ship is cruising through the British Virgin Islands. The sun is shining. There are a few passing clouds. The seas are slight. Can it get any better? The crew was prepared to give it a try! We anchored off Prickly Pear Island at about 10 AM. With anticipation we watch the tenders shuttling crew and equipment a short distance to the beach. Today we were having a beach BBQ. About an hour later it was announced they were ready to escort guests ashore. We decided to wait until the initial "rush" subsided, but as...

Apr 1, 2006 - "I Don't Like Scenary"

Yup, that's exactly what Garrett said when we departed on our sailing journey of the BVI. He started out as a 13 year old who didn't like scenary, and turned 14 on the Fat Virgin (Virgin Gorda), loving every minute of it. The British Virgin Islands consist of numerous small islands scattered through the torquois blue water. Our goal for the week is to sail (by ourselves, as captains, first mates and dingy captains) between and among the islands without running aground, or otherwise embarrasing ourselves in someone else's boat. We should...