Dinghologist - A Master of All Things Dinghy

Well, the dinghy has been a source of humor this week. A couple of the "hold on" straps are broken, which makes things interesting to start with. Add alcohol and wind and things get hysterical. I have fallen into the dinghy once while trying to leave Willy T's, then Phil fell on top of me. When we got back to the boat, Phil fell out of the dinghy into the water. The four of us voted and gave him a 3.75 score on the "dive".

Tuesday Highlights - Big Swells

We were up early Tuesday morning and were one of the first boats to arrive at the Baths. Mike D. stayed behind to take care of some work e-mails and to update the blog, which was difficult due to very poor Internet connectivity. Marc, Phil, Ken and Mike L. had fun, until Mike and Marc climbed up to the bar to realize that they had no money.....

We then headed to Savannah Bay to do a little snorkeling. It was kind of rough when we got there, and then got very rough about an hour later. The guys at Voyage Yachts had warned us that the wind was going to pick up on Tuesday and Wednesday, and it had just arrived. We pulled anchor and headed toward Saba Rock. We saw wind speeds as high as 29 miles per hour and the boat was rocking.We were told later that there were 11 to 12 foot swells. No argument from us.....

Dinner at Saba Rock with a great sunset view, a few cocktails, and everyone crashed a little early.

Monday Recap

Men can learn from their mistakes. After consuming a little too much alcohol the first couple of days, we took it easy yesterday, and felt a heck of a lot better this morning than we did Sunday and Monday. Dinner at Cooper Island Beach Club was excellent after a relaxing afternoon.

Taken Ten Minutes Ago....

Nowhere to Go... Nowhere to Be

A Relaxing Sunday

We grabbed a mooring ball at Norman Island Sunday afternoon after sailing much of the day. Lots of laughing and story telling, but a very poor Internet connection. We ate at Pirates and it was excellent, and then headed over to Willy T's for an after dinner cocktail......or three.

You Know You Had Fun When You Find Limes in the Dinghy

The First Day - White Bay

Well, the first full day wasn't as eventful as the travel day - THANKFULLY!  We were late getting checked out of Voyage, but then headed straight for White Bay. Ken let Phil behind the wheel for awhile, but not when we were within 5 miles of shore........

I guess we were a little too excited to get there, because none of us remembered to take a camera ashore. After swimming awhile, and consuming some liquids to avoid dehydration, we went for a couple of bushwhackers at Soggy Dollar. Then we headed to One Love, which is still my favorite BVI bar by the way. A couple of hours, er...uh, I mean drinks later, we went back to the boat. Last night, we went to Ivan's for awhile, and I was surprised at the crowd. It was the most crowded I ever seen it. Lots of fun......

Know What Burnt Luggage Smells Like??

Well we do.......and it stinks. The flight from Charlotte to St. Thomas was perfect, and we actually arrived a little early. We had decided to try a different shuttle service that required us to take a cab to Red Hook (about a 20 minute ride with some nice views from up in the hills). Well we get to the marina and board our shuttle - a nice 40 seat boat and head to Cruz Bay.......yes, I said Cruz Bay, not Soper's Hole. The operator told us that the big boat needed maintenance, and that he was going to put us on a smaller boat to go to Soper's Hole. Yep, a smaller boat it was......about 30 feet, for 15 people. We were still along the coast of St. John, when ALL OF A SUDDEN, the smell of smoke and fiberglass.....not good. The captain stopped and everyone could tell that there was a problem. He left the engine running, but smoke was clearly present. I would like to tell you that life jackets weren't passed out, but they were. We noticed the sharks circling the boat, but focused on keeping everyone calm (OK, I made that part up). The captain called for a back up boat to come get us, and we waited in pitch dark for the boat to arrive. Babies and women wept (OK, I made that part up also). After somewhere between 10 minutes and four hours, the boat showed up and we changed boats. Hungry and dehydrated from 30 minutes adrift, we finally made it to customs in Soper's Hole.

Think I'm kidding above? See below....

All is well now. Good food, good friends and good drinks...... Oh by the way Loraine - you are getting a few free hats and free luggage out of the mishap.

Why Yes....Yes it Does

Two More Days Until BVI Sunrises....

Why We are Going.....

Our friends at RumTherapy.com captured this video of White Bay. It tells a great story, with no words at all.....

In an Ideal World, We Would Have Sponsors

Can't Wait to See Reuben!

The Weather is Looking Good...

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Our Boat - Sirius Escape

Sirius Escape (recently renamed from Seahorse Seeker) features all the latest enhancements to the Voyage Yachts 500, which has become known as the preferred charter boat throughout the Caribbean. Ken has chartered a 50' before, but the rest of us that have been to the BVI have been on 44' Voyage Yachts in the past. Personally, the Voyage line is incredible.

 

The Voyage 500 is a 50' long luxury charter and bluewater cruising catamaran. Its wide 27' beam offers stability, comfort and exceptional cocktail drinking space.
 
Sirius Escape's large cockpit area is shaded by a hardtop bimini. Her layout includes four queen-size en suite cabins, a crew cabin and day head, a gourmet galley, and a large saloon and bar counter that allows for entertaining in comfort. Rumor has it that all adult beverages taste better on this vessel - we'll test this theory and report our findings....
 
It will be our home away from home for nine nights.