Three of Virginia's college roommates and their husbands joined us for some cruising in the British Virgin Islands. We had a great adventure with Agnes and Ken, Wendy and Bob, and Carol and Andy. They flew in to St. Thomas and took a ferry over to Road Town, Tortola. Our original plans had been to rent a car to pick them up, provision, and do a land tour of the western end of Tortola before heading out on the boat. We had Libertad in Nanny Cay Marina which is about a 20 min ride from Road Town. However, even with the help of the wonderful marina staff, we could not find a rental company on the island that had a van that seated 8. So we made a new friend in Larry, the taxi driver that did have such a van and he became our BVI best friend. Larry is such an interesting and loveable fellow. He worked as a prison guard for 30+ years in Tortola and positively affected the lives of so many young men incarcerated there with his supportive attitude. When former inmates see him on the street or in a store, they stop to lovingly tease him.

Mon Feb 13 the group arrived by ferry, Larry drove us to the ferry dock in Road Town to pick them up, then onto the market to provision for about 8 days at sea, before heading back to the boat to store their gear and our provisions. Larry had already agreed to wait for us at each stop so we were at ease to start off with not having to worry about transportation for the day. Nevertheless, with 8 people, and their luggage, and food for 8 for 8 days that fifteen person van was filled up. We had cleared a bit of storage space in each of their three sleeping compartments but they were all such good sports about firstly bringing only duffle bags instead of suitcases and then primarily living out of them. Dennis and I slept on the back deck on air mattresses, under our shade structure. So we did have room for the 8 of us, but we were in close quarters...for instance each morning the salon couple had to fold up their bedding and stow in the forward berth space and Dennis and I did likewise and dumped our stuff on the couple in the aft berth. We women have been friends for over 40 years and the husbands have been around for almost that long too....so we made it work.

None of us had been to the BVIs before. We were all so anxious to get out on the water and explore that we decided to forgo a land tour of Tortola - if weather or other circumstances brought us back to the marina early - we could do it then. It never happened of course because we had a lovely time on the water.

Tues Feb 14 Happy Valentines Day! After a short orientation of the boat for all the visitors, we sailed from Nanny Cay - Tortola to Benures Bay on Norman Island. The passage is protected by several islands, so the crossing was calm and a nice beginning to the adventure. We hopped in the water for some snorkeling and swimming. The water was warm and clear, so very inviting. Several of the women were tentative snorkelers. Virginia was very sympathetic having worked her way into more confidence when we were snorkeling in the South Pacific 5 years ago. We had various graduated flotation devices: a kayak vest, a boogie board, and noodles all at the ready and by the time we finished our BVI tour, all were much more comfortable in the water using the snorkeling gear. The first day out, Bob followed a sea turtle around and then found a beautiful conch shell in the shallow water; since the shell was still inhabited he returned it once we all got a good look.

Wed Feb 15 In the morning we made the very short hop over to The Indians - a popular snorkeling site with day-time only moorings. It turned out to be our best snorkeling of the week. All moorings were taken when we arrived but one boat looked like it was getting ready to leave, so we hailed them and they said they would be moving on in about 20 minutes. So we turned off the engine and floated nearby until that mooring was available. We were so glad we waited as we really enjoyed that spot. The moorings were close enough that we just swam to the snorkeling area from the boat. About lunch time we moved on to Cooper Island, Manchioneel Bay. We snorkeled there off some rocks near the anchorage, but before doing that we had to figure out a way for the women to get back into the dinghy from the water - attaching a small set of steps and rigging some handholds. Virginia got to 'practice' near the boat to test out the gear. It took strength, but it was doable, so off we went. There were much less fish and coral than at the Indians, but still interesting. Each time after we snorkeled we would allow ourselves a fresh water rinse from the deck shower and that would be our shower for that day. All were also good sports about this aspect of the trip - like camping on the water where you have to conserve fresh water, so full showers were a luxury with 8 aboard.

Thu Feb 16 We headed out early morning for The Baths at the southern end of Virgin Gorda. We wanted to ensure getting a mooring for yet another snorkeling adventure. We did secure a mooring alongside two other boats that were already there. But the rangers were flying the Red Flag, which means dangerous waters and indeed we could see that we were not going to be able to maneuver the dinghy from the boat over the waves breaking on the reef into the calmer snorkeling area. We waited along with the other boats for about an hour and just as the other boaters gave up and started to leave we saw a ranger patrol boat approach us. We asked them if there was any hope the conditions would calm or if we should just move along. They advised us that we should move along, as they didn't like boats even mooring there when they Red Flag was hoisted. So we motor-sailed against the tradewinds (but very little swell given the BVI reefs) to the North Sound of Virgin Gorda and moored off the well-known Bitter End Yacht Club. We were determined to see The Baths and planned to taxi back south to them the next day. We went ashore to make the arrangements. We found out that the road does not go all the way out to Bitter End, so we would need to take the free ferry to Gun Creek and a taxi from there. We called our BFF, Larry, in Tortola to see if he had a friend on Virgin Gorda who drove a taxi, but he did not, so we worked with the Bitter End Yacht Club to make the arrangements. We stayed on shore to have a refreshing drink and appetizers at the Crawl Pub and decided to stay for a pizza dinner when we learned that a local band, Leon and the Hotshots, was going to be playing that night. We saw a single couple up dancing who looked like they had a few lessons - Carol felt that they did not have anything on her and Andy so they got up to have a private competition. It was a very enjoyable evening.

Fri Feb 17 Dennis dinghied us ashore to catch the ferry to Gun Creek in the early morning. Each time he needed to do this - he made two trips, taking the four women with him on the first trip and then the three men on the second trip. For this outing he decided to return to Libertad to do some Captaining chores while the rest of us had our Baths excursion. The taxi trip allowed us to see more of Virgin Gorda. That day the Yellow Flag was up, so it would have still been difficult to get the dinghy over the reef - in fact we only saw one boat that attempted this. So it was good that we had decided on the overland route. We enjoyed the hike from Devil's Bay over to the Baths where you climb up and down big boulders, sometimes with the help of wooden ladders or ropes, and sometimes through the water. The Baths end of the trail had very choppy water so we hiked the trail back again to Devil's Bay (against the traffic of several large tour groups who had arrived after us). Bob was the only one that braved the snorkeling there, the rest of us just stood in the surf and got wet. But the hike was beautiful and made the trip worthwhile. As our ferry was approaching the Bitter End dock, Dennis saw us from aboard Libertad and dinghied over to start transporting us. But we all decided to first have lunch ashore at the Crawl Pub and visit the two gift shops. A few hours later we were aboard and moved Libertad over a few bays, still in the North Sound, to Levericks Bay. When we had first arrived in the BVI and checked into the country - prior to our college friends arrival, we had anchored at Levericks Bay and happened upon the comedy and song-filled Michael Bean Pirate show. He wasn't playing that night, but we sat at the beach bar for some refreshing drinks. They were having some entertainment and a BBQ buffet dinner much later that night and so the kitchen was closed. Dennis ran over to the nearby convenience store and brought back some peanuts, chips, etc. for us to enjoy with our rum punch and painkillers. These were the two drinks of choice when we were ashore. It started with painkillers in the Nanny Cay beach bar on Tortola the first night we were all together. Ken in particular enjoyed that painkiller so much he decided he would test them at each stop to see who had the best. Virginia had already started a rum punch tasting back in Grenada. In general the women preferred the rum punch and the men the painkillers - but we all tried both!

Sat Feb 18 This was our one long day of sailing. We planned to sail for about 4 hours from Virgin Gorda North Sound over to the east end of Tortola, along the north shore of Tortola, stopping enroute at Sandy Spit for some snorkeling and a lunch break, and onto Great Harbor on Jost Van Dyke Island. We had nice winds for this and it was a pleasant day of sailing/motoring. The snorkeling was a bit disappointing, but it was going to be hard to match The Indians in any event. After anchoring in Great Harbor we went ashore to visit the infamous Foxy's. Foxy was not going to be around that day, but they were having a big BBQ buffet with a DJ that night. It was too early to have dinner and we had another place on our list to visit - namely Soggy Dollar Bar - home of the Painkiller - in the neighboring White's Bay. The guide book indicated that it was a 'bun burning one mile walk'; so we knew hills were involved. It wasn't too bad. We actually turned down to the beach too soon, but we were lucky in that there was a scenic path along the bluff for the remaining distance to White Bay. We sat in lounge chairs on the beach as the sun set, drinking the original recipe painkillers....Ken said he still ranked Nanny Cay beach bar as the best tasting. We decided we'd have to have one more tasting when we returned to Nanny Cay because he might have had a good impression just because it was his first painkiller. Some of us walked back in the dark to Foxy's while several took a taxi. We got there just about the same time. Foxy's BBQ was smelling pretty good and we could not resist. We had a great dinner and the DJ played music that got us all up and moving. Dennis actually started the dancing....something he hasn't felt comfortable doing in years because of his knees. Virginia offered a private thank you to the knee surgeon!

Sun Feb 19 We sailed back to the north coast of Tortola and anchored in Cane Garden Bay. Bob and Dennis went exploring but couldn't find a good snorkeling spot, despite asking for recommendations from some locals. The big swimmers, Bob and Wendy, swam ashore and spent the day there doing a bit of sight seeing. The rest of us joined them in the early evening at Quitos. Quito Rhymer is a famous musician and we had hoped he would be performing that night, but it wasn't to be. However, there was some live music and we enjoyed ourselves. We were introduced to yet another Caribbean speciality drink - Quito's cool breeze - very refreshing. We went back to the boat for dinner aboard Libertad.

Mon Feb 20 This was our final day aboard. We motor sailed around the west end of Tortola and a bit north back to Nanny Cay Marina. We actually hadn't done much true sailing during the trip and as we neared the marina the wind picked up and was right across the beam. So Dennis decided it was too good to pass up and we sailed right on past the marina for about an hour and then came about and headed in. Several went swimming in the pool but we all gathered at the Beach Bar for the final Painkiller taste test. Nanny Cay Beach Bar was declared the winner. Virginia declared that Antigua had the best rum punch. Every night on this trip with the college buddies we had experienced a light rain. We had a light shower during the day a couple times as well, but very short-lived. We were fine sleeping on deck because our tunnel like shade structure that fits over the mizzen boom on that deck kept us protected. But of course this, the final night of a fabulous adventure it rained, and it rained, and it rained. It started at 3:00am and was still raining very hard at 7:00am when our friends and their gear got very soggy walking to the taxi stand in the marina where Larry was picking them up for a ride back to the ferry terminal. But we had all the very fond memories of the past 8 days of light winds, sunshine, beautiful waters, and good friends that would not be dampened by a little rain!

We have to acknowledge our boating club friends in Santa Barbara (Ron and Vicki) who own a condo in Nanny Cay and have spent many years sailing the waters of the BVIs. They were so helpful in planning this trip, providing a suggested route around the islands, a list of things not to miss, cruising guides, and even CDs with Quito and other Caribbean musicians to get us in the mood. Thank you Slocums!