That’s what it felt like, a true vacation. A vacation with 4 new great friends. We had just done all that fighting to get east with the trade winds in our faces, bashing into waves and current and then we came to the virgins, specifically the British Virgins. We are now in this beautiful group of islands that are very close together and all have spectacular beaches, large anchorages, quaint and famous beach bars and amazing snorkelling and hiking. You can wake up in the morning and look in pretty much any direction and see another beautiful spot on an island within 2-5 miles and then go downwind, yes, downwind and fill the sails and not use the “iron jenny” (that’s sailor talk for the engine). Downwind sailing is when the wind is pushing the boat from behind, rather than closer to the bow (nose) of the boat. After so much fighting upwind the downwind sailing is even more of a pleasure.

We were still travelling with two of the boats from our group of seven that made the big crossings together, Simplicity II and White Gold II. We met Gregg and Shelley of Simplicity II in Turks and Caicos, super fun, up for anything, climbing waterfalls, changing flat tires in foreign capitals, great to hang around with. They are from Victoria BC and are cruising full time, so they have the same plan to spend hurricane season in Grenada. We met Tonia and Hugh of White Gold II in Puerta Plata, Dominican Republic, they are also great fun, always up for a hike, or a snorkel, or dancing into the nite at Willy T’s! Tonia and Hugh, live in Oakville, about 5 miles from our house. Funny that we travelled all this way to meet and hang out with people from our town. They are not full-time cruisers, so they have flown back home to Oakville. Miss them already and looking forward to seeing them next season.

So the 6 of us hung around like tourists amongst the charter boats in the considerably crowded anchorages. First stop Normans Island, grabbed a mooring ball in the Pirates Bight, near the famous Willy T’s (we didn’t see anyone jump topless from the second level except for pasty white men). Most of the anchorages are filled up with mooring balls. This has its pros and cons. You can fit in way more boats, and assuming that the moorings are well maintained, it eliminates the anchor dragging drama (stay tuned for the anchor dragging drama that occurred in St. Martin). On the negative side, there are way more boats and the nightly fee is $30 bucks (don’t forget we are cheap cruisers without paycheques). And since it was around easter weekend, the place was packed. Deep in the front of the bay there were rows and rows of shiny, Puerto Rican flagged sport fishing boats rafted off 8-10 boats wide and tied to shore. We are told they are referred to as the Puerto Rican Navy and not sure they do much fishing.

We also stopped at Cane Garden Bay on Tortola, another beautiful anchorage with a nice beach lined with numerous beach bars. We partook of a few happy hours sampling and critiquing the pain killers based on our fine palates that we have worked very hard to develop.

At Cane Garden with Tonia and Hugh, we hired a taxi to take us up to Sage Mountain national park and did a hike through the rain forest. Views from the lookouts were amazing, the trail went through a true lush rain forest with bats and vines hanging everywhere. We managed to get lost, but made our way through and reached almost 1800 feet above sea level. The restaurant at the trail head served amazing banana smoothies, which I have been meaning to make (cream of coconut, half a banana and ice, and might I suggest the addition of rum then blend and voila).

And of course, any trip to the BVI’s would be incomplete without a visit to the infamous Foxy’s Bar. We caught the BBQ buffet on a Saturday night (YUMMY) and danced the night away to the live music (ok, it happened to be my birthday).

Next major stop was Virgin Gorda, first stop, the iconic Baths. Beautiful large boulders with crystal blue pools to swim and snorkel in. A must do in the BVI’s. We did a night at the iconic Bitter End Yacht Club, although we have to say that the highlight was the proximity to Saba Rock Bar, which boasts an amazing happy hour also with a tasty painkiller.

When we entered Gorda Sound, the BVI Yacht Shots dinghy did a drive by on Slow Waltz and snapped a couple dozen shots under sail. We went to the web site emblazoned on the side of the dinghy and found the shots of our boat which we were able to preview and purchase.

That was a wrap for the vacation in the BVI’s, we ended up spending 18 days. Next island down the chain was St. Martin.