Outta Control: The visit with Tom and Krista, part 1

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

The visit with Tom and Krista, part 1

Karen with Krista and Tom....who are happy the flight is over and the fun can begin

Tom and Krista Rambow...(no, they aren't related to John Rambo)...came for a visit last month. We've spent so much time with them in Boise that we felt they should visit us in return. There were no complaints from them with that idea. We picked them up in Red Hook, on the Eastern end of St. Thomas, then spent our first night in Maho Bay, St. John. While there, we met up with our friends Jim and Connie Priebe who recently returned from Sint Maarten. These are the same folks we had sailed with when they left the BVI for St. Maarten. Anyway, upon recommendation from Jim and Connie, we hiked up the stairway/trail in the evening to the restaurant that overlooks Maho and Francis Bays. The place also has eco-huts that can be rented. It sure is a nice place and Wow...what a view. Here's a link to their website:
http://www.maho.org/

Looking through part of the restaurant towards the sunset

We enjoyed some drinks and toasted our friendship, then carefully walked back down to the beach in the dark.

The next day required us to clear in at BVI customs. Shortly after clearing in, we motored over to Great Thatch for a quick dive. Karen stayed aboard to visit with Krista, while Tom and I dove the reef area under our boat. Unbeknownst to us, Karen had lost her balance while attempting to walk out of the cockpit and onto the boat's side deck, falling overboard. While falling, she whacked her head onto the side of the boat, scraped her arm along the lifeline and twisted her leg around the lifeline as well. She managed to stay concious, barely, and swam to the back of the boat. It took her about 2 minutes to regain her wits and strength to climb back into the boat. After returning, Tom and I realized that Krista had no idea how or who to call or where to direct emergency help if she needed to. Immiediate changes were made about preparing our guests for these kind of things. Karen's headache and arm pain went away after about a couple of days, but the leg bruise is still there after about a month.

Falling off a boat can be hazardous to your health

We decided to leave Great Thatch...it was pretty rolly (rough, rocky conditions)...and headed over to Norman Island. Tom had always heard of the famous (infamous?) "Willy T" floating bar/restaurant so we made that our first destination. For those of you that are not shy with your bodies, here's a place that can provide all of the alcohol to encourage party-goers to enjoy parading around and diving off the boat without clothes...or so I'm told.
Here's a link for some info:
http://www.bareboatsbvi.com/norman_island_willy_t.html

We didn't go onto to the Willy T, just cruised around it in our boat and then left. We didn't see any naked people, but would have shared the pics with you if we had. Sorry.

Our next stop, for the night was Benures Bay. We've always enjoyed this anchorage and wanted to share it with them. Early the next day, Tom and I took the dinghy aroung the end of the bay and dove on the reef along the North shore of Norman Island. We think this reef is the nicest one we've seen in the BVI.

Southern stingray

He be havin' fun

Some not-so-nice fire coral in the foreground

Fan, finger, staghorn, star corals everywhere!

Tom, behind a pillar coral

I guess we scared all of the fish away...they were everywhere, though

Later in the day, we all went to shore and hiked along the primitive roads on the island. These roads have been abandonded and resemble trails now. They work their way around many areas of the island and provide for some spectacular views. Karen and I have shown some of them to you before in previous blogs, but here are some new ones for you.