Outta Control: Snow birds in paradise

Steve and Chris have a few things to work out, now that they are back home to Billings: how to make another trip to the Caribbean soon, how to justify a permanent vacation on a boat, how to catch fish and land them, where to find lobster, etc.

Their visit with us on the boat became a great adventure, with more than a few of their bucket list items checked off, such as sharing very small sleeping quarters, enduring constant nausea from a rolling and pitching boat and the feeling of panic when 8 foot waves wash over the bow. If you think this equated to a horrible time, think again!

Just beooootiful....crossing from Puerto Rico to Tortola.
Steve was able to sit in the co-pilot's seat and took this wonderful picture.

Just arrived from the red-eye flights, and ready to paaarrrrtyyy!

We walked over to the airport, after a short dinghy ride from Trellis Bay and saw Steve and Chris get off the plane. They settled in on the boat and we spent the night on anchor in the bay. Our first destination in the morning was to Cooper Island to meet up with the folks and guests from "Cruising Outpost" and their "BVI Share-The-Sail."

(Cruising Outpost is a new sailing magazine, offered in both hard copy and online. IT IS A GREAT MAGAZINE!!! I've read almost all of the different magazines that are offered about sailing, but I have to say that this is the best I've seen that caters to the cruising lifestyle. I highly recommend those that are into sailing to visit the website and see what they offer.)

http://cruisingoutpost.com/

Anyway, the sail over to Cooper Island was pretty tame, by our standards, but Steve felt a little queasy from the boat's motion...he was glad for our stop for the night on the mooring ball.

Ahhh, mal-de-mer. naupathia, kinetosis, seasickness. I've been there...man, you just want it to quit...stop the motion or roll me off of the boat and let me die, one or the other. Corner me sometime and I will tell you a whole story about my fun on a salmon charter off of Ilwaco, Washington with my brothers.

Steve wasn't that bad, though. He decided to relax a bit while the rest of us spent the evening having a great time making new friends and meeting some old ones.

The next day broke to a spectacular sunrise...I think. Anyway, when we got up about an hour after sunrise, we had a great breakfast and headed out. It's a lonnnng way from Cooper (by a slow sailboat) to our next stop...North Sound, Virgin Gorda and Leverick Bay to see the Mocko Jumbies and have a Caribbean buffet dinner with the "Outposters".

Everybody gets involved in the fun...

We spent the next morning relaxing and then motored to the other end of North Sound to Biras Creek and enjoyed the evening walking around Saba Rock. We wanted to show them one of our other favorite places and catch a movie on the beach...unfortunately, the Bitter End Yacht Club was persona non grata...the whole resort had been rented for a wedding. Now, who has that kind of money?

Maybe, it's people like those that charter the "Maltese Falcon"
http://www.symaltesefalcon.com/
or the "Hemisphere", the world's largest
sailing catamaran http://www.sy-hemisphere.com/

Our next sail was a little rougher...not!

We did get into some "sporty" weather on a couple of day's sails...
+20 kts of wind and 6' swells north of Tortola & The Dog Islands, but it
was fun, especially for those used to it.

Photo, courtesy of Steve, taken from the rollicking bow of our boat

I've included some of the fishing activity that some people do in the BVI, but not us.

This is supposed to be a tuna, but it appears to have
been munched on by a much larger fish

I think this is a barracuda, caught with a couple of lures...
not sure, though

This colorful girl (a dorado hen) is another fish
available to those that are fortunate enough
to land them

We made it to Great Harbor on Jost Van Dyke and visited Foxy's, as well as some of the other places. While there, we met up with some of the "Outposters" again and I was asked to take Bob Bitchin's granddaughter and his friend diving. I do not need to be asked more than once to go diving, so we rented gear for them and the three of us headed out around the corner to find a place to dive. The coral and visiblity weren't the best but Tabatha and Paul sure had a great dive, anyway.

That's a lionfish Tabatha found, in the center of the photo

That's Tabatha in the center of the photo

And here is another rare find...Paul

On the dock in front of Foxy's with a local

I think this would be a great sign for our boat!

Lovely, up until someone loses their balance and rolls the whole
thing over

Karen and Chris having cold ones on Foxy's lap

What happens in the BVI, stays in the BVI, sometimes

I tell you, the sail the next morning was easy...the sails were full and drawing...and we made good all the way across (about 2 miles) to Cane Garden Bay for the "Share the Sail" dinner at Myett's. Our friends, Toddy and Sue...Ken and Lori...and Gail met us there. I must say, we had the best time. And we must've behaved ourselves a little, because the owner of Myett's brought over a complimentary bottle of Myett's Label Rum. It didn't take us long to polish most of that off, too. Our friends, Eric Stone and Kim Hess were there, entertaining the whole crowd with great sailing/boating/Caribbean/diving music. He does it all, but just don't ask him to play "Jimmy Buffett" (That could be a whole blog of itself).

We sure enjoyed ourselves!

Lori and Karen with new "Outposter" friends, George and Kay Baker

Yep, that's a whole new bottle of rum for the table...and, as you can tell,
Steve, Toddy and I are all happy about it!

Sue and Ken

Yes, Steve and Chris also enjoyed some of the snorkling, at the SW shore of Mosquito Island, Diamond Reef along Great Camino and Spyglass Wall along Norman Island