Comming home

We finished our one week bareboat charter and are headed home tomorrow. This was a great trip and one that we would do again in a heartbeat. We had a great crew with us and even though a couple were green around the gills in any kind of rough seas I believe everyone had a great time. There are more places to explore the next time as we did not make it out to Jost Van Dyke and Foxy's or Diamond Key or Anagada Island. All of those are definite future places to visit as the reports from those that did visit them were all very positive. Our agenda was Norman Island the first night after leaving Road Town on Tortolla. It spoiled the rest of the trip because we were always looking for better snorkling spots and never found one. The absolute best snorkling was along the rocky shoreline in the inner harbor of the Bight on Norman Island. We checked out the Caves just outside of the bight and they paled by comparison. Day two found us on Coooper Island after a brisk day of sailing and learning how to sail up wind in a catamaran. Cooper is a nice place but we did not do much in the way of snorkling there. Rumor has it that it was ok at the rock pilars just south of the anchorage.
Day three we visited the Baths but the Red flags were flying and the surf prevented us from landing from the boat. We pulled into Spanish town and rented a taxi to take us down there. We hiked the short trail and wandered through the Caves and that was a fun excursion. Too bad it was too rough to snorkle through the rocks.
We stayed that night at Marina Cay and tried snorkling across from the anchorage but the current was quite strong and tried to pull us out to sea through the gap between Guana Island and Scrub Island.

Day four found us at the Bitter End and Saba rock after a great day of sailing. We got the boat up to 8.1 knots so we were excited about that. Saba Rock and the Bitter end is a Very nice place and well worth visiting but the reports on the snorkling were less than favorable.

Next day we opted out of going out to Anegada in case the weather changed and change it did. the run out there for the others was good but that night the wind came up and it was not only an exciting night in the anchorage but it was a wild ride back in heavy seas.

We cruised back to Monkey point to try snorkling there as it was reportedly one of the best spots but the surf was so big the visibility was poor and there was not much to see. The best part was all the yellow jack fish that swarmed around us at the boat waiting to be fed. hundreds of them swam around us as we floated in the water and it was a spectacular show.
We stayed the night in Trellis Bay and watched as two other sail boats ran aground on the same rock within an hour of our arrival. We watched as one captain tried to run over his wive and nearly succeded. She was in the water checking the damage when he decided to try to power off and he nearly backed over her with the prop. She was one very lucky lady.
Trellis bay is much like our Eagle harbor, a lot of local boats anchored there and not much tourist activity. The loose Mongoose bar was quiet as was the last resort while we were there. Apparently that is not the case during the full moon parties.

We left Trellis bay for Great Harbor on Peter island under heavy winds and big seas and were unable to sail comfortably so motored down quickly to get out of the weather and get Lisa and Buck looking a normal color again as Green did not suit them.
Great Harbor was another good spot and comes in a close second for snorkling. It is strange that none of the guide books or suggested itinerary's even mention snorkling at Peter or Norman islands in the main anchorages. These two places had the most variety of fish and best coral and bottom contours of all the places we went swimming.
We hiked up and over the island to White beach for some exercise the next day and visited Peter Island Resort and Deadmans beach. The snorkling at White beach was actually quite good along the rocky end of the sand beach. The hike was a couple miles up a very steep road but the resort has built rest benches and water stations.
From there we wandered down to the Bight again and snorkled along the cliffs at the NE side of the entrance to the Bight and found it to be a fun and different place with a wide variety of fish, not too much coral but lots of canyons and contours to swim around. We ended up grabbing a mooring buoy in the Bight next to Glen and Liz's boat and Steve and Michelles. During the late evening hours we mounted a raid on Steve's boat and stole his dingy. Unfortunately Michelle woke up shortly after our theft and found the boat missing and did not sleep again that night as she fretted over what happened. Of cours the next morning it was obvious who stole it and steve swam over to recover it and would have wire tied our rope to the buoy if I had not been awake at the time. all good fun and taken as intended.

Took our time motoring over to Road Town to turn in the boat. docking was a piece of cake and after getting the boat secured the Mooring's dock master offered me a job any time I wanted it.

We stayed at the Moorings and had a very nice newly renovated room on the second floor overlooking the marina. Glen and Liz, Jim and Cheryl and Gary and Lenore Timm all stayed there as well so we had dinner with them before retiring for the night.

Next day Glen, Liz and Chris and I rented a taxi and took a three hour tour of the island. It was well worth the time.

Tonight were back in St Thomas at the Emerald Bay Resort hotel. It is very nice and we have a great view. The Sunset tonight was the best weve seen yet.

We catch a plane first thing in the morning and head for home.