BVIs: Part 5

Sailing trip comes to an end...

After returning the boat we took a taxi to the Ritz Carlton where we stayed for our last night on the islands. One of our friend's parents has a condo in a Ritz so we got a large condo incredibly cheap.

It was great to end the trip with a night of luxury at this incredible resort. 

Ritz Carlton, St Thomas

These little guys were everywhere

Last night in the island. We ended our trip with a bang - enjoying an incredible dinner at the Ritz

On our way back to Utah

What a fabulous vacation with wonderful friends! I'm so thankful we were able to go and explore the islands.

BVIs: Part 4

Sailing trip continues...

After snorkeling The Indians, we boated on over to Norman Island. Norman Island was mostly without people except one little restaurant and a floating bar and grill that you can only reach by boat.  We had lunch there then spent the afternoon on the beach outside of the restaurant playing games and relaxing in the water.

They had the largest jenga game I've ever seen.

We played jenga for a while then rode the digy back to Sarah Sue where we got ready to hit up Willy T's - an old boat transformed into a restaurant and bar.

Lon enjoyed an afternoon shave off the back of the boat

Ready for a night at Willy T's

After a fun night we headed to bed then sailed back to St John.  We checked back in at the US customs and then enjoyed a lovely day on the island.

Once we were cleared through customs we walked around St John, had lunch, then went to the Westin Resort.

We went to the Westin's pool and even snuck in for a shower at their fitness center and spa. The shower was much appreciated after 6 days on a boat with a tiny bathroom!

Iguana doted the landscape everywhere you looked.

All clean, we headed back to the boat to grill out for our last night on dear Sarah Sue

Leaving St John

Last night on the boat

The last morning we had a beautiful sail back to St Thomas to return the boat.  They staff seemed surprised that the boat was in such great shape - I think we were too.

The brave company that let us charter their boat for the week

Last look at our home for the week

BVIs: Part 3

Sailing vacation continues...

The next day was my absolute favorite! That morning we sailed on to do some snorkeling at the Dog islands, but we ran into some jellyfish that scared us away despite the other great creatures.  Dmitri suffered from a sting and felt terrible all day. We quickly left the jellyfish land and headed to Virgin Gorda to see the famous Baths

You can see our boat in the distance

Me, Haley, and Suzanne

Lon and David

We had lunch at the Top of the Baths - perhaps the restaurant with the best view in the world.  It was incredible, while we were waiting on our food we swam in the pool and took in the views.

We ate at that table in the corner in the shade.

After lunch we headed down to walk through the Baths to Devil's Bay.  Along the winding trail we saw hidden baths full of crystal clear water as we climbed up and down the rocks.

David on the rock

On Devil's Bay



Back on the boat we spotted Pirates!

That afternoon we sailed on to Cooper Island where we had a lovely dinner by the ocean at Cooper Island Beach Club.

View from our dinner table

The next day we sailed on to do some snorkeling and a little scuba diving at the Rhone Shipwreck.  It was really neat to see - not too deep. The Rhone was a 310 foot steam sailor that sunk in 1865. It is incredible to think that it has been there that long.

Dmitri and Erin dove deeper than the rest of us who just gazed on the wreck from close to the surface.

After some great snorkeling we sailed on along to Norman Island.

David furling the jib.  He loves sailing and keeps talking about buying a sail boat. 

One of the best snorkeling days was spent at the Indians off the coast of Norman Island.  We stopped on the way and saw quite a few fish.  We even had a sea turtle swim up to our boat.

Mooring at the Indians

Lon and Haley found a live conch. Don't fear - we didn't eat him

More surgery on the boat



To be continued

BVIs: Part 2

Sailing trip continued...

We successfully sailed to Jost Van Dyke on Day 2 of the trip where we had to check in at customs.  St Thomas and St John are both US Virgin Islands, the rest of our trip was spent in the British Virgin Islands so we had to make our presence known to the officials.

Jost Van Dyke was beautiful.
Pulling up for a mooring ball

Customs was on the beach and very easy - really just paying a fee and getting our passports stamped. 
After checking in with went to Foxy's for lunch, a cute little outdoor restaurant famous for the delicious chicken roti and pain killer drinks.

We rode the dingy back to the boat where we took a dip in the water before cleaning up for dinner.

Suzanne and I loving the ocean

Before dinner

David doing a back dive off the boat

Ready for our dingy ride to dinner

The husbands being serious

Buffert style dinner at Alibaba's

The next day we sailed on to explore around another small island, Guana then ended up at Marina Cay - a beautiful little island off the coast of Great Camanoe.  It was very small but had a general store, restaurant, small huts for rent, and a happy hour bar with live music.  We spent the whole day and night on Marina Cay and really had a great, relaxing time.

Looking for a mooring - you can see Marina Cay in the distance.

 Cute little store next to the dingy dock

 We walked around the island (which didn't take long) and discovered the Happy Arr Bar on top of the hill

 The whole gang on the beach

  Good music, great view, and delicious cocktails before dinner.

 We watched as the sun set then went down by the water for dinner.

View from dinner

 Suzanne looking at the dessert menu - isn't it cute?  And yes, we ordered one of each for out table. How can you resist that menu?