Arrived back in fort lauderdale on monday evening after an action packed day of travel. More details on that to come as part of our trip log..

Been hanging out at our friend’s house since we arrived and had a great pasta dinner waiting for us at their house on Monday night. We spent Tuesday sightseeing in fort lauderdale. Our bag didn’t make the flight, so spent the morning getting some essentials and some shopping at Publix for dinner supplies. Rode bikes out to the beach along las olas drive, people watching at the beach, found slip F18 at Bahia Mar (for any Travis McGee fans), then grabbed a bite to eat at a couple bars on our way back home down 17th street. Completed the sightseeing Lauderdale Loop.

Got back to the house, cooked up a tasty spinach enchilada dish for the 4 of us and enjoyed it on the patio over a couple bottles of wine and great conversation. Our luggage arrived on the tuesday evening flight, which we picked up after dinner.

View from the 17th street bridge

Plaque in recognition of the Travis McGee books which were based at slip F18 a Bahia Mar

Boat rush hour at 5pm

Up at 6am in Trellis Bay to get an early start back to our origin harbor.  Unmoored and headed 6 miles to Hodges Creek Marina.  It was a quick hour trip back to the base on our final sail.  Always sad to say our goodbyes after a great trip!  Packed up for a late afternoon flight out of Saint Thomas.  Gave away a good share of our leftover beer, liquor and unopened food.  Drank the rest before catching our taxi at 1pm.

Ended up being an amazing, heart racing journey from Tortola to catch our 5pm flight in St Thomas!

Timeline follows..

1pm – Taxi arrives at Hodges Creek

1:30pm – Taxi arrives at Road Town, Tortola

2:30pm – Ferry departs Road Town, Tortola

3:45pm – “50-minute” ferry arrives late in Saint Thomas

4:15pm – Make it thru 1st round of customs and get into taxi

4:25pm – Taxi arrives at Saint Thomas airport

4:35pm – Checked in for our Spirit flight, but Steve missed his earlier Jetblue flight

5:20pm – Make it thru 2nd round of customs, TSA security and onto our plane which was luckily delayed already

Made it back to the port safely this morning.  Its been a great trip and sad to say goodbye to everyone.  We’ll be back in Florida tonight. 

Will have some great photos, videos and daily log of activities posted up later this week.

Left the west of Tortola around 8:30am, which would be our last day of sailing.  Took off NNE to try some trolling north of JVD.  Spent a few hours on a couple tacks with no hits on the fishing lures.  Jeff was the helmsman most of the trip today.  Made our way to Trellis Bay on the east end of Tortola.  Pulled in the fishing lures and moored up on the northeast end of the bay.  Group decision to change plans and stay the night in Trellis Bay, then motor-sail in the morning to Hodges Creek.

Took the dinghy into shore for lunch.  “Awesome famous” sandwiches were good but not great.  Back to the boat for everyone’s nap.  Made reservations for dinner at The Last Resort at 8pm.  Ran aground in the dinghy on the way to dinner, but Mike jumped out and pushed us back into deeper water.  Good food and drinks at the restaurant.  A good 1-man band playing live music as well.  Back on the boat around 11pm for bed time.

Another breezy and rainy morning for us.  Finally worked out again which felt good.  Rain showers nearby put up a beautiful rainbow which we would see from end to end right in the bay.  Picked up our mooring lines and departed around 11am to motor-sail briefly over to Great Harbor on JVD.

Found a mooring ball to spend the afternoon @ Foxy’s Bar for lunch and drinks.  Our chicken roti, grouper sandwich and refreshing beverages were all great!  Donned my 1970’s attire for most of the day, which was an idea I captured from the movie named “Tarpon”.  Hadn’t worn it since buying the jorts (jean shorts) in the Keys back in September.

Group was mixed on where to head for the night.  Started to make our way towards Cane Garden Bay on Tortola, but I noticed a secluded bay to the west called Belmont Bay/Smuggler’s Cove.  Anchored up easily, but should have gone further into the bay to set the anchor.  It was a rolling sea for most of the night, since the wind direction changed to more NE from SE.  I didn’t sleep much at all.  Hopefully get a nap in before getting back to Hodges Creek  tomorrow.

Awoke around 6:30am for a lovely sunrise in the calm waters of the bay at Anegada.  Plan was to depart early to try some more trolling along the North Drop on our way to Jost Van Dyk (aka. JVD).  Turned out to be a great day of sailing, easily hitting 10 knots of speed around mid-day.  As agreed with the crew earlier in the trip, a beer chugging session ensued to celebrate our speed accomplishment.

Fishing started off with some action including a bonita and a kingfish, which was our first edible catch while trolling!  Rest of the day was zero action on the fishing.  We overshot our destination by heading too far west, so we had to slog back into the wind to make Little Harbor @ JVD.

Moored up easily in the mostly empty bay.  A few guys took off to fish nearby on the dinghy, while others snorkeled.  Ran ashore for ice and drinking water, then dinner consisting of burgers and plantains.  Somehow I fell asleep on the bench seat while waiting for dinner to be served.  Woke up and everyone was already eating, took me a few minutes to fully awake before consuming my dinner in a stupor.  Most everyone was off to bed after dinner.  A long day of sailing was quite tiresome for both captain and crew.

Covered about 60 nautical miles today!

Our second day in Anegada, so most folks slept in.  Feeling quite hungover too.  Sort of rainy and cloudy weather to start the day, which worked out well for our slow start.  Radioed over to land to line up another safari truck at 12:30pm so we could check out the island.

First stop was Loblolly Bay, which had amazing views, good snorkeling and cold drinks at the bar.  A few folks followed along with a small sea turtle for about 30 minutes, a once in a lifetime experience.  Stayed a few hours, trying our hand at a 4 on 4 volleyball game before venturing over to Cow’s Wreck Beach.  Another great view and a friendly owner behind the bar.  Very flat island with wild cows roaming around.  Drove back to our starting point where we enjoyed a beautiful sunset over the dock with about 20 sailboats in the foreground.

Talked to our man “Sam” about buying a live lobster so we could cook it on the boat.  It was a huge lobster!  Acquired it for $50, the same price you would pay for it served with sides, but it made some delicious lobster bites for an appetizer for all 10 people.  Ace and Gary, the late night fisherman, caught some live bait with a sabiki rig, then proceeded to attract a school of barracuda nearby.  Luckily they didn’t catch one and have to de-hook it in the middle of the night while under the influence of alcohol.

Having a great time sailing in the BVIs.  Keeping a written log of our activities which i will upload later, but wanted to let everyone know we are doing well and having a great time.  We are anchored near Anegada today.

Up early to depart around 7am for Anegada.  The winds laid down a bit but still at 15-20 knots.  Made good time over to Anegada, which is about 11 nautical miles from Virgin Gorda.  Cruised past Anegada to try fishing the North Drop, but only caught 3 barracudas.  Pulled into the harbor around 2pm.  All mooring balls were already taken, so we anchored towards the back.  Some folks snorkeled around and walked down the beach to check out the area.  I took a nap before showering.  We enjoyed a great dinner @ Neptune’s treasure.  Had another classic family photo aboard the boat and we ended the evening with a 30 minute dance party.

The group got motivated and took the dinghy over to Bitter End Yacht Club where we asked about sights to see on Virgin Gorda.  No road exists to the bitter end, so we took the 11:30 ferry over to the main island.  Rented a safari truck, which is a pickup truck with covered seating for 8 in the bed.  First stop was a hike up to the peak of the mountain.  Great views of Anegada and the other islands.  Next stop was Mermaids for lunch on the waterfront.  Diving pelicans and big waves were crashing up onto the floor.  Next we ventured over to the Baths.  Hiked around for a bit.  It’s an amazing place to see and wander around.

Stopped back at the grocery store and Little Dix Bay, which was a very ritzy resort but had a stuffy atmosphere.  A couple asked us “who let the rifraf in?”.  Ate some good pizza back the bitter end before heading back to the boat for the night.