Becky and David are our first guests. They arrived last Monday evening from D.C. The weather was a little less than perfect with high winds and rain on Monday, but luckily the weather improved and was perfect the rest of the week. We started their cruise with a comfortable down wind sail using the spinnaker, we call it the ”Whomper”.
Then to break them away from their hectic life back home we spent two days on deserted island beaches. On this windy day the kids flew kites, we splashed in the waves, walked across from Sandy Spit to Green Cay.
The next morning we moved the quarter mile over to Sandy Cay and made sand sculptures. Genny gave Marie a sand mermaid tail.
The beautiful water and white sand beach is always an opportunity for photos.
Roy has an eye for critters. He managed to scoop this guy up in his hat.
Sandy Cay is a 14 acre nature preserve donated by the Rockefeller Foundation. There is an interesting hike around and over the top of the island presenting a view of the east side of the islands. The trail runs through the trees and past many species of birds, reptiles and hermit crabs.
The top of the island was occupied by these interesting cacti.
and the west side of the island is a view of the anchorage.
Throughout the island the trees were covered with these strange termite shelter tubes, which led to a big mud nest somewhere in the bushes.
Roy is a master lizard catcher and presented this crested anole for a photograph.
Back on the beach it’s hard not to take photos of the sand and coconut trees.
After a day at the beach it’s required that everyone take a dip to get rid of the sand. Genny and Marie are always putting together a new floating device.
When evening comes and the sun sets, we’re ready for another set of photos with new lighting.
Poor Topaz, back home she could sleep on the couch for hours and hours every day, here she swims for that long and by the end of the day she finds a cozy place to retire to.
Enough goofing off, with 60 islands in the British Virgin Islands, we better get moving. The down wind trip to Soper’s Hole only took a few hours. The attraction at this little town is the grocery store. A few weeks ago I loaded up good at St. Martin, but we still needed fresh produce and a few odds and ends. It was reported that a Tarpon was spotted in the marina. They are usually very large and feed off of the fishing boat scraps.
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Soper’s Hole also has a busy ferry dock and a customs/immigration building frequented by boaters coming from the U.S. Virgin Islands for a day excursion. It is also surrounded by beautiful houses with amazing views.
I’m definitely getting tired of rum, but Pusser’s British Navy Rum is an excellent addition to my collection. In 1980 after the abolition of the rum ration, Charles Tobias bought the recipe and rights to offer this rum previously distributed by the ship’s purser, to distribute to the public. From the sale of every bottle, a substantial donation is made to the Royal Navy Sailor’s fund.
Now we’re getting into the swing of things and moving around like the charter boats on a one week vacation. After Soper’s Hole we made a quick snorkel stop at the Indians. I wasn’t super impressed, it looked like every other snorkel location with the addition of a deep drop off for SCUBA.
Our final destination for the day is Soldier Bay where we took a mooring for the night. The snorkeling was nice and the water was calm after the crazy nights on the North Side of Tortola.
Eric had great results with adjusting the color on our photo editor. Our friends on Zero To Cruising explain underwater photos for dummies on their blog. One of the reasons we haven’t included many underwater photos is because everything looks dark, green, and lacking the brilliant colors we actually see. What do you think? These pictures look pretty good to me.
This is a slipper lobster, it looks more like a big crab. I read that their meat is tasty, but they are endangered and the travel guides specifically state that we’re not to take them.
Eric is encouraging everyone to snorkel in wet suits. You don’t get cold, have great protection from the sun, stingy things floating in the water, and scrapes on the rocks and coral.
Back to our island tours, we made an afternoon snorkel stop at the caves just south of the Bight on Norman Island. These three caves are wide open and very safe for snorkelers. The parks department has several moorings in the area for tour boats as well as charter and private boats. Topaz always gets to join us on snorkel trips. Eric over heard one of the ladies on the snorkel excursion boat point out the seeing eye dog with the blind snorkeler. The crazy part is that the tour guide agreed with her. I can assure you, with my new lasik surgery, I see great!
Back on Peter Island, away from the crowds and charter boats, we took a little hike. Once again, Roy spotted the coolest critter of the day. We think it’s an American Kestrel, thanks to a comment from our friend Eric Horstkotte. This little guy could hover over the bushes in an updraft looking for his next snack.
From the top we could see the wind blow across the water in waves, and boats sailing around as far away as the US Virgin Islands and Tortola.
Walking along the sunset loop we came to this Sundowner spot set up by the islands resort. The colorful chairs begged us to rest our legs and look out over the point.
But of course, Eric didn’t bring us up here to see the flora, fauna and sit in the resort’s chairs. We came to check out the wind turbines. Later in the day we we’re invited to meet Chris, the caretaker of the power and water plant, and Jules and their two little boys. We had a great time and plan to have a BBQ with a few other boaters they know sometime in the future.
To wrap up Becky and Dave’s adventure we stopped at the wreck of the Rhone to snorkel and take Roy and Genny down for a little extra ‘bottom time’. But I have to save this adventure for another post. The camera battery died and I never got pictures. I think this is the best dive I’ve had in the Caribbean and we’re planning to dive again tomorrow. Their last night was spent at Marina Cay, where we had a great dinner at the restaurant on the island and then at first light took them over to Trellis Bay for their early morning departure. We all had a great time and the kids couldn’t believe they we’re leaving so soon. Not to worry, we’ll be spending the summer in Becky’s neighborhood and I’m sure she and Dave will have another adventure on Makai.
Looks like you guys are having fun!
In case you care, I think the bird Roy spotted on Peter Island is an adult female American Kestrel, also know as a Sparrowhawk – see also this page. What tipped me off was the hovering behavior you saw, and the pictures seem to match.