Welcome to the Chronicles of
~ the St John Adventures ~
Tuesday 6/15/2010
Quite the long day! But here is how it started out!
We drove down to where we were going to meet the power catamaran, the Bad Kitty! Actually, we were supposed to meet them at a place called Margarita Phil's, which is across the street from that pier, but still, we were close. We got there a couple of minutes past 7am, and found a parking spot right where we wanted to find one. At 7:15, we got out of the car, and waited with a knot of people who were also going on the same trip. No one was at Margarita Phil's (and we could see it). A woman comes down looking slightly confused and asks if we are waiting for Bad Kitty. It turns out she was who we were supposed to meet! So, we all go over to Margarita Phil's (shame they weren't open), and filled out (or in our case, turned in) paperwork for BVI immigration & customs control. We also paid our money for going over to the BVI (it costs $25 per person to get thru customs there), and gave them the credit card we wanted to have run for the trip itself. After everyone did the paperwork, we walked across the street, and met our boat. The Bad Kitty is a 49' wave piercing power catamaran. Basically, its a funny looking boat, that goes fast. And it is exactly like the one that we chartered in Puerto Rico to sprinkle Tee's and Al's ashes a couple of years back. The biggest difference is that the seating in this one was much nicer. The crew of the boat was great, and consisted of a captain and 2 mates, one male one female. They all had personality, and a great sense of humor, but you knew they were pretty capable. And they did not blink an eye when they came around and were asking if we wanted something to drink (they had some breads out for breakfast) when someone asked for a PainKiller - the unofficial drink of the Virgin Islands. It was 8:06am - and it was going to be a good day! Our first stop of the trip was Spanish Town, on the island of Virgin Gorda. It is there that you clear customs going into the BVI (there are other options, as well, but this is the closest place going to the Baths. While we waited to get cleared, we got to hang out at a little marina shopping village. They had some cute stuff, so we bought a trinket or two - nothing major. Once cleared, we headed off to our true goal of this island - the Baths! We pull into the little harbor, and tie up to a moring ball. Then we all jump in, and swim to the beach. Apparently not everyone does it this way (some take taxis from the marina we were in, and basically bus people over to the Baths - I like our way much more!). And since we know we are going to be walking around outdoors, many of us are swimming with our sunglasses on (yep, me too!). The Baths are pretty impressive. Basically, they are a series of granite boulders that the earth has spewed forth, and that are stacked up like lincoln logs. And when I say granite boulders, we're talking some pretty huge boulders - some 100' long and longer!
Here is one of the guys from Bad Kitty explaining some details about the Baths
Some are supposed to look like whales - and with enough alcohol (or heatstroke), I suppose they do.
This one kind of looks like a turtle.
Then we walked thru the Baths - there are some tight spots, but it is neat to go thru any sort of geological formation - and alot like rockclimbing as a kid!
This is Jeff - he shows up in our story later
Some people slogged to the end of a dead end path, just to see what it looked like.
I liked how some of the stones we stacked - and how it looked as if you removed one, the whole stack would come toppling down.
This is Rachel and JP from Atlanta. Rachel is a physical therapist! Another woman, Karen, was a newly minted nurse! They and Carol were having fun talking medical stuff!
Then it was time to swim back to the boat, and head off to Cooper Island for lunch! Cooper Island is quite beautiful, and, as we found out, has a resort of sorts - with some pretty good pricing! Here is the beach at Cooper.
This is Bad Kitty tied up to the pier, and members of our group (there were 27 of us) coming ashore for lunch.
The way this worked was when we got onboard Bad Kitty initially, we got copies of the menu form the restaurant, and ordered our food. Then when we arrived, the food was already set, so all it took was to find the right food for the right people. This is the restaurant/bar we ate at - and the World Cup match between Portugal and Croatia was on the big screen (there are big screens all over the place down here!)
Lunch was quite tasty - they had fabulous conch fritters with an aioli that was a great match - with a little bite to it. We had lunch with Mike & Karen - Karen is the new nurse, and Mike is an electrical engineer out of Michigan, although it sounds like they are going to be moving to Virginia soon - Rachel & JP - Rachel is the PT, and JP runs a restaurant that has a humongous tequila bar in Atlanta - and Sandy and her daughter (I forget her name), who we had just met. It was a very nice lunch. Afterwards, I bought - you guessed it - a tee shirt, that featured the "names" for the parts of a sailboat (big sail, little sail, etc). Then, we were off to Norman Island! This was a swim call - and Norman Island has 2 places you can snorkel. One is the Caves, where pirate treasure has actually been found. The other is the Indians, with a very deep side, and a very shallow side to them. We have been to both of these spots before, and of the two, I would prefer the Indians. Guess where we went? The Caves, of course!
The swimming was good. We get in, and about 2 seconds after I get my gear on, I see Jeff (sitting on the ground earlier) signaling me to look at something. Turns out a 4 foot baracuda was patroling around the group.
Apparently, one of our group, Mike (from lunch), was taking pictures of it, and trying to pet it. He didn't think the teeth looked too bad....! I found out later talking to Kim, one of the mates on the boat, that baracuda show up there all the time, which is different from last time we were there. In fact, up to 3 baracuda show up regularly, and are not afraid of the people at all. That is not the only difference. Last time we were here, it was mostly the yellowtail jack or snappers that were around. This time, there were schools of sargeant majors around. Not sure what it means, but it was interesting.
There was the usual collection of fish, but since you are working along the side of a wall, the coral is not fabulous, so the fish not too close.
Of course, that extra depth does allow for other predators to come and have a look around.
That would be 4'-5' tarpon. Unfortunately, he swam right at and beneath me, so I couldn't get too good of a side shot til he was way past. You can tell watching it that it is a big strong fast fish. Another first! We spent a little more time checking out the more pedestrian occupants of the caves, and then it was time to move on.
So, no, the trip is not over. We are going to the world famous Jost van Dyke (said Yost), where the even more famous Soggy Dollar Bar is located. For those who have never heard of the Soggy Dollar, it got its name from the fact that there is not pier there, so you have to anchor out and swim in to get one of their world famous painkillers (lore says they invented the things). The money you paid for the drinks with were wet, so they have a line to hang wet dollars over the bar to dry - hence the name. The beach is pretty impressive - white sand, clear clear water (yes, I meant to say clear twice - it is that clear), and boats everywhere!
The beach is gorgeous, though!
Here are a couple of the Bad Kitty - right in the surf!
The Soggy Dollar is kind of neat, but not what you would expect, given its reknown. But it does have more patches from more police departments from around the country than I ever would have expected
The drinks were very good - although almost everything was a variation on the Painkiller. So if you were not into rum drinks, pass on this bar! We swam a bit in the water til it was time to go. We were having such a good time with our new found friends that we invited them to come see the villa (they had all heard the story abou how we came to be here). Karen & JP had to pass since they were staying on St Thomas, and were flying out the next morning early, but Mike & Karen, and Jeff & Kerrie came by. We had some nice steaks and BBQ chicken, a little pasta salad with some tomato and mozz that Jeff and Kerrie brought. It was a nice gathering that kept going until 20 minutes ago. And now we have witnesses about how great this place is!
So, all in all, it was a very long, but fabulous day! Great to be on the islands!
Keep Smiling!!!
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