On Saturday, we sailed over to Norman Island, which is also known as Treasure Island. Most of you have probably heard of it because it was based on the pirate novel written by Robert Louis Stevenson. Our first stop was at Treasure Point in Privateer Bay where we snorkeled in the caves:
This was the first time I have ever snorkeled inside caves & it was exciting & scary at the same time! We saw some beautiful coral & fish but the deeper we swam in, the darker it got & the colder it got. I turned around at one point because Bryan & I were in there by ourselves & he had turned around & swam out so I was by myself. Let's just say I didn't go much farther in!
Lynn kept throwing crackers off the back of the boat to feed the fish & there were literally thousands of them swimming around us. I'm not going to lie, it kind of freaked me out at first & then I realized they were harmless:
When we finished snorkeling, we circled around to Bight Harbor where we anchored for the night. This was a busy harbor with a ton of boats, but it was nice & calm water on a beautiful island, again, mostly uninhabited:
It was a beautiful day so we thought it would be fun spending the afternoon doing water sports. We got out the tube & Bryan & I went first:
Alan pulled us behind the dinghy & I held on for quite a while until my arms got tired & couldn't hold on anymore & got thrown off. Betsy & Nat didn't want to play with us so they stayed on the boat & read while the rest of us took turns tubing:
Now that I am looking back at our pictures, we kayaked & paddleboarded quite a bit, but I guess I never got any pictures of that. We moored right next to the legendary floating bar & restaurant called The Willy T, named after William Thornton:
It is definitely the craziest bar we stopped at in the BVI's. We heard their music blasting the entire time we were there & no matter what time of day, they always had a crowd. The only way to get there is to swim or by boat:
It is a 2 story boat so they are known for jumping off the second story. In fact, that was my favorite part of being parked by them - watching everyone do crazy jumps from the top. We didn't bring a bunch with us (are you noticing a theme here since we are always out in the middle of the ocean?!) but luckily someone got a picture of us downstairs getting drinks before we headed upstairs to jump:
We stayed for a while that afternoon & then we headed back to our boat for dinner. Lynn surprised us & had appetizers waiting when we got back:
Alan snuck over there again for the late night party but he couldn't convince the rest of us to join him. The next morning was beautiful & someone caught me upstairs reading while I was waiting for everyone else to wake up:
That morning we saw a pod of baby dolphins swimming & playing around our boat. It was so cool to see them naturally playing in their habitat! Too bad the late risers missed seeing them. We had breakfast here & then we headed over to the Indians which is a small set of rocks in the middle of the BVI's to snorkel:
It doesn't look like much but there is a reef all around these rocks & we swam everywhere in this area & it is some of the best snorkeling I have ever done! The coral & fish in this spot were beautiful.
Finally we got back on & headed to our final destination of the trip: Jost Van Dyke. Bryan & sat together on the top level while we sailed:
I am telling you, this was my favorite part of the boat. I loved sitting up high & seeing everything! I will confess that it gets pretty windy up there & unfortunately at the beginning of the trip, I lost one of my favorite straw hats :( We joke that one of the dolphins is probably swimming around the BVI's & wearing it now.
The guys then decided to drop their fishing lines & try to catch something while we sailed:
Finally, we made it to White Bay & this was by far my favorite spot!
Most of the BVI's had darker water & there was sea weed along the way, but White Bay had the prettiest turquoise clear water & white beaches. That is what I am talking about! We heard about Jost Van Dyke the most (that is the name of the island) because that is where Soggy Dollar is:
This is by far the most popular restaurant & bar in the BVI's. When you pull up you see all of the other boats moored & the only way to get there is to swim. And you have to bring money for the bar, thus the name Soggy Dollar! Their slogan is "A Sunny Place for Shady People" & they are known for their drink the painkiller, because it originated here. Apparently this is more of a daytime stop because they close at night. There are a few other bars & shops along the beach, but everyone goes to Soggy Dollar. We spent the afternoon there, had drinks, ate lunch & of course I couldn't get out of there without shopping:
Literally I could have spent my entire trip here that's how much I loved it:
After we swam back to our boat, we spent some time jumping in & swimming for a while because it was so pretty. In fact, this is one of my favorite pics from our trip because it adequately describes how I felt at that moment:
Heaven! I was literally so relaxed & could have spent the entire afternoon just floating there :) Eventually we had to leave & go around the corner to Great Harbour to spend the night. I was kind of disappointed since it was our last night because this was my least favorite harbor. In fact, I didn't even take a picture of it. The water was a lot darker because it was full of sea grass, which kind of freaked me out. We had planned on doing some more water sports our last night, but James kayaked & it even grossed him out, so after that, none of us got in! There is another famous bar here called Foxy's & we thought they were having a Full Moon party since we were sailing on a full moon, but apparently the party was the night before & we missed it. So our last night was pretty chill. Alan & Lynn surprised us with dinner every night. They always decorated the dining table with different table cloths & place mats:
We even had twinkling lights! They served us steak, fish, lobster - lots of impressive meals with even better desserts every night. They weren't the best meals I have ever had, but let's be honest, I was just impressed they were able to fix something of that caliber on the boat!
Our last evening they grilled steaks & Lynn spent the afternoon baking for us. She made us key lime cupcakes & a chocolate cake for Bryan:
They even had candles & we sang Happy Birthday! Most of our evenings were relaxing. We visited, played games & never stayed up too late. The last night might have been my favorite because the guys all went to bed early & the 3 girls laid on the trampoline at the front of the boat in the quiet harbor looking at the star & the full moon. It was peaceful & I felt like I was back in high school having a slumber party with my girlfriends.
Too bad the next morning we all had to wake up, pack & actually get dressed again because we had to sail back to Tortola to catch the ferry. I say dressed again because most of the week we only wore bathing suits & pajamas. It was awesome being totally lazy, not having to dry my hair & fix it or wear make up. I have told people that this was my version of roughing it! Some people camp, I sail :)
Here are our final pictures on our last sail:
When we got to Tortola, Nat, James, Betsy & Jason left first because they had to get to the airport:
And then we followed. They took the ferry back to St. Thomas to catch a flight back to Dallas while Bryan & I took a different ferry over to St. John where we spent the next part of our trip. We all said our goodbyes at the dock, especially to our crew Alan & Lynn:
Alan was amazing. We truly bonded & I loved hearing about his girlfriend, his travels & his family back in South Africa. If we sailed again, I would totally reach out to him first. And Lynn was an unexpected surprise. She is born & raised in the islands & knew the area really well. She was so sweet & I really spent a lot of time talking to her in the mornings while everyone else slept. Both of them tried their best to cater to our every need, especially me since I am the picky one! They would always make special non-alcoholic drinks just for me & would always make me separate entrees at night if they knew it was something I wouldn't like.
So the question is would we sail again? ABSOLUTELY!!! The ocean is my favorite place & there was something special about waking up & going to sleep every day while we were out there. It was so calm & relaxing sailing every day & I loved waking up at a new island every morning. And would we bring our kids? OF COURSE! Bryan & I have already decided that we would love to charter a boat with another family & take the kids. They would love it but we might wait a few more years until Sophie is at least 5. What a special trip for something we have never done before & I will always remember going for Bryan's 40th birthday. Love you babe!
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