BVI - not chartering this time

I have long looked forward to returning to the British Virgin Islands on our own boat so I could wave at all the Charter boats and say “Na-na-na, we’re on our own boat and your just pretend cruising”. Well, I didn’t actually say that, but I thought it to myself sometimes. The best part about being on our own boat in the BVI was the pacing. There was no need to rush to a new anchorage everyday in order to “see it all”. We spent our first week in Gorda Sound. A week. That’s the length of an entire charter vacation and we wasted it in one place. A vacationer would have moved every night and sometimes once or twice during the day. I just don’t enjoy anchoring that much. We did, however have time to enjoy the beauty of Gorda Sound. The Sound is like a big lake formed on one side by Virgin Gorda and on the others by a group of smaller islands and reefs. The water within is calm and clean. If the entire BVI’s were just Gorda Sound, it would still be a great cruising ground. We hiked up hills for dramatic views of the islands and wondered at the limitless number of colors of the water. The snorkeling was also great and we could swim from the boat to a very nice beach to sit on chairs under an umbrella and watch Crossroads bobbing at anchor. Great place, go there!!

One final observation from the BVI – listening to the guest of a crewed charter boat anchored in front of us. The caption was pulling pairs of them behind the dinghy on an inner tube. This was high adventure. They whooped and hollered and screamed. Discussing their experience after their turn and talking the reluctant ones into giving it a shot, I heard, “ unbelievable”, “exciting”, and “A once in a lifetime experience”. Wow, and I thought I knew how to have fun. I think I‘ll go scrape barnacles off the bottom of the boat.

Glenn