{"id":4705,"date":"2015-03-22T16:39:20","date_gmt":"2015-03-22T20:39:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/svecho.com\/?p=4705"},"modified":"2015-03-22T17:06:54","modified_gmt":"2015-03-22T21:06:54","slug":"another-week-in-the-bvis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/svecho.com\/?p=4705","title":{"rendered":"Another week in the BVIs"},"content":{"rendered":"

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We said goodbye to Joe and Cheryl after a great visit!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Joe and Cheryl Keefe<\/p><\/div>\n

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Echo near Beef Island Airport<\/p><\/div>\n

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They flew in and out of Beef Island Airport at the east end of Tortolla BVI. This was a perfect location for us since we always like to bring visitors as far east as Virgin Gorda.\u00a0 With the Trade Winds blowing in the mid to high 20’s for the entire week it saved us all from a long upwind journey from St. Thomas.<\/p>\n

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We spent the night before their arrival anchored in Trellis Bay which is right beside the airport. Each month there’s a “Full Moon” party and this was the night. The harbor was quite full when we arrived and we were fortunate to find a good anchor spot near shore.\u00a0 The party is a very popular event each month and it was entertaining watching all the boats streaming in the harbor looking for a spot.\u00a0 We met up with our friends Robin and Rick of Endangered Species along with two other couples for dinner.\u00a0 The celebration starts with “dancing mocko jumbies” (stilt dancers) then the fire balls are lit.\u00a0 These are iron balls made by artists at Aragorn’s studio right nearby. The artist studio is also great to visit during the day, not only is there beautiful artworks there is also fresh baked goods and organic produce grown on Tortolla.\u00a0 The Full Moon party was a fun time!<\/p>\n

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Joe and Cheryl arrived after dark on Friday so we spent that night in Trellis Bay too. Our great anchor spot turned out to be a bit too close to one of the restaurants where the music went on till early morning. The following Friday we dropped anchor in the same spot\u00a0 when we went back for the departure flight.\u00a0 This time we were prepared with earplugs so we could get some sleep.\u00a0 I should point out that we did enjoy a great dinner at De Loose Mongoose before the loud music started.<\/p>\n

Joe and Cheryl’s luggage did not arrive when they did, but we picked it up the next morning and headed out. We motor\/sailed to Virgin Gorda<\/a>, made a quick stop at The Baths for lunch and a swim, then on to the North Sound near Saba Rock.<\/p>\n

We spent a few days hanging around the sound and visiting the popular spots, Saba Rock, the Bitter End Yacht Club and Leverick Bay. \u00a0One day we rented a car to explore the island by land. We had heard of a good restaurant with a great view of North Sound. We stopped by for the view which was well worth the time!\u00a0 We then hiked up to a lookout platform at the top of Gorda Peak for yet another amazing view.<\/p>\n

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We visited The Baths too.<\/p>\n

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At Leverick Bay we were able to see Michael Bean’s “Happy Arrrr”<\/a> show. We had seen it a few times last year but had missed it with our previous visitors this year. Cheryl and Jeff participated in the conch blowing contest Jeff washed out pretty early but Cheryl prevailed. She came in second place and won a six pack of Carib and a cool coozie, yea Cheryl! In honor of her success Jeff bought her very own conch horn to take home.<\/p>\n

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We enjoyed a beautiful downwind sail to the bight on Norman’s Island where we picked up a mooring for two nights. Cheryl tried her hand at fishing while underway, unfortunately no catching.\u00a0 The bight can be a wild party place but it is well protected, has a good beach, hiking and a nice restaurant. \u00a0Joe did some trail running, we all did a little paddling, some swimming and some beach vegging.<\/p>\n

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\"DSCN1784\"<\/a>Cheryl had been intrigued with the emergency hatch in her cabin. \u00a0She had saved some leftover pancakes from breakfast and spent the morning feeding fish through the hatch, her own personal aquarium.<\/p>\n

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