A Strong Sense Of Deja Vu .....

Pirate Bight, Norman Island

Ah, the British Virgin Islands. Thirty years ago I sailed here, different boat, different life, different wife, you get the idea.  It was great then Wendy, and it's great now thanks Ley. Crystal Blues sailed into the north sound of Virgin Gorda on April 20, after an easy overnight passage from St. Martin. Here we found to our delight a friendly social scene and a great number of sail boats, punctuated by the occasional spectacular power boat. We figure big power boats are OK if they look really good - like Savannah, (below) that really delivers on her hundred million dollar construction price tag. Ouch.

Then again, you can charter her for just a million bucks a week. Much easier.

This is the boat with the underwater lounge, swimming pool, and which is (gasp), "Eco Friendly"", despite the lack of solar panels and wind generators. Diesel electric propulsion pods, battery storage, and just one direct drive low RPM diesel engine. Read about it here.

When Savannah wasn't keeping us on our toes, there was no shortage of inspiration in the anchorage.

So here we started to relax a little, meeting new friends and spending time on other boats, coupled with the obligatory eating, drinking and general yabbering. Quite a few yachts are here, ready to depart for the USA, though many are joining one of two available rally groups to make the transit.

Even the ARC organisation is running a rally from here, leaving mid may to Florida, which is a little late to our thinking. Most of the named storms that sweep up the Florida coast to the Carolinas do so early in the season. We'll be on the move quite soon.

The past two days we've anchored in Cane Garden Bay on the main island of Tortola,  relaxing and doing provisioning before our next passage. It's a cruiser friendly lazy beach resort, with a perfect white sand beach and clear waters. A string of bars are scattered along the foreshore offering entertainment and sustenance to suit all budgets. For every cruising sailboat you can count at least four or five charter yachts, so entertainment is everywhere, specially at anchoring time. We were all there once I guess.

Cane Garden Bay, Tortola, BVI's