Too Much Of A Good Thing!

March 17 - 30, 2015

F - St Thomas,  E - St John,  D - Tortola,  C - Norman Island,  A - Virgin Gorda

Can you ever get too much of a good thing?  Maybe some times, but not when it comes to visits from family or the Virgin Islands.  And, if the family is visiting while in the Virgin Islands it's like hitting the jackpot at the dollar slots in Vegas!!!  Yippee......  Steve and his family left after a week in St John.  The winds were extremely high so we stayed in two well protected bays (Francis and Round).  Three days after their departure Jennifer arrived with her two children for a week.  The winds had died down and we were able to travel.  After leaving Red Hook on St Thomas, we went to our reliable Round Bay, St John.  Jennifer had never been to the BVI so the next three nights found us on Tortola, Norman Island, and Virgin Gorda.  One last night back in Round Bay so we could dingy to Coral Bay and take a taxi to Cruz Bay.  It was another week packed full.  As Jennifer said on Facebook "We aren't a group that tends to sit still. We like to take it all in!"

Jennifer and I were walking this short beach in
Round Bay, when we passed a couple that she
thought she recognized. It was Ron and Kathy.
She flew him when he was an executive at EDS.
They own the house at the end of the beach that
Brian and I had admired for several weeks. Super
nice people. They invited us up to the house for
a quick tour. It was fun to see their island home.

First attempt at snorkeling was a huge success!
Who needs to snorkel when the water is this clear?

I don't know how JAC's mask kept water
out.  It was huge on her!

Christopher thought the snorkel and mask were a
great way to search for shells.

A visit to picturesque Soper's Hole in Tortola for shopping and dinner.

This beautiful ship passed us on our way to Norman
Island with all 18 sails up.
The 350 foot Stad Amsterdam.  Spectacular!

Snorkeling at the caves on Norman Island.
Once I told the kids that a pirate hid his treasure
in one of the caves, we had to explore all of them.

Relaxing at Pirate's Bight, Norman Island while the
kids roll in the sand and search for treasures.  

Off to explore Virgin Gorda. That's Gotta Smile in the
background.

First stop of the day -- lunch at the
Fat Virgin Cafe.  Delicious lite meals
and fun stop.

A quick visit to Leverick Bay.  JAC
decided to try a local favorite, Ting.

Another Pusser's visit at Leverick.

Still time to hike all of the Bitter End. 

Back in Round Bay, St John. Christopher
analyzes the leap of about 6 feet to the
water from mid-deck.

Jennifer and Christopher take the
leap and then it gets crazy!

JAC out does them all by going off
backwards!  Love her form...

Lots of goats and sheep running wild as we
walk through Coral Bay.

I know it looks like we're riding in the back of a 
pickup truck, but in St John this is a taxi.  Heading 
into Cruze Bay on our last night.  Early tomorrow 
it's back to Red Hook, St Thomas and the airport.

When we returned to the boat after visiting Cruze Bay, we found that the generator wouldn't start.....again!  Brian just put a new fuel pump in a couple of weeks ago.  We made it to Red Hook the next morning.  After a full day of trouble shooting, he found the problem:  relays, salt water pump, temperature and pressure sensors.  Once again we are lucky that we were where we could get parts.  Another week in Red Hook.  It could have been much worse.      

Forget Waldo.........Where's Kenny?
Kenny Chesney's 60 foot Sundancer, Flagship, is
 across the dock from us.

Gotta Smile -- we're lovin the ride!