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On Thursday April 2nd, we left the Treasure Point Caves & returned back to our home base on Tortola.

You may ask – why did you go back to Tortola on Thursday, if you have the boat chartered thru Friday.
Answers ;
* We had flights at about Noon & had to be at the airport about 10am, thus had leave about 9:30am Friday
* We also had to complete the “end-of-trip vessel inspection” with the representative from The Moorings.
* We also wanted to see/visit the Island of Tortola.

Not knowing how significant the “end-of-trip inspection” would be, we opted for an early return to Tortola.
We arrived back at home base about 10:30-11:00am on Thursday.

Surprisingly, when we returned to the marina at The Moorings & called the dockmaster on the VHF radio for our slip assignment, they advised us that they would be sending our re-entry Captian out to meet us. Evidently, this is thier process for all of the Moorings Charters, returning to home base.

We had to hold position inside of The Moorings Harbour for about 10 minutes.
The re-entry captain arrived by dinghy, boarded our boat, and docked the 47ft vessel like it was a sports car.
I thought that we were in one of them – Fishing Boat Speed Docking Contests.
Very Impressive.

Shortly after docking, we went up to the office to check back in, and request our inspection.
When we got back to the boat, there was a guy at the boat named “Moses”, no kidding !
Moses asked – do you want your inspection now, we said sure.

The inspection process was a breeze !
Moses asked if everything worked – we said yes, but discussed a couple small things we noticed.
He asked – did you use the Watermaker, we said yes.
He asked – did we follow all the check-marks on the paper for return check-in, we said yes.
He said – sign here, initial here – we were done !!!
Very nice guy, very simple process.
It’s been 2 weeks since, & I have not received any new bills from The Moorings – so I think that we are good $.

About 2 hours after we arrived back at The Moorings and got checked in, we had a pretty good rain storm.
Shortly after the rain we still had full clouds, but an open window with no rain – so we scheduled a shuttle to take us to the north side of Tortola, to one of the most popular beaches – Cane Garden Bay.

Google = Cane Garden Bay is a popular, lively white-sand beach on the north shore of Tortola, British Virgin Islands, known for its calm, turquoise waters, numerous beach bars, and restaurants.

Our first stop at Cane Garden Bay, was a place recommended by the shuttle driver.
The first Beach Bar was called Myett’s.

Google = Myett’s (often referred to as Myett’s Garden Inn or Myett’s Garden & Grille) is a popular, family-run beachfront hotel and restaurant situated directly on Cane Garden Bay in Tortola, BVI. It is known for its relaxed, Caribbean atmosphere, offering casual dining, live entertainment, a gift shop, and lodging with tropical garden surroundings

In spite of the shuttle drivers recommendation, Myett’s was kind of a “sleepy place”.
Maybe it was due to the rain & overcast skies.
Our team seemed a bit tuckered out, after a week of partying.
But they did have the famous BVI “Painkillers”.

Our second stop on the Beach Bar Tour, was a place called The Paradise Club
This place was a bit more upbeat, or maybe it was the 2 for $10 drinks.
Of which, most of us had 4 for $20 !
Nita = maybe 6 for $30 (just kidding)
The Paradise Club also had the Swings on the Beach (Photo Op) & Swings at the Bar.

While we were at Paradise, we saw a dog going after a Crab in the Sand.
We’re not sure if the dog killed the crab or not.
The dog came up with nothing, after a good hard-fought dig.

Our final stop on the Beach Bar Tour was a place called “Rythum & Sands – Legendary Restaurant & Bar”. No kidding, it really says Legendary !

I’m not sure of what they are “Legendary” for, but the workers at Rythum & Sands – definitely had RYTHUM.

I’m also really not sure how the next sequence of events started, I think that Hinman started it by dancing with one of the waitstaff girls (Sashsa), and Rich thru the party into hyperwarp speed by joining in.

But before we knew it, we were –
* Dancing with the Wait Staff !
* Dancing with other patrons in a Conga Line*
* Buying drinks for the Wait Staff & other patrons.
* Ginger & Anita were dancing like life-long friends (remember – they just met a week ago).

Surprisingly, we don’t seem to have any photos of dinner that night.

I know that we had dinner in The Moorings complex, at a place called Charlie’s Bar.

The place was packed, but we got lucky & nabbed 6 seats at the bar, and the bartender was “a hoot”.

After dinner, we went back to the boat for our final night.

Ashley tried to Rally-the-Troops with a final night of Dancing.
But the Troops were all a bit wiped out.
It was more like, a night of quiet reminiscing, or our weeklong adventure.

The clouds were finally starting to break.
It was a very calm, very pretty, last night on the boat.

The next morning, the Hinmans’ and Murphs’ were loading onto the airport shuttle at 9:30am.

The Cooks had a late flight at about 3pm, and lounged by the pool for a few hours.

The Trip was Over.
One fantastic Week in the BVI.
Another bucket list “checkbox” in life completed !

Farewell BVI !!!
It was one awesome week with Family & Friends, in an Island Paradise.

This will be our last posting for the trip.
Thanks for reading.
Hope you enjoyed the “Virtual” trip to The BVI

Mike/Ashley, Rich/Anita, Dave/Ginger

Wednesday April 1st, we had initially planned to go to Anegada Island and tour the island in some “Moke Vehicles” (a lot safer than Scooters !!!)

But after our ride on Sunday from Jost Van Dyke to the Dog Islands & Scrub Island, we re-evaluated the plan.

As you may recall, the ride on Sunday from Jost VanDyke to Scrub was a very bumpy with 4ft waves.

The water was bumpy because we were in an area of the BVI with no land protection from the north.
In March, every day, the BVI winds are 15-20 kts out of the NE.

Similarly, the long 40 mile ride to Anegada, would have been in open water & would have made for a long 5-6 hour ride one-way.

We would have spent 12 hours of driving for 6 hours of time on the island of Anegada.

So our revised plan for the day was – To go back to the Treasure Point Caves @ Norman Island & do some snorkeling.

You may recall that the Treasure Point Caves are on Norman Island, very close to Willy T’s two story floating Boat Bar. On our first day, we had so much fun at Willy T’s, we ran out of time for The Caves.

The Treasure Point Caves are advertsied as one of the bext snorkeling locations in the BVI.
Even a guy that I spoke with at Oil Nut Bay had recommended the Treasure Point Caves.

Google = Treasure Point Caves on Norman Island in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) are a top-rated snorkeling attraction consisting of three to four water-level sea caves at the base of a cliff. Famed for inspiring Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island, these dark, accessible caverns feature vibrant coral, sponges, and diverse marine life, often with a nurse shark inside.

The ride from Oil Nut Bay to The Caves was not 40 miles, but it was still a decent 25 mile ride.

But the difference between going to Anegada vs Norman Island, was that the 25 mile ride to Norman Island, was a calm ride due to the protection from The Dogs, Scrub & Tortola blocking the wind from the NorthEast.

Captain Cook took over the driving duties for the day.

Rich & Anita are also Big Boaters in Michigan & have a 34 foot Sea Ray Sundancer in Lake St Clair @ MacRay Marina.

It was a beautifully calm ride.
Dave & Ginger were on the lookout for Pirates !

We arrived at The Caves about 11:30am.
We hooked up to a FCFS Boaty Ball, had some “safe-arrival drinks” and started some initial snorkeling.

While I was in the water doing some initial snorkeling, some guys came over to our boat in a diving boat and told us that we had to move to another Boaty Ball.

Evidently, they were a “mooring ball dive inspection team” & the ball that we were on needed some repairs.

So we fired up the engines, unhooked from Boaty Ball #1 & moved to Boaty Ball #2 (which had been blessed by the dive crew).

Before departing Boaty Ball #1, I did go down and look at the mooring.
The only difference that I saw between Ball #1 & Ball #2, was that the steel base cap of Ball #1 appeared to be 4″ above the sandy bottom floor. In Ball #2, the steel base cap was completely under the sand.

It was a hassle moving the boat, but better than floating away at night.

I have seen several internet postings about moorings breaking loose in the BVI, esp the FCFS balls.

Our mooring for daytime snorkeling, was also our mooring for the night, so better to be safe than sorry.

OK, back to snorkeling at the Treasure Point Caves.
Anita was showing us the way !

LETS GO SNORKELING !!!

It was really cool inside The Caves, but no big fish, no sharks – I was disapointed.

The best fish sightings were actually outside of the caves around the rocks approaching the caves.

It was really difficult to take the videos.
My phone was in a waterproof case.
The case affects the pressure sensitivity.
I had to start the video above water, then take the phone below water.
And – I can’t see to read the video icon buttons without my progressive glasses on (gettin old sucks).

The Hinmans seemed to adapt to the snorkeling quite well.

They are Boaters too – they have a nice Malibu Sky boat that Dave uses to go drink beer at the Lake Orion Sand Bar.

We were all a little disappointed that we didn’t see any big fish, but Rich did get some video of a large Sea Turtle & a small Sting Ray.
The turtle was about 1.5ft long. Great job Captain Cook !

It was now about 5pm.
Snorkeling was over for the day.
Back to the boat to freshen up before dinner.
It was a clam beautiful early evening.

For dinner we took a very fun, high energy dinghy ride, about 1.5 miles to the Pirates Bight Restaurant.

It was a fun filled ride.
Everyone was already in a Great Mood, but Rich got the team Amped Up !
We arrived at The Pirates Bight.
The Pirates Bight Restaurant was yet another, Beautiful Waterfront Restaurant.

Trivia-What is a Bight (Pirates Bight) ? = A bight is a geographical term for a long, gentle, and shallow curve or bend in a coastline, creating a broad, open bay.

We captured some of our prettiest photos here as the sun was setting & nightfall arrived.

After dinner, we took the dinghy back to the boat.

It was a very dark 1.5 mile long ride back to the boat – it was calm and the ride was GREAT.

We took it slow & had on our blinking headlamps, one headlamp on Rich at the bow pointing forward & one headlamp on my head pointing to the stern.

The graphic below shows our ride around Treasure Point, from the restaurant in The Bight Bay, to our boat in Privateer Bay. It was a very dark 1.5 mile ride.

Sorry – no photos or video of the dark ride back.

As we turned the corner around the Treasure Point, it was even more dark away from the lights of the restaurant – but once again, the disco lights running on the boat helped a lot. We could see our Disco Boat a quarter mile away (thanks Ashley) !!!

The week was coming to an end – tomorrow back to Tortola for one last day of fun.

Hope that you enjoyed the snorkeling today.
We were slightly disapointed that we didn’t see more large fish, or even some nurse sharks, but we all enjoyed the snorkeling and all agreed that if we do the BVI again, that there would be a lot more snorkeling involved.

Tomorrow Day-7= It’s back to Tortola for one more day of island fun.

Mike/Ashley, Rich/Anita, Dave/Ginger

On Tuesday March 31st, we moved from Spanish Town & the Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbour (The Baths) to a very small Island Restaurant called Saba Rock.

Here is what goole says about saba rock –
Saba Rock is a renowned, tiny, 1.5-acre island resort and top tourist destination located in the North Sound of Virgin Gorda, BVI. Known for its casual luxury, it features a boutique hotel, high-end restaurant, bars, and a spa, acting as a popular hub for sailors, divers, and kiteboarders

On this day, we did both –
1) We used a Boaty Ball & the Dinghy to go to the Saba Rock Island Resort and have Lunch.

2) Then we stayed overnight at the swank Marina & Resort located on Oil Nut Bay, featuring “above the water” The Nova Restaurant.

Saba Rock & the Oil Nut Bay Resort/Marina and restaurant The Nova, are in the same bay & very close to each other (see Red highlights).

Here are a couple photos & videos from the Saba Rock Island Resort & Restaurant.

Coming into Saba Rock by Dinghy

Virtual Tour of the Saba Rock Restaurant

Virtual Tour around the back side of the Restaurant & the Saba Rock Island Resort.

After luch at Saba Rock, we took the dinghy back to the boat, got the dinghy loaded up & headed over to The Oil Nut Bay Marina & Resort.

The Oil Nut Bay Resort is another swank place.

It is similar to the Scrub Island Resort with multiple infinity pools overlooking the Caribbean. but unlike the Scrub Island Resort, boaters must pay an extra fee ($195/PP) to use the complete resort facilities shown below.

It was still a very nice place for us “Paupers” to visit.

There was a very nice small infinity pool, and nearby bar and above the water restaurant called “The Nova”

There were also a row of suspended mesh lounging nets & lounging pads on the opposite side of the complex, overlooking the private beach, suspended over the water (sorry, no photos or video of the lounging pads & beach).

After swimming in the Pool, and swimming on the Private Beach, it was time to clean up for dinner.

We had dinner at The Nova Restaurant, that you had seen during the day, surrounding the poolside bar.

The Nova Restaurant is advetrised as – an over-water restaurant and lounge located in the Marina Village at Oil Nut Bay on the eastern tip of Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands. It is one of the few areas at the exclusive Oil Nut Bay resort that is open to the public without requiring a day pass.

As with most of the places we visited, the restaurant seems to come alive at night with all of the lights.

The marina just beyond the private beach was also beautiful at night.

During dinner & after a few libations, we noticed the little Tipsy Tots near the large round art/lounge chair formation, on the Oil Nut Deck.

Obviously, we had to try the Tipsy Tots !!!

After the Tipsy Tots, what is guy supposed to do to end the night ?

Well, some more end-of-night Boat Dancing, with Ashley’s disco lights.

That’s all for tonight.
Thanks for reading,

Mike/Ashley, Rich/Anita, Dave/Ginger

This is a long post today with a lot of videos, but it is our most exciting posting.
View it when you have time, don’t rush.

On Monday March 30th, we cruised from the beautiful Scrub Island Resort to an island called Virgin Gorda.
Virgin Gorda is a large island, east of Tortola (see Red Circle).

Our destination for the day was a marina in Spanish Town & a trip to The Baths National Park (see Red Arrows)

This was THE BIG DAY that we had been waiting for.
The Baths National Park is supposed to be the main attraction in the BVI.
It did not disapoint.

Here is the Google description of The Baths
The Baths on Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands is a unique national park defined by massive granite boulders forming scenic sea caves, tide pools, and narrow tunnels leading to white-sand beaches like Devil’s Bay.

The ride from Scrub Island to Spanish Town was only a short 6 miles.
Our original plan was to leave Scrub at 7am, and attempt to get to The Baths National Park by 8am.

The Baths do not have reservable mooring balls, it’s a FCFS (first come) system.
And hopefully after securing a mooring ball, you must then take a dinghy ride to the dinghy line.
Then you must swim about 50 yards, from the dinghy line to the entrance to The Baths.

During our discussions the day before with Tarek & Steve, they recommended NOT to use the FCFS mooring balls (gotta get up too early-7am, compete for a mooring ball at 8am, and try to beat the cruise ship crowds into The Baths).

They recommended staying at the Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbour, taking a 15 minute Taxi ride to The Baths, and going thru The Baths in the afternoon, after the rush of crowds from the cruise ships.

Since we had reservations at the Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbour anyway, we decided to follow the recommendation from Steve & Tarek.

The plan worked perfectly.
We slept in until about 8:30am, departed about 9:30am, and did a slow water side cruise by The Baths, the mooring field, and the dinghy line.

As expected at 10am, the FCFS mooring field was packed, and the dinghy line was packed.

We checked into the Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbour about 11am.

We had some safe arrival drinks after the exhausting 6-mile ride.

We then took a taxi ride to The Top of The Baths Restaurant.

Note = The Taxi & Shuttle drivers can only get to the Top of The Baths Restaurant, they cannot drive directly to the Baths entrance. The walk/hike from the restaurant to the entrance of The Baths National Park & Devil’s Bay is about 10-15 minutes.

The restaurant was perched high on the hills of Virgin Gorda, with beautiful views of the moored boats below.

Top of The Baths Restaurant

After some snacks & drinks at The Top of The Baths, it was now about 2:30pm.
Time to Go !

The entrance to The Baths National Park was about a 15 minute hike from the restaurant.

The Hike Began !

I should back up a little bit.
prior to going to the entrance to The Baths, we first went to a nearby area called Devil’s Bay.
Many folks had told us how pretty it was, so we stopped there first and took a short swim.

The Devil’s Bay Beach & Swimming Hole was spectacular, the water was great, and as usual “Dare Devil Dave” was taking on new challenges.

And of course, whatever Dave does – Mike has to follow !
Before you knew it, Me-Dave-Rich were all on Dave’s Boulder.

And, as usual – Mike has a slight incident following Dave’s lead.
Only a flesh wound, no medical attention required.

Ok, enough of Devil’s Bay.
It was time to do – The Baths !
There will be A-LOT of Photos & Video to follow, hope you enjoy.

The Videos are all in order as we passed – over, under, thru the Bolders of the Baths

Video #1

Video #2

Video #3

Video #4

Video #5

Video #6

Video #7

Video #8

Video #9

Video #10, End of The Baths Hike

After the spectacular afternoon walking thru The Baths National Park, we returned to the Top of the Baths restaurant, where our taxi driver “Ulrick” was patiently waiting for us.

Ulrick had dropped us off about 3pm & it was now about 5pm, after a wonderful 2-hour walk thru Devil’s Bay & The Baths.

Surprisingly, Ulrick did not make us pay when he dropped us off at The Top of the Baths Restaurant.
He said that we’ll get square later.
How’s that for Trust.
Ulrick became our Taxi driver for the day & evening.

On the way back to the boat, Ulrick took us to 3 different stores, attempting to find Anita’s elusive Corona Light.

After a quick “clean up” back at the boat, Ulrick returned about 6:45pm to take us to a famed Virgin Gorda restaurant – Coco Maya !

Coco Maya is another one of the restaurants that I reserved about a month before the trip.
It was spectacular, with lights all over the place, music, games, and it was RIGHT on the WATER.
It also has several fireplaces.

Yes, you saw correctly – Ulrick ate dinner with us !
It was fun sharing stories with him.
He is also a musician, and was involved in the half-time show during the 2020 Superbowl in Miami (just before Covid).

Today was definately the most fun day, a great experience, and The Baths did not disapoint us after all the pre-trip hype.

That’s all for today.
Hope you enjoyed the virtual tour thru The Baths.

Tomorrow we’re off to – The Saba Rock & The Oil Nut Bay Marina & Resort !

Mike/Ashley, Rich/Anita, Dave/Ginger

On Sunday March 29th, we left Jost Van Dyke with the wonderful “Bubbly Pool” & Famous Bars, and traveled to Scrub Island, and the highly rated Scrub Island Marina & Resort.

Scrub Island is a 230-acre private island sanctuary in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) known for its luxury resort, spa, and marina. Located near Tortola, it features secluded beaches, clear waters, and high-end accommodations including villas and guest rooms, serving as an exclusive Caribbean getaway.

Scrub Island is only about 16 miles from Jost Van Dyke, on the NE side of Tortola.
Unlike the rides on the first 2 days, the cruise from Jost Van Dyke to Scrub Island was a bit bumpy.
We had 4-5 foot waves out of the NE, because we went north of Tortola, Guana, and Great Camanoe.
North of these islands is a big open body of water, very sensitive to NE winds.
The ride was initially bumpy, so we had to slow down to keep the crew happy.
We could have went south of Tortola and been protected from the NE wind, but the ride would have been longer.

Prior to going to Scrub Island, we tried to go to a set of islands know as The Dogs, and snorkle at a place called The Chimney. With the wind high and out of the NE, the water was just not set up nicely for novice snorklers & their first snorkling event of the week.

So we scratched the snorkling at The Chimney, and proceeded to Scrub Island.
We arrived about noon for a full day of island resort fun.

The Scrub Island Marina & Resort is one of the best in the BVI.
The Resort has ;
* 2 Pools connected by a large Waterfall
* Swim-up Bars at both Pools.
* A big Water Slide from the mid-deck into the Lower Pool
* A Hot Tub connected to the Upper Pool
* The Pools are Infinity Pools overlooking the Caribbean Sea.
* A Private Beach with a Trampoline.

After 2 nights on mooring balls, this was our first of 3 planned Marina’s (w/4 nights on Boaty Balls).
OMG, the Scrub Island Resort was awesome & we had a Blast !!!

We started with some drinks at the Swim-up Bar on the 2nd Level Pool.

After some liquid courage, it was time to try the Big Waterslide.
Oops, almost lost the sunglasses & hat (for the second time, remember Willy T’s)

After the waterslide, while in the Hot Tub with Ashley, I met a guy named Tarek.
We hit it off really good & later met his crazy friend Steve.

Tarek was originally from Austrailia (still has the accent), relocated to Maine for some years, and now LIVES in The Bahamas (tough life).

I’m not sure where Steve originated from, but Steve also lives in The Bahamas.
Steve owns two 60ft boats and runs a boating charter company.

They were both on holiday (from the Bahamas?) with their families, also renting a Moorings PowerCat like us.
But they had the 53ft PowerCat (recall, our vessel is a 47ft boat).

After introductions of Tarek & Steve to Dave & Rich, it was like we were all now best buddies (the drinks helped).

Dave & Tarek were playing catch with a football.
Tarek was in the lower pool, throwing the football to Dave standing in the waterfall at the upper pool.
I’m not sure if standing in the waterfall was allowed, but nobody kicked Dave out.

Crazy Steve ended our time at the pool with a jump from the waterfall into the lower pool.

No, we were not kicked out for jumping off of the waterfall, we chose to leave and go to The Private Beach.

Since several of us were novice snorklers, we decided to practice snorkeling for about an hour in the calm lagoon. We saw a couple fish but nothing great.

Then one of our group went out to the Trampoline and started jumping (probably Ashley?).
Before we knew it, all 6 of us were on the Trampoline having a blast. (sorry no photos or video of this).

The night ended with dinner at Donovan’s Reef overlooking the Carribean & a late night dip into the Hot Tub.
Donovan’s Reef was a restaurant perched into the hillside, overlooking the bay & marina.
The marina was lit up beautifully at night.

That’s all for Sunday, March 29th.
Hope you enjoyed the posting.

Mike/Ashley, Rich/Anita, Dave/Ginger

Tomorrow were off for what should be, the highlight of the trip – The Baths National Park.
The Baths National Park, located on the island of Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands (BVI), is a renowned geological wonder featuring massive granite boulders, scenic grottoes, and hidden sea pools on a white sand beach

Day-2 of our adventure included traveling from Cooper Island to Jost Van Dyke, about an 18 mile/ 2 hour ride.

After a short dinghy ride to Jost Van Dyke, we checked in with Reggie, at Jost Scooter Rentals.
During my research of things to do on JVD, I saw some folks having a lot of fun touring the island on Scooters.

It looks like a bunch of fun, touring the island on scooters – doesn’t it ?
But the problems in reality vs my scooter dreams were as follows ;
1. Two people on one Scooter makes balance more challenging.
2. Very Steep Hills
3. Very Sharp Hairpin Turns

The Scooter Endevour was a complete disaster, we had to abort !
Ginger was the first to say – I’m done, no way !
We all chimed in – me too !!!
Me & Ashley had already run into a truck tire & a big rock before we aborted, and that was B4 the hairpin turns.
They were really hard to drive, and The Cooks are former Harley riders.
We would have killed ourselves.

We returned back to Home Base, The girls ended up walking back on the steep desents, while the guys waited every quarter mile or so for the girls to cathc up.

Once we got back to the flat ground, the girls got back on the scooters for the ride back to Reggie.

After we got back, we told Reggie what happened, that we are not capable of driving little scooters.

He laughed & offerred a 50% refund, but we let him keep all the money because it was not his fault, he was very nice, and it looked like he needed the money more than us.

I asked Reggie if he knew anyone on the island that rented a 6 passenger CAR !

Reggie drove me to his friend Nina, who hooked us up with a 4WD Air Conditioned Honda Pilot.

We were back in business & off to tour the island of Jost Van Dyke.

First Stop = The Famous “Soggy Dollar Bar”
The Soggy Dollar Bar on Jost Van Dyke in the British Virgin Islands is a world-famous, rustic beach bar located on White Bay, renowned as the birthplace of the “Painkiller” rum cocktail. It is known for its “swim-up”, no-dock arrival, where patrons swim from their boats, paying with wet money

The research did not disappoint.
Soggy Dollar was a great waterfront beach bar.
It was very lively.
We secured a table, and ordered lunch & the famous BVI Painkiller drink.
The Rain moved in for about an hour, but the views & music were spectacular.
Rain = more Painkillers !

After the Soggy Dollar, a short walk away, was another well know bar – Gertrudes.
One more drink at Gertrudes, before heading to the famous “Bubbly Pool”

Our next stop was “The Bubbly Pool”
The Bubbly Pool on Jost Van Dyke is a natural, tidal jacuzzi located on the northeast coast near Diamond Cay, created by Atlantic waves crashing through a narrow gap in rocky cliffs. It is a popular, scenic spot known for its effervescent, foaming waters.

It was a very bumpy, twisty, 30 minute car ride from Gertrude’s Bar to The Bubbly Pool.

Even when we arrived to the furthest most point that a car could go, the location of the Bubbly Pool was not obvious. We encountered some folks walking out from a very poor trail and they gave us the insight that we needed.

We had about a 30 minute hike from the car to The Bubbly Pool.
We discovered a cute, man-made rock art collection along the hike.

Then we arrived !!!
The Bubbly Pool was active in a medium sort of intensitity on this day.
It was a blast waiting for the waves to push you into the bubbly pool lagoon.

add video mike in bubbly, 51 sec

After The Bubbly Pool, then next stop on the agenda was another very famous BVI bar – Foxy’s !
Foxy’s Tamarind Bar on Jost Van Dyke in the British Virgin Islands is a legendary, rustic beachfront bar established in 1968 by Foxy Callwood. Known for its lively, laid-back Caribbean vibe, it features famous Friday/Saturday night BBQs, strong rum drinks, live music, and dancing on the sand in Great Harbour

Dinner @ The Tipsy Shark
The Tipsy Shark Bar & Café in Great Harbour, Jost Van Dyke, is a charming, family-owned beachfront spot known for fresh local fish, bold cocktails, and warm hospitality. It offers a relaxed,, open-air setting with, often, sea views and, sometimes, live music

We had a drink at The Tipsy Shark during the day.
The place looked like a dive, and not a good one.
But we had assurances from Reggie & Nina, that the food at Tipsy was great.
The internet reviews of The Tipsy Shark were also very good, so we kept our previously made reservations.

The place was transformed at night with decorative lights, to a BEAUTIFUL WATERFRONT venue.
They have waterfront tables for 4, but our table for 6 was inside an open air venue.
We still had an excellent view of the bay & our boat.
The food was GREAT !
The service was GREAT !
WE loved The Tipsy Shark !

After dinner, it was back to the boat – and more Dancing !

add video dave and ashley, 5sec

It was another long, but fun day & an early nite nite time (10:30-11:00pm).

Thanks for reading,

Mike/Ashley, Rich/Anita, Dave/Ginger

Thursday March 26th

We arrived in the BVI on Thursday March 26th, one day before our departure, because the mandatory “Boat Orientation” & “Safety Briefings” begin at 8:00am on your day of departure.

Our first night (Thu March 26th) was called a “Sleep Aboard” night.
You are allowed to stay overnight on the boat you have chartered, but can’t leave until after Boat Orientation & Safety Breifings.

The Moorings Complex is very large, with 2 Restaurants, a Large Pool, Grocery Store, Liquor Store, Gift Shops, Spa, 10 Showers, etc

We paid extra for a Yacht that was supposed to be “less than 1 year old”.
The boat did not disappoint – it looked new, smelt new, and had only 150 hours on the engines.

As the trip went on, it was really cool to be piloting a million dollar boat.
It was my first time driving a PowerCat & first time driving a boat with Bow Thrusters.
I loved it !!!

We spent a lot of time Thursday night, loading/storing our pre-ordered “Provisions” onto the boat.
We ordered the provisions about a month before arrival – Liquor, Beer, Food, Kitchen Supplies, Etc.

The Provision store delivers the supplies directly onto the boat, and included a list of supplies ordered by each couple, with each order identified by our email address.

Thursday Night ended with dinner at The Moorings Yacht Club – sorry, no photos.

Friday March 27th.

8:00-9:30 am = Boat Orientation/Training – Engines, Generator, Chart Plotters, Water Maker, Electrical Panel Breakers, Shore Power/Generator Breakers, Air Conditioning Controllers, Etc

9:30-10:30am = Safety Briefing – Areas of caution for boating, areas to stay out of.

Time for The Fun – We departed The Moorings at about 11:30am

First Stop = The famous Willy T’s Floating 2-story Boat Bar.
Willy T’s is a famous floating bar and restaurant in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) off Norman Island, Known for its “anything goes” atmosphere,, shots, and top-deck jumping, it has operated on three different vessels, with the current 110-foot steel boat operating since 2018 after hurricanes destroyed its predecessors

It was about a 10 mile ride from Tortola to Norman Island & The Famous Willy T’s

We had to moor on a first come/first serve mooring ball (FCFS), and dinghy over to The Willy T’s.
Our first connection to the mooring ball & the dinghy ride over to Willy T’s went very smoothly.
This is one of the locations that you cannot advance reserve a mooring ball.
There were still several balls available, when we arrived about 12:30pm on Friday (noon).

Note = We had Headsets for communication between the Captain & Crew while Mooring & Docking.
The headsets prevent all the yelling during these normally stressful times.

Willy T’s 2-Story Floating Boat Bar was packed, luckily we arrived just as another dinghy was leaving.

The Willy T’s was very crowded, with a big crowd at the upstairs jumping pad and smaller crowd at the downstairs bar.
The place was full of excitement.
This place was A BLAST !!!

We began our visit with “the 1st Jump” – everyone was nervous

Then some of us (Anita) needed some liquid encouragement with the Shot-Ski !!!

After receiving her liquid courage, it was time for Nita’s first jump.

It was funny to note this sign after all the jumping & diving

The Crew was quite Happy & Lively after Willy T’s on the dinghy ride back to our Yacht.
Watch this video and remember – The Cooks & Hinmans just met 2 days ago 🙂
The BVI is a great place to make new friends.

The next stop was The Cooper Island Beach Club.
It was about another 10 mile ride from Norman Island to Cooper Island.

The Cooper Island Beach Club is highly desired.
This is one of the reservations that we made about a month ago.

We had Reserved a Mooring Ball (Boaty Ball) just off of the Cooper Island Beach, and took the dinghy to dinner.

As with most of our dining venues, it was a beautiful location on the water.
It created some beautiful photos, but I don’t remember the meal (humm).

After dinner, we went to the Cooper Island Beach Club “Rum Bar”.
200 different types of Rum (Dave Sylver, you would luv it).

After the Rum Bar, we took the short dinghy ride back to the boat.
Ashley hooked up her Disco Ball & Disco Lights, and the first of many nights of Dancing began !

Recommendation:
The disco lights make for a great way to identify our boat, in a bay of PowerCats.
Leave them on before you go to dinner (w/o the music 🙂

It was a long, but very fun first day !
We were wiped out.
Nite Nite time.

Tomorrow; Day-2
The Island of Jost Van Dyke & exploration on the Island Scooters.

Thanks for reading.
Send Questions/Comments

Mike/Ashley, Rich/Anita, Dave/Ginger

You are receiving this Blog Email because you are Family or Friends, with any of the following people;

1. Mike, Jonell, or Ashley Jonell Murphree – from the Blog about America’s Great Loop (2017-2018CY)
2. Jerry & Deena Luck – from the Blogs about The Exuma Islands (2023CY) or the “SC to MI Trip” (2025)
3. Rich & Anita Cook – new BVI Blog Postings, The British Virgin Islands (Mar 26-Apr 3, 2026)
4. Dave & Ginger Hinman – new BVI, recently completed in (Mar 26-Apr 3, 2026).

You will be receiving one Email Blog Post per Day, for 7-Days.

These Blog Posts will show the highlights of our recently completed trip to the British Virgin Islands (BVI) from March 26th – April 3rd.

If you’re not interested in reading about our trip, just delete the Email notes 🙂

This trip really was really initiated by Jonell’s cousin’s Rich & Anita Cook, along with their friends Rich & Kim Harrold. They had been wanting to do a BVI Trip for several years, and asked me and Jonell to join them and to help plan the trip. Jonell ended up bowing out, but our daughter Ashley joined the crew with great excitement & energy.

Planning for the March 2026 trip began in July of 2025 and we locked the boat in during August of 2025.

Our Vessel was rented thru a company called The Moorings, one of the biggest Yacht Charter companies in the BVI. Our Yacht was The Moorings 464PC, a new 46.5 foot Power Catamaran named Sea Senora

464PC video = Click Link

Our Crew :
1. Mike & Ashley Murphree
2. Rich & Anita Cook (Jonell’s cousin)
3. Dave & Ginger Hinman (Murphree friends, who had never met The Cooks)



Special Thanks to Dave Sylver Jr, who provided significant BVI information & tutaledge.

Special Mention to ; Rich/Kim Harrold & Bill/Linda Rotramel, who planned to be with us but had to bow out due to medical issues.

This Blog Posting is the Primer, or the Background for what is to come in 7 future blog posts.
Let’s start with some questions that I have received frequently, while preparing for the trip.

Question-1: Where is The BVI ?
The BVI is located in the Caribbean Sea, just east of Puerto Rico.
It is also just east of the US Virgin Islands (not shown on map below)

Question-2 : What are the Major Islands that people visit in the BVI ?

Question-3 : What are the Major Attractions to visit in the BVI ?

Question-4 : Why go to the BVI ?
The BVI is only a 3 hour flight from Miami.
But most important for “novice boaters” is that almost all of the islands are within 25 miles of each other.
The short travel distances make it easy to complete a 5-7 island adventure in 1-week.
The Water is BEAUTIFUL.
You don’t need a Captain’s License to charter a boat in the BVI (but you must describe your boating capability).

Question-5 : How much does it cost to rent a 47ft Yacht in the BVI for 1 week ?
The rental of our 46.5ft Power Catamaran was about $20,000 or $5,000/Couple
The Flights varied from $750/PP to $1200/PP, or about $1,500/Couple.
Mooring Balls, Marinas add another $55/Day (Mooring Balls) – $300/Day (average Marina)
And then there are Meals & Drinks – I spent about $200/Day or $1600 for the week.
So our trip cost each couple about ; $5000+$1,500+$1,200+$1600 = total about $9,000/Couple

Question-6 : How do you prep for 1 week in the BVI, while operating your own boat ?
Research, Planning, more Research !
What Islands will you go to ?
What attractions do you want to see ?
What Route will you take ?
Will you use Marinas, Mooring Balls, or Anchor (note = can’t anchor in many places, coral reefs).
How long to travel between each island (that limits your time on each island – Anegada 40 miles 1-way.
Marina Reservations = 2-3 months for popular marinas (Scrub Island, Bitter End Yacht Club, Oil Nut Bay).
Boaty Ball Reservations = 7am each Day, or Advanced Boaty Ball Authorization (2-3 months in advance).
Dinner Reservations = Mostly walkup, but 2-7 days in advance at some places like Cooper Island Beach Club.

Question-7 : Do you need a Captain’s License to charter the boat ?
For The Moorings Yacht Charters in the BVI, you DO NOT need a Captain’s License in the BVI.
You DO need a Captain’s License at other places that The Moorings rents boats (Greece, Crotia, Tahiti)
Remember – The Captain is still responsible for any damage to the boat (Two Options).
Option 1: Yacht Damage Waiver (YDW)
Upfront Cost: You pay a non-refundable daily fee (typically ranging from $50 to $98 per night depending on the yacht type).
Reduced Liability: This option significantly reduces your security deposit. If damage occurs, your liability is capped at a much lower amount (often between $400 and $1,800 depending on the vessel).
Option 2: Higher Security Deposit
Upfront Cost: No daily fee, but you must leave a much larger refundable security deposit at the base (often $3,000 to $13,450+ depending on the yacht’s value).
Liability: If damage occurs, you are liable for the full cost of repairs up to the total value of this deposit.
We used this option 2, but our security deposit was only $1,400 (quite the deal on a million dollar boat)

Important Lessons, while planning this Trip
1. Booking The Yacht – book one year ahead of time, the rates go up a lot closer to your date of departure.
2. Advanced Boaty Ball Reservations – This is the Mooring Ball Reservation System in the BVI.
If you don’t pay for the Advanced Reservation Capability, you must get up at 7am each day & compete for a Mooring Ball, and they go fast (by 7:10am, they are all reserved).
The Advanced Reservation System is expensive ($700/week), but after spending $20k on the boat & $1500 on Airfare, why ruin your trip by having to wake up early & compete for a chance to get the mooring ball that you want.
If you want the Advanced Reservations capability – apply 3 months in advance, they sell a limited amount of Advance Reservation Permits.

Enough with the Questions & Recommendations, this is Boring – lets see some Photos & Video !

The Good Stuff (Photos & Video) is coming in the next 7 Blog Postings, over the next 7 Days.
I promise that there will be a lot of cool photos & video, and less commentary.
Below are some “Teaser Photos & Video” to gain your interest for the upcoming Emails.

If you have any questions, just hit the Reply Button and we will answer your questions.

Thanks for reading,
Mike/Ashley, Rich/Anita, & Dave/Ginger

Examples of what you will see on the upcoming blog postings, are shown below.

Well, this is it – our last blog post.

We’re Home !!!!

As many of you know, our original plan was to arrive home, back at Miller Marina in Lake St Clair, on Monday July 7th – to coincide with Jonell’s Birthday.

Well, it was about 1pm on Sunday during our ride from the Vermillion Municipal Docks. We were planning on staying somewhere near the base of the Detroit River & Lake Erie (Gibralter, Mi), we would have arrived about 2-3pm, and had a short ride to Lake St Clair on Monday morning.

Then Captain Luck said “we’re only about 5 hours away from Miller Marina”.
Somewhat surprisingly, both Deena & I immediately replied – “Ok, let’s do it, lets go home tonight”.
We called Jonell to confirm if she was OK with the 1-day early arrival, and more importantly – could she come with my truck & pick us up.

We arrived at Miller Marina about 6:30pm.
It was a very long 12 hour day / 95 mile ride.
The waves on Lake Erie & the current in the Detroit River limited our blazing speed to an average of 8 mph.

Unfortunately due to our 1-day early arrival, our normal greeting party of John/Cheryl Nelson & Al Oleszko were not available. But we were greeted by several other Miller Marina locals, who had heard all about the trip, and helped us get tied up.

After gettin’ tied up in Mahi’s new home at Miller Marina, we then presented Deena with her Gold Looper Burgee. Jerry is a Gold Looper, Mike is a Gold Looper, the Mahi Mahi is a Gold Looper – but the end of this trip was the completion of Deena’s 1st Official Great Loop.

For those of you who don’t know – The Great Loop is a journey around the eastern half of the United States by boat. It is usually about a 1 year long trip covering about 6000 miles, thru a series of Lakes, Rivers, and even the Gulf of America & the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. The 2200 miles that we did in this trip, completed Deena’s Loop started in 2018.

Deena began her Loop with Jerry on the Mahi in August of 2018. After completing about 2/3 of The Loop, while in South Carolina – Jerry & Deena thought “why are we bringing the Mahi back to Michigan”. So they left the Mahi in South Carolina during the fall of 2019 & that launched the next 6 years of their annual pilgrimage between Little River South Carolina & Marathon Key Florida. The Mahi became their “Winter Cottage”.

The Mahi will now be their “Summer Cottage” in Lake St Clair.

Back to our arrival at Miller Marina.
Our timing was very fortuitous, there was a storm brewing. We had just given Deena the Gold Looper burgee, battened the hatches, loaded the truck, and as we were leaving for a late 7:30pm dinner – the clouds broke loose and it was pouring rain.

So that’s the way the great 7-week trip from South Carolina to Lake St Clair ended.
The trip was a very fun, very exciting, & sometimes fatiguing.
We were able to see many great sites, we met some increadibly nice people, and continued to learn more about the beloved Mahi & the wonderful waterways that connect Lake St Clair to the rest of the world.

Thanks for following our travel blog.
Your Reading & Comments, kept me motivated to write during those late nights.

I would also like to thank my bride Jonell, for allowing me to join The Lucks “Guilt-Free”, for an amazing 7 week experience. The trip definitely drummed up the ole Looping feelings from 2017/2018.

Farewell until the next voyage,
Mike, Deena, & Jerry

Mahi Mahi Trip Stats
Locations = Little River South Carolina to Miller Marina in St Clair Shores Michigan.
Distance = 2217 miles
Time = 51 Days
# of Ports = 34
# of Marinas = 26
# of Anchorages = 8
Diesel Fuel Costs = $4020 / 1082 Gallons / Ave=$3.71, High=$4.15, Low= $3.15)
Marina Costs = $4015 (Ave=$154 per night, High=$170 , Low= $42)

Port by Port Summary

1. Little River SC – May 13
2. Wrightsville Beach, NC (WB Anchorage) – May 14
3. Beaufort, NC (Beaufort Yacht Basin) – May 15
4. Gale Creek (Anchorage) -May 16
5. Bellhaven, NC (Bellhaven Marina) – May 17
6. Tuckahoe Point (Anchorage)- May 18
7. Coinjock, NC (Coinjock Marina) – May 19
8. Hampton Va (Salt Ponds Marina) – May 20/21 (High Winds)
9. Ellyson, Md (Ellyson Cove Anchorage) – May 22
10. Solomons Island, Md (Solomons Island Yacht Club) – May 23
11. Annapolis, Md (Annapolis Yach Basin) – May 24/25
12. Chesapeake City, Md (Anchorage) – May 26
13. Cape May, NJ (South Jersey Marina) – May 27/28
14. Atlantic City, NJ (Farley State Marina) – May 29/30/31
15. Manasquan, NJ (Hoffman’s Marina) – June 1
16. New York City, NY (Anchorage @ Statue of Liberty) – June 2
17. Crouton on the Hudson, NY (Half Moon Bay Marina) – June 3-8 (9/11 Mem, West Pt)
18. Marlboro, NY (Marlboro Yacht Club) – June 9/10/11 (waiting Locks 16 & 17).
19. Kingston, NY (Kingston Historical Museum) – June 9/10/11 (waiting locks 16 & 17)
20. Albany, NY (Albany Yacht Club) – June 12/13 (waiting Locks 16 & 17)
21. Schenectady, NY (Donovan’s Mohawk Harbor) – June 14
22. St Johnsville, NY (Municipal Marina)- June 15-20 (disabled-throttle part delay)
23. Ilion, NY (Village of Ilion Marina) – June 21
24. Marcy, NY (Mooring Wall @ Erie Lock #20) – June 22/23/24 (waiting on locks 20,21,22)
25. Central Square, NY (Winter Harbor Marina) – June 25
26. Oswego, NY (Oswego Marina) – June 26
27. Rochester, NY (Shumway Marina) – June 27
28. Welland Canal (Mooring Wall), Port Weller, Ont (Lake Ontario) – June 29
29. Welland Canal (Sugarloaf Marina), Port Colburn, Ont (Lake Erie) – June 30/July 1
30. Erie, Pa (Wolverine Park) – July 2
31. Ashtabula, Oh (Kister Marina) – July 3
32. Cleveland, Oh (Oasis Marina) – July 4
33. Vermillion, Oh (Municipal Docks) – July 5
34. St Clair Shores, Mi (Miller Marina)

Well it was hard to beat our visit in Cleveland, but Vermillion Oh is puttin’ in a pretty good case too.

It is really a case of big city – Cleveland vs American Pie – Vermillion.

Vermillion is such a quaint little town, and I never would have thought about staying here if it wasn’t for my old “Dodge Truck, Heavy Duty Ram” boss, Bill Rotramel.

Bill & Linda spend their summers on Catawba Island ( Put- in- Bay) about 30 miles away, and their winters in Punta Gorda Florida. I have stayed in touch with Bill due to our mutual love of boating & our mutual distain of cold weather and snow.

Bill & Linda spend the winter in Punta Gorda Florida & Jonell and I have spent the last 7 years in the Fort Myers/ Cape Coral area.

Bill Rotramel had prepped me for the local museum, the Woodstock Cafe, Chez Francois restaurant, and Rudy’s Bar & Grill. But his best recommendation was the marina – the Vermillion Municipal Docks !!!

It doesn’t sound like a big deal, but this municipal dock was one of the best slips we have had on this trip. We had heard so much about the downtown, and really wanted to see more of it, but the boat watching and people watching from the aft deck of the boat was magical. None of us wanted to leave the stern of the boat.

They’re was a plethora of nautical craft; paddle boards, jet skis, small boats, large boats, wooden boats. And everyone passing by was so friendly – waving, saying hello, seeing our St Clair Shores home port, and asking about our voyage. The “rolling boat show & people watching” was just too addicting to leave for a hot 90 degree walk in the city.

On top of the rolling boat show, the background setting was spectacular. Check out these 2 homes directly across from our slip. The landscaping was beautiful.

After about 3 hours of the “rollng boat show”, it was time to give the Mahi a quick wash down before dinner. We had a special hull cleaner delivered to the Oasis Marina at Cleveland, and this was our 1st opportunity to make the Mahi look beautiful again. Captain Luck would not allow any photos of the Mahi prior to cleaning. When you do “The Loop”, there is a somewhat badge of honor, in the brown mustash that the hull of the boat gets from the tannins in the water during The Loop.

Interestingly enough, I could not find any other images to show you, but it is a well know phenomenon for Looper Boats.

Google did show this verbiage, but no photos. –

Here is a photo of the Mahi, “after cleaning”, Captain Luck did authorize this photo.

After giving the Mahi her bath, we went into town to have dinner at the famed Rudy’s Bar & Grill. The Lake Perch was very good.

After dinner, this darn town of Vermilion – put an Ice Cream Store right on our walk home .

After a Big Dinner & Ice Cream, what else would a guy do but go swimming 😃

Here is the beautiful Vermillion Beach, a five minute walk from the municipal docks.

I had total strangers take the video, they were so nice, and they were intrigued by our voyage.

After swimming, here is the Vermillion Park Adirondack Chair Dry Off Area – if you forgot your towel. I always seem to forget my towel 😃

After swimming & drying off, it was about 8pm, enough time to join Jerry & Deena back at the Mahi, for another couple hours of boat & people watchin’.

Vermillion really deserved at least 3 day stay, maybe next time ( Thx Bill).

Tomorrow (Sunday, 6th) – we’re off to somewhere at the Lake Erie end of the Detroit River, with a Monday afternoon arrival at the Mahi’s new home port of Miller Marina in St Clair Shores Michigan.

Monday will be a special day for a couple reasons –

1. Jonell’s Birthday
2. Deena’s completion of the Great Loop (started in 2018).

We hope you enjoyed this post, the end is near 😢

We’re bummed that we missed the holidays with our friends & family, but there is still a lot of summer left. We look forward to seeing you all.

xoxo,

Mile, Deena, & Jerry

Team Mahi Mahi