Our Week at Sea…Sailing the Virgin Islands

Everyone has be asking, “Where are the photos from your vacation?”  I know I am a bad blogger…but seriously I have an excuse.  July was the CRAZIEST month ever, we have been beyond busy.   We got back from our BVI trip on July 17th and headed to Oklahoma on the 18th to pick up Miss L.  I was back at work for a week then left for New York to attend my companies annual sales meeting (had a great time).  I flew home on Thursday night then turned around and left for Louisiana on Friday morning for the Edwards Family Reunion (Mimi’s side) which was held last weekend (I have photos from that I will post soon I promise).  So I am finally getting a chance to sit down in front of the computer while MIss L is napping and work on writing about our amazing experience aboard the Catalyst sailing vessel.

WOW…where do I begin. 

I will first start by saying this is something I have always wanted to do, but needed a big occasion to pull it off.  Finally…it was the summer of our 5th wedding anniversary so we figured this would be the perfect excuse to take a once in a lifetime vacation.  We managed to get Jess and Tyler on board with the idea (which was NOT difficult) and away we sailed.

Day #1

We met Captain Alan at the Red Hook marina in St. Thomas to begin our week long adventure at sea.  We were all very excited to finally get on the boat.  It was exactly what I thought it would be, the state rooms are tiny but I knew they would be.  We threw our bags in our rooms, received a brief 10 minute “lesson” on what NOT to do on the boat and most importantly HOW TO FLUSH THE TOILET?  That’s right…it’s not like your toilets at home we had to do some pumping to make everything magically “disappear”.  After the quick overview we were finally officially sailing on a 44ft. catamaran in the Virgin Islands.  Our first sail was a short trip to St. John the only thing I kept thinking was “we are going to be doing this for a week”…that was a great feeling.  An hour after we boarded the boat we were at our first snorkeling spot Hawksnest Bay off the island of St. John. 

After a great lunch and snorkel we heading to Leinster Bay to grab our mooring for the night.  Captain Alan fixed us an amazing filet dinner and ice cream and cookies for dessert.  So far, no one was sick and we were all in heaven.

Jess at Happy Hour!

Feeding the fish off the back of the boat.

Day #2

My Birthday!  We woke up to an amazing breakfast (which became the norm), headed over to Sopers Hole to go through customs since we were now entering the British Virgin Islands.  We checked out the shops and the marina at Sopers Hole then prepared for a 2 hour sail to the island of Norman.  This is where we would snorkel both the “Indians” and “Caves”.  Both of these we amazing snorkeling spots (the best I have ever seen).  The “Indians” is a giant rock formation that contains amazing coral and reef fish.  It also features a underwater tunnel that only Tyler was brave enough to try.  The “Caves” is a series of under water caves with tons of fish…they were both great and a must see for anyone traveling to the BVI.

The Indians

The Caves    Lunch on the boat.

After an afternoon of snorkeling we went to the Pirates Bight for for Happy Hour, then headed over the the infamous WILLY T (a floating restaurant/bar/night club for dinner, dancing, shots…etc.  From what I was told we were there on a “calm” night and I still managed to see many body parts that should remain covered…one can only imagine what it is like when the boat is really hoppin!  What a wonderful way to spend my 31st Birthday!

Day #3

Our third day started out with Trey taking his scuba certification course…so what did the girls decide to do while we waited on the boat?

We attempted to kayak…BAD IDEA!  It was the windiest day of the trip so far and Jess was “mildly” freaking out.  It was all we could do to get the kayak around the boat once…needless to say the kayak remained put away the rest of our vacation.   For my friends back home that LOVE garman girl drama this is as close as we got to having a melt down, but we managed to stay out of trouble…surprising.

   

After Trey PASSED his scuba course we headed to Cooper Island, this was a 2.5 hour sail with 9 ft. seas.  Jess and I would sit on the trampolines up front and when we would hit a wave the water would shoot up through the holes in the trampoline and cool you off…I loved it!  Jess started feeling a little queasy at the end.  When we arrived at Cooper Island the boys went scuba diving and Jess and I headed to the beach for a little R&R, 

Headed to dinner at the Copper Island resort.

     me, Captain Alan & Jess

  

Day #4 (My favorite Day)

Day 4 started with another 2.5 hour sail from Cooper Island to Virgin Gorda, we were headed to snorkel and hike “The Baths”.  This was another rough day at sea and this time Jess was not so lucky.  It was the only time on the entire trip she got sea sick.  Personally I was worried she would be sick the entire time so when we were 4 days in and she was just now getting sick I was relieved.  THE BATHS!  This is another of the “Must See” spots in the BVI.  They are large granite rock formations in the water that you hike over and snorkel through, they were one of our favorite attractions.

The Baths and some of my favorite moments of the trip.

Once we were worn out from the baths we headed to the newest resort in the BVI called Scrub Island.  The resort was beautiful and the best part…they had a water slide…as you can see from the photo we wore the slide out.

   We stayed the night off Tortola at Trellis Bay and had dinner at The Last Resort.

   

Day #5

Headed to Jost Van Dyke!  This might be the prettiest part of the BVI’s.  We spent the morning snorkeling in Monkey Bay then sailed from Tortola to Jost, had lunch at Foxy’s Taboo then spent the rest of the afternoon on Sandy Spit.  We hung out there while Tyler and Captain Alan did one final scuba trip.  Sandy Spit is the neatest thing…it is a tiny island with NOTHING on it but a few trees.  When we were there we were the only people in sight…so cool!

 

Day #6

White Bay Day!  We spent the entire day on White Bay at the Soggy Dollar Bar.  It was raining most of the day but that did not stop us for hanging out on the beach.  But, because it was raining I only managed to take this one shot of the Soggy Dollar.  White Bay might just have some of the best people watching anywhere…we had a great time despite the rain.

  This is how we took most of out showers…on the back of the boat.

The final night we went to Foxy’s for our final night out! 
(sorry these pictures are not the best…taken with my small Casio)

There was a dance competition…. No Trey did not get picked for the contest (he was just dancing on his own)

…But Tyler gave it his all in the contest

But there was only one WINNER from our group!
Jess was the proud winner of the “strokin” dance off.

What a TRIP!!!  We had a great time!  I can’t wait to do it again.
A special thanks to Lynn at Carefree Yacht Charters for helping us plan
this amazing vacation.

The Food…
Anyone who knows me well…KNOWS I LOVE ME SOME FOOD!

I tried to take a picture of each meal we had on the boat…I miss a couple but as you can see our captain was a GREAT chef!  We opted for what is call the “half board” which basically means you eat some of your meals ashore.  I think we were all in agreement next time we will go with the “Full Board” option because the food on the boat was great!

  

 

      Ty’s favorite breakfast…he was super excited.