Work, work work

We're still hanging around the BVI - with the excuse that we're working and need good access to wifi and mail (albeit painfully slow mail). While that's true - we also just really like it here. We keep running into friends, then deciding to wait for the next weather opportunity to head for St. Martin. The very next one - really.

One thing we stuck around for was to meet up with friends whose boat hitched a ride down on the big Dockwise Yacht Transport ship from Newport to St Thomas. They'd kindly offered to let us stash a bunch of things on their boat that we'd have trouble shipping down otherwise (paint, heavy clunky boat parts etc...) and since Dockwise was delayed up north - we just wandered around the Virgins until they arrived.

Slowly sinking...

Almost low enough to drive the boats out....

Crowded dinghy dock at Crown Bay in St. Thomas

Skip in the St. Thomas office of Outbound Yachts

A photo for my big sis Leslie

After a few days around St. Thomas, we'd had enough of the 'big city' and wandered our way back through the BVI stopping at a few favorite spots on our way to North Sound for some more of that good wifi and time with friends.

Seen hiking around Peter Island

Beach 'art' we made on the northeast beach of Prickly Pear Island in North Sound

This mama duckling and her little ones were waaaaaaaaaay out in the sound. We passed them in the dinghy on our way into the beach and watched as she lead them safe and sound over the waves and back to the salt pond behind the bushes along the beach. We were pretty worried about the little guy all the way at the end of the line. He got tumbled in the last wave ashore and none of the others seemed to notice.

Full moon rising over Eustatia Sound

We've done a lot of hiking around the north end of VIrgin Gorda but just recently found out about a few new trails here that we thought we'd check out. The trail begins by the flag poles at Biras Creek (for any of you reading this blog sitting on your boat in North Sound!) and they go straight up from there. The trails are steep but the views are worth the sweat. They're the kind of steep that make your parents hang on to the belt loop on the back of your jeans when you step just a little closer to the edge for a better look.  

A rare flat spot

Steep rocky trail with killer views

Skip contemplates the Lovers Leap. 

Top L to R: Skip goes through the goat fence, BIG Frangipani Caterpillar, me going uphill, big hungry Frangipani Caterpillar

There's a nice breeze up here!

We've been seeing these wild looking caterpillars since Carly's visit last year. They're all over the frangipani trees  - I guess that's why they're called Frangipani Caterpillars - and they've completely stripped some of the trees. This one was looking particularly acrobatic....

And this one was looking particularly hungry....

In addition to great views from the top, this hike also took us down to the windward side of the island - we love windward beaches for all the treasures to be found there. There's always lots of plastic. There are always shoes, bottles, tubes, jars (often with printing on them in languages we can't read or speak), crates, buckets and more. There are almost always remnants of boats scattered along the shore and oftentimes there's beach art created by whoever passed by before us.

There were pieces of this sailboat scattered all around.

More boat parts.

One person's trash is another person's beach art.

Some employees from the fancy new yacht club and marina just west of Biras Creek dinghied around the anchorage one morning with some information about the club. We'd seen the marina under construction not long after we came to Virgin Gorda the first time; it's been completed since then and has hosted a few super yacht regattas already. It's still considered low season and they wanted to let people know that the club is open to the public until high season starts. They have a POOL so we made a beeline for the place. (I still dream about the GIANT POOL at Porto Cupecoy.)

Not only do they have a pool, but it's an infinity pool. Happiness. 

Me, happy.

They're also running a special until high season begins mid-month.... two Heinekens for $3 all day long. 

Skip, happy.

You see why were having trouble making our way out of North Sound. We're going back to the pool today. Right now in fact. Maybe we'll get to St. Martin this week. If the wind is right.