Once we got back to the boat, we learned from Captain Jerry that our first stop would be the U.S. Virgin Islands. Before we were able to depart the marina, the crew had to walk about a mile to the BVI's immigration and customs office to check out of the BVI's, so we could get into the U.S. We all crammed into a little room the size of a jail cell with a water cooler (thank God) and our passports. Our trip organizer, Dale filled out the paperwork, while we chatted it up with a very friendly customs agent. The customs agent cleared us for departure. We headed back to the Jack Sparrow where we received an orientation from the Catamaran Co. employee (something about how to work the generator, etc.,).
Finally, we were off to the open seas. The girls spent most of the time at the front of the boat.
I started to feel a bit queasy until I heard that our first stop was going to be the West End of Tortola to order up bushwhackers for the crew. Bushwhackers are popular island drinks, served frozen, similar to a milkshake, except they are filled with a ton of booze - creme de cacao, kahlua, rum, and an extensive list of other special alcoholic ingredients.
Darryl (A.K.A. "Dude") Alex, and Brian went ahead and took the dinghy (A.K.A. "dink") ashore to Pusser's restaurant to get bushwhackers for the entire crew. Dude brought back five Pusser's British Virgin Islands Drinking Mugs; humongous round tin cups filled to the rim with bushwhackers. $230.00 for five drinks and two bottles of rum! Needless to say, we all got bushwhacked!
We left the West End and crossed over to the U.S. Virgin Islands, where we moored for a bit at Trunk Bay. Trunk Bay has an amazing beach with white sand and is ideal for diving and snorkeling. The crew decided it would be a fine time for a swim, so everyone took turns diving and jumping into the water, some more graciously than others. Noodles were utilized and some of us took the opportunity to shower on the back of the boat just to wash the stink off.
We left Trunk Bay and motored over to Cruz Bay on St. John's Island, where Erin, Ann and I decided to head to shore on the dink captained by Brian and his 1st mate, Alex. Cruz Bay is a major city on St. John's Island and is located on the western tip of the island. Captain Jerry instructed me to take the walkee talkie to shore and relayed to us that we had a total of 45 minutes to shop. Of course, I obeyed the captain and took the radio, but I didn't want to use up the batteries, so I turned the radio off. As we were motoring up to the dock, some of the local boys on the island were yelling at us to rescue their tennis ball from the water. This was hilarious because the dink captain kept going around and around in circles missing the tennis ball completely. Finally, Alex retrieved the ball and as a favor in return, the local boys helped the ladies from the dink to the shore.
Ann, Erin and I went to Mongoose Junction where we bought up as much as we could in 20 minutes. We bought greeting cards, more koozies, and cocktails to go at the Ocean Grill.
When we got back to the dink, Alex and Brian were waiting patiently, drinking beers, and playing craps with the local boys on the island. When we got back to the boat, Captain Jerry was pissed. He told me he tried to radio us in, but I had the radio off. I promised him that it would never happen again (you can see Captain Jerry's pissed off face below - pictured left).
From Cruz Bay, we motored around the island to Francis Bay, named for Sir Francis Drake. During this time, I was wearing my IPA hat from Fort Collins, Colorado (technically Brian's hat that I commandeered) until the wind came up and blew the hat into the water and into the depths of the deep blue sea. The crew enjoyed snacks on the back deck, until it started to rain. We enjoyed a wonderful chicken dinner, we played a game of 20 questions, e.g., favorite U.S. city, favorite movie, favorite food, and reflected on the days activities. That is when rule number four was born. It reads:
4.) SECURE YOUR SHIT! (hats were lost, beers were toppling over).
That evening, Alex and the Dude drank two Pusser mugs filled with liquor. Alex played tunes all night and probably slept with his iPod remote.
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