BVI Vacation with the girls... our last moments

We awoke to the sounds of roosters and sheep on the hillsides of the west end of Tortola, Soper's Hole. Brittney donned her new apron and whipped up a marvelous breakfast. She's really become a great galley slave. Don't worry, there are clothes underneath that apron... no really!

Bruce took the girls to shore on an ice run and a little sight seeing around the anchorage. I stayed on board Trinity.

We motored out around the end of the island and set our course towards the Indians over on Norman Island where we had spent our first night out. We had planned to snorkel the Caves on our last day out and about. Tomorrow, the girls would leave, so we needed to spend our last night back in Road Town in our slip.

The winds were dead on our nose again so we never raised a sail. We had a bit of rain and, as expected, this was the sloshiest leg of our journey. Bruce and I had plotted this agenda with this transit in mind. We hoped that the girls would be used to the motion of the boat and not find this bit unpleasant. We were right... they were unfazed. They even spent some of the time up on deck reading. They have both graduated into real sailors on this trip.

We arrived at the Caves and by this time, we all knew the drill... in we hopped.

We snorkeled over to the wall and had a fine time exploring.

All of our friends were there... Remember this guy?

We did some water ballet... Hey! Bruce is really GOOD!

These fish were looking for a handout. I don't think Brittney was aware that she was being so closely regarded.

Melissa and Brittney stayed close when we began to enter the caves. It is a little disconcerting being inside. You never know when a swell might dash you against the cave walls, some covered with fire coral.

We snorkeled until we got cold, then got out and sunned ourselves on the back deck. We had to be out of here by 1:30 or 2:00 at the latest in order to get back to the slip before the crew went home.

We had lunch and then vacated our mooring because there were other boats arriving and all of the spots were taken. We didn't want to be mooring hogs. We left the beautiful caves behind and made our passage back to home base with no mishaps.

We parked the boat on the fuel dock so the guys could fuel her up and park us in a slip. I guess time has taught them not to let these yahoos park their boats if they could help it. There are tight spaces and pretty good swells here in the marina but we could have done it. Oh well...

We had a hot afternoon to kill so we dinghied over to Village Cay Marina and took a quick jaunt around the town for a bit of last minute shopping. We were pretty shopped out though and hot besides... so we parked ourselves at the pool to wile away the afternoon.

It was uncrowded at this time of day. Pretty much everything slows down in the heat of the afternoon in the islands. Here are my wonderful daughters bringing life giving nectar here in the heat of town.

We had a couple of drinks by the poolside, then moved to the restaurant for an early dinner. We had a scrumptious repast here on our last night in the islands together. We retired to the boat and did some packing and cleaning up. We were in for the night.

In the morning on Saturday, we did the final walk through to make sure the girls had everything. They were wonderful about cleaning up their area in preparation for our next guests, Bruce's Brother Phil and his wife, Jackie, who would arrive late in the evening. We put the kids at the curb.

The week has surpassed our wildest expectations for the good. We have had the most joyous time with the kids. Bruce and I will find it quiet and sad after they leave.

The taxi came, we put them on it and waved goodbye. Quiet settled over us as we walked back to the boat. It had been a week to rival the best in our lives. The good thing is... the girls are talking like they wish to do it again!

Bruce and I gathered up our laundry and took the dinghy back over to Village Cay where they have facilities right near the pool.

We did some reading while we waited for the laundry to finish. The rest of the day was spent at the Ample Hamper store trying to get the provisioning straightened out, and doing some reorganizing for the next week. After all of the work was done, we went back to the pool for a drink and a dip. We went back to the boat for a dinner of leftovers while we waited for Jackie and Phil. We got a text that they wouldn't be in until Sunday due to a missed connection. We turned in.