The Winner - Hands Down

The entire Caribbean is incredibly beautiful and each island is really so diverse from the ones on either side, but now that we have arrived in the British Virgin Islands, I have to say that it's without a doubt, the most beautiful part of the Caribbean. Maybe it's because it's our 4th time here and familiar or that the waters are so incredibly blue and crystal clear. Maybe it's that there is no swell and the sea is so calm and flat between islands. Who cares...we're here and we're happy!!!

We made the 4:30 bridge opening out of the St. Maarten lagoon on Friday with some of our friends bidding us farewell from the yacht club deck and set one (just one!) course of 300 degrees straight for the BVI. We hoisted the sails and set off with a bucket of chicken and a freshly made pasta salad for the 85 mile crossing. We were both pretty excited to be experiencing our first all night crossing and we weren't disappointed. We had agreed on three hour watches at the helm, but neither of us could sleep on our 3 hrs off. One would think that this would be a very boring experience, and perhaps it is after many nights, but we were so happy to be enjoying the very particular kind of peace that comes with a calm night crossing, that it was stimulating in it's own way. The highlight for us both (Olivia was sound asleep on the floor of the cockpit) was the indescribable night sky. We've been in lots of dark places where the stars are brighter than usual - camping or boating - but nothing has ever come close to what we saw. The stars are more brilliant and plentiful than we ever could have imagined. That is a sight that every person should experience at least once in a lifetime. We were simply in awe.

As we were approaching the island of Virgin Gorda, Ron went up to the bow to stretch his legs and just at that moment, a beautiful big dolphin and her very young calf jumped out of the water at the bow and gave us the coolest welcome we could have asked for. She was playing with her baby and frolicking in our bow wake for a good 5 minutes before venturing off. After checking in with customs on Virgin Gorda, and very nice swim and snorkel at the famous "Baths", we ran into our friends Jim, Linda and their daughter Jennifer from Opus. We said some quick hellos, had a light dinner and were off to bed to catch up on some much needed sleep. Yesterday we fully explored the incredible caves at the Baths with our friends and then we all sailed up to the Bitter End which is the northern most part of the BVI. We shared a terrific dinner and good company with the Opus crew aboard Exodo and today we off to explore more of the island itself. We may never leave here....