Underway
We had a great time in St. Lucia, we got a lot accomplished and look forward to returning in the future. Unfortunately, the various delays that we encountered in St. Lucia, waiting on parts and technicians left us with our scheduling backs against the wall. We had plans for meeting our good friends Mike Cleary, Bridget Finnegan, and Mike’s daughter Madison in the BVIs. They had a Sunsail sailboat chartered in Tortola beginning on February 19, so when we literally dropped the solar panel technician on the fuel dock in St. Lucia on the morning of February 13th, we knew we had some serious real estate to cover to be 350 miles north in just six days. During our dash north we cruised through the territorial waters of St. Lucia, Martinique, Dominica, Montserrat, Guadeloupe, St. Kitts, Nevis, Statia, St. Marteen and finally the British Virgin Islands. Wow, I am tired just writing about it.
Most of the trip was run in seas of 4-6 ft, with a few periods of 8-9 ft, and even a day with the Caribbean Sea as smooth as a small mountain lake. Our speed averaged 8-10 knots but when we had the opportunity, we ran as high as 25 knots to keep the scenery moving. We have visited all of the countries we just mentioned during our trip south last year so although we are disappointed that we had to hustle through these countries to meet our friends, it was worth it to get to be in the BVI with friends that are virtually like family to us.
Norman Island (The Bight) and North Gorda Soud
Bridget, Madison & Mike, Bubbly Pool, Jost Van Dyke, BVI
Once in the BVI we began our trip by heading off to the Bight on Norman island. A mandatory stop at the infamous Willie T floating bar and grill was followed by a trip to Gorda Sound, Virgin Gorda, and Jost Van Dyke.
We followed that up with a two day trip to Anegada, then over to Marina Cay and The Baths.
Anegada
Marina Cay
The Baths
After that whirlwind, we capped the Cleary clan’s trip to the BVI by meeting our cruising friends Jeff and Izzy Rogers for an evening of good food, conversation and music in one of our favorite spots in the BVI, Cane Garden Bay.
Cane Garden Bay, British Virgin Islands
Our friends have gone home and it is time for our adventure to continue. It occurs to me that this nomad lifestyle works well for our family. I have an idea, I think we should keep this trip going. We will discuss it at dinner tonight and I will get back to you. For now, keep following our progress as our life adventure continues …
pilotsdiscretiondotcom 
Why do I get a feeling you aren’t coming back state side any time soon!?! I’m just waiting to hear the, “We’re crossing the pond,” announcement.
XO
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Announcing, we’re crossing the pond.
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Randy – really enjoyed this update. Great to see Mike & family. Your descriptions and photos (particularly of Patton) were outstanding. Even before I got to the part about keeping the trip going, I sensed a strong emotional undercurrent. The four of you are lucky to have found each other. The boys will be forever strengthened by this adventure.
Your friend – John
On Sat, Mar 5, 2016 at 4:51 PM, pilotsdiscretiondotcom wrote:
> Randy posted: ” We had a great time in St. Lucia, we got a lot > accomplished and look forward to returning in the future. Unfortunately, > the various delays that we encountered in St. Lucia, waiting on parts and > technicians left us with our scheduling backs against the” >
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