From: paul.graveline@travel.com (Paul Graveline) 
Newsgroups: soc.culture.caribbean
Subject: CARIBBEAN TRAVEL ROUNDUP5
Date: 31 Dec 92 01:03:00 GMT
Distribution: world
Organization: Travel Online / St. Louis Online - St. Louis, MO
Reply-To: paul.graveline@travel.com (Paul Graveline) 

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would  go  to jail. Judging by the road, I don't see how anyone could  
go  faster  than  20  anyway.  It was very curvy and rutted. Over the  
next  12  days,  we  would hear often from the locals, "Walk on Left,  
Drive  on  Left".  We  had to stop at the laundromat, so Ashley could  
pick up his laundry.  

We  had  provisioned  the  boat  with  eggs,  recombined milk, bread,  
liquor  and Coke. We put our luggage on the boat, and after a trip to  
the  Peg Leg Landing, a quaint hut type tavern in the marina, settled  
down  to sleep in the salon of the boat. It had to be 95 degrees down  
there.  We  took  all  our bedding up to the cockpit and slept there,  
until  it  rained,  and  then took the wet bedding back down to sleep  
until morning.  

The  next  day,  we  rented  a  car  and toured Tortola, had lunch at  
Pussers,  marveled  at  the cattle alongside the road, not tied up in  
any  way,  and  the  chickens  running  around.  I  often stopped and  
listened  to the locals talking. Their speech is musical. I loved it.  
When  they  talked  to  me,  they  seemed  to try really hard to make  
themselves understood.  

We  had  to  get  a one week BVI driver's license for $10. Paying the  
$10  was  the  only  test.  The  next  day, we went to the Indians to  
snorkel.  I tried snorkeling everywhere, was disappointed with what I  
was  able  to  see.  The  only  place  I  had snorkeled before was at  
Pennecamp  in  Key Largo. At the Indians, the coral was not nearly as  
brightly  colored,  nor  were  the fish, but it was a lovely day. The  
shoreline was very rocky, and we had no shoes with us.  

We  left  and stayed at the Bight for the night and took he dinghy to  
the  William  Thornton, a 110' wooden boat made into a restaurant. No  
one  greeted  us,  or gave us a menu of any kind. They just continued  
talking to each other, so we left and ate on the boat.  

The  next morning, we woke up to the sounds of the goats calling back  
and forth to each other. Is this paradise or what........ 

This  day, the wind was great for sailing. We tacked our way to Peter  
Island.  We  anchored in Deadman's Bay, and took the dinghy to shore.  
As  it  turned out, this was my favorite island, with Cane Garden Bay  
a  close  second. After we landed the dinghy, we headed for the Peter  
Island  Yacht  Club.  It  was  exclusive  and  pricey, but absolutely  
gorgeous.  We  walked  up the beautiful path to the hotel area, where  
we  were  greeted  by  the  club manager. Since it was not their busy  
time,  he told us to make ourselves at home, and feel free to use the  
pool  and  tour  the  grounds. I went into the gift shop and did some  
shopping.  We  then  went  to the beach and swam, had a Bushwacker at  
the  informal  beach  bar,  and  laid  in  the huge rope hammocks and  
enjoyed  the beautiful view. I then did something everyone who visits  
Peter  Island  should  do.  Although  it  was  warm  out,  because of  
insects,  I  put  on  a sweatsuit and climbed the hiking trail to the  
top  of  the  hills, from where I could see both sides of the island.  
The  climb was tiring, but well worth the effort. From there, you can  
see  the  different greens of the water, the white sand, and the palm  
trees.  I  took some pictures from up there that were the best of the  
trip, barring none.  

The  next day, we headed for Salt Island to snorkel over the wreck of  
the  Rhone.  It  may  or  may not be down there, but we never saw any  
sign  of  it,  although  many  people with diving suits went down. On  
shore,  we  met  several  locals  gathering  snails.  They  were very  
friendly  and  interesting  to  talk  to. We heard wild goats and saw  
wild  donkey.  On  to  Cooper Island. This was a real treat. Although  
the  beach  frontage  where  you  can walk is very limited, since the  
adjacent  property  is  private,  we enjoyed Cooper Island Beach Club  
very  much.  Laura  and  Simon,  who run the beach club, made us feel  
very  welcome,  even thought they were extremely busy. We had a drink  
at  the  bar  at  about  3:30, and made dinner reservations for 6:30.  
About  4:30,  everyone  started  to  leave,  including the bartender.  
Soon,  my  husband and I were the only ones in sight. I walked to the  
kitchen  to ask for some conch fritters, and was told that they close  
from  4:30  to  6:30.  We  sat at the bar, all alone, and about 6:00,  
people  started  coming  back  from  their  boats.  We had a terrific  
dinner, and took our dinghy back to the boat for the night.  

I  was  getting  used to sleeping under the stars, seeing the distant  
lights  of  various  islands,  and  being  put to sleep by steel drum  
music  drifting  across  the  water.  The next day, we headed for the  
Baths.  They  are astounding huge boulders you can walk between, with  
the  water  swirling  around  your  feet. Again, we were disappointed  
with  the  snorkeling,  although I snorkeled for three hours, and saw  
some  nice fish. It was more fun to explore the rocks afoot. The sand  
is  fine  and  white, and it was not crowded. We have now been in the  
BVI for six days, and have not seen one cruise ship.  

Another  good idea was that we paid $15, and were given a certificate  
to  use  any  of  the  orange "day" moorings scattered throughout the  
islands.  They  are great to use when snorkeling, or just sitting and  
enjoying  the  view.  I felt sorry for those brought out on excursion  
boats  to snorkel. When the captain blew the whistle, they all had to  
hurry back to the boat. Kind of like being herded around.  

We  left  the  Baths  and  headed for Gorda Sound. We had only gone a  
short  way,  when  the  engine  overheated and we headed in to Virgin  
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