Our bubble is the British Virgin Islands (BVI), our home away from home. And of course, our "bubble" is our escape from the chaos of Coronavirus. We left on the date we scheduled many months ago for our March Break vacation (Wednesday), and by Thursday the headlines started indicating closure of many institutions, including schools. Where we are, it's pretty much business as usual. There are no heavily populated places here, in fact quite the opposite. It doesn't mean we're free and clear of risk, but we feel better about our luck here than at a grocery store in Toronto.
Our journey here was a long one (but so worth it). We flew at 6am from Toronto to Chicago, then from Chicago to San Juan Puerto Rico, then our third flight was from San Juan to Tortola BVI. The final flight was an 8 seater prop plane. Granted the views were spectacular, but I would describe it as "not for the faint of heart" flying through the clouds. Matt describes it as "amazing", April as "thrilling and rewarding", and Fiona as "pretty bumpy". The journey ended with a very short taxi ride to the shore of Trellis Bay, where we sat at a picnic bench and enjoyed our first round of Painkillers, followed by a 6 minute water taxi ride to our final destination for the day.
Our ultimate destination is a 4 cabin catamaran "Judges Chambers", but first we would spend 3 days at a small resort on Scrub Island. Scrub Island is a tiny island off the eastern shore of Tortola, the main island of BVI where we spent many years renting villas. This resort is the only establishment on the island. It is a quaint, fun little resort with a marina, a pool, and a quiet beach.
On our second day, Do and Papa (aka Dora and Larry) arrived at Scrub Island. After we showed them around, we had a drink at the swim-up pool bar, then got dressed and went to dinner.
We spent the next day enjoying the resort amenities, which brought out the best kind of playfulness in some of us.
Then, on our third day at Scrub Island, we packed our bags and boarded the water taxi, destined for the marina on Tortola where we would board our sail boat. When we arrived at the marina, we met up with Bill & Riley, the rest of our crew members for our sailing journey. Before we set sail we received all our provision deliveries, including from Good Moon Farm, the farm we have been ordering our produce from for many years (it is very possibly the only farm here given the challenging growing conditions on steep terrain everywhere).
One of our new discoveries on this trip has been BVI Gin, a new gin distilled on Tortola. In particular, they make a Hibiscus and Raspberry gin, which is 👌🏻. Of course we brought some of that along for our sailing journey.
Once we had the boat and crew organized, we set sail from Road Town at around 2pm, headed for Cooper Island. While we were cruising through the mooring field at Cooper Island getting ready to tie up for the night, we spotted dolphins at the mouth of the harbour. We changed course and headed out towards them, and to our delight they came towards us! There were two of them, and they were swimming and playfully jumping around the front hulls of our catamaran. It was remarkable! Then when we turned around to head back towards a mooring ball, we saw the largest sea turtle I have ever seen. What a warm welcome. Once we tied up, we settled in for the evening, which gifted us with a brilliant sunset.
We got dressed for dinner and headed over to the fun, beach-vibey but chic Cooper Island Beach Club (the only establishment on this island). We started at their rum bar, a secret gem of a hideaway down here in BVI. It's different from the standard beach bars we love down here that pour Pussers Rum by the "glug" into Pain Killers. They offer over a hundred different kinds of rum, either served neat, in a flight or a nice cocktail. Matt and Bill tried a 12 year old Panamanian rum recommended by the (Irish) bartender which was sweet, smooth and woody.
Then we moved to the restaurant for dinner. The best part was the Caribbean lobster, and a close second was in competition between the mahi mahi, tuna ceviche, keylime tart and passion fruit mouse with chocolate.
We ended our first day on the water with happy bellies and big smiles as we loaded into our dinghy and headed back to "Judges Chambers" for the night (albeit a very windy rocky night that required a few does of Gravol!).
In the morning, some of us began our day with a refreshing dip in the beautiful crystal clear blue water - the best way to start a day!
After a leisurely morning in Manchioneel Bay, Cooper Island, we released our mooring ball and set sail for a glorious afternoon on the water.
Sending love to all. Be well and stay healthy.
Only Love,
Laura, Matt, April, Fiona, Dora, Larry, Bill & Riley ⚓💙
Looks like your all having lots of fun 😃