Gang of 6 Trip Report - 10/27-11/5 - Part 3
Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2007 6:20 pm
Part 1: http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... php?t=5029
Part 2: http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... php?t=5060
Part 3: http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... php?t=5207
Part 4: http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... php?t=6104
Day 3 - Tuesday - Palm Tree Charters with John Brandi, Woody's
We spent the day with John Brandi of Palm Tree Charters on his Palma Bella. It's a 26 foot power catamaran that handles beautifully. We spend a day in the BVIs on most of our trips, but this day's trip with John was my favorite so far. John is very easy to get along with, but he discretely keeps an eye on things and he's very conscious of each person's comfort level in the water. I highly recommend him; we booked for March 2008 with the kids already.
Our itinerary was:
The ride to Leinster Bay was fast. Palma Bella was the fastest ride we've had.
We anchored to the East of Waterlemon Cay. John mentioned the coral was quite healthy there and he liked the spot. While we were getting ready to get in for a snorkel some folks from the National Park walked up to do a coral inventory of the area we were in. They laid out measuring tape under water and started counting. Nice, snorkel at work.
Getting in and out of the boat was straightforward with a ladder. There's a nice flat area on the back of the boat that facilitates entry/exit.
It was a good warm up snorkel, but the clarity was not great and there was a good bit of bleaching of the coral. I actually really like the grassy areas in Leinster Bay with the cuttle fish, turtles and rays. But, a good warm up.
We next headed over to the Indians. This was the roughest part of our ride; we were headed into some pretty big waves. It was fun and the boat took it well. We were traversing the channel between St. John and Norman Island and it seemed like we were in the ocean for real, not just some protected passage.
The Indians is a great spot for some dramatic snorkeling. The East side is relatively shallow reef. The West side is a wall about 90 feet deep. Its kind of fun to float over the transition. There are some cool corals on that deep wall. Tons of fish every where.
Some funky black-headed fish along with a snapper.
I think these are Creole Wrasse.
Some coral at the top of the wall.
There's not a whole lot above water.
There were a lot of cool soft corals and a good bit of fire coral. I would have taken more pictures if the current did not push quite so hard away from the boat and toward the shallow reef.
The next stop was the Caves at Norman Island. This was such an idyllic setting that Christine and I never got our snorkels on. We floated about and enjoyed some beers. John has some footage of that in his video of our trip, its hard to take pictures when you're relaxing! - http://youtube.com/watch?v=HteQ1cRv4LY
Lunch at the Willy T was actually much better than I expected. The chicken roti was hot and tasty and the drinks were great. It was clean and relaxing. The dock at the Willy T was easy to navigate. John arranged our food orders while we had a couple of drinks. We were in and out of there pretty fast. John got some footage of the fest at http://youtube.com/watch?v=9HBVMMYZh6E
More boats came in while we were eating. I can imagine things get pretty tight at the end of the day. Some of the folks coming for lunch were already partying pretty hard. Some of their friends looked like they were still hurt from the night before.
We popped over to Sandy Spit. It was too rough to snorkel so we just swam a bit. Next on to White Bay and the Soggy Dollar. I didn't take any pictures there. We were getting quite relaxed. Big Red found a quiet spot in the shade and we pulled our chairs together and put our feet up. Before long Big Red was taking a nap. The rest of us took turns running to the bar for refills. It was a great lost stop for our trip.
We popped over to Cruz Bay and went through customs. In a boat as quick as the Palma Bella it was a short trip. We said good by to John and moved onto our next activity. We traditionally hit Woody's for happy hour after a hard day on the boat. After a couple of rounds we headed back to the villa to clean up.
Tuesday night the four survivors hit Woody's for a long night of misbehavior. We ran into a couple of waves of Forum friends. I woke up at home the next day, so I'm betting the evening was a success.
Cheers, RickG
Part 2: http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... php?t=5060
Part 3: http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... php?t=5207
Part 4: http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... php?t=6104
Day 3 - Tuesday - Palm Tree Charters with John Brandi, Woody's
We spent the day with John Brandi of Palm Tree Charters on his Palma Bella. It's a 26 foot power catamaran that handles beautifully. We spend a day in the BVIs on most of our trips, but this day's trip with John was my favorite so far. John is very easy to get along with, but he discretely keeps an eye on things and he's very conscious of each person's comfort level in the water. I highly recommend him; we booked for March 2008 with the kids already.
Our itinerary was:
- Cruz Bay, National Park dock pickup
Leinster Bay/Waterlemon Cay, St. John
Sopers Hole, Tortola
The Indians
Caves at Norman Island
The Willy T for lunch
Sandy Spit
White Bay, Jost Van Dyke
Cruz Bay, dropoff
The ride to Leinster Bay was fast. Palma Bella was the fastest ride we've had.
We anchored to the East of Waterlemon Cay. John mentioned the coral was quite healthy there and he liked the spot. While we were getting ready to get in for a snorkel some folks from the National Park walked up to do a coral inventory of the area we were in. They laid out measuring tape under water and started counting. Nice, snorkel at work.
Getting in and out of the boat was straightforward with a ladder. There's a nice flat area on the back of the boat that facilitates entry/exit.
It was a good warm up snorkel, but the clarity was not great and there was a good bit of bleaching of the coral. I actually really like the grassy areas in Leinster Bay with the cuttle fish, turtles and rays. But, a good warm up.
We next headed over to the Indians. This was the roughest part of our ride; we were headed into some pretty big waves. It was fun and the boat took it well. We were traversing the channel between St. John and Norman Island and it seemed like we were in the ocean for real, not just some protected passage.
The Indians is a great spot for some dramatic snorkeling. The East side is relatively shallow reef. The West side is a wall about 90 feet deep. Its kind of fun to float over the transition. There are some cool corals on that deep wall. Tons of fish every where.
Some funky black-headed fish along with a snapper.
I think these are Creole Wrasse.
Some coral at the top of the wall.
There's not a whole lot above water.
There were a lot of cool soft corals and a good bit of fire coral. I would have taken more pictures if the current did not push quite so hard away from the boat and toward the shallow reef.
The next stop was the Caves at Norman Island. This was such an idyllic setting that Christine and I never got our snorkels on. We floated about and enjoyed some beers. John has some footage of that in his video of our trip, its hard to take pictures when you're relaxing! - http://youtube.com/watch?v=HteQ1cRv4LY
Lunch at the Willy T was actually much better than I expected. The chicken roti was hot and tasty and the drinks were great. It was clean and relaxing. The dock at the Willy T was easy to navigate. John arranged our food orders while we had a couple of drinks. We were in and out of there pretty fast. John got some footage of the fest at http://youtube.com/watch?v=9HBVMMYZh6E
More boats came in while we were eating. I can imagine things get pretty tight at the end of the day. Some of the folks coming for lunch were already partying pretty hard. Some of their friends looked like they were still hurt from the night before.
We popped over to Sandy Spit. It was too rough to snorkel so we just swam a bit. Next on to White Bay and the Soggy Dollar. I didn't take any pictures there. We were getting quite relaxed. Big Red found a quiet spot in the shade and we pulled our chairs together and put our feet up. Before long Big Red was taking a nap. The rest of us took turns running to the bar for refills. It was a great lost stop for our trip.
We popped over to Cruz Bay and went through customs. In a boat as quick as the Palma Bella it was a short trip. We said good by to John and moved onto our next activity. We traditionally hit Woody's for happy hour after a hard day on the boat. After a couple of rounds we headed back to the villa to clean up.
Tuesday night the four survivors hit Woody's for a long night of misbehavior. We ran into a couple of waves of Forum friends. I woke up at home the next day, so I'm betting the evening was a success.
Cheers, RickG
