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We woke up at 6 a.m. and had coffee, cereal, and orange juice. Marty and his new roommate Scott showed up promptly at 7:30, and we all drove into Red Hook. There is no longer street parking for the marina as there had been when we started coming here. Instead there was a new parking garage serving the surrounding strip malls. We went to Marina Market to buy supplies for the Island Hop - subs, chips, beer, ice, etc. We all ordered our subs and then had plenty of time to do the rest of the shopping while they were prepared - Marina Market runs on island time. Once we had purchased everything, we then crossed the street to the Marina, signed out the boat from Mattheus at See & Ski, and filled out our customs paperwork to enter the British Virgin Islands. It was a familiar routine - preparing for our voyage. We loaded up the cooler, put on sunscreen, and set off with Cap'n Marty at the helm.
One of my favorite experiences is sitting in the front of the boat, watching the bright turquoise water, with the wind in my hair, having nowhere to be and just taking it easy. We went to St. John first and soon realized that we had left the snorkel gear back in the car. Oh well. The boys cracked open Heinekens and we went for a swim at Peter Bay, in front of the now-open Presidio del Mar, a 6 bedroom villa located near Mick Jagger's house. After years of watching its construction taking place on "island time", it was nice to see the finished product - a luxury villa that looks like a castle. Marty said that the Real Housewives of New York television show had recently done a shoot there. Next we went to West End Tortola (British Virgin Islands) to clear customs. We let Craig and Steve off at the dock with the paperwork and fees, and we slowly cruised around the bay to kill time. However, we didn't realize that we had neglected to give them Marty's passport in with the others. While we lazily circled the bay, Craig and Steve tried to motion to us from shore, but, much to their chagrin, we never looked back at them. When we circled back to the dock, we saw them waiting for us and had thought that it had been a quick process. They told us that they hadn't even gotten in line yet since they needed the passport. D'oh! We gave it to them and they headed off to clear customs. We kept a close eye on them this time and picked them up as soon as they were through. When they were safely back on the boat we dug into our Marina Market sandwiches and chips. We always seem ravenous when we are on the ocean. We enjoyed cruising around, and Marty timed things so that we got to the infamous Willy T (a restaurant and bar located on a boat moored off Norman Island), at its opening time of noon. We tied up at the dock and boarded the Willy T. We headed straight to the bar. Zeus, our favorite bartender ever, was serving drinks and immediately recognized us. We enjoyed round after round of painkillers. Scott jumped off the boat several times, but I abstained. Zeus dubbed Scott "Sleepy" as he became less and less responsive the more painkillers he consumed. Another nickname is born! We still call Steve Milky whenever we are in the islands - another name bequeathed by the almighty Zeus. General consensus among the boys was that there weren't as many pretty women as usual on the Willy T, and that instead the boat was full of men and kids. Another boat full of men (which we dubbed the swordfish boat) arrived, proving their point. Soon a couple of drunken older ladies came by. Zeus gave me a temporary Willy T tattoo. Scott eventually wound up passed out on our boat, and Marty got some photos of him with props that give "Black Friday" a whole new meaning. After a couple of hours and countless rounds of painkillers, we said our goodbyes to Zeus and headed off. We were all feeling rather buzzed at this point, and Craig and I sat in the front of the boat giggling as Marty drove us toward Jost Van Dyke. Craig's hat flew off his head. Steve kept an eye on it and Marty swung around so that someone could rescue it from the waves. Marty dropped anchor off of Jost Van Dyke. Scott remained passed out on the anchored boat while the rest of us swam to shore. Jost Van Dyke has very picturesque Caribbean-style huts on the beach, one of which houses the Soggy Dollar. We had a round of painkillers and sat down at a table on the beach for a while, to drink and people-watch. Our painkillers came in the plastic Soggy Dollar cups that we have been collecting for the past 7 Island Hops. Marty played the "hook the ring onto the nail" game. As much as we would like to linger here for sunset, the boat was due back in Red Hook at 5 p.m. and the sun was getting low in the sky. We got a round of drinks for the road and headed back to the boat. We had to keep our cups above water while we swam and climbed up the ladder. Once we were all onboard, Marty started her up and raced across the waves. We chased the setting sun as we raced toward St. Thomas. This is always a bittersweet part of the day - we are warm and buzzed and happy, racing through the waves with the sun on your skin and the wind in your hair, but when you reach your destination you will be landlubbers once again. What a perfect day on the water! The Island Hop had once again lived up to its reputation as a trip highlight. We had the boat back at the marina to Mattheus by 5:01 p.m.. Marty's that good. After emptying the cooler and carrying things back to the cars, we headed back to Secret Harbour to hang out for a while, watching the gorgeous sunset, eating snacks, and having some drinks and coffee. Marty and Scott were tired, and they headed back to their apartment shortly after 8 o'clock. We ordered ham and cheese calzones from Señor Pizza and had it delivered to our room. We ate what we could and then put the rest into the refrigerator to be enjoyed as leftovers at a later time. We were pretty tired after our long day on the boat and went to bed early. |
 Prepping the boat  Scott, Marty, Craig, and Steve at the Willy T  Zeus and steph  Steph and Craig  Craig, Marty, and Milky at the Soggy Dollar  |
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