Turns out, we love Norman Island! Not just for the roomy spots we’ve found to anchor in a sea of $30 mooring balls or for the super comfortable night’s sleep we’ve enjoyed on repeat occasions in this large protected harbor known as The Bight, but also for the hilarious antics that regularly go down at Willy T’s, as well as the pretty fab snorkeling opportunities around the island.
Normans is great, I tell ya!
Oh, I almost forgot, we also love it for the floating solar powered flash light we found one night while dinghying Oliver to shore. Finder’s keepers! ;))
If you’ve been to the BVI’s, then you know Willy T’s is an institution around here. And if you come to BVI and don’t go to Willy T’s, you’re probably not much fun (sorry!) and you’re freaking missing out on the quintessential floating party bar. It’s the real deal.
^^Willy’s on a pretty morning. Pre party-goers.^^
Honestly, I don’t have much of a clue about who the heck Mr. William Thorton is or how the bar came to be. I’m sure you can google the heck out of that if you care to. What I do know is that is Willy T’s is definitely NOT PG rated. Hah! ;)) It’s pretty much made it’s mark by dishing out risqué body shots, placing tattoos on not-so-conspicuous body parts of drunken patrons, and simultaneously allowing free diving festivities (i.e. the naked kind) to take place off the back of the boat/bar.
Seriously. And it’s all in good fun!
There are some super awesome bartenders at Willy T’s and, clearly, some extreme people watching in which to partake.
Luckily for us, we had the best seat in the house after carving out a perfect patch of sand to anchor directly next door to Willy T’s. This allowed us the opportunity to lounge in our cockpit with our cheaper beers (mind you when we weren’t actually at the bar ourselves) and still witness all the craziness taking place.
^^Watching it all go down from the comfort of our boat.^^
Somehow, we also found time to participate in some not-so-crazy shenanigans and made a quick dinghy trip around the corner of Norman’s to visit The Caves!
We heard from a few cruisers that the caves are known for tales of buried treasure…and who are we not to check out these legends ourselves. After snorkeling and scoping out the underwater caverns, it was nearly impossible not to imagine a treasure chest hidden in these caves, but sadly, no pirates booty or gold nuggets were found this go round.
The snorkeling and exploring, however, was worth the quick ride over (minus the surprise small bloody gash on my ankle from one of the sharper cave rocks).
We, of course, brought the GoPro along for some underwater photos and here are a few favs from the day…
Oh, and in case you’re wondering, we snorkeled the Indians too, but that’ll have to wait for a future blog post.
>>Thanks for visiting LAHOWIND sailing blog! We’d love for you to get to know us and follow our story as we attempt to navigate a whole new world of sailing, as we cruise the Caribbean. …Learn more about us and our sailing + cruising adventures.
Posted in British Virgin Islands, Sailing Blog, Sailing LoveTags: 2015, Bar, British Virgin Islands, BVI, LahoWind, Norman Island, Snorkeling, The Bight, The Caves, William Thorton's, Willy T's
Like most normal cruisers, we prefer a dry dinghy. Even more so when we are wearing clean (dry) clothes or transporting fresh goodies from the grocery store back to the boat.
Unfortunately, mother nature oftentimes has other plans in mind and we find ourselves randomly getting hit by a rogue wave when motoring to and fro, or stepping into a couple inches worth of water stacked in the dink after a quick downpour. It’s inevitable, really, to see water accumulate in the dink one way or another, and thus leads me to our very favorite dinghy maintenance trick-a-roo.
Enter the $2 tile sponge!!!
Yup, a sponge! You probably think I’m joking, right?
No seriously, we picked up this great little tile sponge made specifically for cleaning grout back when we were sailing through Georgetown in the Bahamas (although we really should’ve just grabbed one at Home Depot before we left Naples). And, let me tell ya, this little sponge has really been a gem to keep in our dinghy.
Since we don’t own a fancy manual dinghy pump, we use our handy dandy tile sponge instead to remove any water that accumulates when it rains or when we happen to take a wave. The sponge soaks up standing water so freaking quickly you might be shocked to see it in action! And it even manages to snag the tiny pools of water that tend to stack up in the back corners and middle of the dink.
It’s also our go-to cleaner-upper for all that sand/dirt that tends to find its way into the dinghy as well. Since this is a grout sponge (and grout is sanded), it really does a phenomenal job of picking up the even the smallest morsels.
The tile sponge is easy to keep in the dinghy, easy to replace if necessary (i.e super cheap), and best of all easy to use! Win, win, and win!
:)))))))))
And there you have it…our favorite dinghy tile sponge tip!
>>Thanks for visiting LAHOWIND sailing blog! We’d love for you to get to know us and follow our story as we attempt to navigate a whole new world of sailing, as we cruise the Caribbean. …Learn more about us and our sailing + cruising adventures.
Posted in Boat Life, British Virgin Islands, Caribbean, Sailing Blog, Sailing LoveTags: Bahamas, Caribbean, Cruising, Dinghy Life, Dinghy Tips, Grout Sponge, How to Get Water Out of a Dinghy, LahoWind, Sailing Blog, Tile Sponge
Okay, get this.
Jer and I were kicking back at the Willy T’s on Norman Island the other day, just drinking a cold beer and minding our business when some old fart on a charter boat came up behind Jereme, said “hold still!” and then proceeded to whack Jer on the back of his head totally ripping apart and ruining Jer’s sunglass strap in the process. Um, WTF?!?!?!
Seriously, who does that?
Apparently, this dude thought there was a bug on Jer’s back. But still? Even if there was a bug (and there wasn’t, it was probably the little black piece in the middle of Jer’s sunglass strap he saw) you wouldn’t actually hit someone, you might just shoe the bug away or better yet, say “hey there’s a bug on you man.” When we told the guy he actually broke the $20 strap, he simply mumbled sorry and walked away. Really? I mean, you think he would at least offer up a free drink or something, right? Crazy town.
^^Jer’s best “stink face” with his broken sunglass strap lol.^^
So, I’ve been keeping score on our BVI anchor to mooring ratio…and I’m proud to report that we’ve only picked up one mooring ball since entering the BVI’s! That’s 10 nights at anchor, 1 night on a ball. And for those of you who have sailed these parts, you know what we’re up against. Most anchorages here are lined with $30/night moorings for all the charter biz in the area. It can be a little tough sometimes to carve out a good spot to anchor at reasonable depths. Oh, and our one night on a ball was technically at Saba Rock where you get 250 gallons of free water and a free bag of ice with the purchase of a mooring — so it was really a good excuse to take a ball and fill our tank.
Let’s see, what else is new in our world? Oh yeah, we are super stoked that our calendar is now chock full of visitors starting later this week and running through the month of February! We couldn’t be more thrilled to have a few family members escape the frigid temps up north and come visit us in the Virgins and check out what cruising life is all about! …Just wait until they find out how we shower and pump the toilet. ;))
Speaking of life afloat…what I would give for a real mani/pedi right now! I tell ya, the sacrifices being made around here to live this simple sailing life are downright brutal. ;))
Happy Tuesday, ya’ll!
>>Thanks for visiting LAHOWIND sailing blog! We’d love for you to get to know us and follow our story as we attempt to navigate a whole new world of sailing, as we cruise the Caribbean. …Learn more about us and our sailing + cruising adventures.
Posted in Boat Life, British Virgin Islands, Caribbean, Sailing Blog, Sailing LoveTags: 2015, British Virgin Islands, BVI, Caribbean, Cruising, LahoWind, Sailing Blog, Tuesday Tell-Tales
Looking at our photos from the past week or so, it has really started to feel like we are living a groundhog’s day version of a typical charter vacation.
Wake up, enjoy an easy picture perfect sail to the next pretty little island you can see from across the waterway, soak up the gorgeous scenery and whatever excitement that new destination has to offer, eat, drink, repeat.
I guess the main difference is that most normal folks jet down here for only one week and quickly buzz around the BVI’s in hopes of taking in as much as humanly possible in a very little amount of time…and on a pretty strict schedule no less. We, on the other hand, might be the smallest and oldest boat in any given anchorage out here, but we get to live this awesome life at a very leisurely pace again and again, and again.
It’s not too bad of a gig, I suppose. ;))
But as gorgeous as the BVI’s admittedly are, they are also very expensive (for us budget-minded cruisers) and very busy with boat traffic. It’s like a freaking regatta every time we leave an anchorage. And with less-than-seasoned-have-no-clue-what-the-hell-they-are-doing-non-boaters at the helm.
Hey, but that’s okay. We take it all with a grain of salt (on the rim of a cold margarita obviously) and have been soaking up our own fabulous experiences here in the BVI’s.
I have a few blog posts and videos in the works on some of our most recent outings, but in the meantime here are a couple fav photos from the past few days of LAHO floating around the BVI’s!
^^Snorkeling the caves at Norman’s Island.^^
^^More cave underwater action.^^
^^We also LOVED The Baths on Virgin Gorda!^^
^^The huge boulder rock formations at The Baths are just unreal!^^
^^Can’t wait to take all our visitors here.^^
^^Sailing lately has been pure perfection.^^
^^Cruising down the Sir Francis Drake channel.^^
^^We met Christina, Jeff, + Magnus on s/v Altera! Thanks for the awesome dinner guys!^^
^^Crazy hair don’t care! About to dive our anchor.^^
^^The famous Willy T’s floating party barge.^^
^^Pretty nights in the BVI’s.^^
^^The Bitter End in Virgin Gorda is super cute! We loved it here.^^
^^And Saba Rock is the cutest!^^
^^Hi.^^
^^More gorgeous views from Saba Rock.^^
^^Love this place!^^
^^Prickly Pear Island had one of the prettiest beaches yet!^^
^^These boys.^^
^^Just look at him soaking it all in. Love it!^^
>>Thanks for visiting LAHOWIND sailing blog! We’d love for you to get to know us and follow our story as we attempt to navigate a whole new world of sailing, as we cruise the Caribbean. …Learn more about us and our sailing + cruising adventures.
Posted in Boat Life, British Virgin Islands, Caribbean, Sailing Blog, Sailing Love, TravelTags: British Virgin Islands, BVI, Caribbean, Cruising, LahoWind, Sailing Blog
Hello 20-15! So good to see you! As truly awesome as 2014 was, I have a funny feeling 2015 will be even sweeter.
I suppose I’m a little late on a New Year’s style blog post being halfway through the month and all, but we’ve been busy enjoying boat life in the Caribbean. I mean, island hopping around the Virgin Islands isn’t too terrible of a way to kick off 2015, is it?
^^how could we get sick of these gorgeous views?!^^
And fortunately, our down time in the islands has given us/me plenty of time to brainstorm and plan for our future.
We have lots of dreams, plans, goals, etcetera etcetera but in the immediate future I suppose we may need to start wedding planning. ;)) Or at the very least, make a few key decisions on said wedding. I mean, it’s only been like eightish months since we freaking got engaged and I’ve, sadly, only worn my ring a handful of times. I’m a major scaredy cat who’s too afraid to lose it while living this crazy life on the water.
We are also SUPER excited to welcome a new niece AND a nephew later this year!!!!!!!!!! Both Jereme’s sister and my sister are expecting new babies this Spring. I still think there must’ve been a secret plan hatched to get us back home to Florida as quickly as possible. ;))
And all that’s just scratching the surface.
I am sure there will be new gorgeous islands visited, hopefully a few fun visitors aboard, more boat projects completed, and lots of photos (of course) to document it all!
We can’t wait to see what 2015 has in store for us. Bring it on!!!
>>Thanks for visiting LAHOWIND sailing blog! We’d love for you to get to know us and follow our story as we attempt to navigate a whole new world of sailing, as we cruise the Caribbean. …Learn more about us and our sailing + cruising adventures.
|
Beautiful pics! And hooray for the flashlight find…love the Willy T! I’ve made that jump MANY times 😉
Sally & Jerry say we should hook up with you guys. We think we saw you going out of an anchorage as we came. We are in VG now but we’ll be around BVI for 2 more weeks before heading east. Hopefully we meet up. We are a 40′ Caliber cutter-rigged sloop,, ecru hull/blue sunbrella, with Texas Flag. That should narrow it down. And, of course, all that cruiser things mounted all over the boat.
Once again, your pics are beautiful! We get back to the BVIs on Feb. 20th and your photos make the wait more difficult! But please keep posting!
Mary Grace
[…] for hidden treasure, which of course I had to see after reading my friend’s posts about it here and […]