Happy Thanksgiving from the Vi's

It is U.S. Thanksgiving today. We are anchored (on a mooring ball) in Soper's Hole in the BVI's. It is a big day for our fellow U.S. friends. More like our Christmas celebrations to them. So on Nana Maria, we are cooking a turkey, stuffing and all the fixings. We have Captains Mark & Janel, crew Kelly, Howard, Rod & Marianne & Fozzie the dog. Pamela and her partner JP have joined us from St. Thomas. (Pamela has crewed on Nana Maria several times on past Carib 1500's.)

Since we finished the race to the Vi's, we have had a great time. We had several days at Village Cay Marina after we finished the race. Time to wash down the salt, do laundry and re-provision and of course trade stories with the rest of the racers. The fleet was taunted with nightly parties courtesy of Mount Gay Rum. The last night was the final dinner. Nana Maria placed 5th in our division which was great. We were all quite proud of our accomplishment.

After the awards dinner in Tortola last week it was time to get out of the marina and see some other things. On Wednesday we headed to Monkey Point to do some swimming and snorkeling. We anchored for the night at Trellis Bay right beside the airport. Trellis Bay works out great for crew arriving to or leaving from Beef Island. You can take them by dingy to shore and a short walk across a field gets you to the airport. We had a tour of shore and many unique shops with lunch at a beach bar.

The next day we headed to Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbour. For the past few years, they have hosted the Phat Virgin party. A great party. The marina provided drinks and hors d' oeuvres for the party at the beach bar. Good music and lots of fun. Ask Mark about Kelly dragging him off a bar stool to take him home. . . Lots of rumors make for a much better story than the truth. The next day we stayed at the marina and had dinner that night at The Rock. A great restaurant on top of a hill. Our table is surrounded by huge rocks. Good food and good company and a beautiful setting.

The next day we left for Anegada which is a relatively unpopulated island compared to the others in the area. It is very shallow and surrounded by reefs. It is off limits to most of the charter boats and probably rightfully so. Not easy to get into.

Bill & Linda on Sapphire (Friends of Mark & Janels), suggested renting a vehicle to tour the island. So Bill arranged a truck with seat benches on the back. So 12 of us toured the island on the truck/taxi. Lots of fun. Bill drove and 10 of us sat in the back of the truck. The first stop was Cow Wreck beach. Lots of cow pies as we got out of the truck and Joy managed to step in one and took lots of abuse. Unfortunately the wind was howling and it wasn't a great day for swimming and snorkeling. But given given the right conditions - the snorkeling would have been phenomenal. The island is very flat and has miles and miles and beautiful beaches. You can walk for miles on the beach and never see another person or footstep in the sand. The anchorage at Anegenda is shallow. The first night we anchored the depth sounder showed 6.5 feet which is what Nana Maria draws and as the tide dropped we were aground. We did move the next day to a slightly deeper spot. That night we had a great dinner at Neptune's Treasure. The next night we had a pot luck dinner with a few neighbors on Nana Maria.

On Tuesday we went to Leverick Bay. We toured shore and then drinks on Joy for All - a Farr 50. Gill & Joy are lots of fun. On Wednesday we headed for Sophers Hole. A great sail with the bag of terror (new AKA Beauty & the Beast)

Our time is starting to run out. Tomorrow Kelly & Howard fly home. On Monday, we take Nana Maria to Nanny Key Marina. Mark & Janel have arranged to have the boat pulled and It will be painted Claret Red while they are gone. On Tuesday the four of us will fly to Washington DC. Then the drive home and back to reality. Oh well . . .

Take care. See you soon

Marianne & Rod Nuttall