Treasure hunting, Captain Blackbeard and The Indians

The Indians, BVI's: Some of the best snorkeling of my life.

The adventure continues into the British Virgin Islands. It is never ending in the BVI's. There are endless numbers of Islands to visit, multiple bars to hang out in, the snorkeling is phenomenal, and the people have been nothing but supportive. We cleared British Customs in a place called Sopers Hole on the West end of Tortola. At customs I filled out at least 7 different pieces of paper with our names, addresses, contact information...but they didn't even look at the boat or ask any real questions about my crew ( Evan ) who had to stay on board LB. Shortly after we completed the paperwork and were "approved" we found a hot shower and special little laundromat called Subash ( pictures below ). We slept well that night then headed North to an island called Jost Van Dyke...

As I was waxing Lizzy Belle's Hull we heard a huge "Hello" from a 48 foot Catamaran crossing our stern. Surprisingly it was our friends Dave and Karen from St Thomas on their charter vacation. Dave and Karen took us "in" while we were hanging out at a Mike's beach bar back in St Thomas. As we stood up to leave the bar ( heading back to LB to make Beefaroni and toast ) we heard from across the bar "Sit down, do you boys like shrimp?". As we politely declined, the waiter dropped two plates of garlic shrimp down in front of us, along with two cold beer. Best meal we had eaten in weeks. Anyway, back to Jost Van Dyke... We dove into the water and joined them on their sailboat. After meeting the entire crew, we were offered a huge meal and joined them at the Soggy Dollar Bar on shore for Happy Hour ( really 3 hours long ). Let's just say we didn't leave our new "Family" for the next two days. Lizzy Belle sailed with them, we snorkeled together, we ate, drank and told numerous stories of our adventures. Dave and Karen became "momsie" and "popsie" pretty quickly to Evan and I. They, along with the rest of our new friends onboard are truly great people who said, "they saw something special in us and were delighted to help out by being part of our journey". We were more than delighted to be part of theirs. Thank you once again my friends, you will always be remembered! ( Dave and Karen are going to send us the photos they took to post on the blog ).

Old Captain Blackbeard: We all know the stories from The Pirates of the Caribbean, Treasure Island...well this is where they originated. Blackbeard and other pirates hid treasure all over Norman Island and these caves are famous. In 1910 a fisherman took his boat into one of the caves to seek shelter from a hurricane. As his boat was being tossed around inside the cave, a treasure chest fell directly into it. Lucky guy eh? Evan and I snorkeled around for hours searching for treasure. Hahahaha. What was cool though was that you can swim and snorkel right into the caves and there are vast numbers of tropical fish and coral in every direction.
Arts and Crafts on LB. It is amazing what you find on the beach. Because we aren't as lucky as that fisherman in the caves, we look for our own small treasures to turn into jewelry. Local shells in combination with hemp, my personal collection of beads, epoxy and other found objects can be built into really cool jewelry.We'll photograph some of our creations and post them later in the week. We look forward to Arts and Crafts everyday.
Our discoveries spread out on our marine plywood workspace. Mike's beach back in St Thomas. I forgot to put it up last week.
Evan waiting on LB for us to clear BVI customs in Sopers Hole.
Famous Pusser's Rum Restaurant. It was a tad too expensive for us to enjoy.
Subash Laundromat... Something special.
...
We are starting to use the BBQ everyday. This was an Italian breakfast sausage. We cooked potatoes and mixed it up with Montreal Steak Spice!

Evan loving life.
The Pirate Bar on Norman Island.
The Willy T. This was a bar/nightclub. It was even too greasy for Evan and I. We went home early.
LB flying her flag on the left and the Canadian flag on the right. My Aunt, Jill Welsford made the LB flag for us for Christmas. We fly it every Saturday.
After we woke up on Saturday morning we were greeted by another group who had chartered a boat. They had finished their vacation and heard our story. Once again, they wanted to help out and said that they would just end up throwing their food out. 24 beer, fresh shrimp and so much more. Thanks guys! This will keep us fed for days.

We are now in Road Town, Tortola. Tomorrow we have to track down some tools, etc to fix Lizzy Belle's forestay. Her chain plate is getting loose from all the wear and we must make this repair or the entire rig could come down on us. No worries though, we have a plan and are used to fixing her up every week. Keep the boat afloat is the name of the game!!!

Quote of the week: Written on the back of the bathroom door on the Willy T, "You only live once but when you live like us, once is enough!". I love it!

Peace out friends,

Welsford and Evan