The Adventure Continues...Just the 10 of us..

February 27, 2008




So with our teary farewells said to Anna and Dustin we head back over to Tortola and Jost VanDyke to show the Schergers the great sights of the BVI. Having seen all of this before we are quick to show them the sights, Cane Garden Bay where a quick load of laundry and grocery shopping was done (who said laundry can’t be fun!!!), Jost VanDyke where we visited White Bay and the Soggy Dollar bar (Kiana and Phoebe bought matching t-shirts here that say: “I live in my own little world……but it’s ok they know me here.” And for anyone who knows either Kiana or Phoebe there could not be a more appropriate shirt for them.) Of course a visit to Jost would not be complete without a visit to the famous Foxy’s Bar and Restaurant, although we did go during the day and it is just not quite the same, then it was off to Sandy Spit and then the bubbling pool (which unfortunately we visited during a low tide and the pool was somewhat empty…oh well!!)




With our tour of the BVI complete we check out of customs on Jost, BVI and head back to the USVI and St.Johns to do a little Scuba Diving. Now that Luke and Tyler are 10 we are all able to go diving, which we are finding is a great activity to do as a family.



Luke – Scuba diving is very cool. I saw an eel, a nurse shark and a turtle, we went down 35 feet.

Tyler – Scuba diving was much fun, it was a lot better that I thought it would be. When I went down for the first time it felt like I was a fish with gills because I could breathe. The farthest I went down was 35 feet, it was awesome. I saw an eel, a nurse shark and a turtle. The turtle was more curious of me than I was of it. I got to do 2 dives of about 45 minutes each. I would like to do this again and I am going to get certified some day.




Devin was able to take his deep water dive and certification here which was on our to-do list. It is amazing how the business ethic can change from one island to the other. When Kevin and I took our certification in Bequia the instructors took alot of time with us to make sure that we were comfortable and understood everything, but here on a U.S. island it is business comes first and they had us on and off the boat with two dives under our belts and another group heading out before we even knew what hit us. Oh well, the diving was great, everyone enjoyed themselves and Devin passed is Scuba course with flying colors. Congrats Devin!!!!!



What would a stop on St.John’s be without visiting the Eco Hotel and a visit to the glass blowing demonstration, just as our kids and Kevin and I were amazed with the show the Schergers were equally impressed and entertained. Phoebe and I had to make a stop at the glass store the next day to purchase some of the artwork we witnessed being created. At the Eco Hotel we also had the opportunity to sit and listen to a Marine Biologist do a talk on the state of the Coral Reefs in the Caribbean, we learned a great deal and at least one little mind was greatly affected (Kiana is thinking that maybe a career in Marine Biology would not be so bad; study amazing reefs, scuba and snorkel all day, incorporate her love of photography, live in the Caribbean and finally make money to help support her jewellery purchasing, not such a bad life) Once again this trip has been a wonderful eye opener for all of us.



Kiana – Listening to the marine biologist was very interesting. He reminded me a lot of my science teacher back at school, Mr. Luck, because he knew lots and was always making hilarious jokes. I learned about sea sponges, hard coral and soft coral. I hope one day that I can find the reason and cure for the black ring disease that the brain coral die from. The coolest part about the presentation was the sponge breeding…..hahaha!!! All of a sudden all of the sponges release white stuff (technical name held back) which then goes into the other sponges to produce baby sponges (health class). Corals also have a thin layer of skin and mucus, we learned that you should not touch any coral because you will remove these layers. Corals come in all different colors and shapes. My favorite soft coral in the whole ocean are the anemones, most of them are yellow with purple, green or blue tips, I love seeing them while snorkeling. Next up Spanish Islands……… Hasta La Vista Babes!!!

On St.John’s we also spent a day on the beach at Cinnamon Bay with a bagged lunch and lots of sun for everyone. I think that our guests have shed a complete layer of skin since their arrival. Cinnamon Bay is neat in that it is a campground like we have in the mountains in Canada, just bring your tent or better yet rent a big Coleman tent and you are set. They even have a great cafeteria style restaurant and of course a great white sandy beach.

Moving forward we haul up anchor and head for St.Thomas for a restock in our grocery supplies and some souvenir shopping. St.Thomas is a great place to stock up when you have two families to feed as there is a Costco like store (Cost – U – Less) with bulk items and items that are hard to find on other islands; so off go Kevin, Cole and Devin to do some heavy duty shopping, where we are going to store all of this stuff is the big question.



Today we sent the Schergers ashore too experience some local life on their own. Kevin delivered them to land and we planned for a meet up later in the day at the Fat Turtle Restaurant for some deep fried pickle appetizers. We went and did some shopping of our own, with some long overdue haircuts for mom and dad and some more gifts to buy for friends, the day went quickly.



We decided that some sightseeing was in order for the island of St.Thomas. With a suggestion to visit Coral World from a local dive shop we hired a tour truck to take us over to Coki Beach where a mini sea world of sorts awaited our arrival. Fun was had by all as we followed the schedule of feeding and presentations that we were given with our map at the entrance, this ended up being a great thing as we witnessed everything there was to see.



Cole – At Coral world we saw lots of great stuff. We got to pet and feed Nurse and Lemon sharks, they feel like fine sand paper. We got to touch some sea urchins that cannot hurt you. Then we went to feed some birds, we fed them mango nectar and the birds sat on our shoulders and stuck their tongues in. It cost $5.oo for two cups of nectar. We got to see the sting-rays next, they were my favorite. We were given some fish, we waved it in the water and they would come and suction up against the wall, then you had to lift up their noses and drop the fish into their mouths, we were then allowed to pet the top of their heads. They felt hard and slimy but very cool. Next was the sea lion show, he could do lots of stuff like wave, high 5, stand up and look into the aquariums and talk (they roar like a lion, I guess that is why they are called that). Then we went into an underwater glass building, where there was a lady scuba diving and feeding the wild fish like the Horse Eyed Jacks some fish. She had to wear special metal gloves to protect her hands, we talked to her after and she showed us holes in her wet suit from some fish bites. She told us that the worst thing that has happened under the water to her was an eel going up her shorts, she had to take her shorts right off in order to get it out. Then we went out of Coral World to the beach beside it (Coki Beach) and went snorkeling, we bought some dog bones from a local vendor to feed the fish, it was really cool and the fish loved the bones.



With so much to see and so little time we are forced to haul up anchor once again and move on. Because the next set of islands, the Spanish Virgin Islands (SVI), are considered part of the U.S. we were told that we simply had to let the customs officials know when we arrived there, but being in the Caribbean nothing ever seems to go as smoothly as it should. We arrived on the Spanish Island of Culebra (Snake Island in Spanish) on a Saturday morning, so being the law abiding Canadian citizens that we are we did not stop to collect our $200 but went directly to the airport to “let them know” that we had arrived.





The customs official on duty quickly let us know that the officials in St.John failed to stamp our passports and also should have issued/sold us a ‘Cruising Permit’ for sailing in U.S. waters (and that this should have been done back at the end of January when we checked into the USVI for the first time) . Kevin and I held our breath thinking that we were heading back to the USVI to collect our license and proper paper work, thankfully the lady in customs was having a great day and filed the proper papers on our behalf. Unfortunately the story does not end there, being at this customs office temporarily she was unable to get the computer system working to print off our papers so we would have to come back tomorrow and pick up our papers. Thankful that she had done what she could for us and not sent us back to the USVI we smiled, said thanks and vowed to return tomorrow, oops sorry not tomorrow it is Sunday and the customs office is closed, Monday would have to do.

Seeing this layover as an opportunity to venture ashore, we woke early Sunday morning and headed into town to rent some jeeps and do some ‘off-roading’. Culebra is a small island, 7 miles long by 3 miles wide, easy to cover in one day. Carlos’s Jeep Rentals was silly enough to rent Kevin and Devin each a brand new jeep to take around the island, silly, silly people.



With a small map in hand off we go to check out the beautiful beaches of Culebra. On the north shore we found a beautiful beach called Bahia Flamenco (Flamingo Beach, new change in that everything is in Spanish now, this beach was named after the pink Flamingos that once nested here) where everyone on the island seemed to go for a beautiful Sunday afternoon with friends and family. Unfortunately for the hired lifeguard on this beach the swells coming from the north created some big waves and some undertow that us silly Albertans love to play in. We were not on the beach 5 minutes before we were in the water enjoying the crashing waves and doing our rendition of body surfing (some bathing suit readjustments were definitely done this day hey Phoebe), only to hear the lifeguards whistle blowing and arms swinging wildly at us. Unbeknownst to us, we were in an area that we were not supposed to be in with our kids, so somewhat frustrated and embarrassed we more over and into the water we go again, guess what?? Whistles blowing and arms swinging again, this time we are out to far, come in closer. Kevin and Devin had had enough, out they go to carry our towels and picnic supplies down the beach to the unsupervised area where there is no lifeguard. What Rebels. With the show that our Average Joes hockey players were putting on out in that surf that they should have a career sports change to body surfing, well maybe not……



Monday morning after our captain had acquired the proper documents we headed around the south side of the island to a bay called Carlos Rosario. Here we witnessed some of the healthiest coral reef that we have seen in our travels and the boys spent hours playing football and truth and dare (running down the beach with their bathing suits at their knees was quite the entertainment) on the beautiful sand beach. Once again the kayaks are a great thing to have, they continue to give the kids a means of getting away from the parents (and vice versa of course) and a bit of their own independence.



I am sure that everyone is wondering how we are all managing on the boat, all 10 of us 24/7???????? Well to be totally honest we are doing incredible, the kids are getting along amazingly well, we still have the silly sibling quarrels but nothing out of the ordinary. I think that Devin and Phoebe will have to invest in a Sorry game as Eric and Everett seemed to enjoy it just a little bit (I think we played 10 games a day, every time that we sailed anywhere, what a great way to pass the time). As for the adults we have gotten into a bit of a routine with Devin and Phoebe trying to pay for everything and us fighting back, we all clean together which is wonderful as the work gets done quicker, we take turns one week on and one week off for cooking meals (we also fight over who does the dishes; the kids can just not understand why we would fight over such a thing…”Mom Mr. Scherger wants to do the dishes so just let him!!!”) as it is just too expensive for 10 people to eat out very often and finally Devin having to eat all of the leftovers as he hates to see anything go to waste. We really could not have picked a more compatible family to have on board with us, we just all seem to work well together.