Tuesday 15 April 2008

Cruising the BVI's with the Minielly's

Hi, it's Sue and we've just returned from spending 12 amazing days cruising the British Virgin Islands with Gary, Janine and the boys. Gary asked me to download some photos as communication connections are very slow and difficult to access these days, and they've not been successful in uploading much lately due to technical issues. I said I'd be happy to take on the assignment of Guest Recorder/Reporter upon my return to the world of high speed 'everything', and isn't that the truth -- after enjoying twelve days of slowwwwww, I must say it's a bit of a shock to get back to the world of alarm clocks, cell phones, schedules, deadlines etc. etc. which is a major contrast to life on the boat where the days events and activities were planned each morning, sitting on deck with a coffee, looking at the waves, weather and every conversation started with, "Well, where are we going today?" It actually took us three days to discover that the only clock onboard was out by two hours (due to being accidentally readjusted during the Pirate Takeover and Treasure Hunt, but that's another story...)

Here's a photo of the crew of the SV High Five, taken on April 12th.

Bradley, Tavish and Richard have all grown at least 4 inches taller, it seems. Everyone is a golden brown, in spite of the 30 SPF sunscreen. Clothing choices consist of sunglasses and swim shorts/suits which makes it much quicker when going for a swim, snorkel, swinging from the halyard (what a blast!!) or diving off the front of the boat.

We spent a good deal of time playing in the water; the snorkelling was amazing. We had the opportunity one afternoon to swim with a sea turtle, who was not bothered by 7 people following behind, over and under him as he lead us around the cove. That same afternoon we swam with fish that looked like salmon (sorry I can't remember their name; where's Richard when I need him!!) and were approx. 4-5 feet long, which was a little awkward at first until we realized that they didn't care about us either. Then there was the day we snorkelled over top of the stingray for a while-- snorkelling in the BVI's is truly like swimming in the tropical fish tanks at the aquarium with no boundaries. You can see to the bottom of the ocean at 50 feet the water is so clear!

Live entertainment at Happy Hour!

I am also pleased to report that the boys are working very diligently on their schoolwork each day (right boys???!!!)

Oops, that's better!!

We met up with Gary's sister Nancy, Bob,Catherine and Alex for a few days. We also had a chance to meet some of the wonderful new friends the Minielly's have made along the way from SV's Salt and Light, Losloper and Migo.

Anyway, enough chat from me, but suffice to say that we had an unforgettable time cruising the BVI's with our dear friends. They are all healthy and happy together in paradise and most definitely having the time of their lives!

The end of another beautiful day in paradise!
Thanks for all the wonderful memories,
S&S

2 comments:

  1. Good job at reporting! Loved the pictures!

    You all are definetly getting tanned! Janine you are looking as gorgeous as ever, keep up the good work!

    Boys you are getting so big and it sounds like you are having loads of fun! Alan and Natalie wish they could be there too!

    Gary it's nice to see what you are looking like now! I got the impression you are camera shy!LOL

    Nancy and Bob's two are quite tall! It was good to see them all down there with you!

    Smooth Sailing!
    The Northern Branch of the family!
    The Shearsmiths

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  2. They were soooo small. showing all they gurls at school what they used to look like.

    From:Caleb Clarke

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