This is Ann and Ed's first guestwritten blog entry, written by Kate and John Wilkins, who enjoyed the amazing hospitality of Windswept Dreams throughout the Spanish, U.S, and British Virgin Islands.

Leaving Puerto Rico, Windswept Dreams made the passage east to Culebra on April 11. Chris and Sheila from Neverbored made the same passage a few hours earlier, and arrived in time to pick up John and Kate from the ferry in Dewey, Culebra. Ann and Ed soon sailed into the harbor and brought the Wilkins aboard.

Culebra was relaxed, natural, and beautiful. We dinghied to Tamarind and Carlos Rosario beaches for some wonderful snorkeling, followed by lunch and beers at the Dinghy Dock restaurant. Two years ago, Kate and John had phoned Ann and Ed directly from this restaurant to tell them they had to come to this island!

Ann had met some friends of friends who had a guesthouse near the harbor, and all aboard Windswept Dreams and Neverbored went there for an evening of food and music. Ann brought her keyboard, Ed his guitar, and another guest brought a fiddle and copies of his favorite songbook of sea shanties and other tunes. A good time was had by all.

Bidding fond adieu to Culebra, Windswept Dreams headed for a day stop at Culebrita. The hike to the ancient and abandoned lighthouse afforded great views, including from the top of the structure, after a perilous walk up dilapidated spiral stairs. Hiking was a hot business, but we all felt better after we discovered (thanks to John's encyclopedic research of everything) some bath-like pools on the island's northern point.

Anticipating some squally weather, we set sail for the US Virgin Islands. We arrived in Charlotte Amalie, where we spent four nights, because the harbor provided good shelter from the winds. We had adventures walking local roads to find a Costco-like store to re-provision the boats. We also tried out the local taxis to get around the island, especially to Red Hook, where Ann and Ed could consult the Island Packet folks about a potential problem with their boat. The local Ace hardware store was a hit, as was the local bakery, but the farmer's market was disappointing. There were historical sights as well, such as Blackbeard's castle, colonial era buildings, and the “99 steps” up the hill (there were 103 of them—go figure). We also observed the daily comings and goings of cruise ships. The city seemed to rev up each morning with the arrival of a new batch of tourists, and heave a sigh of relief when they would depart in the late afternoon.

Using a weather window to leave Charlotte Amalie, Windswept Dreams sailed to Great St. James Island, anchoring in small but scenic Christmas Bay. The only downside of this mooring place was the constant presence of ferry wakes during the day. We spent hours swimming and snorkeling at a set of rocks called the Stragglers.

On April 18, we sailed to St. John Island. This island is nearly all National Park Land. Windswept Dreams and Neverbored anchored at Caneel Bay, then dinghied to the town of Cruz Bay, where we checked out the park Visitor's Center, poked around town, and took a scenic but hot hike to look out at the bay and the neighboring islands. Ann and Ed stayed in town to check out the food and entertainment (karaoke!) while Chris, Sheila, John and Kate returned to the beach to lounge and play.

The next day, it was a short motorsail to Little Lameshire Bay, an absolutely beautiful bay with a beach, crystal clear water, and wonderful reef. From this location we took a hike to see some ruins and petroglyphs, calling on everyone's patience and map-reading skills to find them. There were fine views on the hike as well, and we spent some time speculating what it would have been like to live in an “estate” high up on an isolated hill on St. John with no company and no internet. Everyone was ready for a cooling swim after that hike.

The next day's journey was just “around the corner” to Salt Pond, said to have the finest snorkeling on the island. Indeed, the snorkeling around the rocks in the center of the bay was superb, although we weren't too happy with the jellyfish we met out in deeper waters. The quantity and variety of corals was outstanding, and there were many happy fish there, as well as rays and turtles. The only wildlife we did not appreciate were the no see'ems, which were voracious. Fortunately for the rest of the party, they found Kate the tastiest, so she drew the bloodthirsty little buggers away from the others to some extent. Also beautiful at isolated Salt Pond were amazing stars. Kate and Ann sat on the deck in the evening and located the Southern Cross, the Milky Way, some planets, and a shooting star or two.

Leaving Salt Pond on April 21, Windswept Dreams and Neverbored visted Coral Harbor, a laid back little town in Coral Bay. There we shot the breeze with the locals and spent some time on the internet. We wanted to eat lunch at the Donkey Diner (kickass food!) but they were closed when we got there in mid afternoon, so a frozen fruit bar had to do. Time to push off.

Salt Pond may not be the very very best snorkeling, because next we traveled to Waterlemon Cay. (Yes, it is Waterlemon, although a few guides say Watermelon.) Wow. Amazing reef, clear water, and peekaboo sunshine. When the sun came out, the colors were dazzling. We hiked to the ruins of the Anneberg Sugar Mill, and read interpretive signs about the rum industry that thrived on the island during the slave days. Again, the refreshing swim afterwards made us want to stay in this spot for days, but two nights was going to have to do, as the BVI's were awaiting us.

On April 23, we motored across the strait to Soper's Hole, and Ed took care of registering our entry into the British Virgin Islands. Then we crossed to Peter Island, and considered mooring in Little Harbor, but after re-cristening it “not-so-great” harbor (too steep, inhospitable bottom) we moved to Great Harbor, arriving in late afternoon. We enjoyed watching the birds fishing there, and spotted goats ashore, as we had done in several other locations.

On April 24, we headed for the Baths on Virgin Gorda. At first it seemed they might be too crowded to be enjoyable, but it ended up being a highlight of our time in the BVI. We had to anchor quite a ways away from the center of the attraction, but this forced us to don snorkeling gear and head there by water. What a treat—it turns out that viewing the famed boulders from underwater is at least as cool as scrambling among them from on land. There were many interesting formations, and we got to swim in and out in crannies and holes where the fish and corals live. All this in water as clear as anywhere on the planet, with white sand. Arriving at the officially sanctioned (translate: “tourist attraction”)

Baths, we were not disappointed, as the rocks were fun for scrambling, exploration, and photo ops.

Leaving the Baths, we sailed to Cooper Island, where we took a mooring ball off a small resort. John and Kate were leaving the next day, so we took advantage of Happy Hour at the bayside bar, complete with couches, breezes, and palm trees right by the shore. Bittersweet to watch the sun set over the boats.

On April 25, the Wilkins had to catch a flight at 6:30 pm. But Ann and Ed had heard great things about Anegada, so they dropped their guests at the airport at 10 am in order to be able to sail there after a stop for water at Spanishtown. Watch this space to see if that is what they did!

Ann and Ed say that the Wilkins' are the only friends who have taken them up on their offer to come join them. Why is this? Windswept Dreams is highly rated in our book—beautiful accommodations, amazing hosts, good cooking, fair winds: what's not to like? Ann and Ed will provide the experience of being a working member of the crew, and unforgettable memories. Not to mention world class caramel rolls.

Disclaimer: this blog entry and timeline have been reconstructed entirely from Kate's memory, which may or may not bear any relationship to reality. Notably left out were many great meals and happy hours aboard Windswept Dreams and Neverbored. All errors contained herein are strictly mine, and are subject to correction by the Captain or First Mate of Windswept Dreams. kw