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After spending the first summer back in the UK for 5 years, it would be a shame to go ‘home’ to the Caribbean without having seen any snow. So…..we decided it would be great fun (not to mention great experience) to do something we have always wanted to do and work a ski season!

For the next few months we’ll be the proud hosts of Chalet Chevallier in La Tania in the Trois Vallees region of the French Alps. Friends and family are more than welcome to come and stay (you even get a discount) but be quick – there’s a queue forming already!

Stay tuned for more blogs on our winter thrills and hopefully not too many spills, before we head back to the sunshine in the Spring.....

Galleries

Stonehenge (and Laycock) : In ancient times... Hundreds of years before the dawn of history Lived a strange race of people... the Druids No one knows who they were or what they were doing But their legacy remains Hewn into the living rock... Of Stonehenge SPINAL TAP

Stonehenge (and Laycock)

In ancient times... Hundreds of years before the dawn of history Liv ...

Updated: Oct 21, 2009 8:30am PST

Punting on the Cam is jolly fun! Cambridge, England. : Immortalised in the lyrics of Marillion's Garden Party, no discerning Fish fan couldn't help but regurgitate a line or two on a visit to Cambrindge....cheesy I know. "Punting on the Cam is jolly fun they say Beagling on the downs, oh please do come they say Rugger is the tops, a game for men they say I'm punting, I'm beagling, I'm wining, reclining, I'm rucking, I'm fucking So welcome, it's a party!!!!" Anyway here's some happy snaps of a jolly nice day out in the university city with Jim and Loretta.

Punting on the Cam is jolly fun! Cambridge, England.

Immortalised in the lyrics of Marillion's Garden Party, no discerning ...

Updated: Oct 21, 2009 7:25am PST

Aultbea, Scotland. Joyce's place... : During our summer back in the UK we also managed a few trips up to Joyce's hotel and home up in Aultbea, Ross-Shire. Great to look back on some of the photos of Sheena and Richie, and their dog Kya on the amazing west coast beaches. Our time with Joyce also took in the annual Aultbea Fun Day - an event never to be missed - especially the Raft Race. Particular note this year goes out to the raft bearing Robbie, Jason, Gary and Martin - having only made it some 30 yards from the start at the pier, due to let's say the wind and tide rather than paddling prowess, they had to be eventually rescued by the Safety Boat before they headed out to Isle Ewe.

Aultbea, Scotland. Joyce's place...

During our summer back in the UK we also managed a few trips up to Joy ...

Updated: Oct 20, 2009 11:36am PST

Hopeman, Scotland. Andy's home town. : Some photos of a few of our visits up to Hopeman, Morayshire in Scotland - Andy's home town. Hopeman is in the North East of Scotland sitting in the micro climate of the Moray Firth just east of Inverness. There are some great views of the local beach together with the colourful beach huts on the East Beach. We also managed to be up there at the Summer Solstice and got a few shots of the summer sun setting between the rocks at the end of the beach known as the Daisy Rock. The sailing photos are of Andy's brother Brian when the three of us went out for a day sail in Brian's Winkle Brig. Fab to see some sunny days and good memories back in Hopeman. PS A special thanks to Cheeser and Wilson for the freshly caught local lobsters. Delicious!

Hopeman, Scotland. Andy's home town.

Some photos of a few of our visits up to Hopeman, Morayshire in Scotla ...

Updated: Oct 20, 2009 6:01am PST

A Grand Day Out Gromet! : What better way to pass a few hours in London? Be a tourist for the day!! Here's some shots of this magnificent city full of splendid landmarks and quircky sights. Andy

A Grand Day Out Gromet!

What better way to pass a few hours in London? Be a tourist for the da ...

Updated: Oct 02, 2009 9:43am PST

The Wedding of Colin and Iona Donald : 13th June 2009, Elgin, Scotland. There are few times in your life when you are given an opportunity to do something for someone that means so much to both of you. That opportunity happened to me when my best friend Colin, whom I'd known since we met at Elgin Academy way back in 1982, called me out of the blue and asked me to be the Best Man at his Wedding. To say I was chuffed to bits was an understatement. This was the first time anyone had asked me to do this, and that fact that it was for Colin and Iona made it really special. This was back in March 2009 when we were still in the BVIs, and the wedding was set for June, back in Scotland. As many will now know our availability during the summer was looking a little more open than normal due to the let's say 'abrupt termination' of our employment from Dive BVI earlier in the month. We also had the uncertainty of what we were going to do during the summer, or where we were going to be for that matter. One thing that we had decided on was to steer our future careers more towards sailing and to that effect Sadie and I had booked some courses back in the UK to get us closer to that destination. In giving Colin an answer to the Best Man question, it was an obvious 'yes', but I had to explain that there was the remote possibility that I might be in the middle of the ocean on the day in queston. A back up plan was needed in the form of Ryan Christie who was a huge help in organising a 'wee stag doo' for the boy while I was absent at sea. A big thinks goes out to Ryan for helping out! Thankfully all went to plan with the sailing, and Sadie and I were able to make our way North to Elgin a few days before the Wedding to help out with the preparations and to ensure that the Bride Groom both dehaved himself and was also in a fit state on the important day. Needless to say the days running up to the big day were pretty liquid with vast quantities of red wine being drunk and many stories of days gone by being embellished by the mouthful! However, it wasn't all about drinking as there were quiches to cook and sandwiches to make to help soak up the guests alcohol intake at the Wedding Reception. Both Iona and Sadie definitely kept us busy here - and to this day I don't think that I could face another quiche again in my life. The Wedding Day itself was fantastic. Very laid back and relaxed - just the way that Colin and Iona wanted it. The venue was the Laichmoray Hotel in Elgin, and despite the rain which greeted us on the morning of the wedding, the skies cleared and the sun came out as if on cue in time for the ceremony. Iona looked stunning as she was walked up to beautiful grounds at the rear of the hotel by her 'bairns', meanwhile Colin was literally shaking like a leaf and trying desparately to contain the emotion that was welling up from within. Once the two of them were standing side by side the nerves settled and the vows began. Any remaining pressure was broken completely when asked to produce the wedding rings, I placed Skull and Crossbones and Horses Head rings onto the silk cusion for the Registrar to offer over to the Bride and Groom! After a moment of complete shock and disbelief, and me saying to Colin "are these not the right rings?" - to which he simply replied "er, no"!! Realisation then quickly dawned, and a welcome chuckle and light relief rippled through everyone. The rest of the ceremony played through and we then retired for the formal photographs and eventually up for dinner. I had the pleasure of saying a few kind words after dinner, despite Colin's assurances that I didn't have to get up and say anything! (Come on, who in their right mind would give up such an opportunity.) With formalities duly dispatched, the entourage then headed up to New Elgin Hall for the live band and also to devour the thirty or so quiches and plates of sandwiches previously prepared!! The night wouldn't have been complete without an impromtu performance by Colin's band as they rocked out a few numbers to the guests - very cool :-) Overall a totally cool few days and some truely great memories - glad we had so many cameras there to capture the moments. We love you guys - enjoy the photos! A&S xx

The Wedding of Colin and Iona Donald

13th June 2009, Elgin, Scotland. There are few times in your life ...

Updated: Sep 29, 2009 11:35am PST

RYA Yachtmaster Offshore!! : April to June 2009: .....And so onto bigger and better things. With the wreckage of Dive BVI firmly behind us now Sadie and I head back to the UK to get on with what we really want to do.........sailing!! Sadie heads for Cowes in the Isle of Wight to brush up on her cheffing skills and I head for Falmouth in Cornwall to complete my Yachtmaster training. This change in career direction was the root of our unceremonial exit from diving back in the islands, but, I believe that things happen for a reason. We were now able to press on and fulfill our sailing dreams. We had a whole summer ahead of us before the new chartering season kicks off - plenty of time to do the necessary training and to obtain all the right paperwork. So where to start? A good sailing school is generally the right move - but which one to choose? Once you start this search and ask people for advice and recommendations you end up with a short list of about 30 reputable sailing schools all over the south coast of England. In the end my choice was an easy one, I opted for Nick Jordan's school, Cornish Cruising based in Falmouth. It was an inspired choice, it was well away from the mayhem in the Solent and conincidentally was the same school that Sadie's Dad, Jim, independently came up with as his first choice to do the same course. Nick and his team were streets ahead of all his competitors when it came to custmer service and support as well as ensuring that the quality of the training was up to scratch and value for money. Nick was the only school to reply with a full response to our detailed brief literally within hours of getting it. Nearly all of the other schools either didn't even bother replying or send a standard reply simply referring me to their web sites for further details if I was still interested! Needless to say, Cornish Cruising got the business. Jim and I had a tall order ahead of us. The training schedule Nick put together for us was going to be a tough one. In order to qualify as a Yachtmaster Offshore through the Royal Yachting Association (the RYA), candidates must have at least 2500 sea miles, at least half of which needs to be in tidal waters (i.e. not the Caribbean!), you must have clocked up at least 50 days at sea, of which 5 trips need to be of at least 60 miles each and 2 of these need to be at night. All of this culminates with a min 12 hour practical assessment by an RYA examiner. Both Jim and I had a few gaps in our log books which we were hopefully going to be able to complete over the course of the next 7 weeks. Our first week bizarely was to be land based. There's a lot of theory to sailing even before you hit the water, all candidates must be up to scratch with the Rules of the Road, Lights and Buoyage, Meteorology and most importantly Navigation. Thankfully you can get to grips with all of this in a classroom first before you have to do it in earnest, down below on a rolling boat pitched over by 45 degrees trying to work out where you are and where you're going to next!! The week passed quickly for us and by the end of it we were ready to sit the exams. Thankfully we both passed with flying colours and were now keen to get on with the real deal - sailing. Our accommodation for the week was aboard 'Polbream' a 46ft Beneteau. For me the transition from living in the heat of the Caribbean to all of a sudden being aboard a yacht in the south coast of England in April was a bit of a shock. I remember clearly while during our first sea training week standing on the pullpit wearing full wet weather gear, freezing cold, while a heavy hail storm peppered the deck around me with thousands of icy ball bearings, each one threatening to roll me off onto the drink without a moments hesitation! As the marbles of pure white ice managed to find their way down the back of my neck I clearly remember thinking "what the fuck have I done!!". While we were to see some significant weather over the next six weeks, this was undoubtedly the coldest I'd felt in over 5 years. While our first week at sea was more to do with our Skipper 'Ken the Vicar' finding our levels rather than us getting our teeth into the Yachtmaster course, it was all part of the journey of improving our seamanship skills while also building the necessary tidal miles and passages needed to qualify and sit the Yachtmaster practical assessment at the start of June. We spent the week pottering around in local waters up the River Fal, the Helford, St Mawes, Fowey and then back to Falmouth. For me getting to grips with sailing a monohull for the first time was the biggest challenge. Having spent the last two years solely aboard catamarans getting a feel for the reactions of a monohull took some getting used to, as well as understanding points of sail and doing things like sailing up to mooring balls and recovering a man-over-board under sail. It's fair to say that on reflection I was almost ready to pack it all in at the end of that week - nothing seemed to be sinking into me! The following two sailing trips however somehow managed to restore the level of confidence that I'd been missing. We did a 2 week trip from Falmouth to the southern coast of Ireland, via the Isles of Scilly and up through the infamous Irish Sea. This was with Peter and his wife Stella, Jim and I and another Andy who joined us on the trip. Talk about night and day from the previous one. We stopped for a night in St Agnes in the Scilly Isles and managed to get ashore in the dingy for a beer or two in the only pub. The pub was rammed. The island normally only has a population of about 60, but with the Annual Gig Racing festival now on to say it was standing room only, and that was just outside, would have been an understatement. Fantastic to be part of these marvelous events and celebrations on which much of the islands historic welfare and prosperity was once based. The Southern coast of Ireland is a great place to go cruising. There are so many places and hidden gems all along the coast and always somewhere safe to head should the weather coming off the Irish Sea turn a little unfavourable. We visited Kinsail, Cork, Baltimore, Bantry Bay and Castletownbere (the home of the famous MacCarthy's Bar), to name but a few. The whole two weeks were amazing, dolphins and huge basking sharks came our way off of the Mizzen Head as we battled our way through heavy seas with wind against current, and past the famous lighthouse landmark, The Fastnet Rock. To add to the experience we also had our share of boat challenges, from leaking water tanks to a loss of all electrics as well as a night of dense fog and a misreading radar all thrown in for the measure. This was definitely what it's all about. The learning process was well underway. The final week of mileage and passage building came next, and we headed off to the Brittany Coast in Northern France. It was a challenging crossing for me. I was nominated skipper and my task was to take our boat out of Falmouth and over to France organising the crew and sail as I saw fit. Our new leader that week was Chris a retired instructor but lifelong sailor. He went below to his bunk soon after we left Falmouth as we headed out to sea. The weather was up, it was Force 7 occasionally blowing 8, and the seas were at times 30ft plus. With the sails appropriately reefed we set in for the 24 hour journey ahead over to Treguir in France. With seasickness playing a part for some of the crew it was a tough call to continue. Chris seemed to have confidence in us as a crew and he kept me reassured in my role as skipper. While it was a log overnight passage our sightings of the many lighthouses on the French coastline welcomed us just as dawn was begining to break and we headed up the river in search of some 'vin et du pain' in the fresh spring air. Our journey then took us back to the UK via Guernsey in the Channel Islands and then up the River Dart in England and finally to Falmouth. Our final week of mileage building and passages was complete. Now it was time for some fun...... Sadie and Loretta then joined us for a bareboat week as Jim and I had now to put all the training into practice by skippering the boat for ourselves. We were both given our own yachts for the week and the girls helped out immensly by assiting in the preparation and provisioning of our new 'hotels' for the week as well as taking on the role as 1st mate. With Sadie fresh from chef school and Jim and I desperate to eat something different to sausage casserole our appetites were tingling with anticipation as we both set out from Falmouth on yet another new adventure. It was a great week and the on board cuisine was excellent, and although the sailing was mixed due to some heavy weather midweek, being able to go sailing just with Sadie made it very special. This was to be our first real taste of what was hopefully lying ahead for us. However the uncertainty of our Yachtmaster's practical examination was now just a week away and the pressure was building even more than it was already. Having said sad goodbyes to the gilrs and amidst various wishes of 'good luck's' and 'you'll breeze it' Jim and I then set of for the final showdown - A week's preparation getting rid of the bad habits and fine tuning our sailing skills and general seamanship knowledge. The week passed quickly in local waters and on the Friday our assessment began. Like many things the reputations that preceed examiners are usualy outweighed by the various exaggerated stories that you hear about in the run up to your assessment. Mike Stratton was our examiner, at sea all his life and considered to be 'hard but fair'. Well, at least we knew he wouldn't suffer fools gladly and that we woulod be tested to the limits of our experiences and knowledge. All in it was a 14 hour exam, with all four candidates taking thier turn at skippering the boat, while Mike tested our seamanship with man-over-board drills, mooring, anchoring and blind navigation - all under both power and sail. He covered every single Rule of Road, Lights and Buoyage card with us as well as a detailed review of our Passage Plans and our sailing experiences as per our Sea Logs. It was indeed a thorough examination. As we all stepped off the boat, mentally drained and eager for the results to be known, waiting in silent anticipation and hope for the judges final ruling on our individual performances. It was going to be a good day and a very celebratory night afterall. Jim and I both passed. A huge relief came over us - it was over. After 7 solid weeks of sea training, some 1800 sea miles, over forty days at sea and numerous hours of study and concentration we definitely had cause to celebrate. A huge door was now open for Sadie and I. We now had the necessary qualifations to start our professional careers in the sailing industry and to continue our dream. The course was probably the most challenging but most rewarding thing I have ever done, there were so many memories, high points and low points that it is impossible to put them all down on paper. The next big chapter in our lives has definitely started!!

RYA Yachtmaster Offshore!!

April to June 2009: .....And so onto bigger and better things. With ...

Updated: Oct 02, 2009 5:28am PST

BVI - sv "Puddle Duck" : September 2008..... Having spent the previous 2 or so weeks in Puerto Rico, where else would our four entrepid explorers go but back the BVIs for a bit of sailing in the heart of the hurricane season!! ...so we flew back to the BVI where we'd chartered a 40 foot catamaran ‘Puddle Duck’ for a weeks sailing. We were really excited as it was the first time we'd gone out by ourselves without a professional skipper. The whole week our motto was 'what could possibly go wrong?' which is quite ironic seeing as it's still hurricane season! Luckily we had excellent weather as hurricane Ike had passed over while we were in PR and the worst thing that happened all week was losing a towel that we had forgotten to peg properly to the railings. The catamaran was a modern Robertson & Caine and capable of sleeping 10 so we had plenty of space to rattle around in, in fact Andy & I think it was probably bigger than our little cottage on Virgin Gorda! As September is the quietest month of the low season most of the restaurants were closed so our first stop was provisioning at the local supermarket and liquor store – guess which cost more?  After a very brief boat briefing from the Moorings base (they seemed to think that as we drive a dive boat every day we would know all about a sailing yacht) we set sail for our first destination of Cooper Island just in time for sundowners and dinner in the very laid back beach club. Next stop was Virgin Gorda to pick up basic store cupboard items from our house and to show Richie who’s never been here before where we lived and around the island. After a whistle stop tour and obligatory photo stops on the pass, we headed back to the boat and onto our next mooring at the Dog Islands. Now normally yachts are only allowed to moor in the daytime here and certainly not overnight on a commercial dive operator ball, so guess what we did? It was one of the most secluded anchorages we had all week and after a very drunken dinner we soon found out the that rocky cliffs of the bay also provided fantastic acoustics for our stereo and the trampoline a fantastic danceloor. Needless to say it was a good job we were the only boat there! Next morning after an early dive at the Chimney and as the day trippers started mooring alongside us we sheepishly unhooked and set off for Jost Van Dyke with a lunch stop at our old place of work Marina Cay. The beauty of sailing in low season is that you can get away with using mooring balls for free and still be the only boat in the field. Diamond Cay on Jost Van Dyke was no exception to this so naturally we didn’t think anything of our solitude as we watched the dramatic moonrise over Sandy Spit. That was until the bugs started biting. Up until now we had been totally bug free but hadn’t realised how close we were to the mangroves and now the wind dropped completely. Lets just say it was the worst nights sleep we had all week and we set off fairly early the next day to try our hand at anchoring for the first time at Sandy Spit. After an early morning dip we stopped at Little Harbour for lunch at one of our favourite beach bars, Sydney’s Peace & Love with it’s full scale honesty bar and Chinese laundry interior where drunk tourist leave their t-shirts hanging from the ceiling. Funnily enough our friend Colin’s T-shirt was still there from earlier in the year, if not a bit faded. White Bay and the infamous Soggy Dollar Bar was the next on our itinerary and after an afternoon of drinking Painkillers and laughing at all the sunburnt tourists on day trips from St Thomas we collapsed back onto our trusty Puddle Duck to pass out for the rest of the evening. Day 5 saw us running low on provisions so we headed into the pretty harbour of Soper’s Hole at the West End of Tortola, where Sheena almost rugby tackled another shopper for the last lettuce left on the shelf! Feeling that this deserved a celebratory drink we settled into the Pusser’s Bar and were enjoying the freedom of it all when Andy noticed the TV in the background showing HBOS, the bank we used to work for when we had ‘responsible’ jobs back in the UK. To our amazement and dismay it seemed that HBOS was the latest bank to fall foul of the current economic crisis and was announcing impending bankruptcy. Not only were we worried for our friends and colleagues back home, but what about our pensions and shares!! Oh well, nothing for it but to have another drink  After an afternoon snorkel at the Indians we headed into Pirates Bight on Norman Island, once famous as the inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson’s ‘Treasure Island’ and now more infamous for the floating bar ‘The William Thornton’. Sheena was already familiar with ‘Willy T’s’ from her hen day last year, but as Richie had never made the leap off the top deck we decided it had to be done again. The bar staff used to give away T Shirts for anyone daring or drunk enough to jump naked and ever since then it has gained a rather dodgy reputation, but even we were shocked to witness a rather ample local girl completely undress and allow the bar tender to have a tequila shot with a big difference! A couple of elderly retired pilots who we had been chatting to nearly had heart attacks just watching. As we intended to dive the Wreck of the R.M.S. Rhone the next day we used that as an excuse for a sharp exit! The wreck of the Royal Mail Steamship the Rhone is the jewel in the diving crown of the BVI, so we had to take Sheena and Richie for one last dive there. After 140 years underwater she is still very much intact and covered in corals which attract large and small marine life. After a very nice dive we headed back to Peter Island for our last night before dropping our Sheena and Richie back at the airport. Reluctant for our sailing adventure to end, after we dropped Sheena and Richie off at the airport Andy & I extended the lease on the boat for a few more days, just as the weather turned really windy. We circumnavigated Tortola again with the hope of going over to St Johns for a few days in the USVI. However a typically surly US immigration official soon out paid to that as we didn’t have a full US visa and the UK waiver scheme doesn’t apply to British private boats  Nevertheless the brilliant fun and the experience of just Andy and me sailing a feck off big cat all by ourselves gave us so much confidence we're might one day consider working as charter crew on our own boat.

BVI - sv "Puddle Duck"

September 2008..... Having spent the previous 2 or so weeks in Puer ...

Updated: Oct 02, 2009 11:06am PST

BVI - Best of the Rest of 2008!! : The start of a new year is always a good time to take a look back at the great memories and images of the year that has gone before. And what a year it has been!! Global economic meltdown, our previous employers 'for life', Bank of Scotland (some 314 years old) reduced to almost bankruptcy, a near miss with Hurricane Omar, a great holiday in Puerto Rico and chartering our own catamaran - not to mention many other great times during the year. It's always good to remind ourselves that there are many more great days than shit ones, and, that we could be back in cold rainy Edinburgh walking to and from work in the dark!! Shine on you Crazy Diamond.... Here's a sample of some of great times had in the BVIs in 2008......

BVI - Best of the Rest of 2008!!

The start of a new year is always a good time to take a look back at t ...

Updated: Feb 19, 2009 2:15pm PST

BVI - Mark, Stephanie, Bob and Geoff. January 2009 : During January we had the pleasure of meeting and diving with a great group of people who were here for a weeks holiday - meet Mark and Stephanie Williams, Bob Heiniger and Geoff 'Killer' Day. They had booked out Dive BVIs 36ft dive boat Sea Cat for a four consecutive day private charter with Sadie and myself as hosts, guides and diving instructors!! The four days were fabulous! Andy taught Stephanie her open water dives to get her her full diving certification - well done Steph for getting through all the skills!! Bob was experiencing his first ever ocean dives and was blown away by it all. Mark and Geoff just had a whale of a time getting wet (no pun intended - although we did see a humpback whale on the last day in the middle of the Sir Frances Drake Channel on the way out to Cooper Island). How's that for an experience!!!! The week was highly entertaining and we also managed to get in some great diving in the four days - including Norman Island (Spyglass Wall and The Indians), Salt Island (RMS Rhone), Cooper Island (Vanishing Rock and Thumb Rock, Dog Islands (The Chimney, Visibles and Coral Gardens). We even managed to exorcise Mark, Bob and Geoff as 'night dive virgins!!! Lasting memories are - in no particular order - Geoff for dropping his 'torch' on at least every dive except the night dive; Bob for his fondness and attachment to what is now known as 'Bobs Ball'; Mark for his never ending smile and 'driving the porcelin truck' at Coral Gardens, and Steph for being a great persistent student determined to get through the course - big thank you to all. We also recall their story of the 'beer and diving' dive? Yep we were intrigued as well, as we all know that drink and diving doesn't really mix. It wasn't until we learned that they were in a river, in only 3 feet of water! The safety briefing for the dive included the now famous line - "if at any point you feel uncomfortable or disorientated - just stand up!!" A huge final thanks to everyone for their hospitality and generosity during the four days - we will remember it for a long time to come - THANK YOU :-) On the last two days Andy was able to take his camera along to capture some of the fab moments - here's the best of the bunch!

BVI - Mark, Stephanie, Bob and Geoff. January 2009

During January we had the pleasure of meeting and diving with a great ...

Updated: Feb 12, 2009 4:00pm PST

BVI - Joyce and Colin January 2009 : A welcome return to Virgin Gorda by Andy's sister Joyce and her man Colin. Last time we saw them was some 14 months ago, and they were both well overdue an extended break in the sunshine. Since we saw them last they are trying to buy some land to build a new house on, their pride and joy is a new Jack Russell puppy called Buster, Joyce's hotel is up for sale and the global economy has fallen on its' arse. Where better to escape to than Virgin Gorda for three weeks..... We had a great time when they were here. Unfortunately they couldn't stay in the cottage next door and it was rented out, so we put them up in Olde Yard Village in a fab one bed place. Main challenge for Colin was to avoid the mozzies and to now get sunburnt! He managed pretty well on both fronts this year and certainly had less scars to show going home :-) During the stay we managed to get four consecutive days off and disappeared over to Tortola for a break. Sadie and I hadn't spent much time there other than popping over on the ferry on a shopping trip, so we were all excited to venture out to see somewhere new. So after getting the ferry over from VG to Tortola I left the tourists at the Cabanon bar and headed to rent a local car from IT GO, yes IT GO! All smooth so far - a Nissan saloon which had definitely seen better days. Nevermind, back to the Cabanon to pick them up. As soon as I parked our IT GO, it was now a DID'NT GO - a loose battery terminal was to blame - ah the beauty of island cars. We spent the first two nights at the Tamarind Club in the East End. An ex-pat place with a good vibe and which does good Sunday Brunch. We spent the day chilling out and taking in the local scene. First stop was Joshiah's Bay just down the road. This is a big surfing beach when the surf is up. There was a bit of a swell when we were there but not really waht you'd call surfing California style. It didn't stop some hardy few, one of whom clearly demonstrating that you don't have to be young, cool or trendy to surf - check the photo!! That night had a great meal over at Red Rock, owned and run by Martin and Lesley who we knew from VG, and had moved over to Tortola to start up and revamp and existing restaurant called Eclipse. They have done a great job with the place, and the food was great - hope to see you both again sometime soon! Off next to Sebastian's Beach at the East End. A chilled out place and home to a local and unique blend of rum - Sebastian's!! Our trip there took us via the West End and Soper's Hole. Just time for a quick beer or two before heading up the hill and down to Sebastian's. Unfortunately our lack of local knowledge on the condition of the road led us up a narrow and twisting single track road which started as tarmac, then turned to concrete and then finally rubble, which in no time turned into something that wouldn't be out of place in the Paris-Dakar rally. Our Nissan was not up to the task. A tricky U-turn then ensued with Colin remarking that the fluid he saw leaking from the front wkeels could possibly be break fluid. Hmmm. Not good as we have to go back down hill to get onto the right road.....thankfully as was ok as it was only AC condensate dripping out of the car. Phew. On now to Sebastian's and a welcome shnifter. The rum blend is unique as they've added a banana liqueur and a bit of spice. The rum is sold as a shot and best either slammed down or sipped. A great atfter dinner digesif! Sebastian's is a great spot for chilling out on the beach and for catching the surf. the hotel is basic but good value and the restaurant is friendly with good food. For sure a place to come back to - wish we could have spent more time there. Back then to VG, and for us, work! Just goes to show that it's good to get off the island for a bit and to appreciate your surroundings! It is after all, living the Caribbean lifestyle..... Here's some shots of the four days in Tortola.....

BVI - Joyce and Colin January 2009

A welcome return to Virgin Gorda by Andy's sister Joyce and her man Co ...

Updated: Feb 12, 2009 4:32pm PST

BVI - Happy New Year 2009!! : Who says that New Year is ever dull? In true style we saw in 2009 at Saba Rock in the North Sound again. Big turn out from Dive BVI staff with the usual few staying later than 10 o'clock to take in the New Year :-). Although not nearly as busy as 2008, the obligatory rounds of shots were downed by all until the early hours. Luckily we were the only ones not working the next day!! We also met up with Matt and Melissa from their new baby 'Free Ingwe' to share a story or two and to hear about their current charter! Best wishes on the new boat for 2009! This page is dedicated to Nathan and Melissa the newest and now 'no longer' staff at Dive BVI - two individuals with their own personalities and outlook on life - best of luck guys where ever you end up next!!

BVI - Happy New Year 2009!!

Who says that New Year is ever dull? In true style we saw in 2009 at S ...

Updated: Feb 12, 2009 4:43pm PST

BVI - Christmas 2008 : Yes it’s that time of year again – where did the year go? Christmas in the sunshine never feels ‘right’ but like true Brits we still like to roll out the turkey ‘n’ trimmings and Delia Smith and I become best pals. This year was no exception apart from the fact that for the first time since we’ve been away we had no visitors – sniff  Even worse that meant we had to do all the cooking and preparations ourselves!! The festive season got off to a very jolly start with an invite to the Moorings Christmas party from our good friends Pete and Niki who work in the charter business. Moorings/Sunsail is the biggest charter yacht company in the world and has it’s main base in the BVI but even we were surprised at how lavish the party was with a free bar and massive buffet all night. Once we’d had our fill at the Moorings expense (We LOVE the Moorings!) our other good friends David and Dawn invited us all back to their boat C’est Fini for a nice cup of tea. Very sensible idea we thought until the ‘tea’ turned out to be copious cosmopolitans and a rendition of the worst ever No 1 Hits from the 80’s courtesy of David’s bad taste IPOD. I’m not sure who was in the neighbouring yacht but I’m sure they weren’t impressed with the Birdie Song blaring at 3am. Unfortunately our camera broke that night so you’re all spared dodgy photos of Andy dancing to the Macarana! Next on the list was the rather more sober and well behaved Dive BVI Christmas party. As usual we all bartered for our favourite gifts apart from Andy & I who actually quite liked what we’d got first off so kept very quiet. Unfortunately we were working the next day (and still a bit partied out from the previous few days) so snuck off early, VERY well behaved for a change! As Dad and Loretta had obviously had enough of visiting us for Christmas and ending up doing all the work, we were all on our lonesome this year, so we decided to invite all our pals from Moorings over for dinner for an ‘early Christmas Day’ as we all have to work on the day itself (it’s not all fun and games over here you know!) So we went in search of a turkey big enough to feed 8 people. Unfortunately our choices in Virgin Gorda are rather limited so had to choose either a 6lb or a 24lb, guess which one we got! It was like Curacao all over again, but at least this time it was in it’s sell by date! People started arriving for lunch and a wee dip in the pool while we basted the burd (the turkey even got some oil as well ha ha ha) and then it was time to introduce some newbie’s to the Santa stealing game. Unfortunately somebody had the bright idea of us all having to say Merry Christmas and take a drink every time we rolled 1 on the dice, which seemed to happen an awful lot. Our neighbours later told us they thought we’d invited 80 people not 8! Next up was the Rizzla game using the party hats as we’re all way too old and sensible to have Rizzlas in the house anymore – ahem. It was more luck than judgment when the main meal was finally served without too much mishap, but by then we were all too drunk to notice anyway. The evening ended up with the silliest game where you have to get an After Eight mint from your forehead into your mouth without using your hands, no mean feat in the warm Caribbean! A few days later, heartily sick of leftover turkey and mince pies, we were informed that we would have Christmas day off. Bloody typical considering this was the first day ever we’d not been working on the day itself but had no visitors and all our friends were working! Still we decided to put a brave face on it and force ourselves to enjoy a luxurious Christmas buffet at the local 5 star resort, it’s a tough job but someone has to do it! We ignored the turkey completely and made a bee line for the raw bar complete with oysters, clams and lobster and then the tandoori grill with freshly baked naan bread courtesy of our friend and head chef Hermant....a wafer thin mint anyone?. We must have looked like ‘somebodies’ rather than ‘nobodies’ for a change as we know all the management quite well at the hotel and they all came up to wish us a Merry Christmas with complimentary bubbles and liqueurs. Merry Christmas to us indeed!

BVI - Christmas 2008

Yes it’s that time of year again – where did the year go? Chris ...

Updated: Jan 16, 2009 5:43pm PST

BVI - Dushii Divers Nov 2008 : We have probably just had the best week of diving since we started doing this!! It was all possible thanks to the fabulous 'Dushii Dive club', aka Paul and Marta, Brian and Vicky, Greg and Carole, and Larry. Sadie and I had the privilege of escorting the Dushiis for each of the 7 days they were here in the BVIs during Thanksgiving Week, and what an experience that was....16 dives, some 20 hours underwater and a staggering 1400 digital photos. An unbelievable week of diving. The Dushii Divers were also conducting a location survey for Reef Check during the trip, the organisation that is dedicated to the conservation of the precious ecosystem of the tropical coral reefs. The Dushiis collated a wealth of species information while they were here, very meticulous and educational for us too, as our role during the week moved away from that as pure dive leaders to diving with a group of great divers who became good friends during the week. I think we learned more in those 7 days about fish ID than we have in the whole two and half years in the Caribbean! Despite the North swells being up during the week we had no trouble in choosing new dive sites every day. Our week saw us go West as far as Norman Island and East up through Peter, Salt, Cooper and Ginger Islands, as well as a quick stop at Marina Cay to check out Diamond Reef. As we were diving with a group of very experienced divers, who were all fabulous on air, every dive was no less than 60 minutes, with the longest sitting at close to 90!! Diving on Nitrox for the week was also a huge benefit and certainly helped keep the energy levels up and the nitrogen levels down. To add a little bit of spice into the mix we also ran a small competition with the Dushis - to see who could find some 30 different species of fish and critters, all pre-selected by Sadie and myself. It was a close fought battle all the way, despite points deductions for 'Numpty' behaviour, such as jumping on off the dive boat without your mask on!! Let's name no names.....but somehow, Larry still managed to win, thanks to a school of reef squid that were sitting under the boat on our final dive. The prize, a soft toy turtle which I think was then named Numpty(?) or was it Humpy, after the pet dog who is legendary in his house roaming around the Valley in Virgin Gorda? We hope to see future photos of Numpty/Humpy on his dive diving travels. There was also a category for 'something that Andy & Sadie had nver seen before'.....to our surprise the Dushiis on one of the dives wore foam sea creature caps underwater, which Larry had brought from home - definitely a first!! Check the photos for evidence. Anyway, it was a memorable and great week and both Sadie and I were nominated as 'Honorary Dushii Divers' at the end of the trip. A notable privilege indeed!!! We both wish we had more weeks like this. Here's a small selection of the many photos taken during the week. We miss you guys already..... (Dives sites: Brown Pants, Carvel Rock (north and south), RMS Rhone (day and night dive), Ginger Steps, Spyglass Wall, Santa Monica Rock, Thumb Rock, Vanishing Rock, Diamond Reef, Dry Rocks, Indians, Rainbow Reef, Blonde Rock and Painted Walls.) PS Dushii? Well for those who are not up on their Papiamentu (local language to the Dutch Antilles) it means 'sweetheart'. A recent trip to Curacao by the club got them their name, after a particularly bad meal which lasted for some 5 hours, due to some below par service and food......the waitress kept calling them 'dushii' all night. They remained oblivious to its real meaning until quite a time later........

BVI - Dushii Divers Nov 2008

We have probably just had the best week of diving since we started doi ...

Updated: Nov 28, 2008 8:08pm PST

BVI - Hurricane Omar Oct 2008 : We all hear about people wanting to 'experience' a hurricane....and living in the Caribbean seems like a good place to start? Hurricane season starts around June/July and extends into November each year. Storm strengths can vary hugely starting at Tropical Depressions, developing into Tropical Stroms and then into full blown Hurricanes. They start at Category 1 and go up to Cat 5. Small ones are more like a winters day in Scotland, but without the cold and the sleet, scaling up to a full Cat 5 with winds in excess of 156mph. Anyway, it was just a matter of time before we got our first hit in the BVIs, the first big one in about 10 years. Here's what happened..... 12th October 2008: we'd been watching the hurricane web sites for a few days now. Nothing off to the East - a good sign as that's where the storms usually start to develop just off the African coast and then slowly build up as they hit the warmer waters of the Caribbean. Cool, we thought all clear once again. Over the next two days however a smaller Tropical Depresion had started to form off to the South West - totally in the wrong direction for it to come our way - or so we thought!!! By the 14th, the depression had got itself together, was gathering strength and pace, together with falling pressure in the centre, and it was now heading out way!!! The internet is a great source of information and there is so much Hurricane archive info out there, that, coupled with spotter planes delivers fantastic predictive models showing the storm's direction and expected strength. Great....we now knew that we were to take a direct hit from Hurricane Omar, estimated at Catergory 3, that's sustained winds up to 130mph. Omar was on track to hit us at night at around 00:00 to 03:00am, so we bunkered down in the house awaiting the worse that nature could deliver. The previous four hours were spent in the bar at the Bath and Turtle with plenty of refreshments laid aside the in the fridge for the next few days. We even had buckets of water filled from the pool as contingency when the water supply failed so toilets could be flushed. The wind started to pick up at about 8pm, as we sat in wait for the equivalent of a fairly windy day in the West Coast of Scotland - the only difference being that the temperature was a bit warmer here in the BVIs. So off to bed at about 10pm a little worse for wear with the beers previously consumed. And then the rain started. Now I know it rains in back home in Scotland, but we're kind of ready and equipped for it - the housing here in the BVIs is a little less substantial as we can see daylight through parts of the roof on a normal day! The ground here was already saturated as it had been raining here for the last 4 days. The rain was torrential - solid and horizontal for some six hours. It would have been good to get a peek at Mother Nature in her destructive glory but unfortunately the power went out at midnight and then there was total darkness. At its peak the winds thankfully only gusted up to about 80mph - at lot less than we had anticipated. We now know that the Omar took a lunge to the east at about 9pm which took the centre about 100 miles away from us and avoided what could have been a catastrophic night. Omar had got to a Category 3 as it left St Croix - that means sustained winds of up to 130mph!! As it turned out we got the fringes of the big stuff and the islands escaped very lightly. Unfortunately St Maartin got whacked unexpectedly. The result....only some minor leaks in the house through the louvered slats in the north facing windows and some seepage under the front door. The island looks like someone’s been out strimming everything, there are leaves, twigs and branches everywhere. Our only main damage was a tree that once stood outside the front porch is now leaning against it. We didn't even hear it fall or break against the noise of the wind. We'd have to say that if that was the outer fringes of a Cat 3 then you certainly wouldn't want to be any closer to the centre. At times the whole house shook with the force of the wind and the roof held, thankfully. A close call. Bizarrely, the day after the storm was one of the best days in October, roasting hot and clear skies. The water and power came back on the next day and all was back to normal - it's as if it never happened. Oh, by the way, we had an earthquake here five days ago too, 6.1 on the Richter Scale. It lasted over 10 seconds. I wonder what is going to happen next, plague of locusts? Probably, more like mosquitoes after all the rain..........

BVI - Hurricane Omar Oct 2008

We all hear about people wanting to 'experience' a hurricane....and li ...

Updated: Nov 17, 2008 3:17pm PST

BVI - Earthrace Oct 2008 : In June 2008, the amazing Earthrace vessel set a new world record for a powerboat to circle the globe, and she did this with 100% renewable biodiesel fuel, and a net zero carbon footprint. The voyage was over 24,000 nautical miles, and took 60 days, 23 hours and 49 minutes, smashing the old record by over two weeks. For those into the techy stuff, Earthrace is a 24m tri-hull wavepiercer that has been designed and built specifically to get the record for a powerboat to circumnavigate the globe. She is an advanced endurance vessel, capable of submarining up to 7m underwater as she powers across oceans. One journalist recently reported "Earthrace is like a rally car but for oceans." Over the weekend of the 11th October 2008, Earthrace was in Leverick Bay in Virgin Gorda, BVIs. Here's some cool photos of this truely unique boat.

BVI - Earthrace Oct 2008

In June 2008, the amazing Earthrace vessel set a new world record for ...

Updated: Nov 15, 2008 9:55am PST

Puerto Rico - Holidays!!!! Sept 2008 : Finally after constantly being surrounded by people on holiday it was our turn to have a month off, and way overdue as it was our first real holiday in over 2 years. Contrary to popular belief work is still work even if you do happen to live in paradise! We decided to go to Puerto Rico first as our great friends Sheena and Richie were flying in to join us. We went a week ahead of them so we could do some major shopping (there are no shops at all where we live unless you want T-Shirts with Virgin Gorda plastered all over them, not a good idea in a Spanish speaking country as it literally translates to Fat Virgin!) and of course our favourite hobbies of eating and drinking. It was so nice to go out to live salsa bars until the early hours and eat really good Latino food as the ‘night’ life here generally ends at around 10pm and the staple diet is ribs and burgers. Once Sheena and Richie arrived we hired a car then drove around the island which was an amazing surprise. We were expecting just a mini America on a Caribbean island, but it was so much better than that. For a start hardly anyone spoke English which meant we got to practice our Spanish for the first time in years, but also once you got out of old San Juan (which is an amazing colonial old town pretty much like Cuba would have been today without Castro) it was more like being in Central America than North America. The sheer diversity of the environment also took us by surprise. In just 10 days we managed to hike through the lush tropical rainforest of El Yunque and dry forests of Guanica on the other side of the island - two completely different eco systems only about 30 miles apart! Another highlight was night kayaking through mangroves to get to a bio luminescent pool which lit up every time you dipped your paddle with tiny phosphorescent - amazing. After exploring the coastal roads from the historic city of Ponce and it’s uniquely painted fire station, to the tiny (and often closed at this time of year) fishing villages of the west coast, we backtracked through the central mountains which was quite scary and dangerous judging by the number of burnt our cars we counted along the way. The beautiful views through the cloud forests definitely made it worth while, and along the way we debated what the little bushes with bright berries on them could have been…olives, cranberries…? It wasn’t until we stopped at a working coffee plantation that we finally realised they were coffee beans - doh! Our final destination was a beautiful eco camp in the middle of the jungle close by some amazing underground caves and the biggest space telescope in the world - the one in the film Contact with Jodie Foster, and also James Bond’s Golden Eye. Puerto Rico - who would have known it???

Puerto Rico - Holidays!!!! Sept 2008

Finally after constantly being surrounded by people on holiday it was ...

Updated: Dec 02, 2008 3:57pm PST

BVI - All Creatures Great and Flora...2008 : Here's a wee peek at the beasties and bushes found around our house in Virgin Gorda. Some of them are really quite cool...

BVI - All Creatures Great and Flora...2008

Here's a wee peek at the beasties and bushes found around our house in ...

Updated: Nov 17, 2008 5:07pm PST

BVI - Visitor Season Part II : Joyce & Colin, Jim & Loretta, Christmas 2007 and Andy’s big 40!! The day after Sarah and Shanice left to go back to the UK, it was time for Andy's sister Joyce and her man, Colin, to come and visit. Last time we'd seen her was back in Curacao over a year ago and it was great to get to know Colin a little bit better and to show them both around the islands. It was Colin's first holiday abroad for a long time...but I think it's fair to say that he really enjoyed himself in the BVIs...not to mention to the attention he got from his Vatersay Boys T-shirt, which is now stapled to the roof of Sidney's Peace and Love Bar in Jost Van Dyke. We had a great time when they were here, day sailing over to Jost Van Dyke, again with Kirk our long suffering skipper, plus a day trip over to Anegada, the only coral atoll in the BVIs - definitely the olde Caribbean.... Christmas is the peak season in the BVI with the ‘Christmas winds’ and warm weather attracting Americans and Europeans looking to escape their own lousy weather by sailing around in the Disneyland of sailing destinations. Unfortunately for us this meant we had to work Christmas Day so as Sadie's Dad, Jim and his wife Loretta had come over specially to see us we had our Christmas Day on the 22nd instead. The fact that it wasn’t the 25th didn't actually seem to make any difference as we still had a full on roast turkey and trimmings and lay by the pool drinking cocktails and champagne between stirring, chopping and basting. That said it never really feels like Christmas in the sun, no matter how many times you hear Bing Crosby! On Christmas Day itself we had a full boat (yes people really want to diving on Xmas Day, go figure!) so we made a CD of Xmas tunes and took mince pies and oranges and tinsel on the boat which was a bit of a laugh, even though most of the Americans thought mince was meat, and refused to try them LOL. New Years' was a last minute arrangement so we weren’t expecting wonders but we ended up taking a boat to Saba Rock, another tiny island in the North Sound of Virgin Gorda, where there was a fantastic party with a great DJ and free tequila and champagne all night. It was also full of extremely rich people judging by the amount of super yachts moored outside and apparently Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart were there, but we didn't see them and prob would have been too pished to recognise them anyway.

BVI - Visitor Season Part II

Joyce & Colin, Jim & Loretta, Christmas 2007 and Andy’s big 40!! ...

Updated: Nov 29, 2008 6:51pm PST

BVI - Visitor Season 2007 : A long line of visitors descend! September October is officially low season in the BVI’s when pretty much everything closes down and the majority of boats are taken out of the water in preparation for the worst of the hurricane season. As we are the newest members of staff and also still skint after a year in Curacao we couldn’t afford to take a month to 6 weeks off like the rest of the crew, so instead we invited all our friends and family over here! Luckily due to the risk of hurricanes it also means the price of flights go down enormously which makes it much cheaper to travel from the UK. Even so we were still surprised by the amount of people who took us up on our offer which meant low season was going to be anything but quiet for us! First to arrive were Sheena and Val. Sheena’s getting married in November and Val and I are lucky enough to be bridesmaids. Val has already done a tremendous job of helping Sheena organise bits and pieces for the wedding as well as a hen night in Edinburgh complete with Fire Engine tour! Unfortunately work schedule and lack of money meant that I couldn’t be there to help so the least I could do was get the two of them out for a relaxing week of sun and fun before the big event. We started the week with a very indulgent day at the Little Dix 5 star resort spa, followed by not such a healthy lunch and topped off with cocktails on the beach at sunset. Val even managed to confuse the barman enough that we got an extra round for free! The rest of the week was spent sightseeing and relaxing by the pool or on various beaches around the island until the peace and tranquillity was shattered by the arrival of Sarah and Shanice.... Sarah is one of my best friends and enormous fun to be around but by her own admission she and her now very grown up daughter Shanice are anything but quiet! We are always guaranteed to have lots of belly laughs and drink copious amounts of wine whenever they come to visit and this time was no exception. As their visit only overlapped by two days with Sheena and Val I decided this would be the best time to have Sheena’s BVI hen do. Nightlife in the BVI is limited at the best of time’s let alone in the low season when pretty much all the bars are closed, so instead I decided to do something a bit different and charter a 46 foot catamaran with our trusty friend and captain Andrew (aka Kirk). Kirk has taken us sailing on day trips around the BVI a few times but I don’t think he really knew what he was letting himself in for this time! Along with the British contingent all the ladies from the Dive BVI crew were in on the secret and the day started bright and early at the Marina at 7am with everyone but Sheena and Val waiting in 70’s wigs and ‘soul chick’ swimwear waiting on the yacht. We had told Sheena that we were simply going over to Tortola on the ferry to do some shopping so she was understandably a bit surprised and confused to see 10 madly dressed girls yelling and waving at her from a boat when Andy dropped them off at the marina. In fact it wasn’t until Sheena actually stepped onto the boat that she realised what was happening. Once aboard and appropriately dressed we popped the first bottle of champagne and set sail for Jost Van Dyke.... PS Due to censorship regulations, only a few photos are available from the day's events :-)

BVI - Visitor Season 2007

A long line of visitors descend! September October is officially lo ...

Updated: Nov 29, 2008 5:44pm PST

BVI - Settling In....Boats and Diving : Our biggest challenge has been to try to dive as many of the 70 odd dive sites as we can and get confident guiding them, which is no mean feat as none of them are simple walls but have loads of swim through’s and complicated routes to follow. We’re also lucky in the fact that we are the furthest east of all the Dive BVI locations so we get to dive all the way down the Sir Francis Drake channel and explore the most sites. We’ve done most of them so far and really enjoy the diversity of marine life that we get here, regulalrly seeing sharks, eagle and sting rays, plus loads of bigger fish like barracuda, permit and tarpon as well as the smaller tropical fish and crtitters that we love. That said the coral isn’t a patch on Curacao as the islands suffered a bad bout of coral bleaching back in 2005 and some spots are still recovering. The dives are mostly shallow with no walls although they have got a good couple of wrecks here, with the most famous being RMS Rhone which was shipwrecked in 1867 but is still quite well preserved and the Chikuzen an abandoned Japanese refrigeration ship which is also amazing – makes the Superior Producer in Curacao look like the Tugboat in comparison! We also offer what they call 'Gucci diving' which basically means we do everything for the customers including putting their gear together, taking it to the back of the boat for them so all they have to do is sit on the platform and roll in, then wash it all down for them inc their pissy wetsuits at the end of the days diving! At first we thought it would be horrible but it's actually a much quicker easier way for us to get peeps into the water, and the tips we get as a result are well worth the effort! We are now fully trained boat captains which was quite a daunting thought at first, but Andy took to it like a fish to water (scuse the pun). I took a little longer to get confident and to be honest much prefer being ‘crew’ and chatting to the guests but am proud to say I haven’t crashed into anything…yet! It’s an extremely physical job compared to our last ones with lots of tank hauling and caring for the boats, with long days starting at 6.45 every day, hence us being so tired at the moment. We generally do 3 dives a day and then head home about 6pm. One of the biggest bonuses though is that fact we very rarely do night dives - yay! In fact we've only done 1 in the 8 months we've been here :-)I’m hoping we’ll get used to the long days over time and I will lose enough weight to fit into my bridesmaids dress for Sheena’s wedding in November. So all in all we're still loving it here and the thought of ever going home to the 'real world' gets less and less appealing as time goes by.

BVI - Settling In....Boats and Diving

Our biggest challenge has been to try to dive as many of the 70 odd di ...

Updated: Nov 28, 2008 6:43pm PST

BVI - Settling In...2007 : Settling in....the story from 2007....... Compared to Curacao the islands are much more typical ‘Caribbean’, very lush and green and hilly with pure white sandy beaches and palm trees as well as other tropical plants, although it does get very dry in the summer. Virgin Gorda is very small and hilly and everyone is so friendly – even the road works man smiles and says hello every morning. There is practically no crime here and it’s taken us a while to get used to leaving the car door unlocked with the keys in it and go to the beach without having to station a sniper to look after our stuff while we snorkel. There's some amazing views of the scenery here in the gallery below. Our favourite beach is called Spring Bay which is a white sandy beach surrounded by huge volcanic boulders which create amazing little caves and crevices that you can swim and snorkel in and around. There are a few casual bars and restaurants on the island and there are also lots of little islands dotted around with bars and restaurants on that you can only get to by boat. The shops are limited on Virgin Gorda but amazingly well stocked. We can get pretty much anything we want at the supermarket and there’s even a British shop on Tortola for all those home comforts we’ve been missing over the last couple of years The job is fantastic, better than we could have hoped for. We’re managing a shop of our own on the tiny island of Marina Cay next to Beef Island. It used to be a really busy little island but over the last couple of years it’s been a bit neglected so we have been given the task of turning it around which we’re quite excited about. So far we’ve set a record for the most sales in July in the Marina Cay Dive BVI history which is a good start but something we’re now going to have to keep up! In addition to the diving we also have a small retail store and have been given free reign to design it how we want and sell what we want. We are also the only shop owned by Dive BVI that is allowed to set it’s own dive schedule, so we can dive pretty much anywhere we want to go! More to follow......

BVI - Settling In...2007

Settling in....the story from 2007....... Compared to Curacao the i ...

Updated: Nov 23, 2008 5:50pm PST

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