Head Pigeon

• 12:13 #winMBP @taptaptap is giving away a $5999 ColorWare STEALTH MacBook Pro to celebrate launching Convert for iPhone! taptaptap.com/+Mtq #

• 07:23 @wolftone I made it out 4 times. Seems like a lot of work when AT gear will get me what I want. #

• 08:03 @wolftone where are you going that high altitude sickness is a concern? #

• 08:27 Backcountry access gate at 9990. "You can die". Gotta love that. twitpic.com/1mqz9 #

• 10:22 i see snowflakes... it has been two weeks without. Snow makes me happy. #

• 16:30 could seriously use a powder day about now #

• 16:52 yay ... i love vacation days where i have to be in the office all day. suk #

• 15:44 ski patrol update - after one toboggan run on a groomer, we now only run the steep mogul runs. Hiked up Murdocks yesterday. Can't walk now #

• 16:24 This week is way to short to be soooo long! #

• 15:37 @snowboardbunny fat yo #
• 15:39 has been skiing 6 out of the last 7 days ... my legs are sore, and I have patrol training tomorrow... what a rough life. #

• 12:31 twitpic.com/jz73 - The view from my office #
• 16:16 twitpic.com/k0zj - Ahh. The newest viewfrom my office. #

• 08:57 @arnicas i hope he said good things :) #

• 08:52 @arnicas Hey... we work with David. Small world. #
• 12:59 @arnicas david patton #
• 13:01 @arnicas dur... i am a duffass. Make that jeff patton (brain was thinking david span for some reason) #

• 17:25 twitpic.com/aj3o - Wasatch crest trail and desolation lake. Mountain biking at 10000 ft hurts. #

• 20:28 twitpic.com/95xm - Shaun White at a movie premier #

• 20:26 twitpic.com/8ok8 - Blues traveler at deer valley #

• 10:36 werkin on a saturday morning... joy #
• 19:12 Trombone shorty playin marvin Gay -let's get it on. Awesome. Old people dancin'. Wish you were here. #

Well, we finally made it to our trip around the British Virgin Islands. Here is a quick recap of the week along with the track from my GPS:



We used Horizon Yacht Charters out of Nanny Cay Marina on Tortola and sailed a Bavaria 36 named 'Bonjour Matelot'. We arrived the night before the charter, met up with Jos and Tish, stumbled to the Peg Legs restaurant at the marina and had some drinks and dinner before an early night.

Day 1 - 'This really shouldn't take this long':
We had a little breakfast then went to the charter shop right after they opened. Someone beat me there, so I had to wait about 30 minutes for them to finish their paperwork. By the time I finished mine, it was 10ish, but they said come back at noon for boat and chart briefings. The chart briefing started around 1, and by the time we were done with the boat briefing and fixed the provisioning mistakes, it was about 3. I wasn't too happy about losing 3 hours since it meant we weren't going to have time to snorkel on the way to the first stop, but we set the sails, and everything got better.

We set out south for Norman Island. We originally were going to stop at Pelican Island, but no time, so we sailed into the bight at Norman, found the last mooring ball and had a beer. The last mooring ball was broken, so we had to tie up directly to the ball, but no worries. It was also right next to the floating bar which graced us with not so good music until midnight, but we survived. Tish, Jos, and I went up into Kelly's cove for a quick snorkel, then got back and Kristin had made us a really nice African peanut stew for dinner. Jos mixed up some rum punch drinks and we kicked back and enjoyed.

Day 2 - 'All about snorkeling':
We set out really early to get around the point on Norman to hit the Caves before they got crowded. Next we headed up around Peter Island to the southwest corner of Salt Island where the stern of the wreck of the Rhone is located. There was a pretty good current coming around Salt Island, but the wreck was great. The propeller and stern section is about 20 ft deep, and it is huge. Excellent snorkel, and we saw our first turtle of the week.

Next we headed for Cooper Island for the night. We got there around 1pm and got one of the last moorings. We took the dinghy over to Cistern Point for a snorkel, then sat on the boat the rest of the afternoon watching boats fight for any moorings that opened up (not many).

I made a stir fry for dinner that night which went very nicely with the rum drinks... doesn't everything go nice with rum drinks.

Day 3 - 'Too much stuff for one day'
We set out early again to get to the Baths on Virgin Gorda early enough to catch a mooring. We again found one of the last two available, ate some breakfast, then swam ashore to walk through the funky rock formations. On the long snorkel back to the boat, Tish got some great pictures of me swimming with a turtle, and we saw a pretty large sting ray.

Once back on the boat, we sailed to Road Town to pick up a few provisions from the hippie store, then sailed north up to Mariner's Cay. Unfortunately, we got there pretty late and had to drop anchor. The second attempt took, but I dove down to check the anchor anyway. We cranked up the charcoal and grilled some tofu and veggies. I wasn't real happy with the results, but it fed us.

The wind was a bit heavier that night, so the boat was a little rocky which didn't make anybody too happy, especially me since we were on anchor, but it held just fine.

Day 4 - 'Uhhh... those waves are kinda big, aren't they?'
Got up and made some banana rum pancakes that were fantastic if I do say so myself. Had some late risers, but got going and headed out to Monkey Point on Guana Island. The wind was really whipping from the North which made catching the mooring an adventure... so much so that the handle came off the boat hook and the hook dropped in the water. Tish jumped in after it, and someone in a dinghy helped us out with catching the ball since Tish and the boathook were in the water.

Once tied up, Tish and I went to look for fish, and we found lots. The most impressive were a couple of Tarpin that were probably 4 or 5 feet long, and the octopus that Tish completely pissed off. I thought the octopus was cool because Tish was bothering him so he kept moving and changing colors to adjust for the different rocks or coral he was on. Eventually he flared out and went completely white, which we interpreted as him getting pissed, so we left him alone.

After the snorkel, we headed SW for Diamond Cay on Jost Van Dyke Island, and we found the waves. As I mentioned, the wind had really started hitting us from the North, and the waves followed. I figure the winds were 25-30 knts, and the waves at their worst probably reached 15-20 ft. I had a blast, and we only got spray over the stearn once.

We made it to Diamond Cay, picked up a mooring, then Tish and I went to shore and hiked to the 'bubbly pool' which is just a little inlet that the waves crash into creating... yes... a bubbly pool. The surf was spectacular, and on the way back we watched the pelicans and brown boobies crash into the water to get fish... mesmerizing.

For dinner that night we had a Sweet Potato Curry that rocked.

Day 5: 'More wind... yippee'
We set out south to head back to our first stop on Norman Island, but this time we were aiming for Kelly's Cove. The winds were shifting back to the east, but were still 20-25 knts, so the trip was quite fun. We managed to get to the cove early enough to catch one of the 5 moorings there, and watch a couple of giganto yachts pull up next to us. Had a quick snorkel, but not much else.

Dinner was a split pea stew, and we somehow managed to make oatmeal raisin cookies from a chocolate chip cookie recipe.

Day 6: 'Cookies for breakfast'
So, we only made six of the cookies the night before, so we spread the rest of the batter out in a pan and cooked it for breakfast. Then we poured maple syrup on it to make sure it was sweet enough, and called it breakfast... yum.

Headed North for Nanny Cay, and hit our top speed of the week at 9 knots. Pulled into the fuel dock, fueled etc., then turned in the boat.

Jos and Tish caught a cab so they could get on a ferry to Virgin Gorda for a couple of more days, and we just hung out. We did get a tour of a couple of catamarans... those things are huge! I must have one. Next time.

For dinner, we found the only vegan place on Tortola, 'Mellow Moods Cafe' in Road Town. I was very happy with the food there.

That about wraps it up. I'll post when I get Tish's picture location since she took the majority, but here is a link to the handful we took:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/snowboardbunny/sets/72157604201586248/

Well, for those of you who haven't heard, we are moving out to Park City at the end of the month. I am ready to go like yesterday. We just got back from house hunting, and we think we have found a place (still need some paperwork signed), so hopefully that will fall into place, and we won't have to sleep on the street once we get there. Should be fun.

Anyway, my new gig is looking for a good web UI designer/developer. Let me know if you know anybody who might be interested.