Geo: 18.0303, -63.0488The Big Head Todd, Big Caribbean Cruise III is officially over today. :-(This morning, we are back in St. Maarten. 12.5 nautical miles were covered to bring us back to port last night, bringing us to a grand total of 269.9 nautical miles sailed over the past week. After breakfast, we squared up our bill, and turned our keys in. We shook hands with and give big meaningful hugs to all our new friends. We've all promised to keep in touch and with the closed Facebook group that has been setup, I feel confident we will. I've already overheard talk of reunions. The Red Rocks show is a big one. My next one will be the Down by Downtown festival in Roanoke, VA. The Red Rocks show in June will be epic though. Disembarking ... read more

Geo: 18.4451, -64.4376Today's adventure took us to Spanish Town on Virgin Gorda. This is on the other side of the island of where we spend the day on Monday, and the sail to today's fun fest was 20 nautical miles. Since we were heading out a little earlier today, the 10 am "story time" was held at 9 am in the dining room. Our trip for today were a park on Virgin Gorda called "The Baths." The baths are basically giant boulders, grottoes, and caves on the island that they turned into a tourist destination because they're pretty cool. After the tender ride on to shore we boarded buses for the short drive to The Baths. The contrast between Spanish Town Marina is stunning. Opulence surrounded by absolute poverty. Since this is the BVI, the traffic ... read more

Geo: 18.3333, -64.6167Today, our adventure takes us to Norman Island, and then to the west bank of Tortolla. The sail form Virgin Gorda Sound to Norman Island took across 22.5 nautical miles of open sea.Norman Island is uninhabited and privately owned. The island is about 600 acres, and about 2.5 miles long and is reportedly one of the locations of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic tale of YARRRRRR "Treasure Island." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Island The morning .... routine for lack of a better term .... is becoming pretty consistent. Wake up, head topside for some fantastic views, talk with everyone about how freaking awesome this is, grab some breakfast, have our 10 am briefing, and then head out for the day. We've all pretty much gotten past the "I'm horrible with names," "good to meet you" phase. "So where ar ... read more

Geo: 18.2167, -63.05Well this day started out ..... Interesting. Woke up to a heavily pitching boat. This ain't no cruise ship kids. It's only 360 feet. When it's rough out ... You feel it. So far though I am one of the few without the seasick patch. Rocking doesn't seem to bother me all that much.Our sail from St. Maarten to Anguilla took us 23 nautical miles last night.Anguilla (pronounced an-gwil-ah) is a British overseas territory in the Caribbean, It is one of the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles, lying east of Peurto Rico and the Virgin Islands, and directly north of St. Maarten. It has a population of around 15,000 people. For more about Anguilla: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anguilla.Ok ... cut to boat scene in .... 3 ..... 2 ..... 1 ......Had breakfast ... read more

Geo: 18.0229, -63.0448I've been waiting for this moment ... for over a year .....Stayed at Karla and Duo's place last night. Woke up at 3:30 and left at 4:00. Had to catch the 4:30 shuttle ... So I thought. It was actually 4:45. That's why I was a little antsy when we were routed through Carnegie due to the Parkway being closed. Poor little Frankie, our Jack Russell\Dachshund, was noticeably distressed when we left. The flights down were pretty uneventful. Met numerous couples with the same mission in mind as us at the gate. The BHTM fans just sort of ... I dunno .... Sensed each other. Had the middle seat for the leg to St. Maarten which was a little bit of a bummer. But, the main goal was to get to the island and ... read more