A picture perfect charter!

We’ve all had that experience where certain weeks just seem to fly by. For both Rebecca and I, this past week with our guests, the Longs was one of those weeks. It seems like only yesterday that they first stepped foot on One Love back at Compass Point Marina. As I write this post and reflect back on all of the things that we accomplished, I can see that like many charters, the week was packed with action!

We began the charter in a quiet anchorage on the north coast of St. John. The calm waters there allowed everyone to ease into the vacation with a pleasant swim, and some fun on the stand-up paddle boards. The pace picked up considerably the following day though as after clearing into the BVI (we look after the clear in-in process for our guests — they relax on the boat while we quickly take care of the paperwork with the officials on shore), we sailed One Love to the first of that day’s three great snorkeling stops. That first super-full day was topped off in a beautiful, secluded and calm anchorage that we had all to ourselves. Yes, it’s true, even in the BVI you can have an anchorage all your own if you know where to go. That second night was extra special as we were treated to a lunar eclipse, a blood moon, and we all set our alarm clocks to get up at 3:30 AM to take in the rare sight. Very cool!

The moon would be the theme for the following night too as we celebrated a full moon at Trellis Bay’s famous fireball beach party, after a great sail and a wreck dive that is.

Day 4 included a trip to the world-famous Baths on Virgin Gorda, followed by snorkeling another wreck, this time an airplane at Great Dog Island. The day was concluded with Michael Beans’ Happy Arrr show at Leverick Bay, always a hit with kids and adults alike.

We started off day five with a great downwind sail, stopping at another incredible snorkeling spot for lunch before continuing on to Diamond Cay to visit the famous Bubbly Pool. Our young guests couldn’t get enough of the water and as they did most days, easily entertained themselves on the paddle boards until it was time for another one of Rebecca’s fantastic meals.

The final full day of the charter was another action-packed one. Almost as if we had ordered it, the wind picked up overnight so that we could have another great downwind sail, this time back to St. John to clear back into the USVI. Once those formalities were addressed, we visited Christmas Cove (no, we didn’t see Santa, he must have been out sailing) for lunch before zipping downwind to Buck Island where we were all able to get up close with the resident turtles, and snorkel over a third sunken wreck!

As the Long’s flight was scheduled to depart St. Thomas early this morning, we opted to spend the last evening of the charter at anchor in St. Thomas’ Charlotte Amalie harbor. The pretty lights on shore were a pleasant change from the secluded bays that we had spent most of the week in, and the weather kindly cooperated to allow us a peaceful night’s sleep.

This morning we were up early to prepare a quick breakfast, and then to ferry everyone to shore to meet with the taxi driver that we had prearranged. If a charter could be described as picture perfect, this was it. It was all fun, no drama and we were left with great memories and some new friends that we hope to see again in the not-too-distant future!

“This trip was well beyond my expectation! I will encourage anyone I know who is capable to book with you! Thank you for the lifetime memory with my family!” — Heather Long