We were in the US Virgin Islands for a glorious week and had a blast, but our absolute best day was our day sail with Captain Pat and first mate Travis.
Highlights:
-beautiful sailing on the boat
-snorkeling with sea turtles, rarely seen spotted eagle ray (!!) and stingrays, and all the sea creatures
-best meal we had in Virgin Islands
-great rum punch
-history of all the islands and answers to all my Virgin Island questions!
Our adventure started with a sail to a great place to snorkel-- and the sail itself was fun! The Independence is a beautiful ship, which Captain Pat and her husband build themselves, and Captain Pat pointed out all the islands, flora, fauna, etc., and knew all the history and stories about the islands (including pirate stories!).
Then we got to our first snorkel spot. Captain Pat has everything you need for snorkeling, including all the snorkeling gear AND extra swim shirts (UV protective long-sleeves shirts, which saved my sun-burnt life), so you're set. We had scheduled our sail closer to the end of our visit and had snorkeled already quite a bit, so I didn't think this would be anything new. But it was SO much better than all our other snorkels! Obviously Captain Pat knew the best place to take us-- and First Mate Travis led us to just the right places. And we saw loads of sea turtles doing all sorts of sea turtle things, AND we saw a spotted eagle ray, which is not a common find-- it was incredible!, and more stingrays and a flounder and many other sea-life.
After snorkeling, back up on the deck where we had a quick warm rinse off (this was surprisingly relaxing) and then some snacks and drinks. Captain Pat has thought of everything, because I get a wee bit seasick in the water (and on boats), and she has snacks for you to settle your stomach if needed (or just to nosh) that really did help. Ginger-ale also helped. I don't know if the ru punches I had did, but they were worth it!
Then we had a bit of sailing and then lunch-- and it was delicious. This was literally the best meal we had while in the Virgin Islands! It wasn't super fancy (pasta, salad, bread), but MAN it was really good. And then an INCREDIBLE chocolate brownie dessert (on cutie fish plates) with a coconut rum sauce. And this is a small thing, but it really spoke to how hospitable Captain Pat is: my partner doesn't drink alcohol, so when she would ask what drinks we wanted, he would always get a soda or water (I stuck to ginger-ale or rum punch myself), and she obviously paid attention to this and so made sure to specifically ask about the coconut rum sauce to be sure-- which was really considerate (and something easy to miss). But if you do drink alcohol, I fully recommend that coconut rum! ;)
Then we sailed again, gabbed, and enjoyed life at sea until we got to our NEXT snorkel spot. The other couple didn't want a second snorkel, so they stayed and had drinks and took a nap, which they were excited about (you can lay down under the sails on the front of the boat, which I also did at one point- loved it). We, however, dove in with First Mate Travis and snorkeled among this reef where Travis pointed out all these crazy undersea critters-- even bringing many of them to the surface for us to look at and hear more about-- it was SO amazing. We saw spiny sea urchins, a type of sea anemone that looks like a fan and -poof- disappears when you wiggle your fingers at it, sea slugs, star fishes, this star-fish-thing-that-I-think-was-an-alien, and basically the entire cast of Finding Nemo (minus Nemo). It was absolutely incredible.
Then back to the ship for more sailing, snacks, drinks, and relaxing.
The day ended far too soon, and it really was the best day on what was already an incredible vacation. I'd recommend Captain Pat's sail to EVERYONE! read more