Today, 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_Isl and

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 are you from?" has been replaced with conversation about family, kids, hobbies, passions, and life in general. Oh, and of course, our common love for the music of BHTM. Shows we've seen, upcoming shows, etc ...

Today we snorkeled some of the best waters we will probably hit all week. We took the shuttle boat to the snorkel spot. When we climbed down the ladder on the front of the boat into the water, we were at a depth of about 50 feet. I think. The water is so absolutely crystal clear here we could have been at 100 for all I know. Unfortunately we only had about 25 minutes of actual snorkeling. I got some pretty cool underwater Go Pro footage.

Heather did great. For a girl who does not like putting her head underwater at all, she handled this with determination and a brave sort of conviction. I went into the caves but didn't like that too much. Too dark. If there IS buried treasure in that damn cave, I guess someone else will have to find it. 25 minutes came and went like it was 5.

We got back to the ship, grabbed some lunch, and headed to Pirates Bight on Norman Island. It's a very nice little beach, bar/restaurant, marina destination. They had free wifi so those of us who are typically full in the Matrix got to jump online and do some email and updates. I can't tell you how many people who exclaimed they are staying off the grid for a week took that opportunity to post selfies :-)

After a couple of hours at the Bight, we set sail for Soper's Hole, Tortolla. This was a relatively short sail, taking us a mere 8.3 nautical miles.

Tortola is the largest and most populous of the BVI with around 24,000 inhabitants. Local tradition recounts that Christopher Columbus named the island Tortola, meaning "turtle dove" in Spanish ..... I'll let Wikipedia finish this for me because I'm hungry ....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tortola

Destination for the night? A restaurant called The Fish n' Lime Inn.

Great place. We had reservations for 6:15 which means we were front row for the best sunset I have ever ever EVER seen in my entire time on planet Earth. I couldn't describe it properly if I wanted to and none of my photos did it justice.

Once a most delicious meal was finished and we had gone through a few rounds of pina coladas and boozy smoothies (which, might I add were all the color green due to the fact that today is St. Patrick's Day), the band Hot Sauce hit the stage and pretty much got it done. They were a cover band, but not your garden variety cover band.

They had the place jumping in no time at all .... when there was power. About once every 45 minutes the power would just drop. The owner would kick the circuit breaker back in, and they would we playing that funky music white boy without a care in the world.

After about the 3rd time this happened, people were good and goobered up and the blackouts would be accompanied by cheering, shouting, and general shena****ns.

Heather's one goal in this trip was to dace to live music on an island bar. Mission accomplished. She even got hit on by a 20 something. Of course she got razzed about being a cougar, but as you already know, she took it like a champ.

Standing on the pier waiting for the shuttle back to the boat, the party buzzing behind us, the boat all lit up in front of us .... I was filled with the reality that at this moment in time, I would rather be no where else, and with no one else in the world than here, and The people I was with at this point in time.

My one goal on this trip was to get a job as a pilot (or pirate if it presented itself), and that I did.

Some drunk chain smoking local with a tool belt sitting on the picnic table outside the club hired me as soon as I said I wanted a job as a pilot down here. Because, dontcha know, that's exactly how they hire pilots. You have to interview with the drunk guy with the tool belt. Hell, not even interview. "Go tell the drunk guy with the tool belt you want to be a pilot." DONE! When I asked him what qualified him to hire me so quickly. He looked dead in my eyes and said "Because ..... I have the nicest tool belt on the island."

Sightseeing air tour anyone?

After a night of dining, drinking, dancing, and generalized wonderment ..... We got back to the ship around midnight and only lasted about another hour.

Sleep came quickly again.

I gotta tell you . I was a little star struck when this ship began. I've been a Big Head Todd fan for many years now. But when you step up to the bar to order a drink, and one of the members of the band remembers your name, gives you a high five, and then buys you a beer?

I said it before and I'll keep saying it. These guys are truly friends with their fans. No pretense or gimmicks or lip service.

It's the real deal.