[heinzir]

My wife and I went on our honeymoon in St. Thomas almost 35 years ago. We had done some daysailing on a Sunfish at home and managed to rent a Sunfish in ST from a hotel for a few hours. We checked with some brokers and found a couple on a 43' boat that normally charters by the week but had no charter at the time. They agreed to take us out for $25 for the day.

We left Red Hook in the morning and sailed to Sandy Cay in the BVI (not bothering with customs.) We were the only boat anchored at Sandy Cay that day. We swam ashore with the captain and learned to snorkel while his wife stayed on board and made us a gourmet lobster lunch. We then had a glorious sail back to ST.

This experience really got us hooked on sailing. We had to get a boat, and for my wife's sake, it had to have a head. We bought a Venture 21, and then sold it 2 years later and got our Venture 23.

We had always talked about going back to the Virgin Islands to go sailing but money, family responsibilities, and lack of confidence kept us from doing so. We finally decided to give it a try for our 25th anniversary. We chartered a 43' boat in the BVIs. One of the highlights was sailing to Sandy Cay (much more crowded this time) and kissing on the beach.

This was going to be our "adventure of a lifetime" but we had so much fun we've gone back 6 more times!