OK,last.ones.till.I.get.back.to.Florida...

Damn that engine hatch is flying open. Crazy pics.

OMG, the girl in the pink on the orange raft is from Charlevoix, she's a friend!!! she's crew'n on a large yacht of a guy that devoloped Bay Harbor in Petoskey!!!

awesome shots Jay. Congrats on the trip guys. It took a year longer than originally planned but you got the mission accomplished Bob!!

As I was cruising around LOTO this weekend in my resin bucket I found my self day dreaming about your adventure several times. Your trip actually came up in conversation a couple times while talking out and about over the weekend with other boaters.

Thanks again for sharing

Wow, Jay's pictures really complete the perfect thread. Thanks

Thanks everyone. We pulled the boat out of the water yesterday morning at Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbour, BVI and flew back to the US yesterday afternoon. I am in Ft Lauderdale and will catch a flight to Buffalo, NY at 11 AM and Jay is home in Naples probably unpacking and repacking as he leaves for Jacksonville tomorrow. It was great having Jay along and he deserves our heartfelt thanks for sharing his great pictures. I got to see the really good ones !! LOL
My original plan after the poker run was to head back to Ponce, PR and fly home from there, returning at a later date for the boat trip home. New plan now. We will leave the boat in BVI and return for more in 10 days or so. If the weather is good David ( OSO Expat ) and maybe a few others will get their boats out and a small group will run about 90 milers further out to St. Bart's and St Marten's for a couple of days. After that I will be ready to head back to the FL with Team PREDATOR.
I will be home tonight and over the next couple of days will share my pics and a few stories. We met so many great and helpful people along the way that need to be thanked.
Bob

Time for one short story before I head over to the airport.

At the start the boats all mill around Leverick Bay. To get to the open water you have to run thru a marked channel a few hundred yards wide with reefs on each side. As you can imagine, all 100 plus boats converge on that channel and the water gets really choppy. A 17 ft boat with a 300 HP outboard on it had it's hull break apart and sank. The two people on it we not injured and got fished out of the water. It was the only mishap that we heard about over the coarse of the day but I imagine there were a few bumps at the card stops with so many boats. We stayed clear as best we could and would sometimes go to a neighboring dock and walk a bit for our cards. At one point in the afternoon we stopped at a nice beach for a drink and a swim and then resumed our run and avoided much chaos. That was David's suggestion. Ah, that local knowledge was such a help.
Bob

Bob - Jay

Thank you for taking all of us along on your great adventure Was a trip of a lifetime.. Glad that all is going well so far on the trip and look forward to the continuation of the trip and then the trip back to Fl

Thank you
Jim

I just wanted to write a note of congratulations and thanks to Bob and Jay on their recent adventure getting to the BVI. And, on top of it you just can't find any nicer guys than these two. It takes a lot of drive and determination to plan and then execute a trip like that and Bob pulls it off like it is just another weekend on the water. My hat's off to him for accomplishing what we know is a very difficult and stressful trip-even if there are a lot of bikinis around. And, Jay kept the camera going to get the best shots of the trip, even in the most severe weather situations that most would hide from. And for those of you who know him, you know he was certain to lighten the mood in the rough stuff. Once here in the BVI they were gracious, generous, and very down to earth-basically a class act all around. They pulled off a trip that most just dream of and it could only be done as successfully as it was with good people like these two. We are looking forward to their return to the BVI but also to their next adventures-whether together or solo.

These guys are both a kick to be around. Can't wait to again have a lot of laughs with Bob talking boats and life and a lot of rums with Jay while looking for those perfect t & a shots, I mean boat shots.

David and friends.

Thanks for everything, David. You and Crissann are very special people. I can't thank you enough for your warm hospitality- we felt like family from the minute we set foot in your paradise. Crissann was such a good sport- as she knew I was shooting her hot self all day from every angle.

Thanks again... I can't wait to come back again.

Got a few new shots from Sunday. The first one is of the flipped boat that Bob mentioned- shows the scene and the rough conditions there at the start of the run- a typical scene as the boats are all trying to get on plane. We were only seconds behind it and the hull was barely visible as we went by. The inset shows what looks like two people in the water. I did hear later in the day that someone fell out of a boat and suffered a dislocated shoulder.

Time for some painkillers!