What a poker run !
 

In the last 20 years I have done a lot of poker runs. Never have I experienced as much fun as we had today. We filled the boat with some really cool people from the Islands around here and just had a blast. Not much time to write now as I need to get ready for dinner with our group.

Before Jay posts his pictures I need to warn everyone that you will see things that you will not see at a poker run in the US or Canada. There are no rules and life jackets are a rarity around here. You will also probably see people drinking during the coarse of the day as well as some crazy women loosing their tops. That is just the way it is here in the islands and it is unlikely to change anytime soon.

The day was much nicer today with sun and broken clouds and light winds. Perfect day, actually.

Enjoy the pics when Jay has time to post them but please do not be critical. Like I said there are no rules here.

Bob

Bob,

Glad to hear you and Jay are having such a great time.

Keep the narratives and pictures coming.

What.Bob.said...:drink:

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Painkillers.at.the.bar.with.my.name.on.them!!!

Travel.day.tomorrow...man,I.hate.to.leave.

I just got back a few minutes ago Wow what a great time. The water was just about perfect for a day out on the water. I met Bob and Jay for a brief moment. Nice guys and a beautiful boat. See you guys next year! Hopefully I will be out in something bigger and better next time!

That apache is really awesome! The cigarette "Fatboy" was out there today also.

Great shots of that Apache flyin !.....You guys are living the life !!!!!:drink:

Shot of Leverick Bay before things got crazy!

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From.around.the.dock,before.the.run.started.
The.party.is.on.

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What an adventure! Great pics Jay!

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

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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!!!:coolcowboy:

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:drink:

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!

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More from the run...

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Wow, great threat! Top 10 for sure!!

I think I need to trade my 800's in for a set of diesels and surface drives! :)

Thank you OSO Expat and the Saba Rock Resort !!
 

I am now back in Canada for the next 10 days or so and looking very much forward to my return to the BVI and especially to Expat's Saba Rock Resort. I am struggling to put into words just how much I enjoyed my time at SRR and all that David did to make my stay, one of my best vacations... ever. I have memories that will last a lifetime. Thank you David for everything. You went way beyond what any resort manager would do to make us comfortable. You are first class and have become a valued friend. I just hope that someday I can return all the favors you have shown us this past while.
I love your Tiger and look forward to us running our boats side by side out to St Marten's on my return. :)
Chrissann is a gem and I appreciated her hospitality and friendship as well.
Again, thank you, thank you. Saba Rock rocks !!





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I would like to add my congratulations, as well, to Bob and Jay for their great trip and for sharing their great adventure with everyone. My dad and I are very grateful to them for letting us be a small part of their adventure and for allowing us to enjoy their great company, along with David, Chrissann, Ron, Brant, and the rest of the group, during our weekend in the BVIs. We had to work real hard to get our boat ready in order to make it to the event, and hanging out with these great guys made it all worth it! Thank you for everything, guys, and we hope we can put together the same group someday and go for a run... the Tiger, Nor-Tech, Monza, Midnight and Apache...

Take care and we hope to see you soon,

Julian Jr.

+1 I am thinking the same thing!!!!

:drink:

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Woo Hoo - we won !!
 

I just got a call from David. Nick the organizer of the Leverick Bay poker run called David to tell him we won $1,000.00. 5 of us bought a hand each for $250.00 and agreed to split the winnings. So we each now are only out $50 bucks !! LOL
I thought they should have had a prize for farthest distance travelled ! LOL
It was so much fun that winning anything really was not important. We got our money's worth and more. :)
Thank you Nick and all who put the poker run together.
Bob
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Bob a quick story on why I bought a Tiger (love reading your threads BTW). My wife and her girlfriend went to Saba Rock (girlfriend lives in BVI's and knows David). They had a great time on his Tiger and came home with a ton of pictures. I got so gealous (LOL) of them and riding on David's boat I said dammit I can get one of those too!

Ed

Great thread indeed. As I think we are all starting to realize, the close of one adventure for BtheB is really just the start of another one brewing in his mind :boat:

Thanks for talking us along and posting all the pictures. The scenery is breathtaking and the stories are great, but I think the part I like the best is how through these darn websites, Bob and Jay can travel far, yet meet up with people they are familiar with.:circle:

I never realized there were that many offshores in the BVI, for those of you not living in the states or really for anyone, it would be great if you posted your location under your screen name.

Ahhh; no trip to the BVI's is complete without a stop at the Willy T. Great stuff!

in BVI, the USVI or in the Caribbean.
Puerto Rico has always had a good size fleet of Offshore Sport boats

Thank you
Jim
Danville Ca,

Funny story
 

At the first card stop the BVI Customs guys were hollering at us to get our attention. They then turned their boat to show us that the name of their boat was called PREDATOR as well. I was relieved as I did not know at first why they wanted our attention.

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Great story. Thanks for sharing.

Bob

Is that the Stig driving the all white boat? :drink:

Islands bottle opener
 

Bart using Ron's shoe bottle opener.
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Ron is from St Thomas and has a restaurant / bar there. He is a friend of David's and stayed at Saba Rock. He joined our group for dinner each night and just had us in stitches laughing. Non stop joker.
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Ron's really cool Midnight Express. Nicely restored.
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True Donna. It was great meeting Julian Jr and Sr ( OSO JGC ) in Ponce, PR where we needed some assistance with mechanical issues. They had their mechanic on the dock waiting for us the next morning. And on our arrival in BVI David ( OSO Expat ) was a great host and help in having his mechanic available and directing us to Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbour where the boat will get good care and be safe until our return.
We have made many new, great friends along the way and do appreciate them.
Bob

A few of my favorites from this last week.
 

Crew of 11 for the poker run :)

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My new friends at the dock

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The boys got a ride in the lift

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Turns out Rick the photographer / video in the helicopter grew up in my home town in Ontario. He contacted me on Facebook this morning and we will exchange video / pics. Small world.

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Love the colours oopps I mean colors. LOL

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Got a kick out of this curvy island style raft up. We were about to trty and manouver our way out of there when they all showed up en masse and cleared a way out for us.

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It was cool seeing my previous Nor Tech so far from home and to be able to run alongside it thru the islands. Brought back lots of good memories. It was ( is ) a great boat still and finds it's home in Fajardo, PR.

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What a view !!

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Another scenic shot of the rugged coastline.

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Nice size crew, good thing Jay managed to snag a seat :D

Great adventure Bob.... I was just down in St John for my 40th Birthday with friends 5 months ago at the end of January.... I LOVE it down there, and wish I could of done more boating... We did rent on 2 different days 29 Fountain's for the Nauti Nymph to hit the local watering hole's... the scenery and views are beyond breathtaking..

thanks again for sharing Bob!!!!!!