Norman Island is about 6 miles south of Tortola, that is the nice thing about sailing here, it is very easy in that the distances are so short, you can have breakfast on 1 island, lunch on another, and dinner on another island all in one day without breaking a sweat.  If you plan to go somewhere and it is crowded when you arrive or the wind direction isn't quite what you thought, there is always time for plan B.

The first place we headed for was The Bight, this is the main mooring area and home to the 'Willy T', a floating bar which was on our 'to do' list.  We arrived and took a mooring ball for the night and went to check out the bar for happy hour.  Happy hour is always a big thing over here - all the sailors head ashore about 4pm, as most run from 4pm-6pm.  Restaurants are always packed about 6pm as the main clientele are Americans who eat very early, if you go at a normal English time of 8-8.30pm everyone has either left or is just finishing their meal.

Anyway, the Willy T, this is a replica of a topsail lumber schooner which was converted into a bar and restaurant - it was named after William Thornton who designed the US Capital Building.  The atmosphere was certainly interesting, drunken middle aged women dancing, screaming, and trying to impress the local not-very-interested talent.  After just one drink we left and went ashore to the other bar 'Pirates' instead - maybe we picked the wrong day??

This island is often referred to as 'Treasure Island' and is said to have been Robert Louis Stevenson's inspiration for his book of the same name.  There are lots of legends surrounding pirates on Norman Island, particularly about the treasure to be found here.  

There are numerous good snorkelling sites here, one of them being The Indians, a group of rocks off Pelican Island just outside the mouth of the Bight.  We took the dinghy out for a look around late in the afternoon when the crowds had moved on and had a great snorkel, until we got scared off by a huge barracuda and and even larger nurse shark!!  We were careful in the water here as there had been radio reports throughout the day on the VHF warning of box jellyfish in the area - the ones here sting and have been doing so regularly over the past few days, but are nowhere near as nasty as the Australian box jellyfish whose sting can be fatal - they don't have those here, thankfully, or snorkelling would definitely have been off the agenda - as it is I was stung by a sea urchin when tying our rope to a tree and John has spent the last hour digging spines out of my foot as according to the medical book if you leave them in, it can go septic!! The book also recommends injections of lignocaine (anaesthetic) prior to digging, and probably assumes you will use something more surgical than a pair of eyebrow tweezers and a heated sewing needle to do the job!!  

In an attempt to get away from the crowds, we moved around the corner to Benares Bay, it was less than a mile away and had only 2 boats in when we arrived.  Due to the weather conditions, those boats already in were anchored and also tied stern-to a tree so we had to follow suit.  This was the first time we had done this on our own, and I have to say we did quite a good job - eventually!!  We liked this place so much we decided to stay another night and do some more snorkelling in the bay here and also venture out in the dinghy to the caves in Privateer Bay, just past Treasure Point.  I kid you not these are the real names, they are proud of their pirate heritage here!! Tomorrow we head off to Cane Garden Bay, which is supposed to be the most beautiful anchorage in the BVI's..........

 The floating bar 'Willy T'

 Sunset over the Bight

 We hiked up the hill to get this great view over the anchorage area and out towards Tortola

 The Indians surrounded by boats

 'Seaduced' anchored and tied to a tree in Benares Bay

 John adding a float to our stern line to keep it out of the water and off the reef.