Virgin Islands

Monday, February 21

This trip had not been thought of when we left Beaufort in December.  I had done some research into possibly taking a cruise out of Miami sometime while we are in Key West, but never dreamed that we would end up chartering a sailboat in the Virgin Islands (this make about 20-25 times we've chartered there in the past 30 years or so).

However, once we met Steve and Linda DiStasio, we quickly found many common interests (sailing being one of many) and soon we were talking about chartering a few days in the Keys.  Then we thought about perhaps chartering in the Bahama.  Then the idea of chartering in the Virgin Islands came up.  We are much more familiar with the Virgin Islands, and by the time we factored in all the cost, it was about the same costs to go to the Islands as it was to go to the Bahamas, or for that matter, chartering in the Keys.  

So we made reservations, and now we're off on a new adventure.

An early start today. Steve picked us up around 7 AM for the trip to Miami. We've moved our coaches to a dry camping location, closed them up, cut off the batteries, and moved the stuff out of our refrigerator to Steve's.  Steve has a solar system that can keep his coach's power up so he can leave his refrigerator on.

An uneventful trip and one of the smoothest check-ins at a big airport we've ever had. Enroute to St Thomas, the pilot announced that the winds were not favorable for landing. He was concerned about having too large a downwind component on the only runway on which we could land (the plane could only handle 10 knots downwind component) and he couldn't land from east to west because of the mountain at the east end of the runway. Anyway, it worked out with a little bounce on final approach.

This evening we all walked the ¾ mile to the grocery, got all the provisions needed (for $350), took a taxi back to the marina, ate dinner and crashed on the boat.

I am generally not a proponent of self-provisioning. I'd rather pre-plan at home and let the provisioning company have what we need on board when we get there.  However, Clara and Linda did a remarkable job in about 2 hours of getting everything we needed (with little left over at the end of the week) for about $350, which is about 1/3 of what we would have paid to have the boat pre-provisioned.

Tuesday, February 22

A bright early start with on board briefing starting at 9 AM by Brad. After a good review of the boat, we finally head out for a short sail/motoring to Christmas Cove and a quiet afternoon of snorkeling, swimming and relaxing.

Wednesday, February 23

The weather isn't the best this morning. We start off with a long-lasting rain shower, in which we slip the mooring and head out toward Jost Van Dyke (about 8 miles). Intermittent showers come our way on the 2.5 hour motoring to the island.

We head to shore to check in with the British Virgin Islands immigration service and visit the world famous Foxy's restaurant and bar for lunch. 

Clara and Linda ran into Foxy and of course, the usual question, where are you from. When she answered North Carolina, Foxy quickly came back with, "I was going there tomorrow but I have changed my mind".  I asked why, his quick reply was, "you guys don't know which bathroom to use!"

Traveling between the US and British Virgin Islands is a pain because of checking in and out. Kinda wish the US had made a deal a long time ago to buy the entire group of islands.

I had thought that tonight was the night for the cooking on the beach at Foxy's, but alas, it's tomorrow night. It was my turn to cook today so I was really counting on a nice shore-side dinner for the crew. I've got to figure out another way to get out of having to cook (and I do).

After a couple hours ashore, we head back to the boat for a quiet afternoon of enjoying the scenery and relaxing/sleeping/talking/swimming/whatever. I take off and swim around the harbor for an hour of so. The water temperature is absolutely wonderful for swimming. 

I figured out a way to get out of cooking and treated the crew to a nice dinner at Ali Baba restaurant and bar. We were all very pleased with a great dinner with Victoria. By the end of the meal, Steve and Victoria were best of buddies.

Beach at Jost Van Dyke

A toast at Ali Baba restaurant to our first day sailing 

Steve and Victoria became buddiess

We loved the place mats at Ali Baba's

"There are good ships
There are wooden ships
There are ships that sail the sea
But the best ship is friendship
and may it always be"

This is the check for our meal at Ali Baba's restaurant.  A rather unusual after dinner mint came in the form of a Halls cough drop.  I "lost" mine pretty quickly after putting it in my mouth.  Not quite what I expected.

We all settled in for a quiet and peaceful evening aboard with maybe a little too much to drink – maybe not. Steve has introduced me to a new liqueur, Jack Daniels Tennessee Honey. Ooops!

The weather has cleared out beautifully and we enjoy some time watching the stars.

Thursday, January 24

We leave Great Harbor around 8:30 headed for Marina Key. 

Leaving Great Harbor, Jost Van Dyke

We have alternate good winds and no winds, but try to sail as much as we can. Later in the day, the winds pick up nicely and we have a nice sail.

Steve and I struggled with the on-board GPS system.  We never did figure it out, but really don't need it

Steve and I have worked it out that every other day, we switch between the helm and deck, giving each of us a break from the responsibilities of making everyone happy. Since there are only 4 of us, it is much easier than our normal crew of 8.

This boat is good for 2 couples, with 2 staterooms and 2 baths, one in each hull. This boat is several years old but has been well maintained. The only fault we find is that there are not enough hand holds scattered around.

Azzurra

We enjoyed snorkeling along the shores near the mooring field.  This is our first really good snorkeling since arrival.

Clara checks out her new Full Face Mask.  Think she is happy?

Of course, there's always an opportunity to shop at Pussers

Marina Key is a small island on the Eastern end of Tortola. It has nice restaurant and dock/Pussers store and very nice grounds.

Sunset at Marina Key and a nice dinner ashore

I did my best to get Clara to have something other than Conch Fritters but was not success full.  She does love her conchs!

Friday, February 25

As has been the case all along, we make decisions by the moment as to where to go. This morning while getting ready to cast off, we decided to take a side-trip to The Baths. This is always a fun place.

Getting ashore at The Baths is always a challenge, especially with a dinghy. We arrived early and pick up a mooring close to shore and swim into the beach. It has been a while since I had been here, and initially we swam into the wrong beach. We didn't realize it until we started looking for the walk through the rocks, which isn't at this beach.

So we struggle back into our snorkeling gear and swim around to the right beach. Getting on and off the beach results in getting knocked down by the wave surge – and getting sand everywhere you can imagine in our clothes.

Steve and Linda get ready to struggle through the surf at The Baths

We reached the correct beach. I watch the gear and Steve, Linda and Clara walk a ways in the boulders. 

Then back to the boat for a nice sail to Cooper Island. This is the first place that we've been that supposedly had wifi service, but I found it too slow to be able to check e-mail. But that's okay. It's really nice not being in contact with the world.

The turtle at Cooper Island has a very distinctive shell.

It seems that a barracuda is always hanging out beneath the boat.  This one is around 4 feet long

We picked up one of the last mooring balls, but unfortunately, the pendant that we tie off to is missing. Steve and I rig a pendant and mooring that does the job.

Saturday, February 26

Another good start headed to Norman Island – our last stop in the BVI.  

We got in some really good sailing on the way. On arrival at the Bight at Norman Island, we picked up the mooring.  We are initially moored downwind of Willie T's, but decided to move upwind by mid-afternoon, figuring (correctly) that it would be a noisy evening downwind (and it was – as usual).

We quickly settled in and  took the dinghy around the corner of the island to The Caves and spent most of the day snorkeling there.  

A school of small fish hanging out at the entrance to one of the caves.

Deliverance is a mainstay at Norman Island.  They apparently come over from Tortola and sell everything from bread to rum out of their boat. We were happy to see them since we were almost out of rum and the crew had become accustomed to our Pina Coladas in the afternoon.

Sunday, February 27

Today we enter the US Virgin Islands (illegally because we haven't cleared customs). In order to clear customs, we'd have to go all the way to the Western End of St John (Cruz Bay), and then travel all the way to the other end of the island to stay at one of our favorite anchorages, Salt Pond Bay. Thus we're illegal aliens tonight.

We're getting rather lazy after nearly a week aboard. After a couple hours of snorkeling, we all crash with our books for the afternoon. After dinner, we dinghy ashore, pay our mooring fee ($13) at the self-service kiosk.

Spotted Ray

Turtles are abundant at Salt Pond Bay

These unusual fish hung around the boat while in Salt Pond.

Clara took this rather unusual view of a barracuda.  She leaned off the stern of the boat with the camera under water.  I think that if you were in the water and saw this view, you'd probably try to walk on water.

This evening we took the dinghy to shore to explore the beach.

The beautiful beaches at Salt Pond and we had it all to ourselves.

We had seen some deer on the beach when we were on the boat and when we walked the shore in twilight, we caught a glimpse of them again.

Steve enjoys his walk on the beach and studies the stars

We're seriously considering returning to base tomorrow. That way we don't have to worry about having to get to Christmas Cove early to get a mooring. And according to the Park Service volunteer, the winds are forecast to increase significantly (25-30 knots) Wednesday. So we might as well return to base, enjoy the evening and not be rushed getting ready to leave on Wednesday. At least that's how we see it tonight.

Tuesday, February 28

Wow! What a great sail today. We leisurely left Salt Pond Bay after a great breakfast courtesy of Steve. French toast with warm fruit compote.  What a treat. The winds built throughout the morning and we were doing a steady 6+ knots in a rolling ocean with white caps. When traveling on the South side of St John, we are really in the ocean and the seas can become quite large.

Gradually we move toward Charlotte Amalie and home of Azzurra. After arriving at Frenchtown Marina, we lunch and then all walk over to Customs and Immigration to legally arrive back in the US.

As soon as we clear customs, the ladies take off shopping, not to be seen again until after 5 PM. I walked down the shopping street about 5 minutes and returned to the boat.

Another original recipe by Steve for supper and we're down for the night.

Wednesday, March 1

Thankfully we came in yesterday because this morning is not the best. Constant rain showers and, as predicted, the winds have increased. We enjoy a nice morning leisurely packing and getting ready to abandon ship.

A great new friendship has been cemented.  We're already talking about next winter's charter.

I think I've found our next boat to charter. There is a 50-foot cat on the docks that looks like it would be great for a larger group (although we have really enjoyed only having just the four of us on board).