Travel to the BVI
Friday morning, April 6th, I headed to Boston Logan Airport to meet up with the sailing crew. They had all come on a red-eye from California. Luckily, I was upgraded to business class, so the flight down was in comfort, with Heather joining me for some of the trip in the empty seat next to mine.
Once we arrived in St. Thomas we went to baggage claim and waited. Heather’s bag never showed up! This would be the treasure hunt for the group, find Heather’s bag. The group, Mark, our captain, Lora, his girlfriend, Kristin and Alex, his kids, Aimee and Ryan, their friends, along with Heather and myself, headed down to the ferry dock for the fast ferry to Tortola, and our first glimpse of Paradise. We sped to the BVI (British Virgin Islands), cleared customs and then checked in at the Moorings, our sail charter. After a nice island dinner at C&F it was off to sleep.
First Day of Sailing: Norman Island
Heather and I set off to Road Town to find replacement stuff for the still lost luggage, then helped finalize the stocking of the boat we set sail south from the Moorings dock in Road Town across Sir Francis Drake Channel to Norman Island. We moored in The Bight on Norman Island, then went for our first snorkel around Treasure Point. We explored treasure caves and saw many amazing fish. It turns out, this island is reputed to be the setting for Treasure Island. We headed into Pirate's Blight for dinner and then sang, drank and danced with some Puerto Ricans, before closing the bar. We then headed off to the Willie T's and opened and closed this bar before heading in for the night.
Second Day of Sailing: Peter Island
After a late night is was a very slow morning of recovery. As it was Easter, we awoke to find Easter eggs around the ship – my first ship based egg hunt. I made an Easter Breakfast of eggs and bacon, and then we headed over to snorkel the Indians – one of the most popular dive/snorkel sites in the BVI. After the snorkel, I took the helm for our sail to Peter Island’s Little Harbor. Once we moored (which is the process of hooking a rope to tie into an already placed anchor), we went on a swim outing, swimming ashore to the deserted beach and then exploring. Back on the ship, we had a cocktail hour, before BBQing some chicken and steak up for dinner.
Third Day of Sailing: Rhone Ruins and Marina Cay
After a good night’s sleep we sailed east past Dead Chest to or snorkel the wreck of the Royal Mail Steamer Rhone – one of the legendary dives in the BVI & the set for the movie, The Deep. After an exploration of the wreckage, we sailed back across Sir Frances Drake Channel, to Marina Cay, this little island paradise. Here we could shower ashore, and then go to a Pirate Happy Hour, before sitting down for a Pusser’s Rum Restaurant Dinner. There was a web cam here that took pictures of us by a red box, and then posted them to the web. Ours were on April 9, 2007 at 5:31, 8:50, and 9:10ish.
Fourth Day of Sailing: Virgin Gorda – Baths and Bitter End
We got up very early to motor across the channel and get a good mooring at the Baths. We then swam ashore and explored. Lora, Heather and I pretended to be swimsuit models and had a photo shoot as we explored the caves and Devil’s Cove. After an expoloration, we sailed up around Virgin Gorda to Bitter End. Here, we set Lora and Mark off for a date night, while I made a shrimp dinner for the kids.
Fifth Day of Sailing: Anegada
We got water at Saba Rock, then sailed North to Anegada for lobster. It was our first sail where we could not see our destination. After a few hours we arrived, and motored through to coral to a mooring. We headed to the island and took a cab to the other side for snorkeling and beach time, before returning to our boat to get ready for Lobster dinner at the Lobster Shack. We had awesome huge lobsters for dinner.
Sixth Day of Sailing: White Beach, Jost Van Dyke
I got up early to watch the sunrise then had a sleepy morning of lounging while we went on our longest sail, to the white beach on Jost Van Dyke. Once here, we swam to shore, and enjoyed exploring the beach bars. The Soggy Dollar Bar, reputed creator of the Painkiller, accepted our soggy dollars for drinks. I went back to the boat and during a snorkel around the boat, Mark pointed out a stingray! While waiting for the rest of the group to come back to the boat, a group of fishermen from Minnesota came by and gave me a ride to shore. We then went on a fast ride to their boat to pick up the 20 pound Wahoo - they caught that morning. They shared it with us in exchange for using our BBQ. It was amazing fresh fish. After dinner, we headed into Ivan’s Stress Free bar, where I got to ride a tire swing and enjoy an evening ashore and the Southern Cross in the sky.
Seventh Day of – Well Not – Sailing: Jost Van Dyke
Today we only motored around, and we did not raise the sails at all. We headed over to Cane Garden Bay – a beautiful inlet, where we finally got Heather’s BAG! A week late, but still, safely found. After enjoying the bay, we headed over to Sandy Spit, think of your ideal deserted desert isle, for a swim to shore, before heading to Little Habor for a mooring. For dinner, we went over to Big Harbor and Foxy’s for dinner. We ate a huge BBQ dinner and then stayed for some reggae dancing. The band leader modified the song strokin’ into a dance off. Aimee and I were some of the women called up to dance a strokin’ dance, and we both made it to the final 3! (I was third, she was second, a woman from Europe won). After our dance contest and drinks, we headed back to the boat for the last night aboard.
Eighth Day of Sailing – Back to Tortola
We headed out early and sailed through Thatch Island Cut back to the Moorings at Road Town. I got to take the helm for some of the 7 knot sail back. I then got a cheeseburger in paradise, before we too the ferry back to St. Thomas and our hotel there - the Marriott Hotel on St. Thomas. It was so nice to have a hot shower and clean hair and enjoy a final Caribbean sunset.
The Trip Home
Heather and I got up early took one last swim in the ocean, before heading out to the airport. I was upgraded again on the flight to New York. Unfortunately in New York, the bad weather caused all flights out to be canceled. I was able to book a ride on a train to Boston, and got in at 1:30 AM. A bit of a longer ride home then I would have liked but still, the island joy had not rubbed off.
For more pictures from the sailing adventure go here: Caribbean Pictures 2007
