Recently returned from an amazing week in the BVI's so I thought I'd post a few thoughts.
My wife and I chartered a 2017 Nautitech Open 40 with Horizon and were joined by two other couples. This would be our first charter after completing our ASA certifications last year.
We all flew into STT on Monday the 4th and had arranged a private water taxi with Sea Lion charters since we wouldn't be able to make the last ferry to Tortola. They had a driver waiting for us at the airport who then took us all to Red Hook to catch our water taxi. The water taxi ride was fast and bumpy but we all had a great time and did our best to empty the cooler of Carib! After a quick stop in Red Hook to get checked in, we were delivered directly to Horizon's dock. We had arranged for a sleepaboard and knew ahead of time that we would be arriving after the office was closed. We went straight to our boat and got everyone settled in before we headed off to Peglegs for dinner. We had pre-ordered some provisions with Bobby's and those were waiting for us on the boat when we arrived. We had a few items missing but that was quickly corrected after a phone call to Bobby's the next morning. We had also pre-ordered liquid provisions with Caribbean Cellars and they had been delivered earlier in the day and were securely stored with Horizon.
The next morning (Tuesday), we were greeting by a smiling Christalen as we checked in at the Horizon office. Since this was our first charter after completing our ASA certifications, Horizon required that we have one of their skippers with us for the first two days. We were a bit surprised by this requirement at first, but in the end it was a good refresher and got us off to a good start. After some final provisioning at the Riteway in Nanny Cay and completing the briefing with our checkout skipper, we grabbed some lunch at Genakers and were off. The boats are pretty tightly squeezed into the marina at Nanny Cay but with a good shove and some guidance, getting out of the marina was uneventful. We made a quick practice dock at the fuel dock since we'd be bringing the boat back there at the end of the week to top off and would need to get water (more than once) during our trip.
We were then off to sail across to Peter Island, where we spent our first night in Great Harbor. We had drinks and dinner at the Willy T and had a great time!
The next morning (Wednesday), we were able to get a BoatyBall reserved in Manchioneel Bay, Cooper Island. Knowing we had a ball reserved, we took our time getting over to Cooper Island. We had a few drinks during happy hour then went back to our boat to swim and chill for a while before getting cleaned up for dinner. Dinner was very good!
The next morning (Thursday), we again reserved a BoatyBall for Leverick Bay, Virgin Gorda. We sailed up to Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbor to drop off our checkout skipper and top off the water tanks. After that we headed back to The Baths and had no issues getting National Parks Mooring. We tied the dinghy to the roped off swim area and then swam ashore to explore The Baths. It wasn't terribly busy so we apparently missed the big cruise ship crowds. We then moved on to Leverick Bay and picked up our reserved mooring. We again had a few happy hour drinks before getting ready for dinner. We had dinner upstairs at Leverick and it was excellent!
We had been cleared to head to Anegada so we got up early on Friday to reserve a BoatyBall and head ashore to pick up a few provisions before pulling up to the dock to top off our water. It was a nice 2-1/2 hour reach up to Anegada and an uneventful entrance into the anchorage. I had spent quite a bit of time studying the charts and locations of the channel markers so we were well prepared. We took a taxi to Cow Wreck beach where we had lunch and did some snorkeling. For dinner, it was lobster at Neptunes Treasure.
The next morning (Saturday), we had a long downwind sail to Jost Van Dyke. About half way there we could see a rainstorm building behind us and the wind was building so we dropped the sails and motored while the rain passed through. We arrived in Great Harbor around 2:00 and had no issue getting a mooring ball. We dinghied over to Soggy Dollar and had a late lunch and a few drinks. Dinner was the beach BBQ at Foxy's.
The next morning (Sunday), we went ashore to get a few provisions, then docked again to refill the water tanks before heading up to Diamond Cay. We picked up a mooring there and then headed ashore for lunch at Taboo. They're still getting up and running and it's a smaller space than before but lunch was great. We then headed over to B-Line for a few drinks. For dinner, we took a taxi back to Great Harbor and ate at Corsairs. The food was great and the rum punch was delicious. We had a few more drinks at Foxy's before taxiing back to Diamond Cay and dinghying back to the boat.
The next morning (Monday) we sailed around West End and to the West of Little Thatch Island. The winds had built a bit and were running more or less straight out of the east so we ended up motor sailing the rest of the way to Norman Island to cut down on the tacking up the channel. We had heard that Norman Island hasn't been as busy lately and while we had no issues getting a mooring ball, it did seem fairly busy that night. We went ashore and had lunch and some drinks at Pirates Bight and made reservations for dinner. We headed back to the boat to relax and work on finishing off our liquid provisions before dinner. Really enjoyed Norman Island!
The next morning (Tuesday) we got up and worked on packing and tidying up the boat before returning it to Nanny Cay. We headed to the fuel dock to top off and were able to get right in without a wait. We rang Horizon, then got diesel, water and dinghy gas topped off while we waited for them to send one of their guys over to bring the boat back to their dock (per their instructions). Jalon showed up about the time we were finished filling up. He got the boat onto the dock with ease, went through an easy debrief with us and we were off the boat. We grabbed lunch again at Genakers while we waited for our 1:30pm taxi to take us to the 2:30pm Road Town Fast Ferry to Charlotte Amalie. We spent our last night at Olga's Fancy in Frenchtown. We really enjoyed the location and the hotel and would highly recommend it. The next morning we had breakfast at Frenchtown Deli (highly recommended!) then walked back to Charlotte Amalie to pick up a bottle of our favorite Chai Rum. Then it was off to the airport and back home...until next time.
