So, here’s my trip review in all its glory:

Saturday (10/24)
I flew out of JFK (NYC) with four of my crew. We arrived in STT on time, were handed a shot of Cruzan, and recovered the few checked items we had. A friend of mine who lives on STT brought us to the Beachcomber Inn for a drink and some food while we waited for the other two members of our crew to come in. Everyone arrived on time and we hopped the RT Fast Ferry to Tortola. Unfortunately, the FF blew an engine on the way to RT and almost lost the second. Every person on board was choking and getting sick from the thick, black diesel smoke that was all around the boat and even in the air-conditioned cabin (which was eventually evacuated). We made it to RT more than an hour late, cleared through customs and caught the ride provided by Tortola Marine Management to Maria’s By the Sea. After showers to remove the coating of diesel grease/smoke we found our way to Spaghetti Junction for dinner. Though it took a while to be seated, the food was incredible – I would definitely recommend it to anybody in search of a good meal in RT. After dinner and several rounds of drinks it didn’t take much convincing for us all to find our beds.

Sunday (10/25)
We ate breakfast at Maria’s, checked out, and took the taxi provided by TMM over to the marina. Bringing the booze that had been dropped at the hotel on Saturday by Caribbean Cellars, we were promptly supplied our food from Bobby’s, our scuba gear from UBS, and our fishing gear and licenses from Last Stop Sports. Sam gave my first mate and I the briefing while the rest of the crew loaded up the boat, we were hooked up with a check-out captain, and off we went. A few under-power maneuvers and a few tacks and jibes later we were in The Bight. After a late lunch our check-out captain, satisfied that we weren’t blithering idiots, departed. Some rounds of drinks, a snorkel, and a few more rounds of drinks later we prepared to go to the Willy T. Things there quickly got out of hand. I won’t get too far into the details (I want to keep this PG), but let’s just say that I left my dignity (and liver) on the bottom of the Bight.

Monday (10/26)
Around mid-morning (once I was somewhat functional) we motored out to the Indians for some diving, snorkeling, and lunch. The rest of the afternoon was consumed by a beat up Drake’s under 15-18kt winds. We finally pulled a ball at Manchioneel under a beautiful sunset. The night was highlighted by a beautiful, near-full moon sparkling off the water, framed by distant lightning-filled storms. My crew decided that since there was no word in the English language to describe such a sight, they would make one up. After drinks and much discussion “Quirxzig” was settled upon for the storms and “B’Jornp” for the moonset – hey, I never claimed that any of us were normal. Although the swell was down, there was a lot of swirling wind, and I found myself on edge about the amount of spinning we were doing on the ball. As a note, were I anchored under those swirling winds, I would have spent the entire night awake and I will probably avoid Manchioneel as an overnight location in the future.

Tuesday (10/27)
This was a busy day. Up before sunrise, we had a ball and were diving the Rhone before 7am. There wasn’t another boat in sight and we had the wreck to ourselves. Some large (8-12” diameter) purple jellies were at the surface, but they were easily avoided. It was an excellent dive, and we were all glad we spent the time to do it. The morning sail to the Baths under 20-25kts of wind was followed by lunch and the typical tourist-type Baths thing; cave, pool, many pictures, etc. It’s a very cool spot, and it wasn’t crowded when we were there. Around 1400 we dropped off our mooring at the Baths for a great, 25kt close-haul up to North Sound. There was a Sunsail floatilla heading the same way, which made for some great impromptu racing. We pulled a slip at Leverick as the sun was setting, and I managed to find Nick and his better half at the bar – the offices were closed, and he ok’d us to tie off for the night. Our slip happened to be adjacent to Tony (Utopia) and Chris (Tradewinds). We had some great conversation about the merits (or lack thereof) of “Prusser’s” rum, and though the challenge was dropped for a race to Anegada on Wednesday morning, we regretfully had to decline. (p.s., thank you again for the ice).

Wednesday (10/28)
Relaxation day. We held the slip at Leverick for a second day. I did my crew’s laundry (how I got stuck with that, I don’t know, but the time to myself was welcomed). While waiting for my cycles to spin, I met Alison and Hugh O’Brien, owners and crew of 5 Star, a 50-ft Beneteau Oceanis. They were wonderful to chat with, and gave me some great pointers on the rigors and benefits of owning a yacht in the charter business. Per the suggestion of Nick and his wife, my crew (less one to ‘man’ the ship) hiked to the top of Gorda peak. With a view that spans from Anegada and the full Eastern barrier reef to St. John, it really is a breathtaking spot. We had dinner at “The Resturaunt at Leverick.” The seared salmon and salmon alfredo were incredible, as were the wings – ask for them extra hot if you like things spicy because the chef has his own habanero sauce! The mac-n-cheese is to die for. However, the burgers and filet mignon left something to be desired. The day was rounded out at Jumbies bar, a drink with Nick, and bed.

Thursday (10/29)
We pulled out of Leverick with many “thank-yous” to Nick and company, and set in on an butt-haulin’ beam reach for the Chikuzen. We had two sets of GPS coordinates, a marker on our GPS system, and a marker on a map. We tried them all. We didn’t find the Chikuzen. We even motored over to a fishing trap bouy that I spotted from a half mile away. A call to UBS pretty much confirmed that the ball was missing. It was accepted by all that missing the Chikuzen would simply be an excuse, one of many, to come to the BVI’s again. A course was then set for the Dogs where we got in a few dives later in the day. That night we grabbed a ball at Marina Key, and two of my crew did a night dive under the boat while the rest of us enjoyed some painkillers topside.

Friday (10/30)
Up early, we dropped our rented scuba gear at Trellis then motored/sailed around Little Camanoe and Guana islands over the north side of Tortola, at which point the wind died (sub 6 kts). We had to motor to JVD to get there in a reasonable amount of time as we were meeting up with three of our friends at White Bay. No sooner had we snagged a ball in White did Saildoggie, GlennA, and Manpot come steaming by. My female friend and I joined them for a drink, and then headed to shore. Caution: if you ask for “something strong with mount gay in it” at One Love, be prepared for some rocket fuel!! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/toast.gif" alt="" /> I had trepidations about remaining in White Bay for the night, so slightly before sunset we motored to Great Harbor and dropped anchor. We dink’d in to Foxy’s, and one of my “crew” won the “dance” off for a free bottle of fire water!! I stayed fairly sober and helped ferry my drunken crew back to the boat for a night of well-needed rest prior to the Cat Fight!

Saturday (10/31)
Foxy’s Cat Fight!! I was on shore at 9am for the Captain’s meeting only to find that the meeting had been shifted back to 10am. I made up the time by having breakfast at Corsairs with Nick and his lovely wife. Captain’s meeting adjourned, I got back to my boat and was promptly informed that we were out of booze – completely. It turns out that a few of my crew had stayed up late. I sent them to shore to get the necessary libations, informing them that they had 20 minutes to be back on the boat before the race started. We had the boat off anchor, dink back up on its davits, and sails raised just in time to line up for the race. The results of the CF have been talked of elsewhere, and there will be many pictures shared, but here are a few highlights for me; playing nothing but James Brown, George Clinton, and Rick James for the majority of both races <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Groovin.gif" alt="" />; battling Blue Moon at the finish line in both races, including a last-second jibe to put me ahead of them when they tried to pinch me into the lee of JVD; dancing and partying with my closest friends; cutting a perfect tack on the second-to-last leg of the second race, allowing me to miss the marker bouy by only feet and have the boat turned down-wind less than a boat length later. The fact that this was my first sailing race(ever), creates big shoes to fill on the fun factor regardless of how (poorly) I placed. The party continued into the night, but I was pretty much spent (read: highly intoxicated) by the end of the buffet at Foxy’s. I retreated to my cat no more than an hour after that. Some shenanigans occurred on my boat later that night that I’m still not too happy about, but I’ll not gripe here. From what I understand, I missed out on one helluva late-night party at Foxy’s – I’ll keep it in mind to pace myself next year… at least a little.

Sunday (11/1)
A short sail, mostly motoring, brought us back to TMM’s marina in Road Harbor for the check-out. Aside from a few small pre-existing conditions, all was fine with the boat. We then caught the RT Fast Ferry back to STT. It was at this point we all realized how our “funk” had fully matured – none of us had showered since Wednesday, and it would be a slight understatement to say that I, and we, smelled. I loved it. However, I felt a little bad for the people who had to sit next to the two members of my crew that had to fly home, un-showered, on Sunday. After badly-needed showers, those that remained snagged dinner at BW Emerald Beach and retired to our rooms for one last drink and some sleep.


This trip was incredible. Everything went as well as, or better than I had hoped. I did a lot of planning and research myself, but the trip would never have gone as smoothly without the help of TTOL and its members. I would like to thank, in no particular order:
Saildoggie for our conversations, his recommendations, and for his enthusiasm – it’s contagious
Nick and his wife for being wonderful hosts, and great people
Tony and Chris for putting up with my drunken crew on Tuesday night and for conversation
Alison and Hugh for their insights into charter as business
Skyhawk for his MD pirate flag – it flew the entire time
My Crew – we were ALL first-timers, none of them were sailors, and it went perfectly. There was no tension, no arguing, and all worked together as a unit and team to make things work.

I can’t wait for my next trip
<img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/pirate.gif" alt="" />