I turn 41 on Monday and just finished putting my 18th VI sailing trip into my log book.
Over the years I’ve been blessed to do a lot of traveling and a lot of sailing. Not all of it glamorous, most of the sea time for my master license was earned the hard way, working as a free crew member on yacht deliveries, or charter fishing. (whenever I could get time off from land). My adventures have taken me most of the way around the globe but time after time I find myself returning to VI’s. I think we all love these islands for the same reasons, familiarity with the waters and watering holes, friendships with the people and the overall beauty of the place. When its time to take the family sailing I always end up back in the VI’s. This year we brought along two other couples with us.


So here it is, trip number 18 logged and entered. My summary below.

MCO - MIA - STT - Red Hook - West End - Manual Reef Marina. Flights all on time, but we did have slight scare with the cooler. Looking out the window at MCO I was horrified to see the cooler strap laying on the baggage cart. AA baggage handlers had removed it. To great relief it appeared in STT with the latch closed and contents still frozen. - I must say, the baggage handlers at STT seem to be getting faster and faster. Ten years ago it could take the better part of an hour for that belt to get moving, now the bags pretty much appear instantaneously.

Taxi over to Red Hook went smoothly except for the fare. Driver tried for $50.00 per couple, I casually reminded him that the rate was $15.00 per person plus $2.00 per bag. Rate was quickly reduced. - Know your taxi rates.

Arrived at Manual Reef marina to find Brent (Capt.'s Compass) standing on the dock waiting for us. He helped us get our luggage on the boat and then pulled out a cold six pack of green labels for us. Boat was spotlessly clean, batteries charged up and the freezer/fridge ice cold. We spent the next hour stowing gear and provisions before heading over to Nanny Cay and Peg Legs for dinner + drinks. Devon was working the outside bar, “Best on the Island” still his mantra. Had a fantastic evening at the bar and made our way back to the boat. I think I’m going to add Nanny Cay to our next itinerary. Fantastic marina with great amenities, likely a great spot to spend a last night.

I woke up at 6am and went to work with my own checklists. Engines were both ready to go, belts in good shape, fluids at the full line, racors looked good (for the Caribbean) and both engines fired up on cue. As with last year, we found this boat to be fully stocked with a full complement of spare parts (belts, fuel filters, impellers, etc), extra fluids, two sets of linens for each cabin, and lots of extra goodies such as clothes pins, floor mats, blender, etc. The only item we were missing was the BBQ. Brent showed up on cue at the agreed 9:30am with it under his arm. He had pulled it the day before to give it a good cleaning. I’ve chartered from Moorings, Sunsail (when it was Sunsail), CYOA, and Island Yachts. Hands down, Brent wins my business. Never seen someone so intent on making sure his customers are happy. We’re customers for life.

Paperwork, boat/chart briefing completed we were off the dock by noon. Brent’s process is painless yet he still covers all of the bases.

This was my first time on a Norseman (Voyage) 43. Super impressed with the fit, finish and construction of the boat. For a 2001, it’s holding up better than most of the newer boats I’ve skippered. I had heard that these boats tended to be nose heavy, didn’t see it and we got into some pretty snotty swells this trip. The only negative that I found was that this particular boat needs new props. Our course over to Cooper was dead into the wind and current. 2400 rpm yielded about 4 knts of speed. (New props are being in the plans) Still the three cabin layout of this boat was perfect for three couples. Huge saloon and a great galley, we cooked almost every night on the boat. The three cabins are very spacious and contain memory foam berths. The huge beam provided lots of deck space and not once did we feel crowded on the boat. I’ve got a couple who are interested in doing a honeymoon trip with another couple, this is the boat I’ll put them on.

The slow boat speed ended up being a blessing because it allowed me ample time to spot a wayward scuba diver floating 1 mile off of Cooper. (I posted about this earlier). We pulled him up onto the scoop and signaled his chase boat. We exchanged him and received some sincere gratitude before continuing on to Cooper.

Boat secured, mooring checked I finally clocked in. First beverage in hand I laid back on the net and took in the scenery. It was good to be back. Love the fact that Cooper’s beach hasn’t changed in the last twelve years. I thought back to my first trip and really the only difference is the upgraded bar the club and the addition of mooring balls. My daydream lasted all of ten minutes before I was swung back into reality by a Moorings boat steaming into the mooring field at full speed. They pulled in, spun around a few balls before finally attempting to grab the mooring ball next to us. After a few attempts it was pretty clear that they had no clue on how to moor the boat, you know run a line through the pendant.. Their solution was to dive into the water and swim a dock line around the ball a few times and then tie it off. I tried to offer some friendly advice but it wasn’t well received so I opted to move our boat upwind of them. My crew had a good laugh but those episodes do nothing but add to my stress level as a Captain. Comedic as it was, situations like that can end very badly, even for the innocent bystander.

Bar at Cooper is a fantastic place to hang out in the evening. Staff is incredible and the food/drinks are very good. This is a great first stop especially this time of year when the bay is calm and the temperatures moderate.


Did a morning snorkel at Cistern Point. Still not impressed with it. But it’s a good warm up spot and it allowed us to get our gear all sorted out.

Dropped our ball and headed up to Leverick. Turned the helm over and headed up on a nice reach following the coast of Virgin Gorda. Here is where the Norseman shines. Super easy boat to sail even with a slightly novice crew. Power winch to help get that big main up, easily accessible lines from the helm and a boat that loves its sails. We cracked along at 7.5 knts - with a reef in the main and the dingy in tow! GPS read into the 8’s at times and I wasn’t pushing the boat at all.

Got into Leverick around 2pm, tied the boat up and headed up to the bar for drinks.
You can’t beat the TTOL deal that Nick is giving us. If you haven’t been to Leverick I would definitely recommend it. Having the boat tied up in a slip offers a stress free night of sleep for the skipper. Besides, where else can you hit up happy hour, take in a Jumbies BBQ, provision, fill your water tanks, get some free ice for your beer and take in that incredible view?


Pushed off the dock and got a wave from Nick plus a thumbs up on the diver rescue from Matt (I think...?). Cleared the last marker and went off the grid for three days... Nope not Anegada, I saw the stream of sails headed that way so we opted to reverse course

Slid out under Ginger and turned the boat down wind, headed for the south side of STJ. Waves were running 4 - 6 with an occasional 8 footer added for fun. Crew did awesome job as we pulled into my favorite bay. Local Boaters cards in hand I called us in over the cell phone half expecting to have an “issue”. US registered vessel, all US citizens, no problem have a great time.

Hit one of the best snorkeling spots in the entire VI’s. (Don’t ask, I’m not telling.) Fired up the BBQ and watched the stars pop out of the sky. We had a bit of a swell coming into the bay but it was worth a little roll. Not another boat in sight, the south side of STJ can seem like a scene from Lost. Green rolling hills, unspoiled beaches and not a soul in sight.

Took the short hike around Salt Pond over to Drunk Bay. Another Lost - type experience is seeing the rock statues and stone figures. Our crew loved it!

Cruz Bay, guys hit the Beach Bar while the girls shopped the afternoon away. We called in a take out order to Uncle Joes and arrived back at the catamaran with 6 combo plates. Dinner on the back deck with our feet hanging over stern platform. Fed the fish our leftovers and then went back to star gazing.

Jost, don’t know what to say except the days of anchoring inside White Bay are over for me. Even if Brent’s insurance allowed it (it doesn’t) I still wouldn’t do it. That’s a shame because this used to be my favorite day stop and one of the prettiest anchorages in da’ islands’. Too much nonsense with poorly anchored yachts and inattentive helmsman for me to feel comfortable leaving a boat out. So we grabbed a ball in Great Harbor and began preparation for a dingy voyage over to White Bay. I saw a young couple struggling to row a dink back into Great Harbor so our preparations were put on hold and a rescue mission launched. Very appreciative young french couple safely towed back to their vessel we cast off for the Soggy Dollar Bar. I warned everyone that it would be a wet ride in both directions. Our gear safely stowed in dry bags (Soggy Dollar is cool, Soggy iPhone is not) we set out. Fifteen minutes later we landed and began our assault. After giving Mick a run for his money and paying our 250 million dollar bar tab we made our way back to Great Harbor.

Quick stop in Sopers for water, ice, and provisioning. Harbor Market pretty much unbeatable these days in both price and ease.

Headed for Norman. This time we tacked our way up the channel, crew now fully seasoned from several days of pulling lines. The girls cheered them on with every tack and by the time we passed Water Lemon the timing was perfection. Everyone said this was the funnest day of all, even though it was the longest. We started out at 6:15am and found our ball inside the bight right at sunset. Willy T that night and as the story goes; what happens on the Willy T - stays on the Willy T.

Next morning awoke to frantic shouts of panic. As most of you know, a few of the newer balls in the Bight were placed a bit too close together. Two mono’s were stern on bow and knocking the sense out of each other. Instead of dropping its ball and backing off the “Capt” on the tail boat was in forward with his helm hard to starboard. While no one was even on the deck of the forward vessel. Pretty entertaining event to go along with my morning coffee.

Trip home was eventful. Missed the 10am ferry, 11am ferry was broken and the 12:15 was running a bit late. So obviously we missed our flight. AA was fantastic, rebooked us on the 4:00 flight without even charging us. Walked in the door, hit the sack and awoke to find a delivery job in my inbox. 38 Leopard, Miami to Grenadines. Hmmmm, wonder if I can weasel out on another two weeks of work?


Note:

After this trip I’ve come full circle on the crewed vs bareboat argument. Hands down, if your considering taking your first floating vacation in the VI’s, either hire an experienced captain (check references) or charter a crewed vessel. Not only will you learn how to operate a boat correctly down here, you’ll also learn some valuable idiot avoidance techniques I.E. defensive driving/mooring.

I'll post some pics later - cheers!