<pre><br>Day 1: Departure<br><br>June 20th, 2003. Its BVI day! I’ve been waiting for this day to arrive since I booked our charter with BVI Yacht Charters in June of 2002. Finally we are on our way. We picked up our crew, the Fredericks (Jeff, Teri, and Marrissa), at 3:30 am. Got to the airport and dropped everyone off at the departure area, then I dropped off our rental car. We picked up our boarding passes (no problems), and departed at 6:30 am for an on time departure.. Our first stop was Dallas where we switched planes for San Juan. <br><br>We arrived in San Juan early but departed late to Beef Island. Our aircraft had a doors open light indication in the cockpit. I happened to be sitting in the back and heard the discussion between the pilot and stewardess. Having flown P-3 Orion’s in the Navy for 20 years, I wasn’t concerned and knew we would be on our way soon. It was slow getting through customs. One of the agents was very rude to Teri as she tried to make her way through. <br><br>We caught a quick taxi to the beef island guest house. Awesome place. Simon & Caroline – Managers, and the owners were there as well. The plan was to sleep, but instead we partied hard, drinking PainKillers and some mongoose drink called ‘No see em’. About knocked us out. We would later learn that it was a huge mistake to party so hard the night prior to picking up the boat…but hey, we are on vacation!<br><br>Woke up too early Saturday. Slowly packed and headed to BVI Yacht Charters. The plan was to sleep-a-board, but they said we could leave today if we departed by 3:30. YES! I was pretty pumped to get out on the boat. My crew was moving slow, but they didn’t want to spend a night in the hot confines of the marina. We called Bobby’s market to see if they could push up our delivery time from the scheduled 6 pm we had set to 2 pm. They did…and had everything aboard with time to spare.<br><br>Jeff and I attended a quick chart briefing with Sarah of BVI Yacht Charters. The brief was a breeze due to the amount of research I had already done, as well as all of the information gleaned from the TTOL website and sailonline.com. <br><br>After the chart brief, Anthony gave us a very through walk-through of our boat, Arcadia. Arcadia is a Sun Odyssey DS 43. We were very impressed with her and will post a write up specific to this vessel.<br><br>With the briefs completed, it was time to depart on our adventure. I took the helm, Jeff manned the bow line and Lori the stern. We dropped the lines and eased out of the slip and headed out of Road Town Harbor. Our destination would be the The Bight at Norman Island. This was not the optimum place to go because it would add about 6 more miles to our voyage up to Saba the next morning. However, since we were getting out late and sailing in new waters, I knew we would have plenty of mooring balls available. My crew (as well as myself) was in no mood to enter an unfamiliar anchorage and drop the hook after the night we spent at the Mongoose. As we left the confines of Road Town the wind was a wonderful 16 to 21 knots. We set our sails for a close reach. It was a fun, quick sail as we averaged 6 to 7 knots heading down the Sir Francis Drake Channel.<br><br>Arrived at the Bight and took one of the outer moorings. Have to say it was a perfect approach to the mooring ball with Jeff (our mooring hooker) making an easy snag. <br><br>Shortly after arriving we ad a ‘minor’ dingy incident. My wife and I decided to jump into the dingy and take a tour of the anchorage (Jeff and his wife were below decks). I untied the dingy and then attempted to start it. No joy. I’ve done a lot of sailing the past 14 years, but never had the luxury of a dingy. We started to drift away from the anchorage and back to the Sir Francis Drake Channel as my futile attempts to start the dingy failed. I pulled out the oars, but the wind and current were fighting me, and we made little headway. My wife said we were doing fine, to keep paddling, but I knew we were doomed! As I was contemplating our next move a dingy from Pirates was coming out to collect our mooring fee, and he towed me back. What timing. Whew…. lesson learned, wait until you have the dingy started before casting off.<br><br>Ate dinner at Pirates. Jeff and I had the ribs, Lori the grilled mahi mahi and Teri the ginger chicken. We also had conch fritters and hot wings. The entire meal was great. Price, with a couple of drinks and carib’s came out to 150.00.<br><br>Back to the boat, crew turned in for what was a miserable nights sleep. There was plenty of wind but we had zero ventilation below decks. This was because we had the mooring secured to the port bow cleat, causing the boat to swing and the bow to remain offset to the prevailing wind. We also figured out that we needed to angle the hatches instead of having them fully open (things you don’t worry about in San Francisco Bay) This problem would be corrected at the next anchorage.<br><br>Day 2: Sail to Gorda Sound<br><br>Crew was up early (6:30). To be honest, we slept very little. I estimate that I maybe got 3 hours of sleep. Got a pot of coffee on and that seemed to help everyone’s demeanor. We had a breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, and English muffins on the boat. Sometime around 10:00 we departed the anchorage and raised sail in a refreshing 18-knot wind for the long beat to Saba Rock. The wind was pretty much 18 to 24 knots most of the way up the Sir Francis Drake channel, so we rolled the head sail up about 25%. <br><br>We took a break and hove to off of Little Jerusalem to allow the crew to relax and get a quick bite to eat. The ladies really appreciated the break from running up the channel close hauled. We then continued on, arriving off of Mosquito rock about 3 pm. Since this was my first time to enter Gorda Sound (heck, it was my first time anywhere here in the BVI), I decided to take the sails down early and motor in. We were also able to shave some time off of our arrival (the skipper and crew were pretty tired at this point) by avoiding at least one additional tack to set up the approach.<br><br>Gorda Sounds was beautiful. We made the turn around Prickly Pear Island and made for the anchorage off of Saba Rock. We picked a ball right along side of Prickly Pear Island, finding our selves abeam of JD on the Cat Rainbow Rider. We had tried to hail JD the past two days on the VHF, but he never responded. Found out that he never had the radio on. Met with JD for a few minutes, and then took the crew ashore for some well earned R&R over at the Bitter End. Everyone was happy to get off the boat and relax for a bit. We picked up a few (Expensive!) provisions at BEYC and then headed back to cook dinner aboard. We had Beef Kabobs, BBQ Chicken and salad for dinner. <br><br>Most of the crew turned in early to a boat that was very comfortable compared to the hot night prior. Jeff and I reconfigured the way we secured the mooring to the boat, bringing the mooring line in over the bow. This kept the boat pointed into the wind providing a huge amount of ventilation. I actually needed to throw a sheet over me when I hit the rack.<br><br>Day 3: Limin Times<br><br>I was up early…3:30 am. Even thought the boat was cool, I was unable to get a full night sleep (too excited about being here maybe?). The rest of the crew was up by 6:30 am. We made the boat ready for departure to Anegada, and then headed over to BEYC to meet JD for their breakfast buffet. The meal here was awesome, and well worth the 20.00.<br><br>After breakfast we dinked back to the boat and made final preparations to get underway. We were going to follow Rainbow Rider over to Anegada. We dropped the mooring ball with plans to top off with water from Saba. There were already customers ahead of us, so we circled for about 20 minutes while we waited our turn. JD was kind enough to wait on us. <br><br>After getting topped off with water and taking on additional ice, we left Saba and raised our sails in Gorda Sound. As we departed the channel, the breeze was a crisp 18 knots and the boat was moving at a swift 8 knots on a beam reach. The wind was very favorable and we made the passage to Anegada in less than two hours. I have to say that although this passage was short, it was one of the most exhilarating sails that I’ve ever had. The entire crew loved it…especially the fact that it just took two hours. Yesterdays long beat from The Bight to Saba had really worn everyone out. It was nice to arrive, catch a mooring ball, and get off the boat and relax before noon. Myself, I could have kept on going (hey, it’s a sailing vacation!) but this was the best thing for the crew. <br><br>I had read much about Anegada, especially Walker’s adventures as well as how to make the approach. JD was about 1 mile ahead, and we followed him in. We took the sails in early so we could concentrate on reef avoidance and getting safely anchored. As I approached the entrance buoys I decided to do a 360 degree turn as a sailboat under full sail was also making for the entrance. This essel had cut the corner from the waypoint and I decided it would be a good idea to follow him in. We slowly motored our way in. It was quite windy in the anchorage, and there were a lot of boats so I decided to move to plan B and take a mooring ball. I’ve done quite a bit of Anchoring in San Francisco Bay, but didn’t want the extra stress in an area I was not that familiar with. We took one of the two remaining mooring balls and quickly secured the boat. <br><br>I was in love with Anegada at first site. I spent 20 years in the Navy and have visited places like Midway, Wake, Diego Garcia and the Marshall Islands. Anegada was taking me back in time, and I knew this was going to be a great stop. Our plan is to spend two nights, but I’m thinking a 3rd might be in order. We setup dinner reservations at Neptune’s (my wife is a lobster lover) and drop my wife and Terri, along with the baby at the Anegada Reef Hotel. Jeff and I stayed at the boat and took care of some minor house cleaning. After a quick swim, we join the women on the beach for some serious limin.<br><br>We return back to the boat to have a few cocktails and relax before dinner. I saw that Pam was about selling her goods, but that we had missed her and she was departing our side of the anchorage. I jumped in the dingy and caught up with her. Pam gladly returned to our boat and we loaded up on some cookies, brownies and other delights. It was pretty cool chasing after a floating bakery in our dingy. The crew was quite pleased that the skipper’s mission was a success!<br><br>Dinner that night was fantastic. I had the steak while everyone else did the lobster. Everyone agreed it was the best lobster they had ever tasted. This is no small feat when it comes to my wife saying this. She had claimed until the lobster at Neptune’s that the best lobster she had was what she ate about 10 years ago at a Long Island NY restaurant.<br>After dinner we returned back to Arcadia for a nightcap and then we all hit the sack.<br><br>Day 4: Waking up in Anegada<br><br>Got up Tuesday at 6:30, which means I finally had a good nights sleep. Shortly after I went to bed the boat started rolling. I found myself waking up several times and I checked to make sure the mooring held. No problems. After getting out of the rack I started a pot of coffee and threw some bacon in the skillet. Our plans today were to stay in Anegada and enjoy this wonderful island. The crew also needed the break, and a non-sailing day was the perfect way to get everyone relaxed and acclimated to island time. The girls had an appointment to get their hair braided at Neptune’s Treasure (Catherine, Randy’s daughter, did a great job) so I dinked them in and returned back to Arcadia. <br><br>Jeff and I watched as most of the vessels in the anchorage departed or made ready to depart. The wind was pretty light and the anchorage was flat. We were also well rested so I decided it would be a great time to put our anchoring skills to work. We dropped the ball and did a 180 degree turn, motoring to a spot off of Neptune’s Treasure. After scoping out the anchorage over by Neptune’s we found the perfect spot to drop the hook. Arcadia has a windlass (something I never get to use in San Francisco Bay) which made dropping the anchor as easy as parking the car. We let out 5-1 scope, set the hook with the engine, and dove to check the anchor. The holding here is perfect and we did not have any problems.<br><br>About 11:00 we dinked in and met the girls. We had arranged for a Taxi and left with Rondell for Loblolly Bay. Loblolly was an instant hit. We loved it! There were only a few other people when we arrived. We all got plenty of snorkeling in (our first of the trip) and I was amazed. I had snorkeled reefs in Hawaii but none of them were live reefs. This was just incredible. Jeff also saw a shark and was able to snap a photo. John, one of JD’s crew also had the good fortune of swimming with a turtle for 15 minutes. They also have some nets strung out in trees around the beach and I crashed out for a couple of hours. The night prior at Neptune’s Treasure Jeff and I both picked up a copy of the ‘Drinking Man’s Guide To the British Virgin Islands’. Neither of us remembers to bring the book so we miss out on the free drinks. I hope this trend does not continue as the book pays for itself if you remember to take it with you.<br><br>We spent most of the day at the beach and also had lunch at Big Bamboo. We had Conch Fritters (GREAT), Chicken Wings (GREAT), Burgers and Fries (Okay). After some additional swimming and snorkeling Jeff did the traditional ‘burning of the driftwood’ using a magnifying glass. Our names are now on the wood, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean from its perch above the bar.<br><br>At 5 we headed back to Arcadia and Jeff and Teri prepared a great Fillet Mignon for dinner. After dinner we realized that we forgot to get T-shirts from Big Bamboo, and we were bummed. The plan for Wednesday called for an 11 o’clock departure and we didn’t have the time (or taxi money) to run back to Big Bamboo. I then got an idea and gave it a try. We hailed big Bamboo on channel 16. Nobody at the bar answered, but a taxi driver did (I found out the next morning the taxi drive was Rondelll). The driver told me that Big Bamboo was closed. I explained to him that we had spent the day at Loblolly and were hoping that two shirts could be dropped off at Neptune’s treasure before 11 tomorrow. He replied ‘No problem mon’ and our shirt dilemma was solved. We will just leave the money for the shirts at Neptune’s and they will get it to Big Bamboo. I’m not sure there are too many places that you could call on channel 16 and get that kind of service. Gosh…I really love Anegada.<br><br>I could continue on, but I’m pretty beat. Tomorrow we plan on heading over to Marina Cay, and some new adventures. One thing is certain, we will return to Anegada.<br><br><br><br><br>