Part 1 of 3

Trip Report June 1 to June 9…or at least that was the plan…Me and the Admiral, two 20-something daughters and their significant others. Admiral and I grew up on SC coast, power boats. ASA certified last summer at Charleston Sailing School. Capt Will was great! Clearly newbies…arguably CC Captain...landlocked in Ohio.

Lessons
Have brief training session with crew on key knots and terms first night…particularly if they are new.
Bring one tube of sunscreen per person
Beer, painkillers, dark and stormy were drinks of choice - 4 bottles of wine would have been right for the late evenings, not 12. The cleaning crew on Wahoo has a few nice treats.
WATER
The only place you can get “[censored]” in the BVI is Leverick…see part 2.
Frozen meat worked great. Don't forget BBQ sauce.
Needed more sides than originally provisioned. Rice, bell peppers, onions. Tortillas hard to find here, though burrito tortilla worked well. Might be the better approach.
DO NOT FLY US AIR!...at least that’s my current thought…see part 3.
Check the schedule of events for the week and try to align with the key events at each port.
Need good source for weather while on the boat without internet…help?

Friday, May 31 - day 0
Got good news from Melody at Virgin Island Charters. The boat we reserved is damaged so we have been upgraded to "Wahoo." It's a 40 ft Lagoon with 3 bedrooms and just 2 baths vs the 3originally booked, but, Wahoo is a 2012 version (one year newer) and it has AC and a generator. Having fun and haven't finished packing yet.

Sat, June 1 - day 1
Up at 4 am. Loaded the cooler with frozen meats and a few "must check items." Were at CVG before 6. Long lines at US Air check in and at security. But made it to plane and seated at 6:55. 5 minutes before 7 o'clock schedule. Early arrival in Charlotte, long walk to gate and on time takeoff at 9:39.
Polar Bear Cooler weighted 51 lbs...they let it slide. My bag was heavy, gate checked for flight. Too many spare batteries for flashlights and GPS?

STT arrival was smooth. Complementary rum shots on arrival and a few drinks until crew all arrived. All in before 2:45, Simon (recommendation from local CVG travelers) met us at baggage claim, open air truck ride for 10 minutes to ferry terminal. Checked in, then drinks and snacks upstairs at the Petite Pump Room.

Ferry left dock ~15 minutes late at 4:30. Arrived Tortola about 6. It was 7 before we got through C&I. Collen from Dream Yacht met us there and took us to the boat. Colleen advised spending next Sat in the marina and catch the 9:00 ferry back vs the noon. Given requirement to check in 3 hours before flight, and slow ferry/C&I, probably good advice.

Dream Yacht Charters took very good care of us. All provisions were on the boat. Cold stuff in the fridge. Looks like we could have too much stuff. A little bit of unpacking then we walked 3 blocks to Charlie's Lobster house, a Pusser's restaurant. Ate on the patio overlooking Maya Cove with the lights of Cooper Island in the distance. Nice tropical breeze, food was good.

Back to the boat. A couple of showers at the marina, cold water only. Stargazing on the trampoline, all crashed by 11:00. A good day overall!

Sunday, June 2 - day 2
Everyone got up and moving by 8. Light breakfasts on the boat, then checked in with Jana at the Dream Yacht office, no surprises. All went back and got snorkeling gear. Then Yann gave us a fairly thorough boat brief. Our check out Captain Eddie was there and we were motoring out of Hodges Creek at 11:30. Eddie got us out of the tight slip then I took the helm to get out of the harbor.
We turned east into 15 knot winds and raised the main. Electric wench is great. Continued east and unfurled the jib, fell off on a port tack, beam reach heading south toward Cooper Island. Several tacks and a jibe for orientation and we picked up a ball at Great Harbor on Peter.
Lunch stop - Dave's pulled pork sans special sauce (which was one thing I failed to check off my list).

Eddie gave us some suggestions for places to see.

Off the ball to go across SFD channel to drop Eddie at Nanny Cay. We motor sailed with just the jib the short distance. Eddie took the helm at the marina, backed to a dock, stepped off, and Wahoo was ours. We motored out of Nanny, unfurled the jib, and motor sailed S on a port beam reach the 3 miles toward Flanagan Passage and Norman Island.

Picked up a national park mooring at the caves, donned the snorkel gear, and jumped in. Snorkelers saw a 5 foot shark almost immediately as we swam to the Caves. Admiral saw a large turtle near the boat. Both sights were missed by the photo attempts. After we motored around Treasure point and grabbed the first mooring around the point on the Willie T side of the Bight.

Lowered the dingy and headed for a drink at Willie T's. Couldn't find plug for the dingy, so it was a wet ride over. Got a round of Painkillers or Red Stripe and went upstairs. After many comments about our waterlogged dingy, we got a bucket from the bar, inserted the found plug, and bailed mostly dry. We did a shotski of Willie T rum, the were heading back to Wahoo as we had forgotten the light. Of course, before we left the crowd of maybe a dozen, a guy & girl stripped naked and were in the water. Just as a family with 5 kids with the oldest about 12 docked. Growing up fast.

Mahi, salmon, salad, wine, broccoli, and rice. Great dinner on Wahoo. Played Cards Against Humanity and called it a night.

A great first day in paradise.

Monday, June 3 - day 3
I am up before 6 updating these notes and enjoying the view. Time to plan!

Pancakes for breakfast and coffee too. Leisurely approach to the morning. Dropped the mooring ball about 10:00. We raised the main with 1 reef and unfurled the jib. Headed NE with pelican island to port and turned to a 30 degree heading close hauled toward Tortola with Peter Island to starboard. Steady winds from 15-25. We began our tacks Ne toward Beef Island and Trellis Bay. We hit 8.5 kts multiple times on the 30 degree legs but not as good a speed on the ~150 degree legs back across SFD channel. After 5 legs we were near Hodges at ~11:30. Waves had increased and portions of crew were a little woosey from the rocking so we dropped sails and motored the rest of the way around Beef Island. Wahoo gave us a rolly, bumpy, and wet ride around the point at the East end of Beef Island. Daughters rode the bow seats all the way around - a wet roller coaster ride.

Much calmer on the north side into Trellis. Crowded bay but many moorings available. We picked one but took two tries to connect. High winds can make it challenging. We'll continue to work on that.

Some shopping, swimming, and re-provisioning. Chicken fajitas for dinner. It appears Mondays are pretty slow at trellis. Loose Mongoose closed. We dingyed over to Bellamy Cay and had drinks/deserts at the Last Resort. Pretty good Key Lime Pie.