Very Shortly I will have the link to the pictures posted as well.

BVI 2004


July 30th :Friday:
(Loonie) …. After an uneventful trip from Toronto, and a night stopover in New York at JFK, we land on St. Thomas (USVI) and get the ferry for Tortola – Smiths “Bomba Charger” – and clear in at Road Town. A fast cab ride and we arrive at Fat Hog’s Bay, home of ProValor Yacht Charters. We are 2nd time charterers and Jeffrey & Mindy treat us like family.

The boat – Champagne Lady, a 1997, 46’ Beneteau is ready and waiting for us and has an amazing amount of room. (We were upgraded from a 41 footer, so an added bonus for us). This trip it is just the two of us on board.

I actually brought a dress along in order to go to Brandywine Restaurant. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/dine.gif" alt="" /> By pre-arrangement, we are going “dutch” with Jeff and Mindy and they pick us up at the boat at 7:15, just as Bobby’s van pulls in to deliver our order. All correct as usual – a trifle late this time, we forgive them – it’s a great service!

Dinner at Brandywine …. What can I say ? It is excellent. Davide and Cele are gracious hosts. A wonderful start to our 13 days in (our definition of) paradise.

Over a late night ‘Grappa’ <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/toast.gif" alt="" /> Davide tells us that he, Cele, Walker and Nancy are off to Anegada on August 1st. We plan to meet up if possible.

July 31st Saturday:
(Loonie) …. Up early, get diving gear from UBS, boat briefing from Jeffrey, some last minute things and at 10:15 am we leave the dock. Jeffrey had warned us that we would have to power through some silt and sand, and he is right. Motor out of Fat Hogs Bay and are off the point off Beef Island by 11am. At 11:30 we are at Monkey Point where we raise the sails and enjoy a wonderful sail, broad reaching down to Cane Garden Bay. What a joy it is to have an autopilot. We have a tasty lunch of bagels and smoked salmon while underway. Take out our newly acquired Garmin GPS and try and figure out how to use it. A GPS is not something one needs in the BVI, but it is a fun toy.

(Michael) …. What Loonie has omitted to say is that on this trip, we (I??) decided that it was time for her to seriously play ‘skipper’. So, pre-agreed between us, once we power through the sand & silt of FHB, the wheel is hers! Of course, this pre-supposed that for the next 13 days I am to be designated foredeck gorilla and cabin boy, jobs previously held by her. In retrospect …… I actually think she makes a better job of helmsman that I do in trying to snag the mooring lines.

(Loonie) ….Pick up a mooring at CGB at 1:15, run the engine for an hour to keep the food cool, go ashore to find a cab over to Apple Bay – Chateau Carib – where Manpot is hosting his 2nd (annual?) TTOL party. Great to see many familiar faces from last year and some new ones too. Have a few toasts to our daughter Alyx’ 18th birthday which she is celebrating at home.

After a few hours of talking, eating and drinking, we get a lift from Walker and Nancy back to CGB where we settle down for a snooze to recharge the personal batteries, after all, it is the full moon and Bomba’s is calling. After the snooze and steak dinner on board, Michael goes ashore to see what’s going on and finds Manpot and friends at Myett’s. He arranges to get me from the boat and Manpot gives us a lift back to his place (just down the road from Bomba’s).

Bomba’s is very busy, lots of people standing around in the middle of the road, waiting for something to happen, or maybe for midnight when Bomba serves his Magic Mushroom Tea. We don’t last that long and get a cab back to our dinghy at CGB.

(Michael) …… A Blue Moon at Bomba’s – for us more senior types I think this might be a one-time event. But, to have been so close and not made the effort to at least go & take a look …. So, been there, done that! Remember, no kids with us this year…..

Aug 1st Sunday:
(Loonie) …… Get ashore at 8 am to do a shop at Bobby’s. Great produce! Lots of heavy bags to carry, so instead we make it across the road to Myett’s and stop for a coffee. Have a chat with Kareem, buy a sarong, meet up with Charmaine in the internet office, send a message home, (question – is it still standing after the birthday party?)

(Michael) …….. This addition of Bobby’s to CGB is really important. It is a fully equipped, very well stocked mini supermarket, open from 7 am to (I think) 10pm, every day, 7/365!. From a marketing standpoint (both the provisioning sense & strategically from a business point of view) this addition should have a major effect on CGB. Look for a water/fuel dock in the near future to complete the picture. (Loonie – I hope not!) At that point, with Ample Hamper closed in Sopers, CGB becomes an important resource on the otherwise resource less northern coast of Tortola.

(Loonie) …… Michael walks to the dinghy dock to bring the dinghy around to Myett’s beach – saves us carrying the heavy stuff to the other end of the beach. Say goodbye to Char, stow away the shopping and drop the mooring at about 10:30. Sails up (main has 1 reef) and ‘fly’ down towards Soper’s Hole. Here, we have to harden up and are very much on the wind so we reef the genny as well. to get to the Indians. After beating to weather for a good while, we decide to motor sail instead. Arriving at the Indians we are very lucky that someone else just pulls out, I have a tentative arrangement to do a dive with Dave and Suzanne Carlson, who are on ‘Off the Scope”, the ProValor cat we chartered last year.

They arrive an hour or so after us and I get suited up. I have taken my Sudafed, but once in the water and going down the mooring line, I cannot clear my ears, and after a number of attempts I give up and somewhat enviously see Dave and Suzanne take off.

Michael and I do a long snorkel around the Indians instead. After, we decide to go to Benures Bay. We set the anchor twice, both successfully, but Champagne Lady does not want to lie to wind and after some consideration, we decide to go into the Bight, and pick up a ball. We go and check out the Pirates ashore for a drink where we meet up with Dave C. again. Have a drink and go back to the boat for dinner. We have some lovely tuna steaks, which I pan seer and leave raw inside, served with rice.

After dinner we feel we ought to check out the Willy T. I haven’t been there since 1988, when it was a totally different ship, and again we arrive at the same time as the Carlson’s. Suzanne has hurt her tailbone and is suffering somewhat. However, after a few drinks, Suzanne and I agree that we really do want to earn the famous Willy T. T-shirt: “ We came, We saw, We jumped” – so we did ….. and we have the shirt to prove it.

Aug 2nd, Monday:
(Loonie) …… Drop the ball at the Bight at about 7:30 am. Get to the wreck of the Rhone at 8:30 am. We are the second boat there. We pick up a ball right over the southern end of the wreck and I want to see if I can clear my ears. I go down the mooring line to about 45 feet and have a look around. I find I have no trouble with my ears so I do a controlled ascent to inform Michael and tell him I will go down with the camera one more time. Staying close to the mooring line, having set the camera to flash every time, I go back down and have a great encounter with two very large lobsters. Don’t manage to get the best pics of them, but I saw them and that’s enough for me.

Once back on board, the wind is on the nose to go to North Sound, so we motor up there. Pick up a buoy off Leverick Bay Resort, hoping to see Monica and Nick again but it is their day off. We talk to Nick on the phone and he promises to be on the dock at 8am the next day.

Have steak dinner on board and go to sleep early.

Aug 3rd, Tuesday:
(Loonie) …… Get up at 5 am. Potter about the boat, have several coffees, read a bit and go ashore at 7:30. Leverick doesn’t open until 8, so we lime. At 8 we do a small shop at the store and want to get on the internet, but the person in charge is not to be found. Nick is sleeping in, so we miss him and Monica too. Back on the boat we drop the ball and set sail for Anegada. With our new toy and Walker’s bearings, we use the GPS as a backup to confirm our course. Trim sails and average 7 knots and within 2.5 hours we are motoring through the Anegada channel. Drop the anchor without any fuss and settle down. Definitely time for a rummer. We watch others come in, in particular a 50 ft mono, moving rather too fast. They miss picking up the mooring ball and while backing up wrap the dinghy painter around their drive shaft (they had not shortened it before approaching the anchorage – it happens to everybody sometime!) They are without power and start to drift down towards the shallows – the Neptune shoal. Michael hails them in his most plumy British voice: ”You might want to consider dropping your anchor”. Someone moves forward and does just that – good move, at least now they are in a holding pattern and out of danger. The dinghy painter has been cut by the prop but they managed to hang onto it. Someone goes overboard to see what he can do the free the remaining line, but without a scuba tank it is an impossible task. Michael goes over in our dink and offers my services and once I have my gear on, and armed with a knife, dive below their boat. It took 3 or 4 cuts and some prying with the spike and after 10 or 15 minutes got the prop freed up. Got a round of applause and an offer of lunch at the Big Bamboo, but as we prefer Cow Wreck Bay,<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Umbrella.gif" alt="" /> we pass on it.

Back on board, get snorkelling gear together and dink ashore to grab a ‘bus’ to Cow Wreck. Belle is there and as usual lets us pour our own drinks and write it on the tab. We have a nice lunch of shellfish sandwiches and some rummers.

Just as we are getting our gear on to go snorkelling, Davide, Cele, Walker, Nancy and friends arrive for lunch.

Michael and I have a great snorkel, see a small shark, a tarpon and other assorted fish. Large conchs are around as usual, but this time we do not see any stingray.

Back ashore we join Walker, Nancy,Cele, Davide and company who are on their second annual COCO cruise. Davide and Cele have closed down their restaurant, Brandywine, on Saturday night and by the sounds of it have raided the fridges – for lunch the day before they had had over a 100 oysters. Tonight they are cooking a large piece of Buffalo.

Davide is kind enough to lend us his cellphone so we can call in a late order for lobster to Anegada Reef Hotel, which Walker makes happen for us even though they said they had run out of lobster – we will have a great dinner.

We let our bus-taxi go, because we are having too much fun, so Belle offers to drive us back to ARH when she is ready to leave. We just lime on the beach and read our books and at about 6:30 we jump into Belle’s minibus. On the way we find Sue Wheatley trying to give a wild donkey water. The donkey is sitting in the road and it is quickly getting dark. Belle is worried that the donkey will bite or kick, but later that night we speak to Sue and she has managed to pet him, and get him to move off the road. He was injured, but all the people who might have been able to help him are ‘off island’.

Once back at ARH we dink to the boat, have a quick shower, change and are back at the bar within 20 minutes. It’s good to see some familiar faces again. Sidney, Derek, Lawrence, Lorraine, Sue and several others.

Have a wonderful dinner of BBQ’ed lobster, listen to some guys complaining that the service was too slow (Hey guys, you’re here to relax!!!!) and considering that ARH had 18 tables to serve, all for 7:30, the 10 minute wait should have been a good time. By the time they get their lobster, they are so impressed that the heat goes out of the complaint. We just listen and roll our eyes…..

Meet up with Glenn A. again, and talk about the weather. The story is that the tropical wave that had been due for Thursday night is moving faster than expected and has been upgraded to a tropical storm #2. Partly since we love Anegada and don’t want to leave and partly because we have made tentative arrangements to join the COCO crowd, <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/noevil.gif" alt="" /> we decide to stay and if necessary stick out the storm on the hook at Anegada.

The evening winds down with a long and interesting conversation with Mitch, a local fisherman and the island electrical power fixer. The people on the island are very passionate about their land, and many may leave for a period of time, but many come back to live on Anegada. Their lives and souls are here and it shows. This must be my most favourite place in the world.

Aug 4th Wednesday:
(Loonie) …… Up at 6 am, catch a weather forecast at about 7 which doesn’t sound good, but not particularly alarming – if we have to stick it out here another day – so what. Phone Jeffrey at ProValor to make sure he is comfortable with our decision to stay and put a second anchor out. He’s fine with our plan, so we set about doing just that. Use the dinghy to take the Bruce anchor out and drop it where we think we want it. I don diving gear and go and check on both anchors. After some manoeuvring, both are set solidly and we are happy to stay. By 11 am, as we haven’t heard from the COCO crowd, Michael goes ashore to see if they have been around (they are anchored in the bay over from us – Pomato Point). Michael meets Belle and Lorraine and hears that Walker & Co are sailing back to North Sound, Virgin Gorda. We later see Sea Breeze head out and while we are at the bar at ARH hear a call on the VHF for “Champagne Lady” – we talk to Davide who explains that there was a crew discussion and it appears that prudence won the day (who is Prudence?) and the decision was to head back. We plan to meet up later in our cruise …..

We end up having a totally relaxing day - after having done the anchor setting earlier, we don’t go anywhere except to the ARH for a sundowner.

Aug 5th Thursday:
(Loonie) ….. After a safe but blustery night we get up to find a sunny day and steady winds. The storm that was to be, wasn’t. We have to untangle the two anchor chains which takes us about 45 minutes. We stupidly, but with reason, had set the anchor off the port roller to starboard of the CQR which was rigged on the starboard roller. The reason being that they had forecast a wind shift – veering to the SE and increasing ……… it doesn’t happen!

Fantastic sail back to Cane Garden Bay; good speed and pick up a mooring at about 12:15. Conch from Bobby’s for dinner on board. (trying to tenderize conch with the winch handle doesn’t seem to work as well as it needs to!). Quito at 9 pm. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/band.gif" alt="" /> Surprise, surprise, walking into the Gazebo we see Manpot, crying in his beer. We thought he had left, but we spend a wonderful evening with him, GT, Betty and others. Dance to Quito, oh, is he ever good, buy another CD and get it signed by him. Say an emotional goodbye to Manpot – till next year!

Aug 6 Friday:
(Loonie) ….. Another quick visit to Bobby’s for ice and essentials then motor over to Sandy Cay. Anchor off the Cay, dink ashore and walk around the island. Even though it is not the ‘high’ season for flowers, the place is still very interesting with wonderful views of the other islands.

Motor over to Foxy’s Taboo for lunch and meet up with old acquaintances, Gary and JF. Lunch is out of the ordinary; just sad to hear JF is out of the now famous eggplant cheesecake. Have to go back! Decide to miss Little and Great Harbour and go straight for White Bay. Another one of our favourite spots.

M heads into the beach to check out the Soggy Dollar. Eat dinner on the boat and afterwards, make our first ever visit to Ivan’s Stress Free Bar. One of the wonderful things of coming back several year’s in a row is that you get to know some people. As we sit at the bar at Ivan’s, shooting the breeze, I look over at a solitary lady sitting in a chair on the veranda, reading a book. Say to Michael: “Isn’t that Sharon?” She hears her name and we have a great reunion (Sharon is sharnightqueen on TTOL). Several, some unknown, drinks later with her and TooShort, the barman, we wobble back to the boat, after promising Sharon we will see her in the morning. She is off later the next day to join the celebrations at the Carrot Bay Festival. We have a GREAT night – something to do with the unknown drinks?<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/snore.gif" alt="" />

August 7th Saturday:
(Michael) …… Get up a little later than our normal and it is not really surprising that we laze around a little more than usual. For the second year running, Loonie has volunteered to mark the main anchor chain, this time on “Champagne Lady”.

Work over, we dink over to Ivan’s to say our goodbyes to Sharon. By now lunchtime is looming and another visit to the Soggy Dollar seems in order. A very pleasant chatty lunchtime complete with a stroll down the beach and some excellent conch fritters.

Today, we have been here a week and remind ourselves that next Thursday is our departure day. We discuss plans for the last few days and agree that we should try and find time to explore Tortola on land. Since there seems to be more weather brewing, we adjust the timetable accordingly and instead of a night in Great Harbour, we decide to return once again – our 3rd visit this trip!! – to CGB to listen to the Edge playing with Quito. A fun evening; yet another CD bought and autographed; meet up with old friends again and a friendly couple from NJ.

Tentative plan is to hire a car on Monday from Soper’s Hole, leave the boat in Soper’s and spend the day touring on land.

Back to the “Lady” a little later than usual ……

August 8th Sunday
(Michael) …… We’ve noticed that with just the two of us, we really have slowed down and are pretty laid back. Typically, this Sunday morning, we dink over to Myett’s for coffee and to replenish our supply of ice; chat with Kareem who presents me with a bouquet of flowers; fail to get onto the internet because they don’t open it up on Sunday’s and generally move slowly. We decide to run down to Sopers for the balance of the day to be ready for our day on land on Monday.

At Sopers we again run into GlenA and crew as well as Hamilton Ontario friends – Chris (meanderer), Chris & kids - on their boat “Cleandre”.

At this point, the weather forecast suggests we would be better off to postpone the on-shore day to Wednesday, so ……. Quick change of plan yet again and we decide to head back to the Bight to snorkel the caves and to enjoy another Sunday evening at the Willy T. Loonie has learnt that although she won her T-shirt, she missed out on the tattoo – so back we go to see if we can get into more trouble!

The caves are as good as ever – great snorkelling! So much so that we are even quite cold by the time we get back on board. Decide to dine on the Willy T and book for 7:00 pm. Dink over to find Wendel of Wendel’s World on board – we had spent an e memorable evening with him, his daughter, JF and Joanne last year on JVD. Memorable specially to our kids, Ian & Alyx!

We share a calamari as a starter; I have a fabulous Roti, and Loonie a ceasar salad/shrimp dinner and we spend a fun time with an English crowd. Loonie plans a dive with the crew of another ProValor cat, “Avelino” – we arrange to meet off Dead Chest Island on the other side of Peter Island, later the next morning.

Finally, a lazy, fun Sunday draws to a close and we sleep soundly.

August 9th Monday
(Michael) …. We awake to an overcast sky and rather blustery weather and decide to motor up to Dead Chest and pick up the only dive mooring we can see. We agree that the weather really has been very kind to us – hardly any rain not even the 2:00 am sprinkles ….

The “Avelino” crew must have been partying a bit harder than the crew of the “Lady” – some missed communication and some upset tummies preclude them from diving this morning <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Hangover.gif" alt="" />and they head directly to the Rhone to snorkel. At the Rhone site, Loonie is her usual undaunted self and rather than miss out on one of her few dives, dinks over to a Dive BVI boat and arranges to dive with them. That works out successfully.

Salt Island is a spot we both want to go ashore to experience, so we motor around the corner and drop the hook in 12’. A relaxed lunch washed down with a nice chilled bottle of White courtesy of GlenA (who had dropped off several bottles of wine early in the morning in the Bight, before they were off on their last days’ sail- Thanks Glenn!!). We dink ashore to explore the small settlement; the graves of the Rhone and the Salt pond. It is rather eerie ….

I push for another dive day for Loonie and we tentatively settle on an overnight in Trellis and a Tuesday morning run over to the Dogs. Or our second option, if it is blowing a bit much, we can stay in the lee of Scrub Island and explore the other dive site, Diamond Reef, located between Marina Cay and Great Camanoe, opposite Donavans on Scrub Island.

Dinner on board and a nightcap at the Last Resort tops off yet another day in Paradise ……

August 10th Tuesday
(Michael) …… It is blowing a bit, so after a brief stop ashore at the Cyber Café to catch up on e-mail and to arrange a small car – a 2/4WD GM Tracker from Hertz (total cost including fuel for 24 hrs was $70, well worth it!) – to be ready for 9:00 am Wednesday, we motor across the bay and pick up the dive mooring. Loonie does a solo dive and enjoys it immensely.

We head back to Fat Hogs Bay, a day earlier than expected, to be ready for the car in the morning. A lazy evening, on a mooring off the end of the dock, we attempt some sorting out, tidying up and packing and get to bed.

August 11th Wednesday
(Michael) …… Up early. Jeff is already at work on stripping down the fleet – “Champagne Lady” is the last charter home and Jeff & Mindy plan a bit of time to themselves.

Our transport arrives – it has a soft-top as well as A/C, but we are asked not to open much of the canvas, as it is a bit fragile. We are glad of the Air!

Our first trip to the BVI was in the early 80’s – with another couple, we had delivered a Whitby 42’ from NY into charter in the BVI. We’d been allowed to stay on board for a week and were able to explore Road Town (a very different town than it is today), but little else. With so much having changed in 20 yrs, we wanted to check the latest new facilities so head to Road Town and stop off at the big RiteWay – very impressive. Then across the road to TICOs – great selection, but I think RiteWay had the edge on pricing! Then on to the ferry dock to confirm the next morning’s ferry to St Thomas. With our chores behind us we head down the southern coastal road and pass Nanny Cay, we hang a right to towards Long Bay. We go over the top of the West End hills, drop down onto the North Coastal road and start our tour.

We take in most of the places we have read about; after passing the familiar sight of Bomba’s we stop at the North Shore Shell Museum – fascinating! And so is Egbert! (Loonie: When Egbert hears that we have never tried Breadfruit, which grows right outside his place, he immediately goes to the kitchen and fries some up for us – excellent stuff). Head on to the Callwood Distillery, climb up over the cliffs and get fabulous views of CGB, & Brewers Bay; stop by the Mount Healthy Ruin; then climb up further to Skyworld where we stop for a very necessary cold one. Mount Sage is a must and we climb up the goat path to the summit – which is in the middle of the forest and affords no views at all! But we went there!

We are now on a time line – we have been invited to visit with Davide & Cele and afterwards we will be looking forward to a last night dinner with Jeffery & Mindy. The social rounds of the BVI really can get hectic …….

From Mt Sage we stay on the Ridge road, drop down into Joshua’s Bay for a quick look see and then it is time to head back to Fat Hogs. Altogether a very worthwhile day that helps bring some balance to a great sailing vacation.

Our evening is a delight! We thoroughly enjoy ourselves with our BVI friends and head back to the “Lady” for our final night on board. It has been a fantastic time.

August 12th Thursday:
(Michael) …… Clean the boat; stow the gear; strike the <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/canada.gif" alt="" /> burgee (condom?! – if you saw it you would know!); sweat like heck as we haul our gear to the taxi; say good-byes to Jeffery; stop by D & C & leave last farewell note & head to the Road Town docks; check in at Smiths and ……. Time for a last, fast Painkiller at Pussers on the quay. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Sad.gif" alt="" />

Almost home …… except that Charley – the Hurricane that is – is coming up fast behind Bonnie (kinky hurricane!) and the net result is a 90 min delay sitting on the taxi path at Miami; a delayed flight to Toronto and lost bags (which contained our DIF medication - Cruzan..

Happy to say that by midday Saturday, bags have been delivered by AA, and we are gently, ever so gently reminding ourselves that reality is a home in Oakville, Canada and the means to earn enough to be able to say to our BVI friends ….. We go to come back!

A truly great trip!!

WE GO TO COME BACK…………………..and this time it’ll be sooner than expected. On November 26, Michael and I head back to crew Herve’s boat from the BVI to Miami. Boy, does that knowledge ever help with DIF.