Having enjoyed the fruits of other trip reports, I am compelled to post my own.

Overall, the trip from April 1 to April 8 was one of the best for my wife and me after 20 plus years of sailing in the BVI. Fair winds, no rain in the middle of the night, and balmy temperatures set the stage for seven wonderful days aboard a Moorings (Beneteau) 352 and our party of four, including my 24-year-old son and his girlfriend.

We have sailed other Caribbean locations, but we keep coming back to Tortola because it consistently offers great sailing and anchorages set up with charter boats in mind. And we continue to charter boats through Moorings, in part because of significant discounts I receive in return for my loyalty to them for many years. Just as important, Moorings always provides clean, well-maintained boats, and their professional staff continues to improve with every visit. This year was exceptional because of their new facilities, which include amazing marbled-lined, spacious showers with rainfall shower spouts.

For the first time, Bobby provisioned the boat. The service was ok, but a few items were missing, and the beef patties had an off-flavor, probably because the feed was different than that fed to Midwestern cattle. We will probably go back to Riteway next time.

During the briefing with other charterers, I learned a few things, as I always seem to do. This year, for instance, I learned that park moorings are not maintained as well as they should be, so we were warned to always have someone on board capable of handling the boat in case the mooring should fail while others are snorkeling.

A short on-board briefing revealed a stove burner that would not light without a match, but no other surprises. The entire embarking process was easier than ever.

After a quick lunch on board, we let loose the docking lines with the help of some fellow charterers and headed for Norman Island. We discovered right away that the mainsail was harder to raise than it should have been. Need to do that for the first time while in our slip, so someone can grease the slide if necessary. Also discovered that the knotmeter did not work, but that is not unusual and not necessary as the helm had a GPS that provided SOG, as well as much other information.

The boat handled well, but tended to weather more than I prefer. The cockpit was too confining for our taste, as was the salon. Probably won’t charter this boat again. I have chartered a similar boat by Jeaneau, which was much roomier. However, I noticed a brand new Moorings 372 across from our slip that was much roomier. Have to check that out next time if there are four of us again.

A delightful 2-hour sail brought us to the Bight, where plenty of moorings awaited us. Snorkeling at the caves spawned a thirst, so we headed over to Pirates Cove where I discovered the Bushwacker. Cool and soothing, it was something I would sample throughout our cruise, but none of the others could match that initial one. I need to ask them for their recipe.

Ribeye steaks on the grill were pretty good, but the Matchlight charcoal briquettes gave the steaks a hint of lighter fluid flavor. Need to go back to our usual egg carton briquettes.

The Willy T was hopping, so we sampled a drink or two after dinner. Met some regatta sailors and a guy with nine 18-year-old boys on one boat. They seemed to enjoy themselves, but I am sure their mothers would have frowned upon some of the goings on.

Early to bed and early to rise, we motored over to the caves for another look and then headed for Cane Garden Bay. Didn’t realize until after we dropped the mooring, though, that the brake was jammed against the wheel, so I couldn’t steer. Had to quickly find a crescent wrench to loosen the nut holding the wheel onto the stem in order to release the brake. Jeez, it is always something!

That’s when I got the idea that someone should make a reality TV show about a novice crew aboard a bareboat in the West Indies. I always find it entertaining to bring a newbie aboard for a week… the look on their faces when they see what their “stateroom” looks like… then their raised eyebrows with their first look at the head, with a quizzical afterword when I tell them they cannot put any toilet paper in the toilet. Following a new crew aboard a sailboat with a TV camera would be hilarious fun!

Had sandwiches on the way. Winds picked up to 20 knots crossing Sir Francis Drake, but I still couldn’t bury the rail. It was fun watching everyone’s faces, though, as I heeled it over pretty good.

More moorings were found at Cane Garden Bay. Seems like the economy has hit the ilons as well. Never did have to wait for a mooring the whole trip.

A Rhymer’s cheeseburger always make me smile, especially with all the cruise ship passengers gone from the beach. A beer listening to Quito topped off the evening.

Up again early the next morning, I decided to let Dan and Laura handle the boat on the way to Jost Van Dyke. Dan wants to charter his own boat someday, and Laura needed to learn how to be his first mate. They did pretty well. For fun I showed them how to jibe.

We had never been to Diamond Cay, so we stopped to take a look. Very nice. Have to stay overnight sometime. The walk to bubbling pool was interesting.

Motored over to Great Harbor and easily found good holding ground for the anchor on the first try next to the ferry channel. It wasn’t long, though, before episode two of our reality TV show began to unfold. A Moorings 403 we anchored next to began to drift across our anchor line. One man was at the bow looking down at his anchor chain in the water. Apparently, his crew was on shore. I whistled at him to move, but he just waved hello and continued fooling with the anchor. His boat then began to drift in our direction, so I told the crew to get out the fenders. After a few minutes, the boat began to drift towards another boat on our starboard. They, too, got their fenders out. Unable to communicate with the lone guy on the 403, we just scratched out heads about what he was up to.

He continued to drift past everyone towards the ferry channel, so I told Dan and Laura to jump into the dinghy to see if we could be of assistance. They sped over to the 403, and I could see Dan hop on board the boat after a brief conversation with whom I assume is the captain, leaving Laura in the dinghy. They were pretty far away, so I could not see much about what they were doing, but I could see they were drifting into the ferry channel. Sure enough, as if on cue, a ferry appears in the distance, white froth at its bow, heading directly for the 403.

Someone apparently takes the helm and begins to move the boat out of the channel, but we can see that the dinghy is now separated from the sailboat. Laura has never started an outboard motor, much less commanded a boat of any kind, so Jane and I begin to worry. The resourceful young woman, though, apparently starts the motor and begins to drive the dinghy around in circles. She told us later that she had trouble at first trying to reconcile left and right with the tiller. Just in time, both the sailboat and dinghy move out of the way of the ferry, which did not appear to change course or speed as it approached the channel.

Although saved from a collision with the ferry, the sailboat now is drifting towards the shore, and we can see no one at the helm, although the boat is so far away it is hard to tell exactly what is going on. Again, just in time, the boat begins to move away from shore. A few minutes later, Dan and Laura are headed back to our boat, while the 403 continues to drift away from Great Harbor.

To be continued…