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First Time Bareboat Charter Trip Report 4/15-4/23 #95757
04/25/2016 08:49 PM
04/25/2016 08:49 PM
Joined: Mar 2016
Posts: 55
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fromaway3774 Offline OP
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Hi Everyone,
Thanks for the responses to my Newbie Itinerary questions pre-charter. Now it's time for me to report out on how it all went. On the trip was DH, DS11, DS14, and myself.

Day 1
We started out with a 5:50am flight out of BOS, connecting JFK, landing in STT early around 12:40ish. Everything with the flights went off without a hitch and we were at the restaurant above the ferry terminal with time enough for Painkillers and snacks before the 2:30 ferry to Tortola. I should note here that we flew Delta Comfort + which included free adult beverages. DH found himself sitting next to a couple who were part of another party who were also chartering for the week. Needless to say, the party started before we had even landed on STT!

We boarded the ferry and sat up top to enjoy the view. The manager (owner?) of the restaurant was selling beers and waters to ferry passengers. We were happy patrons of this service! We were so happy, we didn't really care that the ferry left about 45 minutes late. Oh well, island time - right?

We are big STJ fans and the ferry ride was like the "greatest hits". There goes Trunk, then Cinnamon, then Maho and Francis... Before we knew it, we were in Soper's Hole for a quick stop and then on to Road Town.

We were still happy to just be on the ferry absorbing Vitamin D so I had forgotten the horror stories I read about day trippers spending in line at customs. This resulted in us being one of the LAST parties through customs. We waited for over an hour in line. At this point, after being up since 3:30am, I started to get really grouchy and say things like "we're never coming back here". Seriously. Island time? Grrrrr. We finally made it to Conch Charters at about 5:00pm.

Our water toys from Last Stop Sports were on the boat as ordered. Our provisions from RiteWay were not. I looked at their website for a phone number only to learn that the provisioning department closed at 5:00. I left them a message. I checked with the folks in the Conch office and they said RiteWay deliveries were usually late on Fridays. We went to dinner at the Pub right at the base keeping an eye out for someone looking to make a delivery but we did not connect. The next morning I called when they opened and they resent the delivery. It was not 100% accurate but the only misses were for minor items. The most notable mistake being that we had to use mango juice in our painkiller mix all week instead of orange juice. Worse things have happened to me, for sure.

I will back up for a moment to note that we had booked a 40 foot monohull with Conch sometime late last summer. About a month before our charter, I received a note from them asking us if we would like to take advantage of a complimentary UPGRADE to a Lagoon 440. Well heck yeah, why wouldn't we want to do that??? Maybe because we had never sailed a catamaran, that's why. I made sure they knew this and they promised a long check out for us, which we did receive.
Honestly, this upgrade saved our week. More on that to come in future posts.

That's all for now. It's a busy re-entry into the real world but I'll try to keep the posts coming fairly regularly.

BVI Sponsors
Re: First Time Bareboat Charter Trip Report 4/15-4/23 [Re: fromaway3774] #95758
04/27/2016 07:12 PM
04/27/2016 07:12 PM
Joined: Mar 2016
Posts: 55
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fromaway3774 Offline OP
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Day 2

Since this was our first time chartering, I didn't exactly know how the checkout process was supposed to work. The boys and I were up early and took a quick walk to the RiteWay for some breakfast and snack items. When the base office opened, I stopped in to confess my newness and ask if there was anything they needed from us. I was reassured that we were fine and told to just hang out on the boat. When they were done checking boats back in, they would be over to check us out. If our provisions hadn't arrived by the time we were ready to leave, they would help us with a call to RiteWay. At about 10:00am, we were called in for our chart briefing. Shortly afterwards a gentleman showed up at our boat for the check out. He walked DH through the process of checking the engine and generators. We discovered that the generator would start but not keep running. An engineer was called for and the diagnostics began. An hour and 3 replacement parts later, the generator was fixed. We never had a problem with it for the rest of the week.

We were nervous about navigating a strange boat off the docks so we were relieved to learn that at Conch, they drive you out into the harbor and then leave you with the boat. I would say we were left on our own by about 12:30pm. Not bad timing from what I can tell from reading this forum.

And just like that, we were sailing a 44 foot catamaran for the first time! Our destination for this day was an easy crossing over to Norman to spend the night in The Bight. We cleared the harbor and then started raising the sails. After getting the hang of the auto winch and maneuvering the main through the lazy jacks (we don't have lazy jacks on our home boat) we unfurled the jib and had a smooth sail to Norman. Soon enough it was time to take the sails down which we did without incident. The next challenge was picking up a mooring. Our home boat lives on a mooring so we had the general idea. We just didn't know how it was going to all work out with tying off to two hulls, etc. That and general nervousness about being the entertainment for the anchorage. For this first round, DH drove the boat and my younger son and I worked the lines. We actually managed to get tied off with a minimum of fuss.

Now, a day and a half later, it was finally time to officially RELAX. DH and I toasted to actually making it this far and on schedule too. There's been talk of full anchorages recently so I'll note that The Bight was FULL this night. We could see the Willy T in the distance and it was packed. Since we had the kids with us, we did not visit. (We had been there before on a day trip.) We took the dinghy over to the caves for a very nice snorkel.

We had failed to make dinner reservations that night so were turned away from Pirates Bight. We went next door and they were able to take us in. The food was very good but the plates are small...order accordingly.

We made it back to our boat for a night cap and then, after such a full day, we called it a night.

That's it for Day 2.

Re: First Time Bareboat Charter Trip Report 4/15-4/23 [Re: fromaway3774] #95759
04/27/2016 07:47 PM
04/27/2016 07:47 PM
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 2,423
Miramichi NB Canada
Sandsailsun Offline
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Don't ya just love it when " finally time to relax" happens....sounds like things went smoothly for first few days...

THanks for taking the time to share your fun....ill be watching for more instalments


Kim

Re: First Time Bareboat Charter Trip Report 4/15-4/23 [Re: Sandsailsun] #95760
04/28/2016 08:23 PM
04/28/2016 08:23 PM
Joined: Mar 2016
Posts: 55
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fromaway3774 Offline OP
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Yes, the ah...relaxing moment was magical! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Joy.gif" alt="" />

Re: First Time Bareboat Charter Trip Report 4/15-4/23 [Re: fromaway3774] #95761
04/28/2016 08:47 PM
04/28/2016 08:47 PM
Joined: Mar 2016
Posts: 55
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fromaway3774 Offline OP
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Day 3

For some reason, waking up early on the boat seemed very natural. We were up well before 7:00am most days. It was nice to make some coffee and just take in the warm air and scenery. My younger son and I went for an early morning paddle board in The Bight and it was one of my favorite moments from the trip.

My husband and I decided that our destination for the day would be Cooper Island. It would be a nice but quick sail that would get us to Cooper in time to not only grab a mooring, but have a nice full afternoon of downtime as well.

Thanks to this forum, I was absolutely paranoid about getting to Cooper in time for a mooring. The Bight, with 80 moorings, was full the night we were there. Cooper, with only 30, was bound to be a disaster. We left fairly early and started our sail towards Cooper. The many of you who have sailed this route before will know that the channel fills up with sailboats. In my mind, every sail boat in the channel was heading towards Cooper! I try not to stress on vacation but I will admit I was worried about this. We pulled into Cooper just before 11:00 as some other boats were leaving for the day. We grabbed a mooring no problem. Phew! However, my husband kept a keen eye on the anchorage to see how quickly it would fill up. On the one hand, he relies on my research and planning for vacations. On the other hand, I think he wanted to gauge the validity of my paranoia. We were both gratified then to see every last open mooring ball taken up by noon on the day we were there. So I will send another Thank You out to this forum for helping me look like a vacation planning Rock Star!

We went ashore to have lunch and pay for our mooring. After a nice lunch, we took the dinghy over to snorkel at Cistern point which was wonderful. We had a lazy afternoon after that and then back ashore for dinner, coincidentally at the same table we sat at for lunch. Then our usual routine - back to the boat for a night cap before bed. DH had purchased a cigar at the Rhum Bar which he enjoyed during the night cap.

And so ended Day 3.

Re: First Time Bareboat Charter Trip Report 4/15-4/23 [Re: fromaway3774] #95762
04/28/2016 10:05 PM
04/28/2016 10:05 PM
Joined: Mar 2016
Posts: 55
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fromaway3774 Offline OP
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Day 4

Another early start to the day, and another early paddle board with my younger son. We paddled out to Cistern Point and back where I fortified myself with MORE COFFEE. I like a lot of coffee in the morning regardless of vacation or not. It is what it is. On a side note, I had a business trip to Europe just before this vacation. I picked up some Nescafe Gold instant coffee while I was there. This is, IMHO, some of the best instant coffee anywhere. It was perfect for this trip since I could make coffee with boiled water on the propane stove or from the coffee maker if the generator was running. No need for the french press, filters, measuring, or any of that. Just hot water and, et voila, coffee! I digress...

This day's destination was The Bitter End. We pulled out of Cooper with expectations of a nice long sail along Virgin Gorda to the North Sound. We were not disappointed with the sailing. However, here is where the weather made a turning point for the week. The day was overcast, not raining, but overcast and gray. Now I will grant you than an overcast day in the BVI's on a 44 foot catamaran en route to the Bitter End is better than any sunny day at work. However, it was still overcast and gray. I know you all know what I mean.

We made our way along Virgin Gorda and into the channel for North Sound (Gorda Sound?) and then headed towards the Bitter End. In this day and age of the internet, The Bitter End was just like the pictures but not quite like the picture in my mind. Not necessarily in a bad way, just different. As I like to say though, you don't really know until you go.

We grabbed a mooring and settled in for the afternoon/evening. We went ashore for lunch at the pub and paid for the mooring. Then back to the boat for a quiet afternoon.

At The Bitter End, we started to really notice that some boats were on a similar circuit. For example, there were two identical MarineMax boats that took adjacent moorings and rafted up at multiple anchorages. There were some Voyage catamarans, while not at BEYC that night, that we still ran into at other points during the week. There was also the big Moorings cat that had the floating swim area, denoted by noodles, laid out at each anchorage.

That afternoon, one of the boats on a mooring near us, started cranking out Pink Floyd. I can honestly tell you that, in all my dreams and imaginations about what a Caribbean vacation should be, Pink Floyd has factored in exactly none of them. Pink Floyd is what children of the 70's and 80's listened to in the dark places where they went to hide from their parents and feel pity for themselves. Pink Floyd is what you listen to now on your way to work in a shoulder season on a cold and rainy day where wherever you live looks like a gulag. Pink Floyd is not Caribbean vacation music...until you pull into The Bitter End on a gray and overcast day. The gents next to us took me by surprise with the Pink Floyd selection but the tunes they were pumping out just seemed to work given the weather. It was a very sublime moment.

That evening we went ashore for a cocktail followed by dinner. My plan was to have DH buy me a cocktail at the bar over on the beach and then we would have dinner back at the pub. We went to the bar only to discover that we had crashed the weekly welcome reception for resort guests! No worries though, as we had our drinks and adirondack chairs with a front row to the Caribbean sea. Dinner that night at the pub was good, particularly the pizza.

You know what happens next...dinghy back to the boat for a nightcap and an end to another successful vacation day.

Re: First Time Bareboat Charter Trip Report 4/15-4/23 [Re: fromaway3774] #95763
04/29/2016 12:10 AM
04/29/2016 12:10 AM
Joined: Dec 2015
Posts: 61
San Antonio, TX
TreetopFlyer Offline
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San Antonio, TX
Quote
fromaway3774 said:
Yes, the ah...relaxing moment was magical! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Joy.gif" alt="" />


Been there...done that...and totally agree with you! Going back in 3 weeks to do it again!

Thoroughly enjoying your write ups.


Tom C.
Re: First Time Bareboat Charter Trip Report 4/15-4/23 [Re: TreetopFlyer] #95764
04/29/2016 06:10 AM
04/29/2016 06:10 AM
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 2,423
Miramichi NB Canada
Sandsailsun Offline
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Nothing beats the early mornings down there ..sounds like great fun so far...
We also go back in three weeks . Maybe see ya around Tom

Last edited by Sandsailsun; 04/29/2016 06:11 AM.

Kim

Re: First Time Bareboat Charter Trip Report 4/15-4/23 [Re: Sandsailsun] #95765
04/29/2016 10:03 AM
04/29/2016 10:03 AM
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 5,675
An island state of mind
tradewinds Offline
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An island state of mind
So, let me get this straight. You don't like Pink Floyd? <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" />

Re: First Time Bareboat Charter Trip Report 4/15-4/23 [Re: tradewinds] #95766
04/29/2016 11:25 AM
04/29/2016 11:25 AM
Joined: Mar 2015
Posts: 263
Reno, Nevada
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TIMRIM Offline
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TIMRIM  Offline
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Reno, Nevada
Removing Pink Floyd from pad and Pandora. Replacing with Bob Marley, Kenny Chesney and Jimmy Buffett.
12 days til wheels up!!!!

Re: First Time Bareboat Charter Trip Report 4/15-4/23 [Re: TIMRIM] #95767
04/29/2016 11:42 AM
04/29/2016 11:42 AM
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 1,199
Devon, UK
salica Offline
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Quote
TIMRIM said:
Removing Pink Floyd from pad and Pandora. Replacing with Bob Marley, Kenny Chesney and Jimmy Buffett.
12 days til wheels up!!!!

Will appreciate that music if we hear it in the next couple of weeks.

Re: First Time Bareboat Charter Trip Report 4/15-4/23 [Re: fromaway3774] #95768
04/29/2016 11:49 AM
04/29/2016 11:49 AM
Joined: May 2008
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"On the one hand, he relies on my research and planning for vacations. On the other hand, I think he wanted to gauge the validity of my paranoia"

Oh boy, do I ever recognize my husband in this comment!

Re: First Time Bareboat Charter Trip Report 4/15-4/23 [Re: TIMRIM] #95769
04/29/2016 12:19 PM
04/29/2016 12:19 PM
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 1,951
St. John, USVI
RickG Offline
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St. John, USVI
Fun stuff!

If you ever hear Echoes from Pink Floyd at night in an anchorage, pop by and join us.

Overhead the albatross hangs motionless upon the air
And deep beneath the rolling waves in labyrinths of coral caves
The echo of a distant tide
Comes willowing across the sand
And everything is green and submarine

Cheers, RickG

Last edited by RickG; 04/29/2016 12:20 PM.

S/V Echoes, 2003 Beneteau 423
Grenada
Re: First Time Bareboat Charter Trip Report 4/15-4/23 [Re: RickG] #95770
04/29/2016 09:24 PM
04/29/2016 09:24 PM
Joined: Mar 2016
Posts: 55
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fromaway3774 Offline OP
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Day 5

Wait, what? Day FIVE?? I felt like we were just getting started.

I am not above admitting that our boys are actually more qualified sailors than DH and myself. We are very fortunate in that we live close to the coast and have access to a yacht club with a great junior's summer camp program. Both of our boys were enrolled for at least one session of sailing camp each summer since they were old enough. I haven't mentioned much about my older son, because he's almost 15 and was more interested in his phone than the BVI's. I have faith that he will learn. Until then, it's all about the internet. When he did appear though, it was to correct the rigging and the sails and he was actually very helpful with figuring out a strange boat. Likewise, he was strong enough to help hoist the dinghy onto the davits. So after YEARS of doing the heavy lifting as the Mom, it was really nice to see that my son will turn out to be a functioning member of the world...if he can ever pull himself away from Fall Out 4.

My younger son, having signed himself up for the Opti racing program this summer, immediately noted that The Bitter End had all manner of vessels on the beach for an avid sailor to rent. We were clearly not getting out of BEYC without renting something. He and I were up early as usual. We paddleboarded to shore with the mission of bringing back pastries from the bakery at the Emporium. We arrived on shore at 7:50am and waited, with 3 other parties, to enter the store and ultimately buy day old pastries at 8:00am. Island time! We paddleboarded the pastries back to the cat and had more coffee, etc.

Then the four of us piled in the dinghy to take my younger son back to shore to rent him a sailboat. True story: we left our sailboat on a mission to rent a sailboat. I handed over my credit card to the very nice and helpful people at the BEYC activities desk and $40 later, my son had his own personal Opti and all of North Sound to explore for an hour. The three of us took off in the dinghy while DS11 had his time in the Opti. We went past Saba towards Oil Nut Bay, but then realized there wasn't much in that direction, and then went back into the sound and hung out just off shore from Prickly Pear. We checked in on our Opti sailor occasionally without crowding him. DH had brought his snorkel so he hopped overboard and snorkeled the shore of Prickly Pear. DS14 and I just bobbed about in the dinghy keeping one eye on DH and the other on DS11. The sun was shining, the water was warm, and life was lovely. Time does pass though so we wrapped it up and headed back to shore.

Due to the late start, we did not have ambitious plans for the day. Our next destination was Leverick just across the Sound. No sails raised on this day. We motored over and picked up a mooring. There were several available. At this point, we noticed that Leverick was directly in the line of considerable winds coming in through the channel. If it weren't for the reef, I'm sure the swells would have been to big for there to be an anchorage at Leverick. We went ashore for lunch and it was just us and one other customer. I ordered the mahi sandwich. Full disclosure: if a mahi sandwich is on the menu, I will order it. Period. I have to say that the mahi sandwich at Leverick was hands down the best mahi sandwich I had that week. I'd even put it in the top five of mahi sandwiches I've had in all my trips to the islands.

We had had a full morning so we went back to the boat for a quiet afternoon. Then I rallied the troops for the Happy Arrgh! We went ashore in time to get seats at the bar and watch the Happy Arrgh! entertainment. The entertainer came out and started doing his routine. My older son turns to me and says, "Mom, this is like a kid's birthday party entertainer". And I could see where he was coming from, but since he was only 14, I couldn't really tell him it would be more entertaining if he'd had a couple painkillers and beers before watching the show. Long story short, DS14 and DS11 were not impressed with the Happy Arrgh! I wasn't sympathetic to their dissatisfaction, I only mention it for the benefit of parents considering a similar vacation. We went back to the boat only to discover that we could hear the Happy Arrgh! better from the boat. Arrgh! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />

We had made dinner reservations at the restaurant upstairs at Leverick for that evening. We went ashore for our reservation and I'm happy to report that we had a very nice dinner. The quality of both the food and service was excellent.

And now, after another long day, back to the boat for the nightly night cap.

Re: First Time Bareboat Charter Trip Report 4/15-4/23 [Re: fromaway3774] #95771
04/29/2016 11:03 PM
04/29/2016 11:03 PM
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 133
NB, Canada
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Nice report so far! My boat is Marley, Buffet, Peter Tosh and Burning Spear during the day and Pink Floyd and Tom Waits after dark. That wasn't us at the Bitter End though, sadly.

Over the years I've met a fair number of Canadian sailors all over the Caribbean who dropped by after dark after hearing Bruce Cockburn or the Tragically Hip coming from our stereo as they dinghy past at night.

Re: First Time Bareboat Charter Trip Report 4/15-4/23 [Re: Call_me_Ishmael] #95772
05/02/2016 07:57 PM
05/02/2016 07:57 PM
Joined: Mar 2016
Posts: 55
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fromaway3774 Offline OP
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Day 6

We were up early again and underway fairly early as well. We motored out of North Sound, turned into the wind, and raised the sails. All went smoothly. Our original plan was to stop off at Salt and snorkel the Wreck of the Rhone. We would then head for Soper's for an evening out of the wind. The wind was picking up as we sailed and it was my least favorite kind of sailing - downwind with following seas. By the time we had made it to Cooper, the winds were really picking up. We decided to change plans and duck into Cooper for a second night, and snorkel the Rhone the next morning. We had thought that Cooper would have been more protected from the winds, and at first it seemed that it was. DH and DS11 went ashore for some Kadima and time on the beach. DS14 and I stayed on the boat to read.

Around cocktail hour, a Moorings cat pulled into the harbor and dropped anchor in between two occupied moorings in front of us. It turns out that it was a captained charter and they were just dropping off the family for a quick stop on the island. While the family was ashore, my husband noticed the cat was getting closer. He called out to the captain who had to raise anchor and pull forward and reset. Thankfully they did not attempt to spend the night there or they would have dragged into us for sure.

The rest of the evening was uneventful - we went ashore for dinner and then back to the boat for our usual nightcap.

Overnight that night, the winds really picked up and there were several really strong gusts. I wondered if we wouldn't have been better off at Soper's after all.

Fortunately we were still attached to the mooring in the morning!

Re: First Time Bareboat Charter Trip Report 4/15-4/23 [Re: fromaway3774] #95773
05/02/2016 08:30 PM
05/02/2016 08:30 PM
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Posts: 55
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fromaway3774 Offline OP
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Day 7

After our windy night at Cooper, we motored over to Salt to snorkel the Wreck of the Rhone. One of the good things about being early was that we had the place to ourselves. The downside was that we had never been there before and weren't sure where to go. We carefully motored into Lee bay and figured out which moorings we could tie off to. What threw us off was that we had been told to get a mooring and then dinghy over to the snorkel site. We could see the dinghy line from our mooring and it looked closer than we had thought it would be. We skipped the dinghy and just hopped in and swam to and from the site. The swim was no problem with fins. DH, DS11 and I snorkeled the site which was very interesting. DS14 stayed on the boat. At this point, we're not sure why we even paid for his plane ticket, for all he participated in the vacation.

We then packed it up and motored across the channel to spend the night at Marina Cay. DH wanted to put up the sails but since it was so windy still, and such a short distance, DS11 and I talked him out of it. I had read in the cruising guide that Marina Cay was sheltered in most weather. This sounded good to me! We motored there, identified the channel/reef markers, and were able to grab a mooring right off the dock. Note to mariners: the channel markers in the cruising guide are HUGE comparatively to the real thing. Likewise, the nav buoys here in Maine are large green and red "cans". The channel markers in the BVI's are, in reality, much smaller and only visible when you are closer to them. So they are there, you just can't see them until you are closer than you may be expecting.

Once we were settled on our mooring, we realized that Marina Cay was sheltered in terms of swells, but not so much in terms of wind. There was still a strong consistent wind throughout the anchorage. Oh well! We went ashore to pay for the mooring and walk around the island. We had a quick painkiller at Pusser's because, well, why wouldn't you? We went back to the boat to suit up for snorkeling the reef surrounding the Cay. Once in the water, DH and DS11 noticed that the best show was actually right under our boat. There were two nurse sharks and two large barracuda just hanging out under the keels of our cat - very cool! There was a strong current under the boats because the anchorage is actually in a channel. We made DS11 wear his fins in the water so he could effectively swim against the current. We snorkeled around the reef and saw some fish but the best was actually right in the channel under our boat.

The bar at the top of the hill had, guess what?, another Happy Arrgh! show. DS14 declined to attend this time so we left him behind. The happy hour entertainer was singing reggae tunes which were really nice to listen to while overlooking the boats in the anchorage.

DH went back to the boat to collect DS14 and then we had dinner in the restaurant at a table overlooking the reef. We had such an enjoyable evening, DH declared it his favorite meal of the week. (For me it was second only to Leverick.)

Back to the boat and another day came to a close.

Re: First Time Bareboat Charter Trip Report 4/15-4/23 [Re: fromaway3774] #95774
05/05/2016 09:01 PM
05/05/2016 09:01 PM
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 276
Atlantic Highlands, NJ
MarkS Offline
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Atlantic Highlands, NJ
Nice report! Your writing style is refreshing!


Mark Shichtman
"Live for Today!"

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Re: First Time Bareboat Charter Trip Report 4/15-4/23 [Re: MarkS] #95775
05/07/2016 09:34 AM
05/07/2016 09:34 AM
Joined: Mar 2016
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fromaway3774 Offline OP
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fromaway3774  Offline OP
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Day 8

We were up and out early as this was our last full day on the boat and we had an ambitious itinerary. We were headed up to White Bay on Jost for lunch and then needed to be back to Road Town by 4:00. We motored out through the channel towards Guana and Great Camanoe. The winds were still blowing fiercely as we tried to raise the sails in the area between Tortola, Guana and Great Camanoe. DH reaches his wits end with raising the main through the lazy jacks in these conditions, throws the lines down in disgust, and says "you do it". Up to now, I would drive the boat while DH raised the sails. All of the action above the bimini had been hidden from my view. I had heard a lot of salty language whenever the sails were raised, but I hadn't seen what it was all about. DH took the helm and I took the lines. I finally saw what the deal was and was able to get the sails up. I think if you don't have the expectation to start that you will ever just be able to push the button on the power winch and raise the sails all in one go, you won't get so frustrated with the process when it doesn't turn out that way.

So now we had the sails up in strong winds and we needed to pass through the channel between Tortola and Guana. This is a fairly narrow channel as far as tacking through it though so it was my turn to declare, officially, that this was NOT FUN. We motor sailed through the channel to get out into open waters. Once we passed the channel, we we found ourselves in a dead spot with Guana blocking the wind. Go figure.

We had another fairly long down wind sail towards Jost. We tacked into the channel and sailed past Sandy Spit and Sandy Cay. From there is was an uneventful sail up the coast to White Bay. This day was another gray and overcast day. As we were sailing along Jost, we could see rain storms on Tortola. We dropped the sails, motored into White Bay, and grabbed a mooring off shore from Ivan's. We dinghied over to the beach and left the dinghy near Hendo's hide out.

Walking along the beach towards One Love, I realized that I had not planned enough beach time in this vacation. The sand in between my toes felt heavenly. We had lunch at One Love and then stopped off at Soggy Dollar for a painkiller. I went for a swim and tried to enjoy the last few minutes we had on the beach. We were on a schedule though so we dinghied back to the boat. We jumped off the boat into the water a few times and had a last swim. DS14 actually joined us for this part.

We then motored all the way back to Road Town. We were motoring against some big swells and big winds with intermittent rain. Lovely weather. We pulled into Road Town harbor by 4:00, in time to call the base and have them bring us into the dock before they closed at 5:00.

We went through the check out process, did some packing and final cleaning of the boat, and got as much done as we could since we had an early departure the next morning. We went to Sharky's for dinner, which was good, but I was so exhausted from the day I almost fell asleep during dinner. I don't even remember if we had a night cap that final night on the boat.

So ended our last full day of vacation.

Re: First Time Bareboat Charter Trip Report 4/15-4/23 [Re: RickG] #95776
05/08/2016 08:17 PM
05/08/2016 08:17 PM
Joined: Mar 2016
Posts: 55
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fromaway3774 Offline OP
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fromaway3774  Offline OP
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Joined: Mar 2016
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Final Musings and Observations from a First Timer

--I did not plan enough true down time. In our eagerness to explore all the highlights of the BVI's, we moved fairly quickly. The plus side is now we have experience sailing into and out of many popular spots. The downside is we didn't spend a lot of time in any one spot. I'm ok with it for this trip, as it was an investment in learning bareboating and the BVI waters both, but I will plan differently for future trips.
--We will leave the kids behind for the next trip. Not for all vacations of course, but if we were to bareboat again, I'll wait until they are older to have them along. DS14 was entirely uninterested while DS11 needed constant occupation. These dynamics are better accommodated with a different type of vacation.
--Weather matters. I tried, honestly I did, to not let the dreary weather of the second half of the week get me down. But it did. Enough said.
--On the weather topic, DH and I had agreed that, given conditions, we would have abandoned ship mid way through the week if we were on the original monohull that we had booked. We would have returned the boat and looked for shore based accommodations. DH and I could have probably managed by ourselves, but with having the kids along, and this being our one Caribbean sojourn of the year, we also needed to consider the fun/comfort/relaxation factor of the vacation. With the cat though, we had the stability and space we needed to get through the week and still be a somewhat unified family unit at the end.
--One good decision I did make ahead of time was to plan to eat most meals ashore. In hindsight, adding the complexity of provisioning for onboard meals and then the work of producing said meals would have put me over the edge. I was glad, especially with this being our first trip, that I was not overly ambitious on this point. I provisioned hot dogs and buns as backup food. Hot dogs can be grilled or boiled. I use hot dogs as backup food on our home boat as well. I ordered a bag of charcoal to experiment with grilling on the boat (remember, this was also a learning trip). The one time we tried to grill the dogs we discovered that we also needed lighter fluid. DH did his best but it was ultimately a non-starter. Note to RiteWay- sell the charcoal and lighter fluid as a package! We did end up eating most of the hot dogs, when we weren't in a port in time for lunch, by boiling them on the propane stove.
--I wouldn't hesitate to book with Conch again if they had the boat and price point we were looking for. Upgrade aside, they were very professional and responsive in ALL of my dealings with them. I would recommend them to others looking for the "Best Deals on Keels".

Thanks to all for following along on this trip with me, and for your kind words on this review.

Hopefully it won't be too long before the next review!

Re: First Time Bareboat Charter Trip Report 4/15-4/23 [Re: fromaway3774] #95777
05/08/2016 08:28 PM
05/08/2016 08:28 PM
Joined: Nov 2014
Posts: 1,049
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StormJib Offline
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StormJib  Offline
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"The one time we tried to grill the dogs we discovered that we also needed lighter fluid. DH did his best but it was ultimately a non-starter."

Flame me away but you may never find lighter fluid in some areas of the Caribbean. The island and 3rd world standard is to turn a plastic Solo cup on its side filled with coals. Light the plastic cup and your coals will be ready to go shortly.

With some kids and families big late lunches ashore work with lighter dinners aboard. Always have 24 hours of food you want to eat on the boat. Sausage is always fun for boys to play with on the grill.

Re: First Time Bareboat Charter Trip Report 4/15-4/23 [Re: fromaway3774] #95778
05/09/2016 09:02 PM
05/09/2016 09:02 PM
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 1,419
Bucks County, Pa.
toast Offline
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toast  Offline
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Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 1,419
Bucks County, Pa.
Nice report. Thanks for sharing!


Toast.......to Life; White Bay...heaven on earth.
Diane

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