TravelTalkOnline Forums Thread Like Summary - NOBLE SHADOW 3

BVI - July 26 - August 5, 2025


My eyes opened early, I did see a glow through our cabin curtain, it must be after 0530? Our cabin was very comfortable and I slept well. The only sounds I heard at night was the faint sound of the bilge, the generator was extremely quiet even on the foredeck. I like white noise and on long passages the hum of a diesel will put me right out after a watch.






3 out of 4 crew were up for sunrise coffee. Sitting on the deck with a breeze, hot cup and the sun just starting to peak over an island is perhaps our favorite place to be. The heavier cloud cover appears to have dissipated over night, it was going to be a beautiful blue sky day.







I decided that topping off the water tank would be a part of my morning routine, as well as checking things in the engine compartments. This usually occurred around 0730. Ya know...young people do like to sleep in a little, but when I would shut down the a/c and switch over to the water maker it served as kind of a gentle alarm clock!!


At 0655 my daughter and I logged into Boaty Ball preparing for our first ever attempt at reserving a ball. 0700 she clicked on Cooper ball #1 and I chose #5....both were accepted and she paid and I immediately released #5. By 0710 about 70% of the balls were reserved including #5. It was the end of the season and our float plan was loosely planned to chase some of the business closings. Pirates Bight box was checked! Now Cooper is secured!


At 0730 I noticed a few boats departing the mooring field and I suggested we move to either the Caves or Indians before they fill up. My wife and daughter retrieved the mooring lines and we took a slow ride over towards the Willy T and then to the Indians where we found only 2 boats! We did have a little excitement on the way, my wife yells "RICK, STOP!" , I thought her hat blew off haha! actually our dingy was not tight to the davits and the outboard was locked towards the cat and a wave pushed it just enough to slide the full fuel tank over and well, close call but disaster avoided. The painter line doesn't stop all the swing so I rigged up another line to protect against that happening again.






Obviously the earlier boats had other stops in mind because we would enjoy the Indians with only 2 other boats. Took the time to prepare breakfast since there were plenty of vacant balls. The day before we saw a couple blue/purple jellies in the Bight, and there were a few more at the Indians. A couple were a foot wide! The crew enjoyed great visibility with sun overhead, lots of marine life.











The crew wanted to raise the sails today and get a little fishing in, I'd actually only put the main up and motor sail so the ladies could get their sun on the trampolines. We would tack often between Norman and Peter getting close to Benures (no boats) and Spring and White Bays on Peter (1 boat). After a couple hours of sun and fun, only producing barracuda, we set our course for Cooper Island.














We arrived around 1300 to a quiet mooring field. One positive benefit of reserved balls is the option to not rush from bay to bay or even have a plan B if fields are full. We put the Sunchill out and relaxed and snorkeled. Didn't take long for the tarpon to show up under the cat and there were a lot rays here! I snorkeled the boat to check on any possible "old" damage, there was none. Ball #1 felt relatively private with the rocky shoreline and sounds of goats as our backdrop. Ladies rigged up and flew some burgees we've accumulated, a couple more are added later in the trip.









Around 1500 we dinged over to the dock and leisurely walked around. Cooper is in amazing shape, we really like it here. We started with caffeine at the Coffee Box and a little shopping. Soon it was beer-thirty and I grabbed Coopers pilsner at the Rum Hut. Funny, sign at restaurant bar said "Happy Hour 3-5pm with $9 drinks, $5 beers" The Rum Hut was $10 beer....still enjoyed it! We saw the crew of Sea Tiger again. Our crew was eager to try a Painkiller or 2,3, I had a Dark and Stormy and my wife started with fresh coconut water! I kept a list of their favorite painkillers by stop and I see that Cooper came in last, but I know they really enjoyed them, it's just a list!
























We have had wonderful dinners at Coopers in the past, but crew wanted to relax on Noble Shadow this evening and grill up burgers etc. I actually made my WORLD FAMOUS potato salad, first time ever on a boat! I remember Riteway delivered Kraft Mayo and I said "Heck no, must be Hellmann's!" The small Riteway had Hellmann's and we traded!!








It was a very calm night, boats were pointing in all directions. We didn't have a problem with mosquitoes close in, actually didn't have issues the whole trip. Our daughter is a mosquito magnet and she used deet a couple times on shore, but no serious attacks.

One thing I noticed early on was that nobody seemed to carry a light on their dinghies at night? both at the Bight and Cooper. Two separate dinghies passed very very close to our stern at Cooper, the laughter and the cheering in the darkness was a clear sign they had a great time! Glad we brought the Sunchill in each night! Also, many small inflatable's carried 8 even 9 people while obviously underinflated ;-/. I recommend headlamps with red light and use that pump!!

With a gentle breeze and luminescence drifting by the sugar scoops we called it an early evening around 2200, GREAT DAY!.





Cheers, to be continued.............

Love the pictures of Cooper.
I had to laugh the last time I stepped on Cooper Island was 1988
It looks like there has been some development since then

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