Trip has started!

We arrived STT today. We will spend the night here and catch the 2:30 ferry over to Roadtown for a sleepaboard at the Moorings. Stanley from love cab was ontime as always to pick us up. Staying at the Galleon hotel which is looking like a mistake. Will Update hotel situation tomorrow. Damage in ST Thomas not as bad as I expected. Looks like a lot of cleanup and repairs accomplished but a lot more to go.
Weather is good except for a ton of dust reducing vis to about 3 miles. Does not seem like Sahara dust and has a really gritty feel. Hopefully better in the BVI. Will add more tomorrow!
G

Dust? From where?

Enjoy!

I don’t know, does not have the orange tint of Sahara dust and seems grittier.
G

George, we had even more dust than usual. We lost so much vegetation that more of the ground is bare. Might that be the case on St. Thomas, too?

George..for an amazing dinner head to Grand Cru!! I do believe, BTW, that this is just Sahara dust..keeps tropical storms down!

Mighty thick Sahara dust today in St Thomas, doubt it is any less in the BVI but I can't see Tortola -- The dust is too thick!

Locals say it’s the standard Sahara dust. Hope it dies down a bit as the week goes on.
G

On BVI Pirate weather page there is an option to view the Sahara Air Layer. It will give you an idea of the future. Just check the Sahara Air Layer at the top of the page.

Here is a page for Sahara dust:
http://tropic.ssec.wisc.edu/real-time/sal/splitE/movies/splitE5new.html

First evening and day two. Had dinner at the Fat Turtle at Yacht Haven Grande. Very slow almost non existent service and meals not even average. It’s been a few years since we ate there but we liked it in the past. Slept in during the morning and then hit King street for a bit of shopping. Had lunch at the sandwich shop by CYOA. Great sandwiches as always with good prices! Caught the Smiths 2 PM ferry. They are leasing a small boat but right on time. Arrived at the Moorings about 4pm. No issues with checking in or boat. All the ordered food was onboard. I was however disappointed that they were not surviving dinner at the pool. Said they had a private function and no food for charterers. Roadtown looked better than I expected but lots of damage. Inner harbor still has boat wreckage that needs clearing.
Moorings base is a work in progress but not bad overall. 2nd floor of Mariner inn is still closed and harbor market not yet open. Riteway appeared fully stocked. Sahara dust a bit better, looking forward to getting off the dock in the morning. No idea where we are going. Maybe Cooper!
G

George I saw you at the deli and on the docks, thanks for stopping by. At Yacht Haven the restaurants worth patronizing are Fresh and Grand Cru.

Dust any better?

Off the dock about 11. We have newbies onboard and 3 kids so over to Cooper for a relaxing first day. Cooper has done a amazing job on the rebuild. Everything looks great but the loss of vegetation is huge. I see buildings I never knew were here! Water is still emerald green and kids are having a blast. Sahara dust is present but not near as bad as I have seen it. Not really a issue. Trying to work up the energy for a dive but might just lime!

Hi George, just curious, what time did you arrive at Cooper today and generally, how was ball availability?

Arrived about 12:30. Maybe a dozen boats at that time. Sun setting now and balls still open!
Happy hour was great!
G

HUGE thumbs up here for Grand Cru at Yacht Haven on STT..same owners as the heavily damaged Oceana and amazing food and service..

I wish I had gone to Grand Cru! Next time!
G

Arrived at the Baths from Cooper. At 8:30 there are 3 boats here and 1 on the way. Looks like about 18 balls available. Feels like 25 years ago.
G

Thanks for the updates George. We arrive STT in one week!!!

Was Cooper full? What time?

When we were there 2 weeks ago Cooper was the only place we saw with the mooring field full. I would say last buoy was taken around 3?..A lot of boats coming around noon to 1pm

If the dust was grayish and there was a southerly flow of air then it’s must be the fine pumice from the Montserrat volcano which is gritty

Answers to questions.
Cooper had a couple of balls still open at sunset. Wide open at 3 pm.
Dust is gone, fantastic vis today. Weather virtually perfect. 12 to 15 knots of wind clear skies!
Toured the baths and they are in great shape. Top of the baths looked fully repaired and the fritters were great.
Snorkeled Great Dog on the west side. Only boat there at 1. Sadly lots of coral damage but still interesting.
Dove Bronco Billy on George dog and happy to report it was a I remembered it. Nice dive!
On the dock at Leverick now, heading to the BBQue in a bit! Leverick looks good but no tank refills. Tito and dock staff great as always.
G

Buffet tonight excellent, the show very weak. Only two dancers showed up. Off to dive Branson’s boat in the morning!
G

George, you might be able to get air from sunchaser. They operate out of a trailer over at BEYC.

Sunchaser is up and running. He is filling tanks on a appointment type system so call in advance. He is taking out dives this morning. I need a dive computer battery because some idiot named me bought the wrong size and he is running it over to me at Leverick in the morning. Nice service!
G

Maybe idiots should find safer activities. Please post your diving experiences

Only two dives so far. Will hit it harder later in the week. Bronco Billy was great, exactly as I remembered it. I tend to go past the usual turn around point at the cavern. Some nice rock formations about 50 yards past. Kodiack Queen was ok. It has some fun simple penetrations and decent fish life. First time we have had to wait for a ball. Dive boat on one and charter boat on another. Rental powerboat showed up and went right over the top of the wreck at about 10 knots. I think the crewmeber on the sunchaser boat gave them a piece of his mind. Sunchaser pulled their last diver onboard and dropped the ball within two minutes. Not everyone is that courteous when people are waiting. Very professional operation.

Monkey point for lunch today. Looks like it survived ok but much less fish life than normal. Probably just caught it on a off day. CDB for crew pickup and to spend the night. Does not look as bad a I expected but extensive damage. We wish we had gone over to Jost. Loud and I mean really loud music being blasted into the bay. Jet skies racing between the boats and within 30 feet of the kids on our boat swimming. CGB is a place I once loved but I won’t overnight here again.

Brain cramp CDB?

Fixed it, CGB-Cane Garden Bay. Music still blasting!

George, perhaps you were merely at CGB on a bad day.

I thought that the jet skis were only in use on cruise ship days.

We were also at CGB this past Wednesday and would agree about the blasting music - not crazy, but certainly letting us know that they were looking to gather a party on the beach. As far as the jet ski or other traffic - we didn't have any of that while we were there. Quite a bit of construction taking place throughout the bay and it was a positive sign!

Went from CGB to Jost today. Dove the playgrounds and it was excellent. Very strong fish life. From there a short stop at Sandy Isle and on to White Bay. Great lunch at the Soggy Dollar. Chicken Roti’s as good as ever! Wind has clocked south. Coming from about 140 degrees. Might be able to lay the SFD tomorrow. Picked up water at the small Marina on the west side of great harbor. Very friendly and helpful.
G

I Hope that the weather is favorable for the playgrounds next trip down

Thanks for the updates! Would appreciate updates as you go as time permits. We depart July 2

Conditions were great for the playgrounds yesterday. When they are not so great you can anchor of Sandy Spit or even grab a ball at Diamond key and dinghy over to the dive ball.
G

Spent the night at Norman. Big fence put up around pirates. Not sure why. Snorkeled the Indians on the way in. Fish life was excellent. There is some coral damage but still a great snorkel. Probably hit angelfish reef for our morning dive.
G

The fence was around Pirates when we visited in April. I think they are still doing construction on that building, so it is a safety thing.

Thanks for the observations

Dived Angelfish. Nice dive, lots of fish including a huge Moray and Goliath grouper. Dive is in good shape. Headed up to Cooper to swap tanks and have lunch. Massive thunder storm rolled in passing just west. Wind picked up to 27 knots sustained at Cooper. Watched a Moorings 4000 coming up the SFD under full sail with one of the ugliest thunderstorms I have seen in years roaring at them. It appeared he actually got a hull out of the water. I have never watched a cruising cat do that. The boat rounded up and recovered and they finally dropped sail. Storms finally clearing out now but we broke out the beer and tossed the towel in on a second dive. Had not planned to overnight at Cooper but looks like we will hunker down here for the night.
G

Spectacular post storm sunset at Cooper!
G

We’re at Cooper tonight, too.

What boat? We are heading over to dive the Rhône in about an hour.
G

We’re on Galeaux

Dove the Rhône today. There is quite a bit of damage to the bow section. More than the other reports I saw. Collapsed areas almost the length of the hull but still a great dive. We were one tanking the dive so did not get explore however I don’t think there are any safe swim throughs. Went down with almost no current. By the time we came up it was moving. After dropping the mooring there was enough current to keep the ball under with no boat! Off to the dogs to escape the ESE wind for our last dive.
G

Really appreciate the thread and updates GeorgeC1 as we will be down in about a week and a half for our first post Irma trip. Your report is getting me even more excited. Couple of quick questions when you have time or anyone else if they know and can chime in.

1) Sounded like Kodiak Queen was just ho hum for you. You think it is worth the effort to dive it? Can you give me an idea how the wreck is oriented in relation to the dive balls? Having trouble locating any specific info from the dive sites.

2) Have never dove Bronco Billy. Assuming there is a dive ball there can you give me a brief dive orientation of how you approach it? (I.e. Do you just head north around the northwestern tip of George Dog until you reach the canyon you mentioned and then turn back or is the cavern more heading south from the dive ball?)

No hurry on answers btw. Just if you have some time when you post again. I look forward to these threads as they really do help a lot. Thanks again and enjoy your trip!

1. I would certainly dive the Kodiak Queen. It’s a easy dive with some safe swim throughs. The rusty looking ball is on the stern of the ship. The white ball is near the bow and a bit west.

2. There are two dive balls at Bronco Billy. Try and get the one closest to the point. Just off the point about 15 meters is a swim through that is the traditional dive start. We surface swim to near the point then go down. From there follow the shoreline to the right. Very scenic dive with lots to see. There is a large deep cavern with a smooth small rock bottom that marks the normal turn around point.

Really enjoying your updates! Been too long (2 years this Oct) since we've been down. Really hope we can get down again soon, but our boat is up here in Rhode Island now. Hoping to sell.. if we don't, maybe we'll get her back down there this winter.

Hi George

Are you by chance coming up Leverick Bay way on your travels? If you are any chance of stopping by Office Max or Home Depot and getting some bubble wrap 100ft x 12 or 18 inch. Only if you are passing? None on Tortola and Speedys don't have a ferry yet

I looked into shipping you some, UPS would cost $483.....LOL. I could buy a plane ticket and deliver it myself for that price!

Hi Nick, I would have been happy to however we were at Leverick last Friday and just arrived in ATL on the way home.
G

We finished the last night of the trip in great harbor but did not get over to the WillyT. New boat looked good however! Overall the mpression is that very little has changed from the standpoint of a sailing charter. Book a boat and head down. They need the business and you will have a great time!
G

Thanks for the reply on the diving questions. Headed down Sunday to contribute as well. Hope to get back in November as well. Appreciate the updates. Per chance did you stop by Norman? Had heard that Pirates was open but then someone said it was fenced in a week ago I think.

We were there and Pirates was fenced off. Not sure if it was open behind the fence. Place next door appeared open.

Hey George-

It was great seeing you and glad to have been of service on your trip home!

Dave