Posted By: west8th
Trip Report 9/1 - 9/8 - 09/12/2018 07:38 PM
My fiancé and I booked a last minute trip through VISailing with Dream Yacht Charters, who happened to be the only charter company open that week.
We were on a 41 foot Dufour, Walk on the Moon. The boat was a nice boat, very new, and sailed well. The only complaints were the transom gas grill not working--which is one of the reasons we chose this boat (from a very limited list of options), and some damage to the keel and rudder that was not disclosed to us I noticed when diving on the anchor in Anegada (which I was worried may try to get blamed on us).
Day 1 -- We sailed to the baths and intended to dock at Leverick Bay. We got to Leverick about a half hour before sunset and did not see anyone at the docks so decided to just pick up a ball--our first time in a year--and the line on the ball was thicker than our boat hook so we had a little struggle. Another DYC Catamaran lent a much appreciated hand. We brought them a bottle of wine to say thanks and ended up eating dinner and celebrating their skipper's birthday. They were a great group and excellent crew.
Day 2 -- We left early for our first trip to Anegada. Winds were only about 10 knots (as they were most of the week) so we motor sailed. There were multiple missing channel markers but we didn't have a problem using the remaining markers and chart plotter. We arrived to a completely empty harbor and dropped anchor right inside the channel. Right when our anchor was set Barry from the Lobster Trap dingy'd over and assured us we would have enough clearance to pick up a ball. Depth was about 8-9 feet the whole way we followed him in. He later told us our boat was runaground 2 weeks ago--which explains the bottom damage I brought up earlier.
Day 3 -- We rented a scooter from Stefanie at SNK rentals and explored the island. It was a surreal experience being the only boat in the harbor and all the hotels were empty as well. Everyone seemed to know that we were the only ones around. We had a great dinner at Angeada Beach Club.
Day 4 -- We left early for Scrub Island and hung out at the pool most of the day. We enjoyed the showers and a nice meal at the restaurant.
Day 5 -- From Scrub we left for Jost Van Dyke. Kelly napped as I practiced my singlehanded sailing most of the way, which was quite easy on the Dufour. We were again the only boat at great harbor. We dingy'd in and asked at customs where we could get a cab to White Bay. The customs worker told us he would change out of his customs shirt and put on his taxi shirt and drive us. At night, we joined the locals at Cool Breeze where they all told us stories of the storm and the recovery (quite amazing to hear) on what was the one year anniversary of the storm, to the day.
Day 6 -- We spent the early afternoon at Soggy Dollar before motorsailing back to Hodges Creek to return the boat.
Day 7 -- We got an early start on the check-in and made it to STT for our 2PM flight with about 2-3 hours to spare. As we left Tortola we noticed Sunsail/Moorings moving their boats to a hurricane hole and DYC was deciding whether to keep theirs in the BVIs or move them south to prepare for this weeks storms.
Overall, it was a great trip I feel we got extremely lucky with the weather and probably we'll probably never see the BVIs this quiet again ever. I'll try and add some photos I took with my new drone when I get to my home computer.
Ken
*sorry for any typos or run-on sentences
We were on a 41 foot Dufour, Walk on the Moon. The boat was a nice boat, very new, and sailed well. The only complaints were the transom gas grill not working--which is one of the reasons we chose this boat (from a very limited list of options), and some damage to the keel and rudder that was not disclosed to us I noticed when diving on the anchor in Anegada (which I was worried may try to get blamed on us).
Day 1 -- We sailed to the baths and intended to dock at Leverick Bay. We got to Leverick about a half hour before sunset and did not see anyone at the docks so decided to just pick up a ball--our first time in a year--and the line on the ball was thicker than our boat hook so we had a little struggle. Another DYC Catamaran lent a much appreciated hand. We brought them a bottle of wine to say thanks and ended up eating dinner and celebrating their skipper's birthday. They were a great group and excellent crew.
Day 2 -- We left early for our first trip to Anegada. Winds were only about 10 knots (as they were most of the week) so we motor sailed. There were multiple missing channel markers but we didn't have a problem using the remaining markers and chart plotter. We arrived to a completely empty harbor and dropped anchor right inside the channel. Right when our anchor was set Barry from the Lobster Trap dingy'd over and assured us we would have enough clearance to pick up a ball. Depth was about 8-9 feet the whole way we followed him in. He later told us our boat was runaground 2 weeks ago--which explains the bottom damage I brought up earlier.
Day 3 -- We rented a scooter from Stefanie at SNK rentals and explored the island. It was a surreal experience being the only boat in the harbor and all the hotels were empty as well. Everyone seemed to know that we were the only ones around. We had a great dinner at Angeada Beach Club.
Day 4 -- We left early for Scrub Island and hung out at the pool most of the day. We enjoyed the showers and a nice meal at the restaurant.
Day 5 -- From Scrub we left for Jost Van Dyke. Kelly napped as I practiced my singlehanded sailing most of the way, which was quite easy on the Dufour. We were again the only boat at great harbor. We dingy'd in and asked at customs where we could get a cab to White Bay. The customs worker told us he would change out of his customs shirt and put on his taxi shirt and drive us. At night, we joined the locals at Cool Breeze where they all told us stories of the storm and the recovery (quite amazing to hear) on what was the one year anniversary of the storm, to the day.
Day 6 -- We spent the early afternoon at Soggy Dollar before motorsailing back to Hodges Creek to return the boat.
Day 7 -- We got an early start on the check-in and made it to STT for our 2PM flight with about 2-3 hours to spare. As we left Tortola we noticed Sunsail/Moorings moving their boats to a hurricane hole and DYC was deciding whether to keep theirs in the BVIs or move them south to prepare for this weeks storms.
Overall, it was a great trip I feel we got extremely lucky with the weather and probably we'll probably never see the BVIs this quiet again ever. I'll try and add some photos I took with my new drone when I get to my home computer.
Ken
*sorry for any typos or run-on sentences