What follows is our first timer’s trip report for our cruise in the British Virgin Islands June 26 to July 10, 2004. Crew was my wife (M.) and I and our two daughters ages 15 and 12. We consider ourselves experienced sailors and have cruised off the coast of New England for over 20 years and have owned three boats the most recent being a Freedom 38. We have also spent a great deal of time in the Out Islands of the Bahamas and in the Windward Islands.
Saturday June 26 - Flew out of Hartford on American Airlines thru San Juan and on to Tortola without incident. All of our baggage arrived and we went thru C&I without a hitch. We did bring a hard cooler of food in addition to pre-ordering at Bobby’s for provision. The frozen items in the cooler were all also vacuumed packaged at home in individual dinner allotments which worked out great. For the most part we only brought things we thought would be hard to find, meals we wanted to prepare in advance (marinated meat etc.) or items we could purchase at home for much less when compared to Bobby’s price list. A baggage handler must have dropped the cooler because the inside floor of it was smashed in – a shame as that old cooler has been on many great trips with us.
We had pre-arranged for David, the taxi driver for Conch Charters, to meet us at the airport which he did and took us into Road Town with another couple from Connecticut on their honeymoon. We arrived at Conch around 1:30 pm to find that our boat – a Beneteau 405 named ‘Poof Begone’ - was not available due to repairs being made on the fresh water system. We dropped our bags and set off for Bobby’s to finish our first week of provisioning. We eat most of our meals aboard so needed a fair amount of food. We found the selection at Bobby’s to be good and the staff was very helpful. We they knew we had pre-ordered that pulled those items together and put it together with what we picked out that day. They then gave us a free ride back to Conch in there van.
I went thru the chart briefing while the rest of the crew got things unpacked and stowed. The boat was still not ready at 5:00 PM but we had already decided to stay at the dock that night so we had dinner at the Pub and got the rest of our things all stowed away. We spent a hot, uneasy night at the dock and when we got up we were eager to get going as soon as we could.
Sunday – Conch finally finished the repairs as best they could but we ended up with a persistent dripping water leak under the main galley sink. We wanted to be away so we raised our ‘Pumba’ flag and wouldn’t take it down again for the next two weeks. The wind was very steady at about 20 knots from the East and we set off for Cane Garden Bay. We set one reef in the main and ran down the coast a ways. We came hard to the wind and did several tacks etc to shake down the crew and check out the boat. All the running and standing rigging seemed in good order so we continued on past Soper’s Hole and made it into CGB in the early afternoon. We anchored easily in the Bay, ate lunch and finally started to relax.
Susan C. from Tennessee, a TTOLer, had invited us to look them up at their house on the Bay so we walked down and spent a very nice few hours drinking Caribes and talking UConn – Tennessee women’s basketball and Titan’s football. We returned to the ‘Poof BG’ for dinner and an early night to bed as we were all still tired from the night before. With a nice breeze coming off the hills things were much more comfortable below.
Monday – Stayed at CGB for a beach day to unwind and get a feel for the Islands. We settled into some beach chairs in front of Stanley’s Welcome Bar. We had to have our original Cheeseburgers in Paradise which were accompanied by terrific old fashioned fries – we had barely settled into our chairs when the food arrived – so much for Island time!
M. and I walked down to the 400 year old Callwood Rum Distillery which was a fun visit. We bantered with the crew there and purchased a bottle of their Arundel to take home. We wandered up the street and then back to our work keeping the beach chairs occupied. We watched as the Action Quest sail camp boats arrived (about 12 of them) filling up one corner of the bay. We would bump into Action Quest several time over the next two weeks. We went back to the Poofer for showers and dinner on board then returned ashore to Myetts ( a really cool jungle kind of place) for after dinner drinks and to enjoy a local band for the rest of the evening.
Tuesday – Discovered that our first fresh water pump had died so we switched over to the second. Several rain showers overnight had also pointed out to us that most of the ports leaked and we had to relocate some items to try and keep them dry. We were to have rain showers the entire trip so we had to get used to mopping up a bit after each one.
Set off for Sandy Cay - because it was so close we decided to charge up our batteries and motor over which took very little time. There were a few boats there already but we found a nice spot close in to anchor and set the Bruce . I made sure to back it down because the wind was continuing to blow a steady 20 knots, and a quick snorkel showed that it was well set. We went ashore where we were soon joined by a fairly large group off a Cat who decided to set up a Frisbee court, jarts and various sporting events on the relatively small beach. With many sporting objects and sand flying everywhere we moved away a bit then did our first snorkel along a small reef on the north end of the beach. The girls stayed on the beach as my wife and I did the circuit path around the island – a very enjoyable walk.
We wanted to get to White Bay JVD early, as we had read that moorings fill up quickly, so we continued to motor over. Unfortunately when we got there just after noon time it was already full. I checked out a spot to anchor and actually set the Bruce but after evaluating our scope and swing room decided I would just have an uneasy night around the other boats if we stayed. We pulled the anchor and went around the corner to Great Harbor where we dropped the anchor not far from another boat up on the sheltered east side. The captain of the other boat objected to my position although I was pretty confident we were both OK – similar size boats, 100 feet of chain out each and a fair distance apart. (They turned out to be part of a yacht club flotilla that we would see off and on again.) I didn’t feel that I was getting a good hold as my wife backed the boat down, so rather than have him glare and growl at us we hoisted the anchor and moved, reset and backed down the anchor which held solid this time – a good thing as the wind really blew that night.
That afternoon we discovered that the hinge on the main salon hatch had fallen apart so I had to resort to duct tape to patch it back together. We also discovered that the “mandatory” cell phone would not operate – not that I really wanted to talk to anyone but Conch had insisted we have one for safety etc. With all the little boat issues popping up we had now taken to calling ourselves the ‘Woe Begone” instead of the “Poof Begone’ I had once restored a 1970 C&C 27’ classic glass sloop which had given us lots of ‘stuff’ to deal all the time so this was no big deal. We all took it good naturedly and didn’t let it bother us – all part of the sailing adventure.
I had made up my mind to celebrate my birthday with dinner reservations at the Sandcastle Resort so we took a taxi over the hill on the new “freeway” which afforded us some nice views. We had purposely waited to have our first Painkillers at the very place they originated – the Soggy Dollar Bar - to make them more memorable. There was a small but congenial crowd – with good conversation and lots of stories and laughter. We then went “in” for dinner as the sun set. This was by far the best meal we had in the BVI’s - the setting was magical - all candlelight and soft breezes. My wife and the girls had ‘dressed up’ to help me celebrate my birthday which added to what was a very special evening. The food and service were excellent – I would definitely recommend it to all. We took our taxi back over the freeway to our dinghy at Great Harbor.
Wednesday – Went into the small community at Great Harbor for ice – the fridge while cold required constant feedings of ice on our trip – and they sell blocks at the ice house there. Also picked up 5 items at the grocery store for $25.00 –ouch! Purchased a very good banana bread at Christine’s bakery. I called Conch Charters from the payphone in front of the Government House to find out what they wanted to do about the Cell phone – I was not prepared to change our sailing plans to go back to Road Town for repairs etc. so I didn’t tell them anything about the other minor issues. I reassured them that we were getting along just fine and the VHF was working so we arranged to get a replacement phone on the weekend where we planned to be at Trellis Bay.
We were ready to go by 10:00 AM so we pulled the anchor and went back around the corner to White Bay where we secured our precious mooring. Time for another beach day – one of the GREAT benefits of doing a two week charter was being able to have these beach days, as we called them, and relax. We snorkeled the reef a bit and I was able to get a good measure of the accuracy of our depth finder because the Bay is so shallow. We actually had a fish finder in the cockpit and I wanted to know if it was calibrated for actual depth from the water line or depth from the sensor which had to be several feet below the waterline. I didn’t really plan on cutting things that close but you never know when you really want to have an accurate reading on the depth finder. I have never used a graphic fish finder before but found it to be a real improvement over a standard reading numerical reading. Plus it was good to see the ‘fish’ and have a visual profile of the bottom.
After lunch aboard we went ashore and found a shady spot under the trees with a few chairs that had been dragged over. Aside: We found beach chairs to be readily available at every beach we went to. The girls wanted to try the water trampoline so we walked down to the end of the beach. You get as much time as you want for $5 per person which seemed a very fair price. M. and I sat in the shade and chatted with the proprietor who was overhauling an ATV and his wife. (Grammatical note: He wasn’t overhauling his wife, she just happened to be sitting there.) Some children came by and readily shared a pile of Ganips (sic) with us. This is an interesting small fruit with a stiff covering that you peel off to reveal a tart/sweet inner pulp with a hard seed. Its kind of like sucking on an eye ball. We found them very good and actually purchased more of them later during our trip.
Showers and dinner aboard again. This night over half the moorings remained empty (go figure) but just as it got dark a small sailboat came in and anchored between us and the shore, I wasn’t too keen on the location but it was small enough so I did not raise a fuss. Sure enough around 4:00 AM the wind died and fluked around the point and my daughter roused me to report that their hard dinghy is bumping our boat. Up on deck in the moonlight we found the sail boat about 10 feet away. I awoke the crew as politely as I could – turns out they were Italian - and they cheerfully moved the small craft away without further incident. They swam over the next morning to apologize which was nice of them but unnecessary.
Thursday – The wind is really blowing and we set off on a beat up the north coast of Tortola toward Guana Island. We were going to stop at Sandy Spit but the combination of the stiff wind and the crowd already there changed our minds and we continued on our way up the coast. The wind was over 24 knots and the seas 6-8 feet. We encounter some strong winds and downpours that tested us a bit but the ‘Woe by Gosh’ and the crew were up to it and we made over 6 knots thru the water. About half way up the coast we tacked off the port bow of another boat – looks a 50 footer so naturally we started to race them. They took a long starboard tack out to sea and I decide to short tack across their stern and stay full and by close to our rhum line. My daughters were fascinated to see that two boats could at one point appear to be so far apart on opposite tacks but as we fetched Muskmelon Bay, Guana Island we are only about 25 yards behind them. We both fell off on a port tack on the western shore of Guana. I congratulate my crew on a job well done, as the other boat is obviously a faster boat - being longer on the water line - and we had sailed them to a draw – well at least in our own minds. They dropped sails and pulled in to Monkey Point and we continued on to Lee Bay on Camanoe. The other boat turned out to be Panache II, another Conch Charter with a fun group out of Atlanta. They had left the dock the same day as us and we were to bump into them several more times along the way. We anchored in Lee Bay for the rest of the day with one other boat in attendance.
We snorkeled the north shore of Lee Bay beneath a bluff and found ourselves surrounded by millions of silversides – small bright silver fish. Swimming with them was bewildering – you couldn’t see the bottom or around yourself because they were so numerous. As we broke thru their ranks we discovered ourselves face to fish with some huge Tarpon – easily 3-4 feet long – very powerful looking fish.
We explored the shore and enjoyed another great meal aboard the ‘Woeful’ before settling in for the evening. We had a great nights sleep in Lee Bay – very peaceful and calm despite the wind. Lee Bay turned out to be one of our favorite stops.
Friday – We didn’t wait for breakfast but pulled anchor and went straight across to Monkey Point and were the first boat there where we had breakfast on a mooring. As other boats started arriving we took our turn snorkeling. Snorkeling was only OK in our book but we couldn’t get around the point as the wind/waves made conditions very rough so perhaps it wasn’t a fair evaluation. We left in time to make it to Marina Cay for lunch.
We decided to eat ashore at the very pretty and well kept Marina Cay. We had planned this stop to take advantage of the laundry facilities which worked out very well. We stayed ashore and explored this delightful spot as the clothes washed and dried. Of course we went into Pusser’s store where we were taken aback by their very aggressive pricing…and all those longs pants and sweatshirts! What’s up with that? We bumped into another honeymoon couple from Washington DC that were on a crewed charter. They joined us for drinks on the terrace and whiled away happy hour swapping tales.
Dinner was back aboard and we settled in for a very windy evening. About 9:30 PM my daughter alerted me to a dinghy that was drifting past in the wind so we set off in ours and retrieved it. We had no way of knowing where it came from: another boat, the dinghy dock or from Donovan’s Reef across the way. It was a much nicer dinghy than ours – bigger with a stronger motor - so we were tempted to claim salvage rights but in the end decided not to. We towed it into the dinghy dock and let the staff at Marina Cay know it was there.
Saturday July 3 - Went into the dock at Marina Cay to take on some water at 14 cents/gal. and then motored over to Trellis Bay for the full moon party scheduled that night. As we picked up the mooring we noticed that we were surrounded by half a dozen sea turtles, some very small. The girls tried to snorkel with them but they wouldn’t permit them near. We decided we didn’t like the look of the water in Trellis Bay so we didn’t swim there again.
The girls decided to stay aboard as my wife and I set off for Road Town in a taxi. We went for several reasons – get fresh linens from Conch Charters, replace the cell phone and reprovision at Bobby’s. It all went well and we easily saved enough at Bobby’s versus the smaller grocery stores to cover the cost of the Taxi.
Back at the boat we went ashore for the Caribbean Buffet at the Cybercafe and to enjoy the Full moon party. The crowd was small but enthusiastic especially when the Mogo Jumbies (?) or stilt dancers came out. The blazing bonfires on the water were lit and the full moon rose on cue and we had a fun evening.
This ended our first week in the BVI’s. We were really settling in and feeling pretty comfortable about everything. We have a few minor problems with the boat but the major things – engine and sailing were just fine. There were certainly no issues with navigation, sailing or anchoring. As I told the charter company, I believe that if you can sail in New England you can sail anywhere. We looked forward to continuing our journey into Sir Francis Drake Channel and to the rest of the islands.
It was also around this time that we were calling the boat the “Poof Begone’ again.
End of part 1
