Tepe Racing is four brothers from Cincinnati Ohio. We have been sailing together for 30 years. Any where we go a good time is usually had. For us it's about meeting fun people and having an adventurous time while sailing.

On January 3rd we left cold Cincinnati and headed for what we were hoping was going to be an epic adventure. We were celebrating our brother Gregg's 50th bday. Flights were good and arrived in St. Thomas at about 2:30 and headed to ferry Terminal. Met a gentleman in the Bump room who helped us with the customs paper work... His name was Michael Helm, an architect on Tortola. We had a great time with Michael and looked forward to meeting him at the end of our trip at The Dove, a restaurant owned by his daughter.
The ferry left on time and had no issues. In Tortola the customs people were friendly and for the most part efficient.

We stayed the night at Maria's by the sea. The room was clean and would recommend this hotel. We went out that night to a few local bars and met a lot of very nice people. Ended up at Pussers for dinner and ended up closing the place.... Excellent black and bleu burgers!

Jan 4
In the morning our taxi driver, his name was "Handbroke", took us to Riteway for provisions and to the liquor store behind Riteway for our libations.... Beer was expensive but I was surprised at the prices of food weren't as crazy as I was lead to believe. We brought a lot of dry goods with us... Next time I think condiments and a few select items.... Everything else we would buy next time.

Handbroke drove us to Sea Cows bay where Capt. Brent from Captains Compass was waiting for us. We had chartered the Lom Dee, a 38' Lagoon. The boat was in great shape and ready to go. We stowed our gear and Brent briefed us on the boat and we got underway. Let me say this about Captains Compass.... Capt. Brent is a gentleman and runs a great charter company. I would recommend him in a heartbeat. I liked that our Lagoon didnt have logos all over it... She had wind turbines for power and they worked great!

We raised the sails and headed for Marina Kay for the night. The sail was so much fun and we found a mooring ball with no difficulties. Headed to Pussers for dinner and met some fun people at the bar. Dinner was good. Shame the bar at top of hill was closed.... That could be an amazing place!

Jan. 5
Woke up and had the Maltese Falcon to our port. I had seen pictures of her and always wanted to see her in the flesh.... Wow! She is a marvel.
We really had no plan when we started our charter... The couple we met at Pussers said they were headed to Saba Rock and said it was a cool place so on their recommendation we sailed there. Winds the whole week we were sailing blew about 20... We enjoy sailing and hate motoring.. I once had a 40' ,1940 island sloop in St. Croix... It had no motor and I loved her for that.... We had a nice sail to the sound and picked up a ball in front of Saba Rock.
Dinged over to the Bitter End yacht club and met a bunch of fun people and had a few drinks. Had dinner at the bar and headed to Saba Rock for more good times. Met the couple from the night before as well as the crew of the Hemisphere. Had a very fun night there with everyone.... I hope we weren't to crazy?
Jan 6
Headed out in the morning and went to the Baths... That is one seriously cool place! Does anyone know for sure how those granite boulders ended up there? I've heard volcano... Glaciers... UFO 'S. regardless... It's beautiful ! It was getting late... So we decided to stay at the Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbor for the night. There is a bar there and they had live music...they were good. And for 50 dollars they will sing "you are my sunshine" 4 times.
Jan 7
We headed to Anegada... Of course after reading all the horror stories I was expecting to see wrecked boats stacked up like cord wood. As it turns out it was quite simple to get in to... We stayed in the channel and picked up a mooring ball. Anegada is beautiful. Berry came to our boat and took our orders for dinner... We had lobster of course and it was delicious. Met some a group from Germany and again had a crazy night of drinks and tons of laughter. In the morning we caught a taxi ride with Lil Bit and went to Lob Lolly Beach. The snorkeling there was really amazing and the beach is one of a kind. Had a few beers at the bar and nailed a Tepe Racing sign to the ceiling. Headed back and stopped for a few drinks at walkers. Great place and great people!

Jan 8
We left Anegada and headed for Jost. We set the sails and the main sheet block broke. We dropped the main and secured the boom, decided to motor sail with the jib back to Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbor, knew they had a boat yard and thought maybe we could pick up a new block there. Met a gentleman named Jeff at the workbench and he hooked us up with a used block for a fair price... I would recommend him if you ever have an issue. Ended up getting late and we decided to stay the night.. Ran into some friends we met at the Baths and were told that the Rock Cafe could be a fun place. The Rock Cafe it seems is newly renovated, it is a really nice piano bar, very comfortable and very fun. Michael the piano player was awesome! We sang at the top of our lungs for four hours! Met a ton of fun people. Highly recommend this place!

Jan 9
Left Virgin Gorda and headed to Jost Van Dyke. The sailing in the BVI's is incredible, the sights are unreal. We picked up a ball in Great Harbor. Dinged in to Foxies and grabbed a taxi to white bay. We checked out the Soggy Dollar and the Painkillers... Both were very nice. I know I've said beautiful, amazing, awesome to describe places we saw.... For me, White Bay is beautiful, amazing and awesome. The beach there is gorgeous. We gravitated to One Love bar... In my opinion... The best place on the beach. We spent the rest of the day there enjoying good the beach and a few Caribs. There was a small cruise ship there that apparently was chartered for a no clothing swingers cruise.... So needless to say Foxies that night was hopping with 150 scantily clad swingers! Had a great time there and met a ton of new friends.

Jan 10
Left for Noman island in the morning... We had a little rain on our way. Stopped at Sopers Hole for provisions. Sailed to the Indians but the balls were all taken. Picked up a ball in the Bight. Snorkeled the caves... That's a super cool place.. It was raining a little but it was still breathtaking. We headed over to Pirates for drinks and it is a very nice place. Met some fine people from St. Croix and enjoyed the afternoon. That evening we headed over to the Will T.... Not sure if anyone is aware of this? but the Willy T is a pretty wild bar. Had a great time there and met many new friends and some old ones we met along the way. We partied there till they closed and then some.

Jan 11
Sadly it was time to return our boat to Capt. Brent. We sailed our last sail to Nanny Kay to refuel the boat. We sailed that boat as much as we could... I don't think it took more than 15 gallons to fill her. Motored back to Sea Cows bay and cleaned the boat and thanked Brent. Brent advised us that the ferries were having issues and thought we should head to St. Thomas sooner than later. Our plan had been to meet several friends and Michael Helm at The Dove for dinner. Wish we could have done that.... Next time I guess. Ferry ride was fine. Stayed at the Best Western near the airport... And left the following morning.

We had a great time! We met some super people! We brought 200 Tepe Racing shirts with us. We handed out everyone of them to new friends. So if you see anyone with a shirt on... You can be sure that they are of good character. I think the islands are beautiful and so are the people. I'd recommend a trip there to anyone. The contrast between St. Thomas and the BVI's is startling.... I found the USVI to be dirty, scary, and unfriendly. Looking forward to getting back down soon.
Ps. There are many stories that I didn't tell that I wish I could...