It's so nice to be able to come back to this board after my trip -- keeps my memories fresh! I won't do the whole detailed trip report (love reading yours WILDMERIDIAN!), but here are some highlights:
ONE LAST SPURT OF RAIN <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cloud.gif" alt="" />
We arrived Saturday night 11/22 about 11:30pm in a total downpour. The airplane crew sat us on the tarmac for about 10 minutes hoping it would let up enough to let us out of the plane, but eventually, they just gave us golf umbrellas and we ran for cover through about 2 inches of water (splash! splash!). We approached the taxi stand and told them we wanted to go to CGB (where we had a hotel reservation for the next two nights) and Kessler, the driver, just put his head in his hands with dread. Instead, he took us to Hodges Creek Marina where we got the LAST room, the one with a broken toilet. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Laugh.gif" alt="" /> On our drive over to CGB the next morning we got our first look at all the damage. I actually saw those sattelite dishes on the hillside as we drove down into CGB. But thankfully, other than the random spatter here and there, we had no more rain for our trip!
GREAT BOAT
We chartered Fair Exchange, a Hunter 460, from BVI Yacht Charters. This is a NICE boat with a great forward main cabin for mom and dad. Me and 6'4" boyfriend got the not as nice but certainly comfortable enough aft cabin. I think he only really bonked his head once. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/duh.gif" alt="" /> The lines on this boat are very easy to use, even mom started to understand how to adjust the sails! Fair Exchange doesn't sail that fast into the wind, or in a dead downwind (beam reach and broad reach are best), but that never really bothered us since we were never in much of a hurry. We had fun teasing the boat, "She's turning her bow into the wind again! crazy girl.."
We had an occasional glitch with the generator which would quit about half way through the night and we'd lose our A/C (not a tradgedy, just hot). The heads actually used the fresh water supply from the boat. This is great for keeping things smelling clean, but not great if the head won't seal properly, which somehow we just couldn't master no matter how much we jiggled that little foot pedal. We managed to bascially dump about 66 gallons of fresh water into the holding tank. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Sad.gif" alt="" /> And now with the holding tank full, we couldn't get the macerator (empties holding tank) to run (turned out to be previous charterer's dental floss after BVI YC fixed it). We were able to return the boat for an afternoon of service at Road Town, and BVI YC was great about it (thanks Estelle!). Oh, and oops, I did sorta nudge the bottom when I lost track of the depth in the shallow sandy marina at Penn's landing. Thank goodness for the bow-thruster to help us wiggle out of that! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Banana.gif" alt="" />
GREAT SAILING
Wow, what great winds! Mom was a little freaked "Kathy, are you sure the boat is supposed to lean over this much? Can't you straighten it out??" but she got over it by the end of the week. Our original plan was to go around Tortola in a clockwise direction, but after struggling for about 3 hours to go from Soper's Hole to Green Cay just off Jost van Dyke (into the wind and current), we decided we'd rather be in the channel. And of course, we needed to take the boat back to Road Town for service anyway. Sailing back to Soper's Hole the next morning, beam reach, only took 45 minutes! With about 20 kts of wind and a reef in the main sail (for mom), our little Hunter pretty much maxed out at 7-8kts, with a more common speed of a little over 6 kts.
SNORKELLING
Okay, I don't know why it took me about 3 days to realize it, but the strongest winds were in the morning (here in SF Bay, winds are strongest in the afternoon). Once I figured this out, we arranged to arrive at our snorkel spots late in the day rather than first thing in the morning. Like gjconsult, we found the swells at the Baths made snorkelling slightly less than fun. Cistern Point at Cooper was also not so great (because of the swell and current), but at least mom and dad missed out on the shark during their night snorkel. We almost picked up a ball at the Indians, but we couldn't remember what a Red ball meant (we're clear on that now of course), and the swell was a bit much. But later in the week, we arrived at Great Dog and started our swim around 2pm. Very nice... Thank goodness that even at 4:30, we were still able to get mooring balls in the places we selected to stay for the night.
FAVORITE SPOTS/MEALS
I just loved Machioneel Bay at Cooper Island. Small, quiet, great view of the sunset, plenty of moorings. Got me a "captain" shirt and boyfriend got "galley slave." <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" /> I also really liked Marina Cay. Donovan's was closed for a private party, but the Pusser's there has great atmosphere overlooking the palapas on the beach. We didn't make our reservation in time for Thanksgiving dinner at Foxy's (JVD), so we ended up at Corsairs (formerly Great Paradise) where Mom, Dad and boyfriend all had an authentic Turkey dinner. I had a great lobster, and pumpkin pie for dessert. We all really liked Eclipse restaurant at Penn's landing (Fat Hog's Bay Tortola). This turned out to be a nice spot actually. $3 for a shower as long as you want, stop by Sailor's Ketch to buy some fresh fish for cooking on board, head over to Harbor View restaurant for a free drink (thanks to the Guide).
PLANS FOR NEXT TRIP
Now that I have the Drinking Man's Guide book, I know to plan my intinerary around the best drink deals! By the end of the week, we were making choices based on "is it 2 for 1 or 2 free drinks?" I'll also worry less about provisioning. As nice as it is to save money by cooking on the boat, our best meals and best evenings were spent ashore. And, as nice as it was, next time, just me and boyfriend, no parents.
THANKS TO TTOL!
It's been so great to have this resource to help in the planning, and now to help reminisce! I tried to track down some fellow TTOLers on channel 69 at 1700, but I think when I remembered, others forgot, and vice versa. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Hairy.gif" alt="" /> I also blew the reservations for T-day at Foxy's. So I'm sorry I missed meeting some of you in person, but looking forward to seeing you around online!
-kathy
