Moorings 4700 - Blue Chip
4 couples, no kids, plenty of fun. We flew out of Seattle on the red eye Thursday night on the 11:30. We kicked the trip off with a round of vodka shots outside the Alaska gate just before boarding. Just the kick needed to get a little shut eye before liftoff to Dallas - San Juan - Tortola. Got to San Juan and connected with no problem (we carried our luggage on, highly recommended due to the luggage nightmares I've heard so many times) to a tiny 8 seater on Caribbean Sun airlines for the short 45 min flight to Tortola. Side note: If you are chartering out of Road town fly into Beef Island, but if you are chartering out of Soper's hole I was told by one the guys who works up at Soper's that St. Thomas then ferry to Soper's is the easier route.
We were met by the Mooring's Van and were whisked off the the Mariner Inn Hotel. The Mariner is the hotel right at the Moorings docks. At first I was skeptical to stay here because of the cost $170 and all the sketchy reviews, but after doing it I would never consider staying anywhere else if I am chartering from the Moorings. I really like being right there in the morning and it was great to check out our boat the night before. The hotel is just ok, it was clean and the restaurant and bar was also ok but having the boats docked right outside added and extra bit of excitement for the trip to come. I had a quick swim right after check in and was happy to see one of my shipmate's already at the bar loading up on rum's and red stripes. We had a fun evening at the Mariner bar and again I was glad to be right there for the 8:30 chart briefing which was in a room right under my hotel room. Again, nothing special about the hotel but it is soo convenient to be right there on the day you leave for your charter, you are able to leave your gear in your room while you do your chart briefing and sort out the provisioning for the boat. It's worth the $170.
I have to give kudos to the Moorings, they have the whole process nailed. Plenty of staff around to get everyone through orientation and off the dock pronto. Boats all looked clean and well kept. We had a 4700 (leopard 47 cat) named Blue Chip that fell in the 3-5 year old category. The boat looked brand new to my eye when I boarded. We quickly had a few minor issues resolved like new bulb for the light over the cockpit table and ac in the forward staterooms. I advise to quiz the mechanics about any quirks before you cast off. I discovered a hidden panel in the port stern cabin that contained a breaker switch for the a/c, that I never would have known about if he hadn't shown me. By now all 4 couples had arrived and everyone was getting the provision's and gear stowed.
Day 1: Cast off was right at noon and we were under way headed for Cooper Island and Manchioneel Bay. Wind was blowing at a nice 20-25 knots. out came the sails (the main is quite a chore to get up at least on Blue Chip) and then our first minor issue. We noticed the topping lift was gone. It had sheared through and was dragging behind the boat. We radioed Moorings base once we got a mooring ball right in front of the pink house in Manchioneel Bay. Make sure you monitor channel 12 for a response, we goofed and did not hear the guys trying to raise us. Anyway they came out that afternoon and took a look. Next morning they showed up right on time and up the mast they went and put a new topping lift in. Cooper Island is only an hour or two sail from Road Town and a good first night destination because the Moorings guys can get to you really easily to fix any shakedown discoveries before you get further away. Very impressed with how the Moorings handled this. I also noticed that on the rescue boat there was a sign reminding the mechanics to bring fresh linen's, towels and ice to every incident/ remove garbage, so make sure to take advantage of this if you need them to pay a visit. Another point regarding the class of boats at Moorings, next time I will probably pay a little more and take a boat in the newer class just to cut down on the few minor annoyances of a slightly older boat. Cosmetically it is difficult to see the difference but little things of wear and tear might be worth the extra price. An example was the fan in our stateroom only went on high or we could never get the knot meter working, minor stuff.
That night we ate at the restaurant (we made reservations everywhere we ate on shore) and had a really fun meal. Great atmosphere and great friends, I hardly noticed the quality of the food. Come to think of it, none of the meals were very memorable food-wise, but it was exactly as I was anticipating, so expectations were met.
Day 2: The next morning we were off the mooring bal by about 10:30 on our way to the bath's. Very cool snorkeling and exploring followed by a little lunch before departing for the Virgin Gorda and the Bitter End.
I thought the Bitter End was one of the highlights. Next time I will spend 2 nights there as I liked all the amenities such as Saba rock, fat virgin cafe and the size of the harbor. Special thanks to the crew of the boat Sea of Love for relaying our dinner reservation to the Fat Virgin Cafe. If any of you read this, did you goto Anegada the next day? We were planning to head over to Anegada the next morning and our captain went in for the early morning mandatory special chart briefing for Anegada (you void your insurance if you skip this) and he was told that no charter boats would be going that day due to 8ft+ swells.
Day 3: Oh well, we had an excellent sail on the outside all the way to Yost Van Dyke. Our plan was to overnight in Great Harbor and got Roxy's. Well by the time we reached Great Harbor all the mooring balls were taken so we started the anchor process. Well, we just couldn't get comfortable with a good hold and enough room in the already crowded bay, so we pulled up and zipped over to Little harbor hoping to catch a break with a mooring ball. By now it was 4pm so no luck on a ball there either. The guidebook said that there was ok anchoring, this was completely false. I tried for an hour to get a good hold with plenty of scope with no luck. We dispatched the dinghy in to shore to see if there was dock space. Thank god we did because that night it howled. Once on dock we were met by the owner of the restaurant called Harris' place, named for her father. She is quite a character and was very hospitable setting us up for a great meal. She has also done some work to the docks, which were in great shape and was in the final steps of setting up shore power. We had a great meal despite the water being out and had a great time not having to worry about a risky anchorage.
Day 4: Next day we were off to Norman island and the famous Bight. We had a great sail under full canvas with 25 knots of steady wind. We hauled [censored] and were on a ball by 1pm, we had the pick at that time but it was pretty full by 3pm. Crappy bay for windsurfing as the winds swirl through there. We ate on board that night as we had lunch ashore at the Pirates Bight Restaurant which was busy due to one of those large cruise ship sailboats anchored at the entrance to the Bight. We sent the dingy over to the Willy T's to see if they would sell us some dinner fixin's, which they did after some selling by our crew of the promise we would be spending a lot of money there that night. Excellent seared tuna dinner and a few warm up rum's, actually the Captain's pour that received made only one warm up rum needed. Thanks John. After dinner it was off to the Willy T's where I had a pictured in my mind throngs of naked beauties frolicking on deck. Well I think I was expecting too much, no nudity displayed that night, the closest we got was me starting to take my shirt off as I drunkenly contemplated earning a t-shirt, which thankfully was stopped short by my slightly more sober wife. Fun none the less.
Day 5: Leisurely putter a few hundred yards outside of the Bight to the Indians and the caves the next morning before we headed for the last night at Soper's hole. We spent too long at the Indians and again pulled into Soper's hold about 3:45 and secured the very last mooring ball after weaving through the tightly spaced boats under heavy wind. Not all that fun but I sure felt like I could handle the boat in tight quarters after all the practice I got. Soper's hole was great with excellent facilities. We all went ashore for a hot shower and made dinner reservations at Pusser's. My wife and I had an early flight the next morning at 8am, so I made arrangements to get taxied the next morning within the little hotel. The taxi driver told me it would take 45 mins and insisted that we leave at 5:15. I thought this was really early but he was adamant that we get there 2 hrs ahead. This turned out to be way to much time if you ask me. We were so early that we ended up catching the 7am.
I would plan on arriving 60 mins to an hour and 15 mins ahead of your flight. During the day the cab ride from Soper's hole to beef island airport could be as long as an hour.
The only problem with a sailing trip in the BVI is that it completely spoils all other vacations. I don't see how anything else can stack up. I am beginning to plan our next trip back right now.
