<font size=+2 face="BrushScript BT"><center><br>[color:448800]BVI Bareboat Trip report April 13th- 26th-<br>5 people---4 adults and an 8 yr old girl</font color=008080></center><br></font face=brush><br><br><font face="Comic Sans MS">April 13th-Friday-Travel Day<br>Boston to San Juan then to Tortolla.<br> <br>Everything went fine with the exception of a 2 hr delay in Boston due to lack of equipment. Due to the number of extra flights (Holiday travellers) they couldn't get a plane to the gate, so they said, where do they think up these lame excuses anyway? As it was we were scheduled to arrive in Tortola @ 3 p.m. and arrived @ 5 p.m. Not bad considering some of the horror stories I've heard. Upon our arrival we hired a taxi (Bill Penn 499-1480, he was great) to take us to Fat Hogs Bay where we would pick up our yacht Juliane. We met Brent w/Pro Valor (our charter company) and got everything aboard. We brought a cooler of meats/and prepared meals along frozen prior to our departure (no dry ice allowed) and everything was still frozen after two days. We had a very nice dinner at the Harborside, on the water. <br><br>April 14th-Saturday- Provisioning/Checkout<br><br>Hired a Taxi to Road Town, hit the Riteway for essentials, spent about $300 on groceries and liquor. We decided that we would hit other groceries along the way and were glad we did as we didn't have much food waste at all, in fact we were rather frugal with our purchases and still had plenty to eat. Got checked out on Juliane w/Brent routine, systems were pretty straight forward, so we thought! We headed for Marina Cay at about 1200 for our first night. The only mooring left was a private mooring up against Camanoe. We figured if someone wanted us off we would move, as it was we were still charged $20 for the use. Dove into that beautiful water as soon as things were secured, Molly (my daughter) was in a few moments later, although a bit hesitant about letting go of the swim ladder. Anouk stopped by and Molly bought an ankle bracelet. Had cocktails (pain killers of course) then dinner and an early bed. <br><br>April 15th Sunday- Marina Cay to North Sound Virgin Gorda/Drakes anchorage<br><br>A good nights sleep found us up at 0600 hrs with coffee in the cockpit (no roosters or goats unlike Fat Hogs Bay!) Aragorn came by with his baskets of t-shirts and beautifully made Arawak indian crafts bought a few t-shirts and a basket or two. Vey nice stuff and avery interesting man doing very neat things. Underway at 1030 hrs good winds to Gorda Sound out of the south at 12-18kts. Picked up a mooring in Drakes about 1400hrs, no activity at all on shore, obvious that resort/restaurant is closed. Went for a swim then took the dink around Mosquito Island for some snorkeling. Dinked over to Leverick Bay for ice and a couple of things from Bucks, it was closed. Had a couple of Pain Killers at the Lighthouse for happy hour then burgers off the stern. <br><br>April 16th Monday- Drakes over to Leverick Bay.<br><br>We had seen that Monday was free mooring day at Leverick Bay so we did some practice tacking around the sound in a fresh 15 knts of wind, a bit fluky around the edges but good for the crew. After our sail we took Molly ashore to play in the pool, some other kids in there so she was happy. Easy day but that is what its all about. <br><br>April 17th Tuesday- Leverick Bay to Deadmans Bay, Peter Island<br><br>Up at 0630 hrs, after breakfast we headed out of the sound, we raised the genoa just before getting into the channel, there was some traffic but not much and there was a good wind from the southeast, at about the halfway point some ***hole in a 50 ft sport fishing boat (PR navy) dinghy about 30 feet behind him powers through betweeen us and another boat under sail......you only see that in the Islands, fortunately not too often. We sail mostly in coastal Maine waters and all boaters are very respectful of others space. We also noticed that the larger percentage of fellow sailors did not respond to a friendly wave. Have others noticed this? <br>We always get a response while sailing in Maine. A day stop at the Dogs alerted us to the fact that the windlass didn't work. No moorings available so we dropped the hook when I went forward to haul it in click the switch and nothing! So I hauled it by hand, not fun! That said we proceeded for Deadmans Bay on Peter Island. An absolutely beautiful place btw. Molly saw her first ray while swimming off the beach. I was a little concerned about the bottom in here as there is a lot of grass, I dove the anchor after we were in and we set very well in sand. There was a boat that came in after us, anchored ahead of us and kept me up all night as he dragged down next to us! He started out a full two boat lengths ahead and about 0300 hrs his dinghy was about a boat length away from our anchor line. Hauled the anchor with the windlass by bypassing the switch, we actually cut it off and crossed the wires. One person watched the chain and one worked the wires. I was very close to alerting him to his problem but the wind moderated significantly and low and behold he was nowhere to be seen at 0645 hrs. <br><br>April 18th Wednesday- Deadmans Bay to Leinster Bay on St. John <br><br>Our charter company rep had told us that the rule for clearing into the US from the BVI is that if you leave and return within 24 hrs. there is no need to go through the immigration/customs process so we headed for Leinster Bay at about 1000 hrs. A run down the channel wing and wing for part of the way. My wife hates this tack as she is very nervous about jibbing. Made it without any mishaps cruised into Leinster Bay about 1300 picked up amooring free maintained by the US park service. Went ashore to Watermelon Cay. Great snorkeling all around Watermelon Cay. Returned to the boat. My dad started the engine to charge up the frig, I was below mixing Pain Killers, and when I looked out noticed we were moving! The idea is to take the transmission out of gear by pushing in a small button on the throttle lever (a clutch if you will) well he did but it didn't engage. He quickly throttled down much to the relief of the boat in front of us. As it turned out this problem was not due to operator error as we tried to do it again and the same thing occurred. A phone call to the charter comany, Brent, to all you Pro Valor Charter customers, arranged to meet us in Sopers Hole at 1100 hrs to effect repairs, this and the anchor windlass switch. <br><br>April 19th-Thursday-Leinster Bay to Sopers then to Little Harbor, JVD<br><br>Got into Sopers at about 1030 hrs and made our way to the marina dingy dock. Brent arrived at 1100 hrs exactly! He and I went bak out to the boat to try and fix the items needing help. Anchor windlass switch was easy. The transmission switch was not and we had to wait for a mechanic. Anthony arrived an hour later after lunch and running into neighbors from our home town! These folks (the Thompsons) live less than a mile from us in Jackson, NH. we've talked before but we aren't buddies, anyway small world! Anthony fixed our tranny (so we thought) and we were off, to Little Harbor on JVD. Picked up a mooring in front of Abes. Dinner aboard and then to bed after some rousing pokers games. Brent alerted me to a change in the weather coming up. Stronger southerlies with a better chance of showers/squalls<br><br>April 20th- Friday-Little Harbor JVD to Sandy Cay then back to Little Harbor<br> <br>Headed to Sandy Cay for an explore and a walk around the Island, did a little snorkeling but mostly just hung on the beach. This was a really nice day as a result this anchorage got very busy as we were on the beach. I watched more than one boat get uncomfortably close to our boat. I don't know if someone pulled our anchor chain up or what but I looked up at one point and noticed our boat wasn't facing the same direction as all the others! She was headed back to JVD without us! Yikes! We moved pretty fast as you can imagine! I had swum the anchor before we left and it was dug in well and set. I let out 5-6:1 on scope but the swell had picked up and I guess it just pulled out. Well thats why I park it at the back of the pack, then you have the problem of others dragging down on you, oh well! Cheated death again on the high seas! Anyway back to JVD and Little Harbor. Dinner at Harris's, Cynthia was is great! She is the consumate hostess, everybodies friend, gracious and genorous. She says stay away on Mondays though, then she isn't so nice, too busy with the all you can eat Lobster special. Molly had he hair braided by some girls and found some other kids to play with on the beach. She stayed out till about 9:30 playing and having a good 'ole time. We passed by a trawler that had a huge spot light on its stern and saw two rays frolicking in the light on our way back to the boat. <br><br>April 21st- Saturday- JVD to Cane Garden Bay <br><br>According to our original plan this would have been our final full day. But we had the foresight to extend our trip by 3 days so we didn't have to be sad we could be glad! Motored over to CGB we had to charge up the batteries anyway as I had discovered that the tranmission issue had come back to haunt us this time though it wouldn't even go into gear! So I had to take it apart and fix it myself! This was becoming quite a concern and we decided that the best thing to do was simply motor sail while under way to charge the batteries and the frig. and not try to take it outta gear. This worked although we had to supplement the frig with block ice too. Cane Garden Bay was fun although too built up for my tastes, I remember it when there was little more than Stanleys here. Molly had fun swimming in the waves on the beach though. Dinner aboard nice sunset. <br><br>April 22nd Sunday-CGB to Norman Island and the Bight<br><br>A quick run down to Sopers, I ran in for ice and some other essentials, took about 1/2 hr. then we were off for Norman Island. The plan was to tack upwind across the channel but upon leaving the shelter of Sopers Hole it became apparent that another reef was going to be in order. Blowing about 18-20kts with a few gusts to 23-24kts, then a squall approached and we had one of those all hell breaking loose moments where the boat is bouncing like mad, jib sheets are flogging the deck, we are trying to bring it in, and she won't come up because the waves keep pushing us down wind. Anyway, we finally got things under control and started the long motor sail up to Norman Island and the Bight. Got into the bight tons of moorings here btw, must be at least 60 or so. The Willy T was cranking much to wild for us old farts, stayed away from there, went for a snorkel then to Billy Bones for happy hour and dinner. got to the dinghy dock just as they were setting off the cannon! Too much for Dad, took him back to the boat after a bit, we stayed and had dinner though....decent, I had rotis, Pam had a jerked chicken dish, our waitress made up a special chicken finger dinner for Molly. Waitresses name was Candy, she was great, she has a trip planned to NH in Sept. promised she would call us. <br><br>April 23rd Monday-Norman Island to Trellis Bay<br>The plan was to go to Cooper Island an Manchioneel Bay, however it was quite a blowy/squally day again and by the time we got there 1200 hrs every mooring was already taken. Given that the holding here is not very good and the windlass was still an issue we opted for a run over to Trellis Bay. Zipped over there under the Genny only in about 45 min.- 1 hr picked up a mooring and went ashore to snorkel. Actually pretty good snorkeling here saw a Baracuda and some lobsters, lotsa turtle grass in close to shore hiding al sorts of cute critters. After the snorkeling went ashore the the small market, not a great selection here but all we needed was some bread and basics. Also stopped by Aragorns studio, as I've said before this guy does some beautiful work, aside from the t-shirts and standard fare, which are the best in the Islands btw, he has some great wooden crafts and baskets from the few remaining Arawak Indians in the region. Encouraging this kind of work/craft is so important in this day and age of plastic this, Disney that and the loss of cultural identities. Visit here and support him and his artists. Another wicked squall came through not alot of rain but plenty of wind. <br><br>April 24th Tuesday- Trellis to Marina Cay via Monkey Point<br>We wanted to spend a day at Monkey point snorkeling as we had heard it was great. We went to Marina Cay tied the dinghy to a mooring and headed over, raised the Genoa after getting through the Camanoe passage delightful sail until another squall arrrived to spoil the moment. It didn't last long but did give us a pretty good soaking, hove to waiting for it to pass (needed the practice) and then checked out Monkey Point there was only one parks mooring here, so if you're looking for a quick day stop with mooring good luck! Anyway back to Marina Cay for happy hour and some more swimming/snorkeling off the beach. Took our first showers of the trip here. Actually we would daily rinse off on the stern with the fresh water hose placed there. We only had to take on water once during the entire 12 days aboard and that was Thursday the 19th in Sopers Hole. 90 gallons goes along way if you conserve. <br><br>April 25th Wednesday- Marina Cay to Fat Hogs Bay via Copper Island. Last Full Day<br>We really wanted to spend more time at Cooper Island, although this wouldn't be an overnight winds were perfect, 15-18kts, for a trip over, one tack to the NE towards the dogs and then a long beam reach took us right in at about 1100 hrs. Lunch aboard to clean out the fridge was quite an event with smoked salmon, mac and cheese left over form Mollys dinner last night, and some other savory items. Snorkeling out by the rocks of cistern point is great there is a dinghy mooring line and lots to see. Definately worth a look. <br>After lunch a quick run over to Fat Hogs Bay brought and end to this fabulous 12 days in Paradise. Check out with Brent, then off to dinner. Dinner again at the Harborside was great! Look for them right on the water near the old Sea Breeze Marina, there is a charter company based there too, I just don't remember the name of it. But great food and nice atmoshpere, great porch right over the water. <br><br>April 26th Thursday- Home via AA<br>Uneventful trip home, passing through customs/immigration was a breeze, didn't even open a bag. Upon arrival in Boston discovered 1 missing bag. It was delivered to us the next day at a cost to the airline of $140, we live about 200 miles from Boston!<br>We dropped our car at my sisters house in Wellesley and took a limo both ways to the airport. At $90 each way I haven't quite figured out if it's worth it or not, it certainly is convenient though to have someone meet you at the airport throw everything in the back and away you go. No hassling with long term parking lots, finding your car with a flat tire or worse.....<br><br><br>Stay tuned...... I'll be putting up a web site with pics and more soon, and I'll post the link when it's active.....<br><br>Thats all for now..............Nat Howe<br><br>[b]"We are the people our parents warned us about." ~ Jimmy Buffett<br>[b]<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Administrator on 5/7/01 01:54 PM.</EM></FONT></P>
