Posted By: Dirichlet
Trip Report: 26 Dec '14 - 3 Jan '15 - 01/06/2015 03:39 PM
Trip Report Dec 26 - Jan 3
Two 50’ Voyage Cats, 17 people, a $1300 booze order from Caribbean Cellars, Foxy’s NYE… what could go wrong?
… nothing. Nothing went wrong. In fact, it couldn’t have gone better; it was an incredible trip full of great people, ridiculously fun antics and pranks, beautiful locations, and spectacular weather.
12/26: My wife and I have a beautiful little girl that we left with my parents. Unfortunately, we live and MD, they live in Maine, my wife’s family lives in Mass, and my wife had to work a full day on the 23rd. Needless to say, the start to the trip was hectic, but it went off without a hitch. The final step was a hop from SJU to EIS on VI Airlink. I must say the Brathwaites are great people, their outfit is professionally run, and the cooler full of iced-down beer and wine on our flight was greatly appreciated. We had sleep aboards on our Voyage 500 yachts at the base and most of the crews ended up partying at Scaramouche (very cool spot), some of them a little later than I did. But, hey, they’re younger than me and bounce back more quickly than I can.
12/27: Alex at Voyage got our briefings done and over by 9:30 in the morning. The crews stowed the provisioned food/water/booze while the briefings were underway, and we were ready to go by 10am. Unfortunately, the last charter on my vessel had blown the starboard cone clutch. I give the guys at Voyage a lot of credit for having the boat put back together, running like a top, and for getting us off the dock shortly after noon. A quick motor to the Bight found us a mooring ball against the eastern corner of the bay, directly between Pirates and the Willy T. Some of the crew members started partying immediately, while those who had been to the Willy T before took it easy, knowing what the afternoon/evening/night had in store. I futtzed around a bit and took a snorkel against the shore (one of my favorite snorkel spots). Though the sea life was a little less than I have seen in the past, it was still very nice. I returned to the boat to find that many had already gone to the Willy T, so I headed over as well. Things were well under way with typical Willy T shenanigans, and they continued far into the night. I leave the details to your imagination. Some paid for it the next day, but all were having a blast.
12/28: We dropped off the balls and, given a light-wind weather window, motored directly for the baths, going over the north side Peter, Salt, Cooper, etc. We hooked into a nice Wahoo north of Peter Island, but it snapped the line after a not-too-long fight. The Baths were more crowded than I have ever seen. It took about 45 minutes to get back to the beach from Devil’s Bay. People were being extremely rude in the narrow places, not allowing people who were going the other way to take turns. The Baths was not my first choice; I wanted to go to the Dogs for some snorkeling, but the crew were all far more interested in the Baths… c’est la vie. A quick spirited sail (race) from the Baths up to North Sound put us at Leverick Bay around 3pm. While the crews showered, ate, relaxed, and for some, recovered, my wife, my buddy Wieners, and I headed up to the Duck & Dive for a great evening with spectacular hosts. Nick and Monica, thank you for your wonderful hospitality. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Cheers.gif" alt="" />
12/29: Leaving Leverick around 9am, the sail up to Anegada was smooth and easy, with a clear sky and 12-15 knots on the beam. We anchored the two boats to the east of the mooring field and headed ashore. A quick taxi ride to Cow Wreck brought us to one of my favorite places in the world. It was pleasantly quiet given the time of year - there were only a dozen or so other patrons at CWB. Food and drink were consumed while watching the puffy clouds float by and the kite boarders zip along by Walk Over Set point. As we hopped on the taxi for the ride back I noted a Texas and a “BVI Pirate” flag flying… Walker!!! Walker and I only got to speak for a minute, but I was nice to finally meet face-to-face. The crew and I got back to the boat just before a sizeable squall hit. We used the opportunity to cook some dinner and scheme pranks to pull on the other boat. While the other boat was grilling lobsters we put one plan into action, “raiding” them in our dinghy. I’ll spare the details here as well <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Wink.gif" alt="" /> . The celebrations of good friends, a beautiful location, and a good life continued well into the evening.
12/30: For me, the sail from Anegada to JVD is one of the highlights of every trip, and this was no exception. Again, winds were fairly light, seldom exceeding 13 knots. With a full main and the genny barber hauled through the beam cleat we still made 6-7 knots on the smooth downhill run. We hooked a 4-5 ‘cuda somewhere around the Chikuzen, but nothing else. Arriving at JVD, the other boat pulled up behind Sandy Spit, while we found a good anchoring spot a hundred yards offshore from B-Line. We had the entire bar to ourselves, and enjoyed some cornhole and drinks while the sun swept low. The other boat headed to Great Harbor to see if they could find a good spot to anchor. While we considered it, we were very happy and relaxed in our location, so we chose to stay for the night.
12/31: Foxy’s. NYE. Yup. Let me start by saying that I was very nervous (at best) about having a boat under my captainship in Great Harbor on NYE. The tales of woe and disaster hung large in my head as I anchored far out in the mouth of the harbor, surrounded by many boats, in about 40’ of water. However, none of those threats held true. Aside from two moorings monohulls rafting up a few hundred feet away, I saw absolutely no shenanigans when it came to boats anchoring. Yes, it was crowded… very crowded. But all pilots seemed respectful, well behaved, and nobody dragged even with a 2am 45 degree wind shift and gusts in the mid-20’s. On land, things were another matter. Without hyperbole, there were thousands of people in the general Foxy’s area. Getting refreshments was nearly impossible, and if you did it was $12 for a 10oz mixed drink. Many on our trip had flown a little too close to the sun for a few too many days, yours truly included. Most of us dink’d back to the boats at around 10:30pm. Enough was enough. For me, the last seconds of 2014 ticked by while curled up with my wife, the two of us asleep on the trampoline with the breeze blowing through our hair. We were awoken by the horns of the mega yachts and cruise ships as midnight struck, after which we called it a night and year.
1/1: Given the crowds and parties of NYE, I assumed there would be an exodus from JVD on the first. I wasn’t mistaken – we had Soggy Dollar to ourselves until late in the morning, enjoying a nice breakfast, several cups of coffee, and of course painkillers. As the huddled, hung-over masses began to crowd Soggy Dollar, we meandered down to One Love where the two crews spent the day playing cards, eating, drink, sunbathing, swimming, and having a hilarious, wonderful time. I checked the wave/wind forecast, and seeing all things favorable made the call to stay in White Bay for the night. Some crew stayed ashore well into the night at (I believe) Gertrude’s. The six of us that went back to the boat had a bit of a private party.
1/2: A quick motorsail was taken to West End to get a few provisioning odds and ends for the last night, as well as to top the water and fuel tanks. We were nowhere near empty on either, but I figured it would speed the checkout process the following morning. 45 minutes later we pulled off the dock and raised the sails. We crossed reaches with the other boat just after rounding Steele Point. Naturally, the race was on to Sandy Cay. Unfortunately, it was already crowded, and over the radio the other captain and I decided to skip Sandy and head for CGB. I took a few extra tacks with my boat, heading north past the eastern side of Little Jost. The winds were around 20 knots sustained for the first time, and we relished in what we knew would be the final sail of the trip. When we finally got to CGB we found the other boat’s dighy with a several people onboard holding a ball for us. With the two boats on adjacent mooring balls very close to the dinghy dock the party commenced immediately. The mood was jovial as we danced, swam, and drank our way through the afternoon. My wife and I split off from the party and headed to Tony’s for a cheeseburger together while watching the sun set on the day and on the trip. Neither the burger nor the sunset disappointed. We later ran into Vishal at Myett’s. I was also hoping for a Manpot sighting, but alas, we had missed him by an hour or two.
1/3: Back to reality. The checkout with Alex/Rayne was quick and easy. The flight back to SJU with VI Airlink was uneventful. This time the cooler was filled with water, juice, and Gatorade… boy do these people know us well!!!
I would like to add some thank you’s:
-Kat G. Thank you for your massive help when I first planned this trip in the fall of ’13. There’s no way it would have happened without your assistance.
-Chris C., Mark P., and many of you other TTOLers for all of your advice, assistance, and friendship over the years. You are a spectacular community, and one which I believe to be unique. I am proud to say I’m a member on this board.
-Laura R. Once again, your shirts are amazing. I apologize for not getting a full crew picture, but getting my own 9 people in one place was like herding cats, let alone the full complement of 17 from the two boats. If anybody needs crew shirts please check out (customsailingshirts.com). You won’t be disappointed.
-Nick and Monica for once again being such gracious hosts. We love you guys!!!
-Wieners for being a great first mate and senior mixologist
-Jose for jumping in to captain the second boat when the original captain backed out. He did an incredible job with his boat and his crew… I just wish he had given me one sympathy sail where he let me win <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Tonguea.gif" alt="" />
-Alaina and Katie for preparing incredible dinners. They and their husbands were first-timers, and I can say with all confidence that they “got it”… heck, they were even talking in terms of “next time we do this…” before the charter was half over!
… time to start planning the next one! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Groovin.gif" alt="" />
Two 50’ Voyage Cats, 17 people, a $1300 booze order from Caribbean Cellars, Foxy’s NYE… what could go wrong?
… nothing. Nothing went wrong. In fact, it couldn’t have gone better; it was an incredible trip full of great people, ridiculously fun antics and pranks, beautiful locations, and spectacular weather.
12/26: My wife and I have a beautiful little girl that we left with my parents. Unfortunately, we live and MD, they live in Maine, my wife’s family lives in Mass, and my wife had to work a full day on the 23rd. Needless to say, the start to the trip was hectic, but it went off without a hitch. The final step was a hop from SJU to EIS on VI Airlink. I must say the Brathwaites are great people, their outfit is professionally run, and the cooler full of iced-down beer and wine on our flight was greatly appreciated. We had sleep aboards on our Voyage 500 yachts at the base and most of the crews ended up partying at Scaramouche (very cool spot), some of them a little later than I did. But, hey, they’re younger than me and bounce back more quickly than I can.
12/27: Alex at Voyage got our briefings done and over by 9:30 in the morning. The crews stowed the provisioned food/water/booze while the briefings were underway, and we were ready to go by 10am. Unfortunately, the last charter on my vessel had blown the starboard cone clutch. I give the guys at Voyage a lot of credit for having the boat put back together, running like a top, and for getting us off the dock shortly after noon. A quick motor to the Bight found us a mooring ball against the eastern corner of the bay, directly between Pirates and the Willy T. Some of the crew members started partying immediately, while those who had been to the Willy T before took it easy, knowing what the afternoon/evening/night had in store. I futtzed around a bit and took a snorkel against the shore (one of my favorite snorkel spots). Though the sea life was a little less than I have seen in the past, it was still very nice. I returned to the boat to find that many had already gone to the Willy T, so I headed over as well. Things were well under way with typical Willy T shenanigans, and they continued far into the night. I leave the details to your imagination. Some paid for it the next day, but all were having a blast.
12/28: We dropped off the balls and, given a light-wind weather window, motored directly for the baths, going over the north side Peter, Salt, Cooper, etc. We hooked into a nice Wahoo north of Peter Island, but it snapped the line after a not-too-long fight. The Baths were more crowded than I have ever seen. It took about 45 minutes to get back to the beach from Devil’s Bay. People were being extremely rude in the narrow places, not allowing people who were going the other way to take turns. The Baths was not my first choice; I wanted to go to the Dogs for some snorkeling, but the crew were all far more interested in the Baths… c’est la vie. A quick spirited sail (race) from the Baths up to North Sound put us at Leverick Bay around 3pm. While the crews showered, ate, relaxed, and for some, recovered, my wife, my buddy Wieners, and I headed up to the Duck & Dive for a great evening with spectacular hosts. Nick and Monica, thank you for your wonderful hospitality. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Cheers.gif" alt="" />
12/29: Leaving Leverick around 9am, the sail up to Anegada was smooth and easy, with a clear sky and 12-15 knots on the beam. We anchored the two boats to the east of the mooring field and headed ashore. A quick taxi ride to Cow Wreck brought us to one of my favorite places in the world. It was pleasantly quiet given the time of year - there were only a dozen or so other patrons at CWB. Food and drink were consumed while watching the puffy clouds float by and the kite boarders zip along by Walk Over Set point. As we hopped on the taxi for the ride back I noted a Texas and a “BVI Pirate” flag flying… Walker!!! Walker and I only got to speak for a minute, but I was nice to finally meet face-to-face. The crew and I got back to the boat just before a sizeable squall hit. We used the opportunity to cook some dinner and scheme pranks to pull on the other boat. While the other boat was grilling lobsters we put one plan into action, “raiding” them in our dinghy. I’ll spare the details here as well <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Wink.gif" alt="" /> . The celebrations of good friends, a beautiful location, and a good life continued well into the evening.
12/30: For me, the sail from Anegada to JVD is one of the highlights of every trip, and this was no exception. Again, winds were fairly light, seldom exceeding 13 knots. With a full main and the genny barber hauled through the beam cleat we still made 6-7 knots on the smooth downhill run. We hooked a 4-5 ‘cuda somewhere around the Chikuzen, but nothing else. Arriving at JVD, the other boat pulled up behind Sandy Spit, while we found a good anchoring spot a hundred yards offshore from B-Line. We had the entire bar to ourselves, and enjoyed some cornhole and drinks while the sun swept low. The other boat headed to Great Harbor to see if they could find a good spot to anchor. While we considered it, we were very happy and relaxed in our location, so we chose to stay for the night.
12/31: Foxy’s. NYE. Yup. Let me start by saying that I was very nervous (at best) about having a boat under my captainship in Great Harbor on NYE. The tales of woe and disaster hung large in my head as I anchored far out in the mouth of the harbor, surrounded by many boats, in about 40’ of water. However, none of those threats held true. Aside from two moorings monohulls rafting up a few hundred feet away, I saw absolutely no shenanigans when it came to boats anchoring. Yes, it was crowded… very crowded. But all pilots seemed respectful, well behaved, and nobody dragged even with a 2am 45 degree wind shift and gusts in the mid-20’s. On land, things were another matter. Without hyperbole, there were thousands of people in the general Foxy’s area. Getting refreshments was nearly impossible, and if you did it was $12 for a 10oz mixed drink. Many on our trip had flown a little too close to the sun for a few too many days, yours truly included. Most of us dink’d back to the boats at around 10:30pm. Enough was enough. For me, the last seconds of 2014 ticked by while curled up with my wife, the two of us asleep on the trampoline with the breeze blowing through our hair. We were awoken by the horns of the mega yachts and cruise ships as midnight struck, after which we called it a night and year.
1/1: Given the crowds and parties of NYE, I assumed there would be an exodus from JVD on the first. I wasn’t mistaken – we had Soggy Dollar to ourselves until late in the morning, enjoying a nice breakfast, several cups of coffee, and of course painkillers. As the huddled, hung-over masses began to crowd Soggy Dollar, we meandered down to One Love where the two crews spent the day playing cards, eating, drink, sunbathing, swimming, and having a hilarious, wonderful time. I checked the wave/wind forecast, and seeing all things favorable made the call to stay in White Bay for the night. Some crew stayed ashore well into the night at (I believe) Gertrude’s. The six of us that went back to the boat had a bit of a private party.
1/2: A quick motorsail was taken to West End to get a few provisioning odds and ends for the last night, as well as to top the water and fuel tanks. We were nowhere near empty on either, but I figured it would speed the checkout process the following morning. 45 minutes later we pulled off the dock and raised the sails. We crossed reaches with the other boat just after rounding Steele Point. Naturally, the race was on to Sandy Cay. Unfortunately, it was already crowded, and over the radio the other captain and I decided to skip Sandy and head for CGB. I took a few extra tacks with my boat, heading north past the eastern side of Little Jost. The winds were around 20 knots sustained for the first time, and we relished in what we knew would be the final sail of the trip. When we finally got to CGB we found the other boat’s dighy with a several people onboard holding a ball for us. With the two boats on adjacent mooring balls very close to the dinghy dock the party commenced immediately. The mood was jovial as we danced, swam, and drank our way through the afternoon. My wife and I split off from the party and headed to Tony’s for a cheeseburger together while watching the sun set on the day and on the trip. Neither the burger nor the sunset disappointed. We later ran into Vishal at Myett’s. I was also hoping for a Manpot sighting, but alas, we had missed him by an hour or two.
1/3: Back to reality. The checkout with Alex/Rayne was quick and easy. The flight back to SJU with VI Airlink was uneventful. This time the cooler was filled with water, juice, and Gatorade… boy do these people know us well!!!
I would like to add some thank you’s:
-Kat G. Thank you for your massive help when I first planned this trip in the fall of ’13. There’s no way it would have happened without your assistance.
-Chris C., Mark P., and many of you other TTOLers for all of your advice, assistance, and friendship over the years. You are a spectacular community, and one which I believe to be unique. I am proud to say I’m a member on this board.
-Laura R. Once again, your shirts are amazing. I apologize for not getting a full crew picture, but getting my own 9 people in one place was like herding cats, let alone the full complement of 17 from the two boats. If anybody needs crew shirts please check out (customsailingshirts.com). You won’t be disappointed.
-Nick and Monica for once again being such gracious hosts. We love you guys!!!
-Wieners for being a great first mate and senior mixologist
-Jose for jumping in to captain the second boat when the original captain backed out. He did an incredible job with his boat and his crew… I just wish he had given me one sympathy sail where he let me win <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Tonguea.gif" alt="" />
-Alaina and Katie for preparing incredible dinners. They and their husbands were first-timers, and I can say with all confidence that they “got it”… heck, they were even talking in terms of “next time we do this…” before the charter was half over!
… time to start planning the next one! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Groovin.gif" alt="" />