05/01/2011, British Virgin Islands

British Virgin Island Bareboat Charter 2011
Date: March 15-24, 2011 (Sailing March 16-23)
Crew: Andy and Kim Shand (Wentworth, NS)
Bill and Joanne Shand (Lead, SD, USA)
Curtis and Jenny Pedwell (Red Lake, On)
Charterer: Horizon Yacht Charters
Equipment: 2010 Fontaine Pajot Orana 44 Catamaran
A lot of planning happens before we charter. We have to decide on what type of boat, what size, where we will charter as well as all of the provisioning, and flights, whether or not we will fly straight to the BVI's or to the USVI and ferry across. Without the help of the Travel Talk Online website and all of the friendly, helpful experts that belong to it, it would be a daunting task. Instead, questions can be asked and within minutes you will have many options laid out for you. This was our fourth charter and we are still learning so much about the islands, thanks to the folks on TTOL.

This time we booked a catamaran in November with Horizon Yacht Charters in BVI. It was new, we had toured it last February and it seemed to have all of the things that we could possibly want in a home on water. Why a cat this time after having such great success with monohulls for the past 3 trips? The easy answer is we were bringing an extra couple with us, a couple that Andy and I did not know, but were great friends of Bill and Joanne's. A couple that was new to sailing. In a cat we would get more space, and more privacy, and catamarans are known to cause less sea sickness in those so afflicted. As for the sailing, all we knew was that a cat can haul ass on a reach and does pretty well downwind and is no great shakes pointed into the wind. The real answer was that Joanne and I wanted to try one out, we were jealous of all of the space and amenities that a catamaran had and Curtis and Jenny were just the excuse we needed to make it happen. At this time I will note that Andy was against it from the very beginning. And so here is our story of our first and probably last Catamaran Charter.

Andy and I arrived at St. Thomas Airport in plenty of time to have a drink and order of conch fritters at the Petit Pump Room at the ferry dock at Charlotte Amalie, before we had to get on the next ferry. We did feel pretty smug sitting on the balcony having our first drinks in the Caribbean. Just 8 hours earlier we left 2 feet of snow in our yard and now it was 28 degrees, there was a nice breeze and we had a Painkiller and Carib in hand. Painkillers are the national drink of the BVI, originating at the Soggy Dollar Bar in Jost Van Dyke. It is a shaken concoction of Pussers Rum, pineapple and orange juices and cream of coconut, all topped with fresh ground nutmeg. It is sweet and yummy and refreshing all rolled into one. We boarded the ferry and figured it would be a long ride, but amazingly we were at Soper's Hole an hour later going through customs, which took all of 5 minutes. Travelling light has its' advantages, always being the first in line for cabs, ferry's, and now it was working a dream at customs as well. We stood out at the cab stand and joined a fellow heading to Long Bay, it was a nice diversion as we got to see a little more of Tortola. Funnily enough he was only going to be there for 4 days and had two good sized suitcases. I imagine he thought we were the funny ones.

We arrived at Nanny Cay with plenty of time to do the final paperwork, and receive our provisions from Bobby's and Tico's. This year I booked both directly instead of going with split provisioning through the charter company. I was pleasantly surprised at the savings as well as the fact that we did not get anything we would not be using. The booze order from Tico's had arrived earlier in the day and was left in the briefing room, when we were done putting away all of the food from Bobby's, Andy started hauling the booze to the boat and while I put it away. We had met the folks at the boat beside us back at Sopers Hole and they were giving Andy cat calls, wondering if maybe he should be heading some of our booze to their boat instead. Their boat "Patriche II" was their own Jeaneau 50 Deck Salon. The gentleman who owned it said that chartering a cat was on his bucket list many years back, but now he stuck with his monohull, I told him owning my own boat and keeping it in the BVI's was on my bucket list.

Sitting at the dock is where our Catamaran really shined, there was AMPLE space to put everything away, air conditioning that worked wonders, as well as 2 fridges both with working freezer sections, an absolute first for us in the BVI's. As well, the kitchen had a microwave, coffee maker, blender and just about every kitchen utensil you could possibly imagine, without of course an acceptable chopping knife. It also looked impressive at the dock, with its' sun loungers behind the helm and deck chairs around one side of the table in the cockpit, what space, what more could a person want!

After we put everything away, we headed to Peg Leg's Restaurant. I always love the walk there as you get to gaze at all of the docked boats. This time there was a beautifully restored wooden schooner as well as a huge Gunboat to keep our gaze. Once at Peg Legs we sat down, had the specials and a few Carib beers and called it a night. The service was awesome, as was the theme for all of the servers on this trip.

We headed back to the cat, hung out in the cockpit for a bit, then headed down below into our huge room, replete with a floating bed a bathroom complete with a separate shower bigger than you would find in most homes. We were satiated and couldn't wait to see the rest of the crew the next day.
After a great sleep, we woke up, went to Genneker's Café for some coffee. A little later, Andy was checking out Nanny Cay's great showers (so far the best we have found in the BVI) and I was down inside our pontoon rearranging the provisions when I heard a noise, I went upstairs to see a strange man boarding the cat, who could this be? Probably someone on the wrong boat, ha, it was Curtis! Of course, I had not seen pictures of him so how would I have known and they were about an hour earlier than we expected to boot, he gave me a big hug and I knew we were going to be just fine. Behind him were Jenny, Bill and Jo.

Their flights arrived in St. Thomas in the evening after the ferries so they stayed at Miller Manor in Charlotte Amalie. They had enjoyed their night first with a couple of complimentary rum as they arrived off the plane at St. Thomas and later complimentary Mango Rum punches and plenty to see from the Miller Manor bar/deck looking over Charlotte Amalie harbor. It was too late to go out for dinner so Marge (the owner) offered to make them some frozen pizzas? They appreciated the gesture at the late hour after spending the day in planes and airports.

Everyone seemed pleased with the cat and when Bentley went over the systems with the boys all seemed just great. We tied on the kayak, and the extra toys we rented for the week got a derelict cooler and lots of ice and we were off. We were all smiles, until we put up the sails. Now, my favorite part of ANY day on the water is that second that the engine gets turned off and you can only hear the wind in the sails. I cannot help but smile every time and smile I did, until Bill said there was something wonky with the steering. He seemed to have no control, but with our limited experience with a catamaran we figured we were just not used to the feel of the cat after all it was 23 feet wide, so of course it was going to be weird to steer. We were only heading to the Bight at Norman so we took it easy, it did accidentally tack at one point when we had a wind shift and Bill could not steer us in the right direction and that was weird too! Then when we had to tack into the bight it would not turn into the wind, Bill had to engage the engine to help it get the boat around. At that point we figured something was up for sure! Andy steered us into the mooring field using the 2 engines to direct us instead of the steering wheel. We picked up a ball and Bill decided he was going to dive the rudder to see if anything was amiss. I took the wheel and turned it at his behest. What we found was that the port side rudder was not lined up with the starboard rudder and that it was pretty much at a 90 degree angle to whatever the other was doing. No wonder we had such problems! (5m)

The guys worked out what was wrong and Andy called the Horizon office. They said they would send Milton out the next morning at 8:30 to fix the problem. We stayed on the boat that night opting not to head to the party at the Willy T. as an appetizer I got out some caviar that I had gotten as a special treat and a bottle of champagne. Unfortunately Andy, Curtis and I were the only takers on the caviar, but the champagne was a hit! For our meal we barbequed Mahi Mahi and had a really nice coconut risotto with it. It was a great meal, the girls had some really nice wine, and unfortunately the guys were underwhelmed by their wine choice. However, it did not stop them as we may have over imbibed that first night as a saying for the rest of the trip came from that night...I LOVE YOU MAN! Now, I am sure had the guys stayed lucid nobody would have been saying "I love you man", so there it was our catch phrase, once anyone was starting to drink a bit we would ask if it was going to be another I love you man night!

Milton arrived and jumped into the engine compartment and affirmed our problem. He said he would attempt a quick fix so we could get on our way. Within an hour he said give it a try and we were off with Milton following close behind. Within a few minutes the quick fix let go and we were back to no steering. We decided to grab a mooring over near the caves and Milton reboarded, removed the errant part and said he was going to have to get it machined on Tortola, my heart sank. A machinist? On island time, dear God this was not going to be good! We asked how long it would take and Milton said the machinist would be waiting for him to arrive with the part, it would get done right away and he would be back. That didn't sound like a machinist on island time at all. Anyhow, we decided to make the best of it and we went snorkeling, kayaking and generally had a great time in the water. We soon found out that snorkeling was Jenny's calling. She had never snorkeled before but took to it like a fish to water. She couldn't get enough. Milton was back sooner than expected, he got back down in the engine compartment inside the pontoon and within an hour we were off again and this time it would be a good fix.

It was already 2pm and we had to get to Leverick Bay as we had a slip booked and we didn't want to be late for the Happy Arrrr Show with Michael Beans, especially since it was St. Patrick's Day and after trying for the past years to see him with no success we were going to make it this time! We were so prepared for this event that the guys all had Green and white Guinness Shirts and Hats, thanks to Jenny and Curtis and the girls all had green shot glass necklaces. Who says you cannot bring anything with just carry-ons. We decided to forgo sailing for the day as we had many miles to cover and we would be pointing directly into the wind, so we motored all of the way from Norman Island to Leverick Bay. Not exactly our idea of a great day of sailing, but Michael Beans and Nick awaited us. (24m)

Once we were there, we all had showers and were on our way to Happy Arrr! We almost made it when a man dressed like a Pirate stopped us, said he loved our outfits and asked if we were headed for the show, we said we sure were and he said here are some free drinks for you! We soon realized that it was Michael Beans. What energy this guy had! We got our seats, ordered drinks from our waitress Cindy and waited for the show to start! It was super. The crowd was really into it, Pirate paraphernalia abounded, there were other people dressed for St. Patrick's Day, with Beer Stein hats. I knew we wouldn't be the only ones! It turned out that they were also members of TTOL...and their son would later go on to win the conch blowing contest...Go figure. I will state at this time that I came 2nd in the adult contest. I was devastated and have decided to make it my quest to win next year! Thank God I have a conch at home to practice on. It was a great evening all around, we originally planned on going to the restaurant upstairs after the show but we enjoyed the beach BBQ instead as the restaurant was closed due to the Superyacht Regatta St. Patty's Party going on that night.

The next morning we picked up the SUV Nick had organized for us from Speedy's and headed around Virgin Gorda for a tour of the island. What views! The roads reminded us of the Cabot Trail at home in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, except they were about half as wide. Our first tourist stop was the Baths. We stopped at the Top of the Baths Restaurant for an early lunch as they had just stopped serving breakfast, enjoyed the scenery and beautiful plantings of bougainvillea that were growing everywhere, and then headed down the trail to the Baths. Once there we decided to go through the caves to Devil's Bay. It was a remarkable trail, we had to crouch low to get under boulders, wade through water, climb rickety stairs and more than once I wondered if it would be worth it in the end and if we were at home an attraction like this would even be allowed to be open to the public. We were certainly not at Disney World. Once we arrived at the bay, it too was beautiful; we swam, enjoyed people watching and then headed back to the top of the baths on the other trail. We stopped at the top, this time for drinks, then decided to head to the Copper Mine Ruins. It was an active mine until the late 1800's. Apparently there was some drilling done in the 70's to determine if reopening the mine would be viable. It wasn't. Andy, knowing this decided to go off piste looking for clues to where they were drilling. It was quite interesting to the guys as they all work in the industry and we spent quite a while there. Afterwards, drinks were certainly needed and the Mine Shaft Restaurant fit the bill. I am not sure what was in those drinks, but they were great!

We drove around the island a bit more, dropped off the car at Leverick and got back to the dock. We just arrived and David, the dock-master ran to us wondering if we could move our boat as a super yacht was coming in and needed our spot. We were just in time getting moved to the same place we were docked last year when the other boat came in. I wondered how long they had been waiting for us to get back. Later we went to the Jumbies BBQ for another great night at Leverick. Again we lucked into Cindy as our waitress. She was awesome, and really made our night! The guys had a great time drinking the bar out of Jumbie Pirate drinks while we girls went front and center to watch the Jumbies dance. It was another great night at Leverick Bay Resort. A great big shout out goes to Nick and Monica, this is an absolute must stop every year. I cannot recommend this more. The only negative this year was that we did not get to enjoy the restaurant...but that just gives us something to look forward to for next year.

The next morning we were underway just in time to enjoy watching the participants in the Swan rendezvous Race jockeying for the start. We again saw Valkyrie and I put all of my energy into hoping they would take the honors. We had to hope for a NS boat! We motored around the sound showing Curtis and Jenny all of the sights from the water. They will just have to come back next year to see it all from land. After the tour we put the sails up and headed for Anegada. The girls layed out on the trampoline while we sailed along. After a while we came across all of the superyachts racing in Anegada Sound. It was awesome watching the huge spinnakers going up on the J boat Endeavour 2 replica, Hanuman. Twizzle also had a cool one with its name written up the side. Another had trouble getting its bright pink spinnaker up. About five minutes later the twist was out of it and the snuffer was all the way to the top and all was right. Soon we could see Anegada in the horizon. We headed into Setting Point thanks to the expert guidance of Walker Mangum's waypoints and soon we picked a mooring in front of the Whistling Pines. (14nm)

Once we were secure a gentleman came by boat to give us his brochure for the Whistling Pines, but we had already decided that we were heading to Neptune's Treasure for supper. We decided to head in to place our order and look around a bit. Once at Neptune's we tried to order our dinner, but they were already out of Lobster, I asked what they recommended otherwise and unfortunately the lady taking our order made it seem like they would rather not have our business. I am not sure what exactly was up as we had had such great service and food there last year, but we finally decided to walk over to the Whistling Pines and low and behold they had Lobster, we placed our orders and then headed back to our boat. I was a little apprehensive when we arrived for dinner and saw that we were the only people there other than one other couple. My apprehension was soon put to rest when the food started to arrive. Everything was really good! The lobster and all of the other meals were fabulous, there was a nice hint of smokiness from the barbeque, we were sitting right at the beaches edge and the service was fantastic! I couldn't believe we had never heard of this place and why was nobody there? This was the night of the full moon and it was absolutely gorgeous, especially as it snuck out between the pine trees branches.

Next we headed for Jost Van Dyke. Our plan was to get to the Bubbly Pool and Foxy's Taboo at Diamond Cay. We started out with a good wind directly behind us. This had all of the makings of a great sail. Unfortunately about half way across the sound we ended up having to turn the motors on to help us along. Even with little wind we did realize that the swells were quite high and that meant that the Bubbly Pool would be in good form. (24m) We arrived, grabbed a mooring ball, cleaned up a bit and decided to go for our hike. Since we had never been there before we figured we would follow the tracks in the sand and that worked for the first part of the walk. Jenny thought she had it figured out but the rest of us would not listen and in the end she was right. Once we asked someone they directed us exactly where she thought. We clambered over the hill of rocks, noticed the poisonous tree warnings painted in the rocks and wondered which trees we were actually supposed to stay away from. We must have paid heed as nobody came back with any sort of rash. Once we arrived at the bubbly pool we saw people standing around in a small pool of water and all of a sudden a giant whoosh of water came flooding in. Now that was awesome. We were directed to sit propped by the rock formation by a lady that had done the same last year and had gotten bruised when the waves crashed over her and she fell from her rock perch. Jenny was the only one of us adventurous enough to try. She got herself propped up just in time for a huge wave that completely covered her, so much so that the picture we have of her underneath the swell has no sign that she is even there. We met some nice folks from Maine while we stood in the pool watching the water flood in. They had come last year as well, but the swells were not up and it was a disappointing show for them. On our way back to the boat we stopped by Foxy's Taboo for drinks and some shopping. We were just heading back to our dinghy when a powerboat with 20 or more very boisterous people arrived at the dock. Some were getting off the boat, heading to the bar, others were dirty dancing on the dock, and our waiter was going to have some serious fun taking care of these people. It would have almost been worth heading back to see what kind of antics would have taken place but alas we headed back to our boat for a great meal thanks to Curtis, our BBQ chef extraordinaire.

We had another super sleep on the boat. The next morning, over the obligatory Coffee and Baileys we decided that we would head to White Bay for the day. About an hour later we were there and whoa it was packed solid, no mooring balls were left so we decided to anchor. Unfortunately, the anchoring went poorly we ended up too close to the rocks and with the swells the way they were we decided to give it up, head for Great Harbor and try our luck there. With hindsight, we should have headed there much earlier or we probably should have anchored over with all of the day sailor's right in front of the Soggy Dollar and then head to Great Harbor for the night to anchor once we had our fill of the beach. Anyhow, we will know to get there really early next year. (6m)

After we were safe and sound in Great Harbor, Bill and Jo and Jenny and Curtis took the dinghy back to White Bay to check out the Soggy Dollar. They enjoyed some lunch and drinks there while Andy and I stayed back on the boat for some rest and relaxation. They also checked out Foxy's and all that Great Harbor had to offer. We decided to stay aboard again that night for another great meal. This time we enjoyed Barbequed Pork Tenderloin. Curtis made 2 separate loins, one a milder sweeter one and the other more of a jerk treatment, for those who like it a bit more spicy. Both were good as we ended up trying some of each of them.

The sleeping that night was not nearly as enjoyable. Our mooring ball would be continuously overridden by the swirling tides and Bill and Joanne in the bow of the port pontoon seemed to get the worst of it. The next morning we were finding it really choppy so before the coffee was even drunk we were underway, heading to the Guana Island and the Monkey Point area on the way to Scrub Island for the night. As we motored along, I realized how much I disliked the motion of the cat; it was just not like being on a monohull. That was probably the most disappointing thing for me. I was in heaven every time we anchored, moored or were at a slip with all of the space and creature comforts, but as soon as we were underway there was really no spot that was great. We stopped and went into White Bay on Guana Island but decided it was still too rolly and there were already lots of boats already anchored, we continued past Monkey Point where there were a few boats on the moorings also rolling wildly. We looked on our chart and found Lee Bay on Great Camanoe to look like it could be a good candidate. We found it just that. Soon we were anchored and Jenny was out snorkeling! We barbequed our last of our food for lunch and enjoyed a relaxing time at anchor.

At around 4 we made our way to the Scrub Island Marina, where we took a slip alongside some other cats and a beautiful sailboat. (17m) Curtis our dock-master gave us the lay of the land. Jenny, Joanne and I knew we wanted to go explore the resort so off we went to make dinner reservations, ogle the beautiful pool area and shop. While we were on our excursion it started to pour rain, so we ducked into the bar for some drinks, 20 minutes later it was done and so were we as our server made our reservation for the evening at the restaurant, including making sure that Curtis had a candle in his dessert for his birthday celebration. After checking out the rest of the shops we headed back to the boat where we noticed that our Man Land (helm) cushion was missing. We looked around and there it was floating in the marina. Bill deployed the kayak and went to the rescue! A few minutes later he handed it off to Andy on the dock and all was well. We made sure all of the rest of the cockpit cushions were fastened properly and then got ready for dinner.
We headed up to the restaurant. This is not at all what we are used to in the BVI's. Even the best places we have been in the past are open air, on the beach, and colorful to say the least. This was more like what you would expect in a classy restaurant somewhere else, just not here. We arrived and were seated in the middle of the restaurant. Our server was fantastic. She made sure that I always had a full glass of wine, much to the chagrin of the others who seemed to be receiving a lot less...funny I didn't notice. All of the menu items looked great. We chose Lobster Tail in puff pastry, snapper and Coq au vin, all of the food looked amazing and it was quite good too. One thing we found strange was how loud it was. We seemed to be able to hear everyone in the room. We ordered dessert and Curtis' arrived with a candle and all of the servers in tow to sing a special Caribbean version of happy birthday. It was awesome. What fun. Even though we knew it was our last night on the boat we were all still in great cheer and having a blast.

We set off for Nanny Cay bright and early. As always; Andy expertly maneuvered us into the dock. (12m) We girls jumped off, also as always, taking back the rented fins, and picking up some last minute presents for home. Once the guys arrived at the dock we went for our last meal at Gennekers Café. Once everything was packed up we ordered our taxi and headed to the Ferry Dock.

In Charlotte Amalie there were so many cruise ships docked, it is such a completely different feel than the BVI. It is far more stressful and not at all laid back like the BVI. We taxied up to Miller Manor; I still do not know how those big vans can get through those small streets without seriously crashing them. Once there, Marge showed us great hospitality, Andy and I received our free Rum Punches (they were Mango and I highly recommend them). We asked them where they would recommend we go to dinner and they sent us to a little restaurant in the French quarter called Bella Blu in Frenchtown. Although it was a small place, and it was packed solid, we had fantastic service and a great meal. Our taxi driver, who was by far the funniest character we have met yet, took us back to Miller Manor. We sat around in the patio for a while before heading to bed already replaying the stories of our trip to each other.

The next morning the others were gone first thing while Andy and I had the luxury of later flights and some enjoyable coffee and reading on the deck at Miller Manor. The luxury was short lived once we found out that there had been a fire near fuel tanks at the Miami Airport and that our flights were delayed for a few hours. What was worse was that the others were all landed in Miami and were delayed getting home as well. Jo and Bill ended up the worst, not making it home for 2 days. After dealing with customer service all day we ended up being home by 3 am, just 6 hours late so as bad as that sounds we were very lucky in comparison!


Things that I will take away from this trip:
1. Following all of the TTOL advice has made each successive trip easier to plan and more fun!
2. We are monohull people, space and privacy is not worth it for us. There is a 54 foot Jeanneau available for charter through Horizon that looks like the perfect boat for us next time!
3. Flying to St. Thomas instead of Beef Island in the BVI's saved Andy and me $1000 from NS. Taking a ferry was an extra step, but a very enjoyable one with no problems coming or going. Again thanks to TTOL!
4. Provisioning through Bobby's and Tico's directly was a big savings and no more work than ordering through the Charter Company. We also did not have any food that we did not want.
5. We used about half of the ice by precooling everything that went into the coolers and by following Joanne's cooler rules!
6. Leverick Bay Resort is still our favorite stop, even if we did not get to the restaurant this time. It just gives us something to look forward to next time. Cindy is possibly the best server we have ever had.
7. Over all the service we had this year was superior to any other year to date.
8. Go to White Bay on Jost van Dyke as early as possible.
9. When things don't go as planned go with the flow.
10. The Digital SLR camera was absolutely worth taking, even though it is quite bulky. The pictures were fantastic.
11. Carry-ons only no suitcases, no lost luggage, at the front of all of the lines. Cannot be beat.
12. Yes it is possible to order too much Baileys.
13. I will do the trip report as soon as I get back next time, it is surprising the details that are forgotten in a month.
14. If you made it this far you may as well look at the pictures on facebook. Here is the link. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/fbx/?set=a.10150497840725251.636287.895120250

Comments [0]

Rainy and windy
03/07/2011, Home

We have just one week to go until we will be sailing in the BVI's again. This time we have Joanne and Bill with us again and friends of theirs Curtis and Jenny Pedwell. Due to the additional people we have decided to rent a catamaran. Andy seems to be the only one that is adverse to trying a cat but I think with all of the extra space and privacy he will grow to love it. I have spent a lot of the winter planning and dreaming of this trip and now it is finally happening. Sometimes the planning is half the fun. It is fun to research the various anchorages and restaurants and marinas. We have had so much fun in our past 3 trips and I cannot imagine it being any different this time.

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09/13/2010, Northumberland Strait

The final regatta of the year was the Earle Forshner we had a great crew in Nate, Bugden and Jason with Andy and I. We had some fantastic sailing in really low and scetchy winds. On day one we were across the line first and oh so close as the 4th boat corrected. There was only 30 seconds between the 2, 3, and 4 positions. Wings took it handily with 3 minutes to spare though. On Sunday we had better success and we ended up taking the race and the regatta. Wings won the Club Championship with their 1st in the Commodore's Cup added to the 1st on Saturday. We were extremely happy with our results and what was even better was the great weekend we had at the marina. Mike put on a great event as always. It has been such a great year at Barrachois with the new marina owners and the good vibes coming from everyone at the club. We really like all of our new friends as well.

Last weekend was supposed to be the last race of the year. The Northumberland Challenge, the one we look forward to every year. We were headed out on Friday with Mike, Heather, Nate, Andrea and Jamie. We were in great spirits and were even looking forward to the sail over. About an hour into the sail there was a clunk in the steering, I first wonderered if we had hit something as the steering was still working, but then Andy took over the helm and the steering went completely.

We decided to put the manual tiller on and limp back home. Once there Nate went below and found all of the broken parts and our dream of a great race was squashed. Andy got on the phone with Jim Snair and we ended up with our parts by Sunday. At least we will have a boat to sail for the rest of the season, even if we missed our favourite race.

Comments [3]

08/23/2010, British Virgin Islands

The BVI Reoprt was removed from our website to make space so here is the BVI report without pictures. Here is the Link to Pictures

British Virgin Islands, Feb 8-18, 2010
Andy and Kim and Bill and Joanne
Horizon Yacht Charters
S/V State of Play
Bavaria 50 (2009)

Our day of travelling from Halifax to Newark to San Juan and finally Beef Island, Tortola went very well. Andy and I arrived on time at Nanny Cay just as Bobby's provisions were being put away. After we finished putting the rest of the food away, we decided to go to Peg Legs Restaurant for some supper while we waited for Bill and Joanne to arrive. The day hadn't been too stressful but we were getting hungry by that time. Our flights had been on time and we had just taken a Cessna with Cape Air from San Juan and were still pretty excited about it. The plane flew so low and the views had been spectacular. Off we went through the marina to Peg Legs. We were lucky that they were able to take us even though we did not have a reservation (a lesson we learned for our next visit on the last day of our trip). We started with conch fritters then I had the tuna carpaccio with seaweed salad and Andy had a Peg Legs famous Pizza. It was actually so big Andy was able to take a couple of pieces back to the boat just in case Bill and Joanne did not get to eat on one of their layovers. After we got back to the boat we had another drink and waited not very patiently for Bill and Jo's arrival. They finally showed up and we sat on the deck and enjoyed each other's company maybe too loudly as the folks on Exit Strategy (our boat from last year) yelled over to us to be quiet...what us too loud! So we acquiesced and went below and stayed up a while longer catching up.

Day 1 Feb 9, 2010 White Bay, Peter Island
The next morning we woke early...much too early for poor Joanne...a theme that would continue through most of the next 9 days. So, first things first breakfast a few steps away from our boat at Gennekers Café. What a treat. Eggs Bennie for Joe and me, French toast for Bill and an English breakfast for Andy. Everything was good, the strong coffee was great and of course the girls won. Once we were done there Bentley was ready to go over the systems on "State of Play" That was really a job for Andy and Bill, so I went up to the Horizon office to our paperwork and pay for our overnight, provisioning, permits and all the rest. Once I found out we could save 5 percent by paying cash I used up most of our cash and then decided to get more cash at the bank machine. It was $2200...so that adds up! That was my first mistake and one that I would hear about for the rest of the trip of course. It would have been a nonissue if the bank machine actually had cash in it...it didn't. Lesson learned! In the meantime Joanne picked up all of the last minute provisions at the market (including a couple of blow up toys for us to float around on!) After a couple more trips to the office all was done and we had our complimentary cozy's that would keep our drinks nice and cool on our trip. Andy and Bill were done their system check and it was time for us to meet with Chris for our chart briefing. He was surprised to see my laminated itinerary sheets. I actually think he thought I was nuts. When I explained that we just used them as a rough guideline and we still wanted his input he gave us a few good ideas especially for more private spots with good snorkeling. Places he mentioned were Key Bay on Peter, Beneers Bay on Norman and a place that locals and cruisers like to anchor on the east end of Tortola called Fat Hogs Bay. Once we were completely ready...a last minute stop at the dive shop for fins and masks and to the marina office for ice and a cooler we were ready for Bentley to pilot us out of the marina. We dropped Bentley off and Andy took over the helm.

It was finally time to go. Funny thing is that we only were heading to Peter Island a short sail away so we decided to make the best of it, Andy gave the helm to Billy and he started hoisting sails. No need to make a repeat of our last trip's first half hour of sailing when Bill was seasick. Since we had heard from Chris to try out Key Bay we reached there first, there was already a boat in there that was rocking around and the North swells were flowing so we tacked away across to Norman Island's Beneer Bay, there was no need to end our sail that soon and there was absolutely nobody over at White Bay so another tack and a close reach was all it took to get there. Even the Peter Island Resort's beach with its palapas and beach furniture was deserted.

Andy got us anchored in as close as possible to the swim barriers. It was quite bouncy but it was just fine. A couple more boats came in but we were exactly where we wanted to be. The first thing we decided to do was have a swim. Diving off of the boat is always the best feeling and we were ready for a swim after being in at the hot marina all day. We swam and floated around on our new floating toys until we were ready to start thinking about something to eat.

Supper was mahi mahi with basmati rice, mushrooms, and corn. We had some wine and Bill and Andy enjoyed some rums. Eating up in the cockpit was wonderful and warm. We had lots of great laughs and what a great sleep! To finally be sleeping on a boat again was wonderful.

Day 2: Wednesday, Feb 10, 2010 -Marina Cay, Tortola BVI
The night was uneventful; some swinging around on the anchor was all. We woke early and Bill was quick to get the coffee on, this became the reason to get up each day, Bill's coffee with a shot of Baileys. What could be more decadent, ther than a swim to go along with it! Afterwards we lifted anchor and set off for the far side of Peter Island, out on the open ocean and then back around to run up the Sir Francis Drake Channel up to Marina Cay. On our way there we saw our first glimpse of the Super Yacht named "A" hanging out at Dead Chest, (exactly where a catamaran lost its' rudder a week later during the big swells). Just a short time later we saw the opposite of the Super Yacht A, an old tall ship schooner raising their sails. To compare the two is almost impossible but there they were to compare. We kept going until Marina Cay where we easily found a mooring ball, much to our surprise. Once situated it was time for a dive in to check the water. Again, when asked how it was I said "Brrrrr...cold" as a joke that would come with every dive. This time there was a lot more current than expected. You could almost swim in the same spot like a lap pool. We enjoyed the afternoon, boat and people watching, then it was time to get in the dinghy and try our hand getting pictures taken at the Pusser's Red Box as well as Painkiller's at the world famous Happy Aaaaar with Michael Beans, something that I had been looking forward to for months! It was simply amazing to me that we had not gotten to see his show on any of our previous trips, but this was going to be the one!

Once we arrived to the dinghy dock the red box was easy to find as was a local gentleman who was fishing for turbot. We wished him luck as we lined up for our pictures. Andy was sure we did not stand there long enough to get a good shot but hey we had places to go and people to see...of course as is always the case he was right and we have a couple of goofy pictures to prove it! Maybe that should have been an omen. We walked up to the top of the little island called Marina Cay to a very full and happening bar. Bill went up for the Pain Killers and we sat there and started to wonder why Michael Beans was not yet on stage. Andy and Jo were getting a little peckish and were talking fast and loose about going to the restaurant instead of the staying for the show. I was hearing none of that and slammed my fist on the table and said ...The only reason we are here is for Michael Beans and we are staying to hear Michael Beans...Once Bill got back with some very strong and very yummy drinks we sat back to wait for the show. Soon an older English sounding gentleman took the stage and said he was tonight's entertainment. WHAT????

He started up, all we could hear was feedback from the microphone and his guitar and every time he came anywhere near the mic he squealed so loudly it hurt our ears. Bill said, this must be a joke as a start to the show, but after what might pass for 3 songs we realized this was no joke and horror of horrors it was going on. The bartender started walking around trying to appease the crowd by explaining Michael was sick, but too late, the whole place was clearing out. Thank God we were at the back of the place so we could leave at will. I know Andy and Jo were wondering how long I would hold out as neither suggested we leave after my outburst from before, but both were greatly relieved when I said lets go.

Well, who really could complain, the weather was perfect the sun was starting to set and we were satiated with Painkillers! Well, maybe not quite. Now Jo was complaining of wanting to eat and eat NOW! So much to Bill's and my chagrin (there was chicken thawed and needing cooking) we went to the Pusser's Restaurant. We were soon calmed down by the setting sun, lots of beautiful boats, the beach and palapas! The food was even a nice surprise. I had fish escovitche a very nice Caribbean way to have it with the best sides ever, broccoli that tasted like it was just picked and plantain. Bill had Shrimp Alfred and Jo had a local chicken dish. I think the sides ended up as the best part of the meals. After a yummy meal it was time to get back to the boat, but of course not before a quick shopping excursion at the Pusser's Store. Then we settled in for some drinks in the cockpit and a phone call to the boys for Jo!


Day 3 Thursday, Feb 11, 2010 -Leverick Bay, Virgin Gorda North Sound
We woke up to another fantastic morning. Many boats were in various stages of leaving but we waited and had a fabulous breakfast. We decided to make fish cakes for breakfast with the left over mahi mahi from our first night at White Bay. Andy had the idea to use the rice we had left over instead of the potatoes, I was against that at first but I finally got my head around how I could accomplish the task. I found some pancake mix in the pantry and decided that if I added egg and pancake mix to rice and fish it may just work. Then I thought we needed something sweet to go with it so I made chutney with the apples, oranges, maple syrup and some brown sugar and cider vinegar. It all worked out very well, both the cakes and chutney. While we were just finished a gentleman came by on a boat selling goods like bread, plantains, carrot loaf and a shirt for Andy and almost a big giant flower for our boat...we were able to say no to that thank God, because we did take a lot of heat for getting more bread since we had 2 full loaves untouched in our kitchen. But it was warm and fresh and we could not help it. He suggested we should go over to Trellis Bay where he came from and check out more local wares. We said we would if it was in the cards, but today we were heading to Leverick Bay in the North sound of Virgin Gorda. We had a reservation made with Nick at the Leverick Bay Marina and we were planning on staying on a finger at the marina there!

This would turn out to be very different compared to our normal mode of overnight stays. We were afforded this due to my belonging to Travel Talk Online, a Caribbean forum site with a BVI specific group with just about any info you could possibly find about staying and chartering at the BVI's. We were able to stay for $30 dollars plus $20 for power as a TTOL member. When you bring your receipt from the marina you also get $25 dollars off at the restaurant at Leverick Bay. We called the marina on VHF channel 16 and they did not have our reservation, but we then told them we booked with Nick and all was opened up to us! We docked at the end of a finger between 2 giant power boats...well I guess you would have to call them super yachts. They made our 50 footer look like a skiff. It was really something, being there was just awe inspiring.

Once we were docked Nick came over to introduce himself to us and welcome us and tell us the resort was ours to use. He definitely knows service. He even called me by name! Small little things will make all the difference in the service industry and he has figured this out in spades. Since we were there we decided to get some lunch at the beach restaurant, I really wanted a Chicken Roti and I was not disappointed. Bill and Jo fell in love with the hamburgers and Andy had lobster penne. He probably won that round. While sitting at the beach we watched a Super Yacht dock at the marina, Nick called over and said that the yacht was 174 feet long...wonder how much it would cost to stay overnight at the marina with that one? After lunch Jo and I decided to have a swim at the pool, it was a nice afternoon.

After returning back to State of Play we enjoyed a couple of drinks and spent the afternoon in wonderment of all that around us. This was a night for dinner at the Leverick Bay restaurant upstairs. We got dressed up in our finest (shorts and shirts for the guys and a sarong and dress for the girls; pretty good for a group of folks who take only carry-ons for a 10 day vacation!) and went to see what everyone was talking about on TTOL. We arrived, were seated and given menus. What a selection, everything looked so good, so good in fact appetizers even had to be ordered. We had Lobster raviolis, Caprese salad; our dinners included swordfish, grouper and chicken. All was scrumptious. The grouper was unbelievably good with coconut risotto and asparagus. Before we left the Chef came to our table and we asked him how to make the wonderful Coconut Risotto. This ended up being the very best meal of our trip and we would speak of it and compare it to all of the other meals for the rest of our time in the BVI's. Overnight we started to feel the swells start up while we were at the finger and the slapping had not at all slowed when we awoke.

Day 4 Feb 12, 2010, Saba Rock in the North Sound
If we had not made up our minds about staying the extra night we now had as another rolling night at the dock was not for us. Being on the outside of the marina with Northern swells equaled a rocking and rolling mess! The Jumbies and Friday Night Beach BBQ would have to wait until next year. We decided to make the huge trip to a Saba Rock mooring for the night. So on this day our shortest voyage of the trip would take place. Less than half an hour later we were on the mooring ball and tucked in for the night and it was still morning. At this time Jo and I decided that we really need to learn how to drive the dinghy so learn we did on our trips around the north sound. I lost my sunglasses, the day before so our first plan was shopping. It took a few pairs but I finally found some at a shop at the Bitter End Yacht Club. In the mean time, Jo found presents for the boys so we were both happy. We also tried to check out the pictures that were taken by Yacht Shots the day before but they were closed. Unknown to us we would have another chance to see them in just a couple of days.

After a walk around the beautiful grounds at the Bitter End Resort we went to our favorite lunch spot at the restaurant at Saba Rock. Of course we had conch fritters as a starter, it is kind of a must have wherever we go. The rest of the meal was yummy as well. Andy always has his favorite hamburger there...it has avocados as one of the garnishes and he just loves it. I had a chicken sandwich that was also garnished with avocados.

Our intention for the afternoon was to go to the private beach on the back side of Prickly Pear Island and go snorkeling as we have every time we have been to the BVI's but by the time we got back from lunch and discussed the swells and the fact that is must be nap time we decided to hang back on the boat. Tonight we were to have dinner on the boat so we barbequed the chicken and made chicken nachos. That night we started thinking about our trip to Anegada we would be taking the next day. Since it was to be our very first time there we made sure that we had all of Walker Mangum's waypoints in our GPS's and had a game plan for the next day. We were set!

Day 5 Feb 13, 2010 Great Harbor, Jost van Dyke
When we woke on Saturday Morning we checked the weather, northern swells up to 10 feet and small craft warning, and then we saw a message was left on our phone by Chris at Horizon, they were not allowing their boats to go to Anegada until the swells diminished. So now we had to make some decisions. We had already spent a day not sailing and now it looked like we should stay put as well. Not really our idea of a sailing vacation so we went through our options for sailing, we would have to stay in the lee of the islands so Cooper, Norman and Peter Island were out of the question as we would be bobbing around like crazy and Cane Garden Bay would be the same. Over on Jost van Dyke we would be safe at Great Harbor so that is where we decided to head, chances are we would have to anchor there but it would be a great sail and we had not yet been to that side of the BVI's on this trip.

We were leaving just as everyone seemed to be heading in. Every Super Yacht in the BVI's appeared to be headed for the safety of the North Sound. As we went past Mosquito Island there were so many surfing waves we were amazed! All we needed would be a surf board and some serious guts. We headed out, climbing wave after wave and hitting some really decent speeds. Andy was tweaking the controls and sails while Bill helmed us through the troughs. We almost hit 10 knots; we were passing Cat after Cat and loving the sail and all of the views of waves crashing against the islands. The only problem was that we were at Great Harbor too quickly! There were not too many boats already anchored so we sailed in following the channel which we soon realized that we did not have to follow. Oh well, much better to be overcautious than to go aground.

Once we were in the harbor we found a great place to anchor and soon found many more boats coming in and anchoring. It became a great afternoon of people and boat watching. Andy and Bill especially enjoyed it when a new boat came in loaded with women who were sunbathing almost nude on the rigid coach-roof. We soon realized that those ladies may be more interested in Joanne and me than the boys. That boat was later dubbed "The Lesboat". Supper was BBQ Shish kabobs and afterwards we watched lots of boaters coming from and going to Foxy's. The coming from was definitely a lot louder than the going to so it would seem that Foxy's was living up to its reputation as a fun place to party!

Day 6 Feb 14, 2010 Saba Rock, North Sound Virgin Gorda
The next morning we woke to equally high swells and again we had to decide what to do next. This time we toyed with the usual places knowing that we still wanted to get to Anegada the next day so we finally decided that the best move would be to go back to the North Sound and be ready for an early start to Anegada on Monday. Before that we would have to see Foxy's close up. An quick trip in the dinghy to the dinghy dock in front of Foxy's and we were there. We started shopping and I noticed that someone was singing at the restaurant. It was actually Foxy himself. What a treat, I had heard that due to his health he was no longer able to play but this impromptu concert on a quiet Sunday morning was great.

The sail back to the North Sound as again fast and furious. Once back there Joanne and I decided that the boys should take us out for dinner at the Bitter End Resort for Valentine's Day. Knowing that we needed a reservation we took the dinghy in. At the same time we went back to Yacht Shots and looked at our pictures. We couldn't pick one out so we decided to buy them online when we returned home. They were really great and we had lots to choose from. Later we made our reservation and went back to the boat. Once we were settled back in we watched a big yacht try to dock at the marina at Saba. It tried to back in a couple of times and then finally a "Rooster tail" power boat that was docked in the larger slip, moved for them and they were able to get in without any trouble at all. We had seen the rooster tail and taken a video of the actual boat going strong earlier that day. Our Valentines dinner was set in the most beautiful spot right beside the beach at the Bitter End. The restaurant was absolutely packed and some people ahead of us had been waiting over an hour to be seated. Fortunately for us we only had to wait for 15 minutes or so. Our waitress was very nice albeit overworked. Tonight Jo and I tried the surf and turf. A filet and a giant prawn were on the menu for us. The food was good but even better were the ambiance and the company. The highlight of the meal was the Key Lime Pie. I found Chef Winston Butler, from the Bitter End Resort's recipe online and included it here.
Key Lime Pie
Yield 1 - 9" pie
Ingredients
1 graham cracker pie crust
4 eggs separated, reserve whites
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1��"4 cup lime juice
8 Tablespoons granulated sugar

Method
Prepare pie crust as directed on box or package. Toast to a golden brown color in a hot oven and set aside to cool. Beat egg yolks until stiff and pale yellow in color. Stir in condensed milk and lime juice. Beat until well incorporated. Bake at 325 until the center is set but still quivers when the pan is nudged, 15 to 17 minutes. Let cool, and place lime filling in refrigerator to set. Prepare meringue by beating egg whites until stiff. Gradually add sugar. Beat until meringue reaches stiff peak or until sugar is dissolved. Fill pie shell with filling, top with meringue and place under a broiler or in a very hot oven; until meringue is golden brown. Freeze before serving.

Coming back to the boat we notice there is quite a party going on the big yacht at Saba. At one point a fight even broke out amongst a couple of gentlemen. Soon it was all over, the music stopped and it was back to normal in the mooring field.

Day 7-8 Feb 15-16, 2010,
Setting Point, Anegada
In the morning I made the call to Horizon to see if we were cleared to head for Anegada and we were. Less swells, no small craft warnings all is a go after a 2 day wait. We didn't get away immediately as the morning has to start out right and that means Bill's coffee with a shot of Baileys. So far every morning started out this way and we were certainly not going to change that now.

Once underway and out of the sound we seem to be really cruising along, leaving many boats in our wake. We thought we were unstoppable until a single cat passed us. So we were not infallible but we were faster than most boats out there, at least in our minds for sure. Everyone who sails knows that if there are 2 boats on the water then there is a race and this time was no different. We were doing our best to race everyone out there. Just as we assumed everyone else out there was doing the same. It only took a couple of hours and we were there ready to enter the channel. We followed Walker's instructions and voila we were there. All of the concerns we had regarding the 7 foot depth of our keel being too much for Anegada were unfounded and we simply took Walker's advice on anchoring for deep keeled boats and we were snugged in for the next couple of days. It was very evident however that there was still a major swell going on and swimming from the boat a normally easy feat that we do off and on all day was much more difficult and the use of a line the keep us from floating away was necessary most of the time.

As we enjoyed the boat watching in our new anchorage we noticed a couple of Sunsail boats coming in under sail (definitely not recommended by Walker) on the far end of the bay. As far as we knew the only way in was through the channel, but hey, maybe they knew something we didn't. Well a few minutes later we found out in fact that they did not know what they were doing as they went aground hard. The second boat was able to turn back before they had the same fate happen to them. For the whole afternoon they attempted everything possible to get unstuck and a couple of times they appeared to be free just to go aground again. By the end of the afternoon they finally freed themselves, motored in the proper channel and promptly left for Palmetto Point with their friend in the other Sunsail boat in tow. We surmised that they did not want to be the talk of the town and decided to hang low away from the crowds. For self proclaimed professional boat watchers like us it was a great day of surmising.

While we were keeping an eye on the Sunsail boat we were also keeping an eye on our anchor making sure it was secure in the rough seas. Once we were entirely happy with our anchor we decided to make provisions for tonight's supper at the Anegada Reef Hotel as well as to procure a rental jeep from DW Jeep Rentals for the next day. We called the Hotel where we ordered a couple of Rock Lobster (for Joanne and me) fresh Wahoo for Andy and Swordfish for Bill. The next was for the jeep, for $65 we could have a Land Rover for the day to go to the various island hotspots.

That evening we took our dinghy over to the hotel for the happy hour and beach barbeque. The smells were incredible coming from the barbeque pits and the rum smoodies were good on all other fronts. We were seated outside at the hotel under a portico as there were concerns there might be rain that evening. There never was rain but that was OK and it made for great ambiance as we ate our scrumptious fish. I enjoyed the body of the Caribbean lobster better than any lobster I had ever had before, but the tail was not as yummy as ours are at all. Once we were almost finished our meals our server came over and showed us how to really break into the "best portions" up in the head and in the small knuckles. What a treat. After supper the dinghy ride was pretty rough and we all came back to State of Play soaking wet. No worries though, even at night it is hot and the ride was refreshing.

In the middle of the night the swells were getting worse and at one time Joanne and I were both up on deck feeling less than secure with our surroundings. At one point Jo asked me if we could capsize and I tried to explain in my tired grogginess that in fact we could not. Well that was a relief to her but it still didn't make it possible for her to sleep down below. She set up a makeshift bed in the cockpit and did her best to sleep. I was up a couple more times checking the anchor alarm and looking out to check our bearings but we did not move all night. We all woke up a little worse for wear but Bill's coffee and Baileys soon hit the spot and we were soon ready to meet our jeep.

For the past couple of days Andy had been fighting a cold and today it really seemed to be taking hold of him. He was trying his best to play get along but we could all tell that he wasn't well. Between him and Joanne they were 2 unhappy folks that morning. At one point I said that we were on vacation and there would be a moratorium on crankiness, all of a sudden they came alive and said they were not cranky, funny thing was they knew it was them I was speaking of and the crankiness seemed to stop at that moment. We all got a good laugh out of it and kept on our way.

The Land Rover we rented was a great little SUV and that is exactly what was needed. I am not sure what the others expected the roads to be on Anegada, but I was surprised that they were 90 percent dirt paths through thickets and grassed areas. As well there were no road signs to speak of and it became very apparent that it was going to be line of sight driving just like most of the BVI's are line of sight sailing. We first headed for Loblolly Bay and Flash of Beauty for our first stop. The water was extremely rough and the undertow was pretty extreme in places. Jo and I swam for a bit but then went back up to the beach to enjoy the sun. Bill and Andy got out their snorkeling gear and checked out the local underwater sights. There were not a lot of fish to see as things were so rough but they managed to see a few fish including a barracuda. The corals were Ok but the water was pretty roily with sand so it was not a great show. Up on the beach it was amazing watching the waves breaking over the reef.

After the guys had their fill of snorkeling we headed on to Cow Wreck Bay. The home of Walker Mangum and what are reputed to be the best hamburgers in the world! We arrived at the bar had some drinks made up and ordered a round of Hamburgers. Our busboy Henrique was just 3 years old and wearing just a pull-up diaper and a t-shirt. His grandmother asked if it was OK that he served us. Well of course it was. We all got a kick out of seeing him carry over our ketchup and silverware. It really was cute. Joanne gave Henrique a tip and he promptly took it to the cash register. He was certainly being well trained. So our burgers arrived and they were good but not the reported best on earth. Next time I think it will be the fish sandwich and conch ceviche.

In the meantime we had a great look at the beautiful beach, the waves crashing and decided that of all of the places on Anegada, that would definitely be a place for a second visit. After lunch we continued along the "road" to the far end of the island and saw the cottages at palmetto point that are being eaten by the sea. Apparently just 5 or 6 years ago they had plenty of land ahead of them, but the developers decided to remove the native shrubs from in front of them to make them look more resort like and in doing so took away the only chance for soil retention and now only a couple of the cottages were free from the perils of the sea. If we go back next year we will definitely want to look at them again to see how much more has been lost.

Before taking the jeep back we tried to find Neptune's Treasure to make our dinner reservations, we even back tracked after getting fuel to top up the Land Rover. There is only one road and it was along there somewhere, we were simply unable to locate it. Anyhow, after dropping off the Land Rover we were easily able to dinghy to the hotel and make our reservations for that evening. Again we had to pre-order. There was a wonderful assortment of fresh caught fish to choose from. We headed back to the boat, watched a kite-surfer spend the afternoon surfing the bay. A couple of huge cats came in as well. They were not like typical charter cats; these were more like Super Cats if there is such a thing. On our way back from dinner we cruised over close to them for a better look. They had fish lights glowing below the pontoons. I was wishing we could see the fish they were attracting. At that point I figured we needed a fish light! Luckily for us the swells had settled dramatically and we all slept much better that night. We knew we would be heading back to Nanny Cay tomorrow and we all had a feeling of wishing it wouldn't end.

Day 9 Feb 17, 2010 Great Camano then home to Nanny Cay
The next morning we were ready to take off with not a lot of wind. We decided to cut in between Great Camano and Scrub Islands to get back and anchor for lunch at Cam Bay. There was not a lot of wind but we made the best of the day. It was hot and once we anchored for lunch we were quick to go for a swim. After anchoring the same big cats arrived in the bay with the same idea we had. We barbequed what food we had left, it was quite yummy and we were having a jolly afternoon. There was a really interesting house above where we were anchored, it had 3 separate sections to it and the glass walls all slid to open it up to the outside, (the next day in the airport the house I noticed the house was featured in a magazine for sale for 1.8 M).

After we were done lunch I took the last opportunity I had to jump off the bow of the boat. Climbing up onto the rail was the scariest part. Jumping was actually easy. We swam around for a bit. Joanne decided she wanted to learn how to bring up the anchor so she helped Andy with that chore and we were off.

Sailing by Marina Cay, heading back to Nanny Cay, we realized although we were still in the BVI's we were in fact headed back to the real world and our next destination would be the last. The wind was pretty slow and we were not at all in a rush to get back so we sailed along taking in the sights all around us. There were so many boats in the Sir Francis Drake Channel. It is interesting to see all of the different types, from charter sail boats to cruisers, cats of all shapes and sizes and powerboats, super yachts and more. There is a boat for every boater. Anyone who enjoys the water is represented here.

Not long after, we headed into the fuel dock at Nanny Cay. Andy made another great landing as we always expect but apparently everyone around expects just the opposite. A local man working on his boat made a point of coming over to tell Andy that was the best docking he had seen in months and then to confirm it with the guy filling our boat with fuel. We all giggled. Chalk up one more for Andy! It was a great way to end the trip we all thought. Bentley arrived soon after we paid for our fuel ($85) and water to pilot the boat back into its' slip. Wonder how well we would have made out trying to maneuver around all of the boats in the marina...probably would have been just fine, but it is a smart policy and if most charterers cannot dock at the spacious fuel dock it is probably for the best.

While Bentley was giving us our final debriefing we asked if there was a Sailing Cat around that we could look at for future consideration. He took us on a Lagoon and a Fontaine Pajot. The Lagoon was huge. It had seating areas for a crowd and 4 great cabins and bathrooms. It seemed like a different world than living aboard a monohull sailboat. The Fontaine had a canopy over the steering station that prevented you from tacking to starboard but other than that it was pretty remarkable too. It was hard to imagine only being able to sail one way but I guess that could be one of the reasons you see Cats without their sails up so often.

After getting straightened away, booking our taxis for the morning, and showered in the BVI's best showers we went to Peg Legs for a final dinner out. We made a reservation and were rewarded with a table immediately while others sat in the waiting area. Another good meal was had, this time a seafood pasta dish that was the special of the evening. It was not to the standard set at Leverick Bay but it was just fine. We spent the last night much the way we spent the first enjoying each other's company in the cockpit of State of Play. This time we did not hear complaints from our neighbors though. Maybe there was nobody on the boat next door or maybe we were just being that much quieter.

Day 10 Feb 18, 2010 Home
Bill and Joanne had an early flight so they were first to leave. We awoke to another beautiful day of 29 degrees incidentally the same temperature it was every day, cleaned away what was left of the provisions and tidied then went to the Genneker Café for our final act of vacationing, a really good strong cup of coffee and a breakfast burrito. Our drive arrived on time and we were off. It was surprisingly busy on the road; it almost seemed like rush hour through Roadtown. Mike our driver, took us on an alternate route that took us all the way to the top of Tortola. Looking down we could see Great Camano, Little Camano and Guana Islands. It was a nice change from the regular route. We arrived at the airport were frisked twice, our bags were searched and then we were allowed to get on the Cape Air Cessna. This time I remembered to bring my camera aboard and actually got a video of the takeoff.

Another great trip to the BVI was over again. What a great trip it was, Horizon was again a great company to charter with and you could not find better travel companions than Bill and Joanne. Every day was fun and there was always a lot of laughing. We can't wait to go back next year.

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10-15k NE gusts to 20k Sunny
08/12/2010, Pictou

Crew: Kim and Andy, Nate, Andrea, Jamie, Kelly and Jon.
We left our boats (Prospector and Nut Case) for the week in Pictou so we could participate in the around Pictou Island Race. Every year it has been held in conjunction with the Trap Stright Memorial Regatta but this year they chose to have shorter in harbor races for the Trap Stright Regatta and to postpone this race for one week following. Since it fit neatly into our schedule and it would mean the possibility of getting in a Wednesday evening race in Pictou we decided to stay for the extra week. Usually this race has a good deal of waves and some wind on the North side of the island, both of which Prospector needs to help overcome the disastrous PHRF rating we seem to have. For one thing we definitely need wind to move as we weigh 9600k and our next closest rated boat is Nut Case who weighs well under half of that and the waves help also because of our weight, length, and large sail size compared to the other smaller, lighter boats that get pushed around in those waves.

There was wind running about 15knots most of the day, NICE! And there were some waves on the North side as well. We were expecting a tacking duel on the backside but the winds were funny and we ended popping the chute and riding waves at upwards of 11knots at times. When Andy called a jibe I was surprised and scared all rolled into one. Usually he would let Nate and Andrea jibe the pole but this time he figured we would need all the manpower available and so he went up with Nate and Andrea. The jibe went well especially since staying dead down wind is not easy while riding the waves, but as quick as usual the pole was jibed and things were underway in our new direction, and it was a much smoother point of sail as well. No more 11k but a very consistent 8-9k and who is going to argue with that. We debated trying to hold the sail at the Eastern point of the island but as soon as we turned we realized we could barely manage with the number one jib. We would have broached for certain had we kept up the spinnaker. At that point we realized it would be a close-reach all of the way into the harbor and that the trimmers would have to work their sails all the way in. Jamie did not disappoint and worked the jib the whole way in. I think he was pretty sore by the end of that! Jon stayed busy on the main as well.

We finished ahead of everyone taking 4 hours and 3 minutes which was a good feeling, but it was necessary as we were the scratch boat at 102. Mike and Heather on Nut Case were in 12 minutes later. We knew that we had them by about 4 minutes, but then came the 3 Tanzers all faster than we needed and the rest were well back. In the end we came first in class and 4th overall to Titan, Forerunner and Tango.

Afterwards we floated around, had a few drinks said congratulations to everyone as they finished. We then went to the yacht club for the results and unfortunately we were too late, the Notice of Race said there would be a BBQ, but there was not, we decided that we were in fact hungry so we headed to the Salt Water Café and had a yummy supper there. After we were satiated we headed back to the boat for more drinks, music and laughs. We met some really nice people, Maria and Steven Buck on the Hunter 28. Maria was a big fan of Michel's singing and playing and later we found out she had a lot of talent in that department as well. We ended up partying on their boat until the wee hours. We think we have them convinced to come to Barrachois for the Earle Forshner Races in a few weeks. It would be great to see them again.

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Sunny, 0-10k NE
08/05/2010, Pictou

Last weekend was the Trap Straight Memorial Regatta in Pictou. We sailed up on Friday with Nate and Spencer. Well actually it was a long motor to Gull Rock and then a nice sail mostly under spinnaker into Pictou. The winds were pretty consistently less than 6k and we had to make it for the first race at 6:30pm so we were not messing around with trying to do much sailing that may or may not get us there in time. That being said, Mike Hoyt on Nut Case singlehandedly ran 2 different spinnakers and at one time also ran the motor and only got in an hour behind us. Yes it would have been something to see. A mess of lines everywhere and unpacked chutes...probably worse than any race would be! You have to love Mike for his zeal though. Who else would do it by themselves and then decide why not put up a chute or 2?

After we arrived our additional crew started showing up. First Jamie and Andrea Adams arrived, then Kevin and Mike MacLean; Kevin owns Fun a C&C34 from Pictou and his twin brother Mike owns a Marine Consultants firm in the BVI in of all places Nanny Quay. Andy had asked Kevin to join us as he has raced in the Pictou Harbour for many years on his own boat and on Ian Wallis' Kirby 25 named Oh Chute. He turned out to be an asset on that front as well as many others over the weekend as was his brother Mike. Dave Bugden; who just returned from a ski camp in Oregon rounded out our crew! Nate and Andy and I could hardly believe we had so many people to sail with. It had been starting to feel like it was us against the world there for a while, but with this crew who knew what could happen.

While I set off after the skipper's meeting, positions were being decided back at the boat, Nate was bowman, Kevin was at the mast, Mike was mainsail trimmer, Jamie and Bugden would work the jib and Andrea was going to release the traveler as needed for Mike. Andy would take his position in the pit and I was behind the wheel. Right off the start I realized that this was going to be a crack crew. We had a decent start and no glaring mistakes of any sort were made. There was a decided lack of wind but the boat was moving along pretty well. Ghost had us all over the course but we came across the line a respectable 2nd and were very pleased with the outcome. Afterwards we had some drinks, discussed how things went and took the boat back to the Hector Quay Marina. The plan all along had been to all go to the Pictou Yacht Club for the results and mussel boil and sail back on Nut Case at the end of the night. We had already dropped Mike and Kevin; the PYC mussel cooker for the night, off on Oh Chute, after the race so it was just a matter of getting the rest of us there. It did not work out so well though. The rest of the crew decided that supper was of the utmost importance and not the results so they ended up dropping me off at the club, where I found out that we came fourth overall and had beaten Bill Stright on his Tanzer 26 named Titan. Wow, that was the first time we ever had done that, what a high! Nut Case unfortunately was in 13th spot due to a foul and the resulting 720 degree turn they had to perform. Not such a good thing in a race with almost no wind for sure. Mike sailed us all back to the Hector around 11 and then we stayed up and hung out on Steve and Patti's boat (Ever After) until about 12. It was a great night!

The next morning we had breakfast at Deb's Hidden Café and then I took Kevin and Heather to the skippers meeting. We found out that the bouys in front of the barges were off limits; something it would have stood us well to know the night before when Oh Chute called bouy room and we were forced up into a poor point of sail to get by. This morning we had Jason and Danielle joining us as well so we were loaded up pretty well for crew. Bugden took over the bow as Nate was not feeling well when he got up and decided to go home for the rest of the weekend. Jason took over for Bugden on the jib. Danielle and Andrea were rail meat unless Andrea was needed on the traveler, which unless there was to be a sudden change in the wind would not be needed at all. One trick that Mike showed us the night before was to release the back stay on the tacks so that the main would not hook it in light wind. That was an amazing thing as I usually have to bang the backstay to get the main off, causing the boat to go off course usually and worse yet rocking the rigging in light wind, both of which slow us down. With that tip the main came around smoothly and was just repositioned after the tack was complete with no fuss at all!

It was fun hearing all of the twin's stories about racing in the BVI's as well as Mike's trip from Newfoundland to Chester on a sailboat that ended up turtling while he was sleeping. No one was hurt and the boat corrected itself but the guy that was on the healm was relieved of his duty and nobody slept for the rest of the night. They were all very lucky! We also found out that Mike has his 100 tonne captain's license and is regularly taking boats to and from the BVI's to the states. We will definitely have to look him up on our next trip to the BVI's!

As for the races, things went pretty well, we took a 9th and 11th which we were not pleased about that day, but when you are riding in very little wind and the races are just a couple of hours long each it is tough to get ahead. Bugden left after the first race so we were down a bow man again. We decided to call Kevin the Bowman Killer after that. We decide to try Andrea on the bow with Kevin and she was a natural, he was able to teach her all she needed to know and she made it through until the end! One highlight of the day was the start of the second race. We had a game plan that would have us close to the mark at the start but the wind kept shifting on us, in the end we were able to do it, we turned up and yelled up up up on no less than 5 boats including Ghost! It was great, first across the line and leeward boat! Soon after the light winds let us down but it was great while it lasted. We had pretty decent tacks, although we were having problems with the guys trying to use the self tailer instead of one tailing for the other. We only had a couple of Spinnaker jibes but they went well and we were very pleased with how well Andrea was doing with Kevin! She was like a sponge, taking it all in. We were teasing her saying that she would have to start getting attitude like a proper bowman! We told her to practice on Jamie on their boat calling for lines etc! we also said she would have to watch the youtube video called the samarai douse...I hope she does before this weekend, we need her fired up for sure!

After the second race on Saturday we did not get back to the club, instead we decided to go to supper at Murphy's fish and chips. That is a whole other story that could have it's own blog post. Suffice it to say eating at a restaurant with Peter Nelson is almost as bad as it used to be with Don Sutherland. I believe he left some expletives in the guest book that may have to be removed to keep it a family friendly place! We settled back at the boat where Little Mike; Nut Case's crew that they had during Charlottetown Race week played guitar and sang. He knew tonnes of great tunes including some Jack Johnson! We loved it. He was so good people were standing on the upper dock watching and clapping as he finished each song. What a great night again.

Sunday brought a new race, one that Propector could actually excel at! All the way up to Gull Rock and back, however, as always there would be a twist. After all of that we would continue on to do another hour or so in the harbour. Eghads! With no wind to speak of again we headed out, things were ok and we were looking at 5 knots of wind. We kept up and played the left side of the course to our advantage. Mike gave Jamie and Jason some pointers on the jib sheets and we were off, we made tack after tack with not a mistake. We decided to stay close to MacDonalds point and it paid off, all of the boats that went right fell into some sort of netherworld and they were all behind us at the turn. That actually played out well for us as we were able to cover Nut Case from there all of the way up to Gull Rock. We kept them in our dirty air the whole way making it impossible for them to point at their normal angle. None of this would have worked if our tacks were not right on and we did not miss one! We were flying high. By the end we were made it to gull rock 8 minutes before Nut Case!

Then things went to crap. There we sat virtually going backwards at the Gull Rock Bouy until Nut Case caught up, we started moving again but not very fast, we were pleased to see .87k of speed over ground believe it or not. We were still leading but they were on the inside track moving faster and then they passed us and there was nothing we could do but watch. The ferry passed in front of us and later we found out that Charlene, Nate and Grace were on it! Unbelievable. Anyhow, we worked hard and when we got to the first of the inside the harbour portion of the race we were almost caught up again. There was actually more than 10k of wind and I really thought we could take them. We did not. We ended up a minute or so behind them and at least an hour behind Ghost, who ended up taking the bullet for the race and second overall for the weekend.

Overall it was a fantastic weekend, the races were great with true upwind and downwind legs, we could have used more wind but that is what it is to race sailboats. You just never know!

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