Trip Highlights
January 2010
It has been a long time since our last sailing trip to the Virgin
Islands in 2000. Although I tried often between then and now, it has
been difficult to gather a crew. I tried to entice my children to go
but in spite of my offer to pay their way, their lives have filled with
family and job commitments that did not exist in 2000. Age has taken
its toll on most of our friends and they are no longer limber enough to
scamper around a boat and climb in and out of a dingy. Alice although
an excellent crew mate has "been there and done that" and would prefer
to travel elsewhere. I even wondered if I would be fit and able to
sail a boat at age 68.
A glimmer of hope appeared when our good friends Bob and Caroll Ann
expressed interest in a bare boat charter. They are our age and in good
health. They own a house on St John and know the Virgin islands well.
Alice considered my enthusiasm and her friendship with Caroll Ann and
agreed to go.
The planning began in earnest last June. Caroll Ann expressed some
concern about the heeling of a mono-hull boat and suggested she might
prefer a catamaran. Although I preferred a mono-hull and had never
sailed a large catamaran, I agreed to look for a suitable candidate. We
finally decided on a 36 foot boat called Rummy Cat. The boat featured
separate cabins in each hull, each including a queen sized bed and its
own bathroom. A large salon between the hulls had a kitchen and a
generous lounge area. The cock pit was large enough to include a small
table for dining outside. The rigging was standard with a single mast
and furled jib. Two engines (one in each hull) were used not for extra
power but for better handling when motoring. We placed a deposit on
the boat for a week scheduled in early January and the countdown began
for our sailing adventure.
Tuesday 1/5 2010
We flew from Tampa to St Thomas after driving to Florida. The drive was
necessary because we planned to stay in Florida after sailing and
needed our car. After arriving in St Thomas, a cab and ferry brought us
to St John. Bob Faucett met us at the ferry dock and we drove to his
house. The house sits high on a hill overlooking Fish Bay. On a clear
day St Croix is visible in the distance. After dinner we relaxed
and spent the rest of the evening catching up on our families and
discussing the sailing trip.
Wednesday 1/6
After a good nights sleep and breakfast, we spent the morning enjoying
the view, the sunshine, and our friends. In the afternoon, we all hiked
to some ruins about a mile from the house. The story goes that these
ruins were a public place where many communal rites of passage were
celebrated. Death, birth, and marriage were celebrated here in the
shadow of the Baobab tree. This tree is indigenous to Africa and stands
out in the landscape here.
When we got home it was time for a swim in the pool. Before long it was
dinner time and then time to pack for the week ahead on the boat. We
spent some time deciding what food items would be hard to get and
how we might bring them with us. We would be traveling by ferry
from the US-VI to the BVI and were not sure if food would make it
through the customs inspection. Tomorrow would be a busy and
complicated day. After packing it was about 10 PM and we decided to
retire early in anticipation of an early start in the morning.
Thursday 1/7
We were up by 6 AM and enjoyed a quick but delicious breakfast of
bagels and lox before leaving to catch the 7:30 ferry to Tortola. We
breezed through customs in spite of our cache of food and took a cab to
TMM Charters to board the boat that would be our home for the coming
week.
Our first impression of Rummy Cat was that she was roomy, adequate and
in very nice shape. Clare was assigned to show us the ropes and she did
a fine and thorough job of it. While her British accent was charming
she made sure she covered all the bases. Meanwhile Alice and Caroll Ann
took a cab to the grocery store and bought food for our first leg of
the trip. After loading everything on board, the final part of the
check out was a spin around the bay to get the feel of the boat. When
we returned to the pier, Clare jumped off and gave us a good shove to
start us on our way.
We motored out of the marina into Road Harbor and then headed for our
first destination on Norman Island . We took our time and treated this
sail as a shake down cruise. It took only an hour before Bob and I knew
we could handle the sails. Our leisurely sail continued until about 3 PM
when we took down the sails and motored into the Bight on Norman
Island. We tied up to an available buoy and began to unwind and relax
for the rest of the evening. Eventually Alice and Caroll Ann prepared a
wonderful dinner of pasta, shrimp, and pesto. After dinner we wiled
away the rest of the evening playing cards and then retired for the
night.
Friday 1/8
Everyone reported a good night sleep and it seems that we are easily
adjusting to life on the water. We all had plenty of time to prepare
our own comfort food for breakfast and then we left our anchorage at
around 8 AM. It was a short sail to the small uninhabited islands
called the Indians. We snorkeled for a while and then had to wait out a
rain shower. After the shower we set sail for Cooper Island. On the way
we encountered rough weather in a rain squall and made a run for Great
Harbor on Peter Island. After dropping anchor we swam and had lunch. It
was 4 PM by the time we caught a buoy for the night at Cooper Island.
We went ashore in the dingy and had cocktails at the Cooper Island
Yacht Club. I ordered Rum and Coke and commented that it was made with
plenty of rum. Bob reminded me of the legend that claims rum is cheaper
than Coke in the VI. We returned to the boat and cooked salmon on
the fan tail grill. After dinner we taught Bob and Caroll Ann a card
game called Nertz. The stars were out and we spent some time
identifying constellations before going to bed.
Saturday 1/9
After
breakfast some of us swam towards shore from the boat and snorkeled. It
was decent snorkeling but when I saw what looked like it might be a
waste pipe from the restaurant, we decided to head back to the boat. We
set sail for Trellis Bay on Tortola. It was a long NE sail with good
wind and nice weather. I took advantage of the auto pilot that I
thought I would never trust. It worked extremely well and made a
believer out of me. We arrived at Trellis Bay at noon and took a buoy.
A dingy ride brought us to the town of Trellis which included an
assortment of gift and clothing shops, a ciber cafe, and a grocery
market. The area near the beach included some interesting art work but
the art gallery was closed. Bob and I stopped at the bar for a drink
while the ladies walked along a deserted portion of the beach. The
girls returned to the boat while Bob and I scouted the two restaurants
in the area. We decided on the Last Resort and returned there for a
pleasant meal. After that we returned to the boat and did some star
gazing before going to bed.
Sunday 1/10
Breakfast was a creation of Bob's called Eggs in Purgatory. It
consisted of eggs poached in a red marinara sauce. We all decided this
recipe was a keeper. We waited out a rain shower before motoring to
Monkey Point on the north side of Tortola. This location was
recommended to us as a pleasant day anchorage by Clare before we began
our trip. We snorkeled there until lunch time. Bob has been looking for
a lobster to capture with his snare. He found one here but it got away
when Bob had to surface for air. He said if he was swimming with scuba
gear the lobster would be in our pot. But with snorkel gear the lobster
had the advantage. No lobster dinner tonight. After lunch we motored
back to Marina Cay which is located across the bay from Trellis. We
stayed the rest of the day and overnight here.
Monday 1/11
There was very little wind so we motored to the Dog Islands to snorkel.
Alice and I took the dingy to a beach near the west end of George Dog
island. There was good snorkeling on the north side of the beach and
Alice took pictures of the boat and plant life there. After lunch we
moved to Great Dog and snorkeled there. From
there we sailed to Leverik bay. Took on water and ice (free with
mooring ), and settled in for the evening . Dinner was pizza made on
the fantail grill. These personal sized pizzas
were made with tortias as the base and it was a two man operation. I
manned the grill while Bob prepared the pizzas. They came out perfect
with a crispy base and nicely melted cheese on top. Another recipe to
keep.
Tuesday 1/12
In the morning we cruised around the North Sound to look over the
facilities at the Bitter End resort and Sab Island. There were many
large motor yachts anchored there and it appeared that this was the
port of choice for them. Perhaps a 60 foot motor yacht has no need of
free water and ice. We sailed out of North Sound and snorkeled a while
at the north tip of Virgin Gorda and then sailed down wind to Yacht
Harbor. This is a large and very busy marina located at Spanish Town on
Virgin Gorda. However we were able to tie up at a pier while we shopped
for groceries and had lunch in town. When we left, we continued the
down wind sail all the way to Cooper island. We passed by the Baths
because there was not enough time to fit in a stop there. We settled in
for the night at Cooper and played cards after dinner until bed time.
Wednesday 1/13
We set sail in the morning for Benures Bay on Norman Island. This was
a very peaceful place to anchor so we stayed through the afternoon
snorkeling and relaxing. Then we sailed to the north harbor of Peter
Island. We moored here for the night and made reservations at the
Oceans 7 restaurant for our fair well dinner. We would have to pack
tonight in order to leave early in the morning to return the boat and
make our ferry connections. After dinner we talked with the owner and
he showed us the dance floor complete with moving colored lights. We
told him to leave the lights on and we began to dance to the music. It
was fun even for me and we were all sorry to leave. As we boarded the
dingy to return to the boat, it began to sink in that our time in the
islands was drawing to an end. Back at the boat, we got everything
ready for the busy day tomorrow.
Thursday 1/14
We were up early and after a quick breakfast we motored across St
Francis Straight to Road Harbor on Tortola. We had to stop at a fueling
dock to fill our fuel tank before returning the boat. While we were
there it began to rain and a beautiful rainbow formed an arc over the
harbor. It looked like the end of the rainbow was across the harbor at
the marina where we were heading. As we watched a second rainbow formed
offset from the first one. It was a spectacular site and we saw it as a
fitting end to a wonderful week of sailing. We used the radio to
contact the marina for directions to a pier. We set our bumpers on the
port side as directed but had to back the boat into the pier in the
rain. This was another first for me but it went well except for getting
very wet in the process. Clare came out to check in the boat and Bob
called for a taxi for the ride to the ferry to St John. After our good
byes, Alice and I had about two hours to kill before our ferry left for
St Thomas. We took a cab into Road Town and left our luggage at the
ferry terminal. We walked around town realizing the last time we were
here was exactly 36 years ago on our tenth anniversary. We found a
restaurant that served a great buffet for $15. We took our time and ate
enough to take us through the rest of the day. The ferry ride to St
Thomas was pleasant and on time. There were no problems with customs
and we were soon on our way to the airport. Our plane was on time and
we arrived back at Tampa at midnight. By 1 AM we were at Lynn and
Rosemary's house in Sarasota where a bed was waiting for us. It was a
long day of travel for us beginning with our sail boat ride, 2 cabs, a
ferry, 2 planes, and ending in our own car. Reflecting on all the
places we went and all that we did in the last 10 days, we have to
thank God for a safe return from an exciting adventure.
