Four couples and two singles went in together to rent a 51 foot sailing catamaran and we were the crew. This trip was challenging in that while we had an experienced sailor for our captain, but the rest of us were amateurs. Some of us had some sailing experience, but on much smaller, simpler boats. Our captain, Steve, (the one in the yellow shirt) taught me a lot on a previous trip and that was a help on this one.
Pat and I flew into St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands (USVI) on March 26th around 3:00 pm. Of course, that meant that we left Seattle on a red eye flight around 10:00 PM on March 25th. We did sleep a little on our flight, but I can’t say we were well rested when we arrived.
The guys began doing an inventory of the boat and function check on the systems. Most of the ladies (referred to as the “Mermaids”) headed into town to purchase our provisions for the trip. All of us had packed food and booze to reduce the cost of provisioning.
We departed Waypoints Charters in the Frenchtown Marina on the morning of March 26th. Our first stop was Christmas Cove and our first opportunity for snorkeling. I love snorkeling here, the water is as clear as tap water, and the coral and aquatic life is great! My big treat in Christmas Cove was celebrating my 75th birthday. Pat baked me my favorite cake and I even got to lick the bowl. Of course, I had more cake for breakfast the next morning. Happy birthday to me!
Christmas Cove was a quick overnight, but our next stop, Salt Pond, was longer. We did have a small problem at Salt Pond. Last year there were six mooring balls, but now there were only two. Fortunately, one of the sailboats tied to a mooring was leaving around 2:00. Butch and Drew took our dingy and tied onto the mooring to save it for us. We went back out of the cove and sailed for awhile until Butch and Drew let us know it was open.
Mooring is different from anchoring. When you anchor, you drop your anchor to the sea floor and it could damage coral and other aquatic life. When you moor, you find a mooring ball (a float with a cable to tie your boat’s lines to). The mooring cable is permanently attached to a huge eyebolt that is drilled and cemented into the sea floor.
Again, we had fabulous snorkeling. There was also a trail that Lynn, Pat, and I hiked to a hilltop where we could see the whole anchorage.
From there we motored to Soper’s Hole to clear customs to enter the British Virgin Islands (BVI). Here we had our first mishap. We were tied up to a mooring and getting ready to clear customs and get a few more provisions when we saw another boat on a collision course for us. They didn’t sound a warning horn so we didn’t have enough time to put fenders over the side, they hit us with a glancing blow on our bow. Fortunately, it appeared minor, but we were on a rented boat and we had to take it to a nearby marina where Waypoints had another operation. There the staff checked out the boat and we were good to go. We spent the night at that marina and we were off early the next morning.
Our next stop was Norman Island. This is one of the islands rumored to be the inspiration for Robert Lewis Stevenson’s pirate novel, “Treasure Island.” What makes Norman Island special are the caves that open on the waterline. They are a unique snorkeling experience and we had fun exploring them.
Our goal for the next day was the Baths at Virgin Gorda for a day mooring and spend the night at Dog Island. However, the seas were rough and the winds strong and we decided to bypass the Baths and go directly to the Bitter End Yacht Club at the north end of Virgin Gorda. The Bitter End is a very nice place with showers. Our friend, Butch, thinks the best feature of this place are the hammocks on the beach! He even found out who makes them so he can order one for himself. I have to say, the BOGO Rum Punches at the beachfront bar were not bad either! The ladies took advantage of the anchorage to do some floating.
We normally eat on board our sailboat rather than dining ashore and the Mermaids did a great job of producing some wonderful meals. No one lost weight on this trip! While we were at the Bitter End we were treated to some great rainbows!
However, that night we had an unwelcome surprise. It was in the wee hours of the morning that I felt a big bump and heard a loud thump. I quickly went to the deck and found our captain, Steve, on the bow, and saw our mooring lines were dragging in the water. I saw a boat in front of us and thought, “What are they doing motoring through the moorings at night?”, but quickly realized WE were the ones moving. I recovered our mooring lines and Steve went to the helm to get control of our boat. Even now, we still don’t know what actually happened, but we had become unmoored and were drifting through the mooring field. The rest of the crew came on deck and we tied off to the nearest mooring and assessed the damage. We were in good shape, but it appeared we had hit another catamaran. Steve exchanged information with the captain of the other boat and we went back to bed, shaking our heads and wondering how it could have happened.
The next day we headed for Anegada. This is the farthest most island in the BVI, and a stop not everyone makes due to the distance. It was a breezy, but easy run, and we wanted to arrive early enough that we could get a “first come, first served” mooring for a couple of days. We had a good choice of moorings and we relaxed while preparing for the next day. We rented a van and traveled around to our favorite spots. First, was Tipsy. This is a neat beach bar with corn hole and pool tables. The beach is nice with chairs and loungers to relax. I had an opportunity to find a geocache, my first in the BVI! From there we went to the Anegada Beach Club for lunch. This place has some very nice beach front glamping tents. What a nice romantic getaway these would be! The service was great and the food delicious!
Our last stop before returning to the marina was Maho Bay in the US Virgin Islands National Park. This is a nice, sheltered anchorage. Again, the snorkeling was fantastic! During our stay here, we were able to see some sea turtles with remora attached to their shell and underbelly. Remora use suction to attach themselves to other creatures, such as sharks and turtles, often acting as cleaner fish, feeding off the parasites of the host. In addition to parrotfish, grunts, squirrel fist, and angelfish, we also saw a couple of stingrays. This was a great stop for underwater photography!
Unfortunately, our time in the Virgin Islands was drawing to a close; and we had to return to Waypoints in the Frenchtown Marina. The Mermaids did some final shopping and found a great restaurant for our final dinner ashore.
On April 9th we boarded our respective flights home. For Pat and I that meant a thirteen hour flight. We were certainly ready for a good night’s sleep once we got back to our home!