We rented the boat in Road town and from there we headed off to Soper's Hole where we hooked up with "Vagrant" and our friends that we had sailed with from Nova Scotia. We ad a great evening enjoying good company and a new location. The great thing about the BVI's is that everything is pretty much within eye site or a quick sail. A few of the destinations we hit during the week include the Bight, home to the Willy T's a floating bar & restaurant, Jost Van Dyke home of Foxy's and the Soggy dollar (along with several other great spots), Virgin Gorda, home of the Bitter End Yacht club (very nice) and Spanish Town (which has a great Marina). What an awesome vacation which I would highly recomend to anyone who enjoys boating and great weather.
I left the boys in Jost Van Dyke and headed off in the Ferry (with a few stops in between) to meet Joyce at the Airport in St Thomas. I didn't really have all my cylinders firing after three days with my friends so I was a bit unsure of what flight Joyce was coming in on. I solved this problem by just standing at the head of the receiving line for every flight until I saw Her pretty face coming towards me. Wow I really missed my Girl, I know, I know. Once we said our hellos and several ferry rides later we were back on Tortola. We grabbed a cab down to Cane Garden Bay, since the crew was taking the boat over there and Joyce wanted to catch up with everyone. Surprise there was no room at Myatt's so our cab driver hooked us up with a nice Villa, this took some time. What a nice spot For Joyce and I to spend our 1st night together in the BVI's. The deck was huge and the sound of the birds at night was really nice so we enjoyed some Redc wine on the deck and I enjoyed my 1st real shower in 9 days. The next day we spent some time with the crew before heading off to Road town to see if we could get a charter boat. We called the same cab driver for the night before since he had been so helpful and he showed up on time with his wife to give us a lift into Road town. As Luck would have it his Wife was on leave fro the Moorings charter company and gave us some great advice. She said go in and ask to see the local booking agent and negotiate your charter through them since they represent several different charter companies. We checked into a hotel again with the help of our cab driver and had a nice evening and prepared to hunt down a boat the next day. After breakfast the next day we headed over to the charter spot to find the local booking agent. The agent was terrific and couldn't have done any more for us. She knocked 30% off because she liked us and gave the 1st night free since we were waiting For My friend Jim and his Wife Freda. We had a Beneteau 43.5 called Tom's Cruise for 9 days for $2600 USD, sweet. Let the cruising begin.
We rented the boat in Road town and from there we headed off to Soper's Hole where we hooked up with "Vagrant" and our friends that we had sailed with from Nova Scotia. We ad a great evening enjoying good company and a new location. The great thing about the BVI's is that everything is pretty much within eye site or a quick sail. A few of the destinations we hit during the week include the Bight, home to the Willy T's a floating bar & restaurant, Jost Van Dyke home of Foxy's and the Soggy dollar (along with several other great spots), Virgin Gorda, home of the Bitter End Yacht club (very nice) and Spanish Town (which has a great Marina). What an awesome vacation which I would highly recomend to anyone who enjoys boating and great weather.
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The last three days were picture perfect great weather really warm at night and great sailing. We were about 100 miles from the BVI's when we ran into a huge storm line/squall. The entire horizon was black and it was about 300pm. I haven't seen anything like this in my 30 years of coastal sailing so to say I was concerned as an understatement. I handed out life jackets while the skipper figured out our next move. We fored up the radar to see if we could find a gap in the wall to sneak through. The front seemd to moving east to west but was coming directly towards us as well. Fight or flight, you dont foght mother niture so we turned and ran away. It was a great call since the front finally moved past us and we only experienced heavy rain and 25 knots, awesome. The next day was clear and sunny and I was just coming on watch when we spotted land:) Wow what a feeling after 2000 miles to see those green hills of the Virgin Islands, very cool. We had been a dry boat (no booze) up until then but now it was time to have a few cold beer a pat our selves on the back, what a great accomplishment. Clearing in at Jost Van Dyke was a Breeze. Let the party begin, My friend Jim and I had decided we were going to charter a boat and have our Wives fly down so he could show us around and give us a good feel for the Islands, since Joyce and I were planning on taking our boat down the following fall. I called Joyce and suggested She catch the soonest flight possible and come down, Jim wanted to stay with Grant and help him with repairs etc, but I was too lonely oh well. The next few days with the Boys on the Island were outstanding, everyone needs a vacation like this:)
, maybe we both have over active imaginbationsThe sailing continues to be fantastic. I am not sure if I mentioned earlier but our auto helm on the boat doesn't work so we hand steer 7/24. Last night I was steering and my watch mate Jim was reading the stars were amazing, just the sound of the boat slicing through the water like a playful dolphin and some quiet singing...... Yep no lie I was thinking about big things world peace and why we have wars and if more people experienced this watery world we could all get along without the violence and that's when I started hearing singing, it was really quiet and you had to listen close but i heard sing and it sounded really cool. The other watch was sound asleep and I dismissed it as an over active imagination. The following day Jim mentioned that he may have heard singing last night, maybe we both have over active imaginations or maybe not, there is something about the ocean that makes you wonder......
What a difference a day can make at sea. I and the crew are all feeling great. We have a good breeze (15-20) and beautiful clear skies. I am calling each day to Joyce on the Sat phone for a quick chat and that makes me very happy. This is the best sailing ever. All those books and stories I read growing up about sailing are true this is as close to heaven as you can get.
Hi sorry for being away so long just a lot of stuff going on soi I will give the cole's notes version and bring you quickly up to present day. My 1st visit to Bermuda was awesome and cant wait to get back. We were delayed leaving by about 4 days waiting for a good window to Jost Van Dyke our destination in the British Virgin Islands. We left Bermuda quite hung over and on a grey day. Joyce was pretty upset with me as well since I hadn't phoned for a while, which is very unlike us. So feeling low very hung over and a shitty grey day to start our trip further south.
Today, since I hadn't gotten too far beyond St. Georges which is a pretty small town, Jim decided we should take a run into Hamilton which is the Capitol of Bermuda. We grabbed a public bus and that in itself was an adventure. The bus pretty much flies along on the left side of the road and brakes hard and swerves when meeting oncoming traffic. The roads aren't really wide enough for two vehicle's without going on the shoulder of the road. When I was walking the other day I had to turn sideways to allow the bus to get by, no lie:). The ride was really scenic and Hamilton is a nice small city with all kinds of greenery and colorful building's. After having a bite to eat we realized that the ferry to the dockyard was out of the picture so we wandered over to the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club. This place is great and we were given a warm welcome by the staff and members. Jim seemed right at home and it was a great time. On the return trip we decided to can it and the cabby dropped us off at Wahoo's where we hooked up with the rest of the Vagrant's to share stories about our day. What a great time I can't wait to get back to Hamilton.
We finally woke up to rain this morning (warm rain). After breakfast I decided to take our dirty laundry up to the laundry mat. After collecting everyone's contributions I headed out in the rain. Before getting to carried away I stopped by Wahoo's where my bartender Calvin had a nice Bloody Mary waiting, a civilized way to start the day. I arrived at the laundry mat a little later to find it pretty busy and I must have looked like I didnt have any idea what I was doing because a nice lady came over and asked if I needed help (i did). She asked if I was doing the laundry myself or wanted it done for $20, guess what my answer was:). After dropping my laundry I headed out in the rain and decided to swing by the White Horse to see what was going on. Grant dropped by shortly after I arrive at the White Horse so we soon began our day and moved on to Wahoo's. Time flies when your having fun and I was soon on my way to grab the laundry all dry and nicely folded, awesome. My day began pretty early and also ended pretty early so I missed a great opportunity. Grant and Stewart went to visit the owner of Doyle Sails Bermuda I guess he had a very nice place and they had a great time, oh well you cant do everything.
Wow I woke up to another gorgeous day with a lite head from the previous evenings celebrations, wallet check, passport check all is ok. I was a bit melancholy as I was missing Joyce and Today was my Son Josh's 26th birthday. I decided to take a break from the boat and go for a nice long walk since I hadn't been getting much exercise and I wanted to improve my low mood. I explored pretty much everything in St. Georges and took a walk up to the fort which overlooks the entrance cut into the bay. There was all kinds of sites nice homes, birds, great boats and friendly people. I swung into the White Horse for a bite and a beer and Jim dropped by to see how things were. My buddy JIm, you have to love him always looking out for his friends what a great guy. By the time we got back to the boat I was a new man and ready to keep calm and carry on. WE headed out to Wahoo's in the evening to see our new friends and Di Di one of the great ladies there took me out and showed me some "Moon Flowers" pretty cool. I borrowed a cell phone and gave Josh a ring to wish him happy Birthday so that was a nice end to the day. Nelow are a few pics from my walk.
Now that the initial excitement about our arrival in Bermuda was behind us we had a few boat chores to take care of. We removed the broken alternator bracket and I headed out with the bracket to find a welder. After walking for a hour I asked direction only to find out that I had passed the welder 55 minutes ago:). It was a great day for a walk so I headed back and dropped the bracket off at the shop who said they could have it ready the next day. After getting back to the boat we fixed a leaking window in the head which was also a pretty nice job. I removed the window completely cleaned off all of the sealant and re-bedded with 3m 4200. Hopefully that will work this time. After getting a shower I headed up town to see if I could find something nice for Joyce. Wow I really struck it lucky a found a nice little shop run By a Daughter and Mother team. All of their Jewellery was hand made on site and I picked a very nice necklace which featured a "Bermuda Long Tail" (a bird native to Bermuda) made of silver and a aquamarine stone. Long Tails come ashore between April and October to nest and spend the rest of the year far out to sea.Long Tails are very loyal and mate for life. They typically come back to the same nest and use it year after year. and use the same nest each year where they lay a single egg. Bermuda has recently taken steps to ensure the ongoing survival of these birds and have buit small igloo where they can nest with out being disturbed. You can lease an igloo to help out the long tails as well.
The day after was a little rocky. We were planning on a Tuesday departure, however mother nature had other plans and our new departure time is now Friday. Today is Sunday so not a lot of boat projects got done and we spent the day around St Georges and enjoyed the local hospitality. We heard about the US election results and were shocked to hear that Trump was going to be the next President. A big breeze was forecast so our neighbors were doubling up lines etc... WE were chatting with the crew from "44 North" and another NS boat we new pulled in beside us. Small world and of course we ended our day at Wahoo's.
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