In my first blog I said, “The weather in the BVI is said to be nothing but sunshine and temps in the 80s with reliable easterly trade winds.”

Wrong.

Today it was cloudy all day with rain off and on, heavy at times, winds gusting from the southwest and west up to 23 knots. Not at all what the BVI Chamber of Commerce promised. But, as they say, we made lots of really good lemonade out of the mess.

To start, the winds were very favorable for sailing. So instead of heading to Salt Island for snorkeling over an old ship wreck, we hoisted sails and set course on a beam reach (wind perpendicular to our course) and sailed just for the fun of it. We could see rain squalls in many quadrants so it soon became a game of dodging the rain. In all, we put in a good three hours with the sails full. Eventually Captain Jeff assumed command position next to Nana on the upper deck lounge chairs, directing Carter and me as we manned the helm and trimmed the sails. A great time was had by all.

Eventually the wind started gusting and the rain started catching up with us so we dropped sails and set off toward Salt Island. Conditions improved and once again we opted for sailing rather than motoring. Eventually we did get to Salt Island where Carter and I, now experienced hands at dropping anchor, learned the technique for picking up and attaching a mooring ball to the boat.

By then it was lunch time so I boiled up some hotdogs and we had a dog-and-chip meal in the boat’s cabin with the air conditioner running. 

Rain squalls continued to hit us now and then, becoming fairly steady by 3 PM. Jeff, Carter and I set out in the dinghy to snorkel the wreck of the RMS Rhone. She was wrecked off the coast of Salt Island in the British Virgin Islands on 29 October 1867 in a hurricane, killing 123 people. The Rhone was a two masted, iron-hulled steam-sailing vessel that served the Southampton-Brazil route. The wreck is submerged in 50 feet or so of water but much of it is visible from the surface. Today it is one of the most popular dive sites in the Caribbean.

Jeff and Carter made the swim; I elected to stay in the dinghy given the strong current and swells and also given the fact that I forgot to leave my glasses and hearing aides behind. Ah, the agony of old age.

Afterwards, the question was whether to take off in heavy winds and strong rain or to hunker down hoping for better weather. Our overnight goal: Spanish Town on Virgin Gorda island. The weather radar on my phone showed no break in the storms for some time so off we went, this time under motor power. An hour of cruising in heavy rain and seas later we arrived in only light rain and not-to-bad winds and dropped anchor along with others. The rain has let up, the sun broke through a while ago and so we’re going to set off for dinner ashore.

The trip to the restaurant was quite pleasant early evening sunlight. The climb up from the dinghy to the pier was a challenge but we made it. Dinner was great: Asian food with a steak for Carter. Nice sunset. Then back down into the dinghy, motoring through the dark to Casbah III right where we left her. 

Now for some games and sleep. We’re getting our sea legs; the rocking of the boat is quite relaxing and I swear, the restaurant was rocking back and forth even though it’s on solid ground.

 

 

 

So here we sit, dinner is over and all that’s left is to board our dingy and motor back to the next cove over where the Casbah III is anchored. Only problem: a big rainstorm has cropped up and so we’re waiting for it to die down before setting out. 

What a day it was leading up to this evening. Everything went pretty much as planned. All four of us ended up at Nanny Cay about 10:45. By the time Dom had given us the boat briefing, the provisions were on board and Jeff had passed his catamaran written test it was 2 PM and away we went. 

Dom then spent two hours testing Jeff’s ability to sail a catamaran. There were two main elements: docking and retrieving a man overboard while under sail. 

For me, the docking exercise was a real nail biter. We’re talking a 44 foot sailboat heading in and backing into docks with all sorts of other big boats maneuvering in the same cramped space. But Jeff did really well. Cats with motors on both hulls can literally turn on a dime. Jeff even managed to dock in a breeze that blew us away from the dock. I would have been nervous parking a Tesla in that watery equivalent of a Walmart parking lot on Black Friday. 

The man overboard proved to be more challenging. In real life if someone actually fell over the gunnel engines would be started and we’d motor back to pick up the MOB. What Jeff did was to do the whole thing without use of power. It took several attempts to time it perfectly so Carter could grab our simulated MOB with a boat hook. Again, in real life, we’d need only get close enough to throw the MOB a line or have him swim to the boat. It was an excellent exercise in the finer points of seamanship. 

Then back to the Nanny Cay dock area for one more docking exercise in heavy traffic and cross winds. Success, with Carter handling the dock lines. Dom signed off on Jeff’s test, jumped ship and wished us a happy week on the Casbah III. 

And there was Jeff at the helm of his first solo command. Out into the open water where we – Jeff and Carter – raised first the mainsail and then the jib. The operation utilizes motor driven winches, all done from the helm position but it does take careful attention to be sure nothing becomes snarled. Heading directly into the wind helps a lot.

Our destination: Cooper Island, an hour or more sailing time. One small catch: we’re supposed to be moored by 5:30and we were running late. So Jeff fired up engines, which added four knots or so. We dropped anchor at 5:45 only to find out that we were too close to another boat. We moved around the point to a different spot for our night’s resting spot. 

Jeff and Carter took a quick dip over the side and after showers we headed off for dinner in the dingy, a small zodiac style craft with a small outboard motor. It felt like run-a-dub dub three men in a tub, plus Nana. 

And since you’re reading this you’ve probably guessed that the storm abated and we bounced across the waves and made it home safe and sound. A round of four-handed cribbage and then everyone off to bed after a long day except, of course, for your long-suffering scribe.

The best part of all is that Carter took charge as the dingy captain, steering us through the field of anchored sailing craft. He’s a pro after all his Onawa boating experience. 

Only a few pictures tonight. Wifi is weak and I’m kinda tired.

 

Day 1 of most trips is a travel day and this was no exception. For us, 5 AM alarm, 8:30 AM flight, 11:30 arrival in San Juan, Puerto Rico, 5:00 PM departure to Tortola, arriving at 5:45 and at our sea-side hotel by 6:30. A long day.

Sightseeing wise, we had some nice views of the British Virgin Islands flying in. You can see various harbors similar to those we’ll be visiting, albeit on different islands in the BVI chain. A nice foretaste of what’s to come.

Our hotel, which we’ll be at only one night, is very nice. We have a cottage near the water. There’s a restaurant that we’ll try out a bit later. We kinda pigged out in San Juan eating mashed up plantains and yellow rice and pork and who-knows-what. But we’ll rise to the occasion. The only catch is that the hotel, while line-of-sight from the airport, is on the other side of a significant mountain that the taxi had to climb and descend. East End, the town through which we passed, still shows the signs of hurricanes.

Tomorrow Mike is going to pick us up, drive to the airport (30 minutes) where we will gather up Jeff and Carter (they’re overnighting in San Juan) and then go to Nanny Cay to start our yachting adventure. The wind forecast for Saturday and Sunday is for calm (5 mph) winds so our serious sailing may have to be delayed until Monday where ideal (15 mph) winds are forecast.

And dinner was great – outside, gentle breeze, warm temps, crashing waves in the background. Coconut shrimp, tropical chicken salad and Anagada Island conch fritters. Conch fritters are a local specialty, I guess, although I’m wondering if it’s like having aligator bites in Florida – something the tourists do to brag about back home. Anagada Island is one our ports of call so maybe we can try the real thing. But it was all good and we’re ready to wrap up this 16+ hour day.

We’ve traveled to a lot of strange places over the years and have traveled by all sorts of conveyances – trains, planes, automobiles, motor vessels, even the occasional donkey and, once and only once, on the back of an Egyptian camel. We’re about to add to that list.

The new place isn’t terribly out-of-the-way: we’re going to the British Virgin Islands, a part of the world tons of people have visited on cruise ships. But we’re not going there on a motor-powered vessel, we’re instead counting on wind power. We’ll be cruising for a week on a 42-foot catamaran, the good ship Casbah III. (Hmmm, wonder what happened to Casbah I and Casbah II; let’s not let our imagination run off into dark corners of hurricanes and shipwrecks.)

Our son Jeff, an occasional sailor of smaller craft, accomplished a bucket item (he’s over 40 so he now qualifies for bucket lists) over this past Thanksgiving when he signed up for sailing lessons and qualification testing in the BVI. He brought along as First Mate his neighbors’ son, Andrew, a high school senior. Together they sailed with their instructor for a week around the islands, trying out the various skills and techniques he needed to demonstrate to earn certification as a cruising captain of a monohull sailboat. They had a blast, Jeff passed with flying colors, and now he’s anxious to try out his skills all by himself.

The two of us plus Jeff’s son, and our grandson, Carter will be his first passengers. Actually, Jeff has designated Carter as First Mate. We’re delegated to the position of Deck Hand, meaning, I presume, that we’ll have to salute, answer “aye aye, sir” to Jeff and Carter and sleep in the fo’c’sle ahead of the mast. We’ll probably holystoning the deck for the entire week, when we’re not at the windlass setting the sails and hauling up the anchor.

But not to worry. The Casbah III sports three cabins, each with a private head (bathroom to you land lubbers). The heavy lifting is done by powered winches and the charter price covers cleaning after our cruise. Here’s a link so you can see what the boat looks like. https://horizonyachtcharters.com/bareboat/2019-lagoon-42-2-2/

The weather in the BVI is said to be nothing but sunshine and temps in the 80s with reliable easterly trade winds. We’ve ordered up provisions for on-board breakfast, lunch and snacking, using Casbah III’s well-appointed galley, and plan on mooring or anchoring each night so that we can go ashore for dinner. We’ll sail, snorkel and swim during the day.

But this is something we’ve never done before and while we have absolute confidence in Jeff we’re really not sure what to expect. But we’ve had these same misgivings at the start of just about every trip we’ve done. The unknown and unexpected is what traveling, for us, is all about.

It turns out that we will have Jeff’s instructor along with us for the first day. Jeff needs to become certified to captain multi-hull craft. One of the big differences is that each of the two hulls of the catamaran has its own rudder and engine. (Yes, we can motor around in tight spots and use them when the wind dies.) That makes maneuvering different than in a monohull. A catamaran is also inherently much less “tippy”, which makes Judy much happier. The thought of balancing on the windward gunnel to keep the boat from capsizing is not a happy thought.

So off we go this coming Friday, April 21, 2023. We’ll fly via Puerto Rico to Tortola, BVI and stay overnight in a Windham hotel. Jeff and Carter fly in on Saturday and we’ll meet at the ship for a noontime castoff party. We’ll sail each day to a different island, snorkeling and touring as fancy calls us. The trip ends the following Saturday at the Nanny Cay fueling dock. Here’s a map of our planned itinerary. Things may change; we’re on no set schedule and so we can go wherever we wish. Click on the picture to make it bigger.

We’ll all fly home via Puerto Rico that evening. Jeff and Carter, being working stiffs, will continue on that night back to Boston. Judy and I, being good-for-hardly-anything retirees, will stay overnight in San Juan and fly out Sunday evening after touring the Old Town and Moro Castle and whatever.

I plan to blog each day and you’re welcome to follow along here at jonandjudy.com. As usual, there will be text and pictures of the trip, including, I hope, underwater pictures from our snorkeling adventures. If you’d wish to receive daily notifications of blog postings, let me know and I’ll add you to the list (email [email protected] or text 603-785-3051). Otherwise, you can visit the site whenever the spirt moves you. If you’ve received such notices on our past trips, you’re already on the daily email list. As always, your comments are always greatly appreciated, giving us the assurance that there still is a “real world” back home