Unless you've been there, cruising logs can be a bore.
I've divided this into three parts so you can jump to the information that might interest you.
PART ONE: Trip log.
PART TWO: Cruising Island information.
PART THREE: Our list of tips, tricks, do's and don'ts.
PART ONE, Cruising log.
Calgary to Tortola:
The (3) connecting flights from Calgary are 12 hours long. We were up at 4:00 am and reached our hotel at 10:30 pm that night.
Staff was on hand at the Beef Island airport to see the seven of us through customs and there we a few cabs waiting for the last travelers of the day. We arranged to arrive in Road Town a couple of days before our charter and were able to get our chart briefing the day before taking out our boat. We chartered a 33 foot Beneteau from Sunsail out of the Road Town Marina.
The morning we were to sail all we had to do was the boat briefing and we were off by 9:30am instead of 11 or 12.
Tortola to Cooper Island:
After several years of sailing on a pretty robust prairie lake we found to our dismay Janet got seasick immediately. Big difference between lake wave motion and the Caribbean Sea. She toughed it out using the APDW* method while we motored a couple of hours out to Cooper Island where we picked up a mooring ball. Once tied up she felt better quickly and we took the dink ashore for a couple of drinks and a walk about. Barbequed dinner afloat. The Cooper Island moorage, while safe, is often very rough and made for an unpleasant first night aboard. It is the closest anchorage to Road Town and was the best choice when dealing with a seasick Admiral but we wouldn't recommend it in hindsight. (*Always Puke Down Wind)
Cooper Island to Virgin Gorda:
The next morning, armed with wrist bands and scopalmine patches in place, Janet took the helm for the long run up Sir Francis Drake Channel to the entrance to North Sound. We raised sail and hit a comfortable 4-5 knots with one reef. Swells were 5 to 8 feet in the morning but settled to maybe 3 feet by afternoon. Motored into the Sound and contacted Leverick Bay to claim the slip we'd reserved on line. The owner, Nick Willis, came down to the docks to personally greet us and helped us tie up. Leverick Bay is a great resort with restaurants, bars, groceries, shopping, a pool, beach you name it.
We were only charged $30 for our slip and that comes with a free bag of ice and a connection to top up the water tank. We were barkin' with the big dogs moored beside the "Mayan Queen", owned by the second wealthiest man in Mexico. 305 feet with a crew of 30 and 13 guests aboard. Look her up; quite the billionaire's dream yacht.
Dinner was the famous beach barbeque with Caribbean stilt dancers, Mocco Jumbies, entertaining.
That evening lots of wave slap around the docks. We traded off the relative quiet of a mooring ball for the convenience of stepping ashore and think it was the right choice.
North Sound to Brandywine Bay:
Clearing out of North Sound early next morning there were numerous beautiful yachts. Four masted Club Med Schooners, 150 foot private sailing yachts, cruise ships and smaller world travelers. It was obvious the North Sound was a choice destination. The rolling motion of the following sea (5 to 6 feet) made Janet quite queasy again as we headed back south.
Motorsailed downwind to Brandywine Bay where we promptly lost our boat hook trying to snag a mooring that didn't have a painter attached. Brandywine Bay is a man-made beach and is the only beach on the south side of Tortola. There's not much to see but we had dinner reservations at one of the premiere restaurants in the BVI's, also called Brandywine Bay. We tied up to the resaurant's mooring ball for free. The setting for our dinner was fantastic, overlooking the Sea as the sun went down. The service was perfect. Dinner was Chorizo stuffed Quail, Ravioli, Steak, Scallops etc. Janet said her's was superb, I was less impressed with mine. For excitement, dinking back to the boat in the dark, the dinghy motor quit.
After several panicky minutes I finally noticed the fuel line wasn't attached to the tank any more. I may have somehow dislodged it clambering aboard, but I'll bet some kids unhooked it for sport. Davide, the owner of the restaurant, was insistent we drop anchor. I don't think he has much faith in his moorings. There are cables running through the bay so we didn't pay out any scope at all, just let the hook sink to the bottom. Perfectly quiet night.
Brandywine to Jost van Dyke:
Motorsailed downwind to Thatch Island Cut,
then had a real great run under sail only to Little Harbour.
Picked up a ball
and within minutes Cynthia, owner of Harris' Place,
zipped out to collect her $25 and hand us the menu for her restaurant. Shortly after, Sidney, owner of Sidney's Peace and Love,
did the same. We followed Sidney back to the dock and checked out his and Cynthia's establishments. Sidney's has a great t-shirt shop and entertainment. Harris' place has Cynthia. We were the only ones around. Ended up sitting around Cynthia's fire behind her restaurant- where she has a big pot boiling lobsters- and swapped tales for half an hour. She says Sidney's son murdered her father fifteen years ago and there's always been a feud between her family and Sidney. Quite the gal. Don't know how much to believe but you can't beat the delivery. We walked from Little Harbour to Great Harbour
in the afternoon. Views are spectacular along the way.
I wanted to see Foxy's
and Corsairs.
Old Foxy himself was tilting on his chair that Sunday afternoon and recited an unbelievable poem about Canada as soon as he found out where we were from. It was a toss up, but once a Sunsail regatta fleet overtook Sidney's, we decided on the relative peace and quiet of Harris' Place for dinner. We brought our own wine ashore and enjoyed what is perhaps the best lobster dinner I've ever had.
We loved Jost van Dyke, and we only visited part of it.
Jost van Dyke to Soper's Hole:
Sailed down to Soper's Hole in the morning. Ripping good breeze just off the bow but were able to close haul all the way while the westerly drift from the current corrected our course. Called on VHF and got dock space next to Harbour Market.
Stocked up on ice and some food, plus had a great lunch at Pusser's. Shopped a little and picked up some decent sailing shorts. Soper's is a great spot to relax, refuel and provision. It might be a little overcrowded for an overnight stay.
Soper's to Norman Island:
We quickly came to realize navigation is a snap in the BVI's. Just point your yacht directly into the wind because it's always on the nose from your destination! We ended up having to motor all the way from Soper's to Norman Island as we didn't want to spend the rest of the day tacking back and forth. There are a hundred mooring balls in the Bight on Norman Island.
We had no trouble picking a spot we really liked. 'Pirates',
the famous beach bar and restaurant, is an easy dinghy ride and had good food and drinks. A bit expensive but considering everything has to be shipped to Tortola and then ferried over to Norman it's no wonder. This privately owned Island has only four permanent residents. One of them will come a collect your mooring fees. The staff for the Willy T and Pirates are all ferried back and forth as their shifts change. Dinked sightseeing all around the Bight. Spotted someone jumping naked off the back of the Willy T;
that's how you get the T-shirt! Norman is one of the nicest anchorages with a variety of scenery including the caves and hiking trails. We enjoyed it so much we decided to extend our stay an extra day.
Norman Island to Peter Island:
The weather turned a little nasty overnight, making it prudent to alter course on the last leg of our charter. We planned on mooring on the north side of Peter Island to take advantage of the resort facilities during the day. With overcast skies and very strong north winds we tucked into Sandy Cay on the south side of Peter in the morning, crossing our fingers the weather would improve during the day. It never did. When we dropped the hook there were three yachts at anchor.
By evening there were thirty seeking shelter. After a rather harrowing job of anchoring we set out to explore the beach and hiked about halfway to the Peter Island Resort. Some really nice people anchored beside us came to our aid during our anchoring fiasco and we ended up on their cat "Argo Navis"
for sundowners until 8:30. Just as we were bidding them farewell their anchor dragged about fifty feet and it got real busy all of a sudden! We jumped in our dinghy and got out of their way so they could deal with it. We had a wild dinghy ride back to our boat, in pitch black dark of course. Our yacht was swinging so wildly on the hook we nearly got overrun as we tried to tie up. I had brought my own hand held GPS with me and set the anchor drag alarm for 15 meters. It went off several times as we swung further than that around on our 125' of scope, all the chain and rode the boat carried. I began to wish I'd tossed out the spare anchor while it was still light out, but didn't want to risk going forward in the dark with nothing but a flashlight and good intentions in the chop. I reset the track recorder on the GPS when we went to bed at 9:30. We slept with one eye open all night. I went up to check our position relative to the other boats at least half a dozen times during the night and every time the anchor drag alarm went off. Our boat was tossed around and heeled over far more than it ever did sailing. Dishes went flying and everything had to be securely stowed. This was maybe a hundred feet from a southern shore
so you can imagine what life was like on the north side! We gave up at 6:30 the next morning and prepared to make way. When I checked the GPS it had recorded 46.8 kilometers overnight on the hook. At times we swung 270 degrees around our anchor. Roughest night at anchor in my experience.
Peter Island to Sunsail Base, Road Town:
We hauled anchor and made an exhilarating crossing back to the Sunsail Marina. The seas were only running about four feet but as we bucked into the wind and swells the waves were smashing violently over the bow and breaking across the deck! We saw only two other boats in the channel that morning. We agreed if we'd had to tackle these conditions on the first day we would have been very intimidated. But we had come to know and trust our little vessel during the past seven days so instead of being frightened there were a few "Yeehaw"s, lots of laughter and cheers. We were soaked and tired but a little disappointed as we motored into the harbor to turn our boat back over to the Sunsail staff that morning. A staffer took over and, thank God, docked our boat. Even he said, "very much wind today!" as our boat lurched into the one berthed beside it. We cleared out our boat, used the showers and had lunch before catching a cab over to Trellis Bay for our last night.
Road Town to Trellis Bay:
It turns out I am an idiot and booked our room at the Beef Island Guest House for the day of departure instead of the night before. At our request the wonderful owner, Laura, immediately got on the phone and managed to arrange lodging with just the best lady, Janet Dent. She has a gorgeous home called MountainView overlooking Long Bay which she rents out as a long term guest house. It just happened to be vacant for a couple of days and she let us stay for $150 for the night. It was like something out of a Bogart/Bacall movie.
Not only did she come and pick us up, the next morning she got up and drove us to the airport! On top of that she didn't have a credit card terminal and I had about twenty bucks left on me. We left her with my email address, my credit card number and our promise to get payment to her. If you're ever in the neighborhood go see her little art shop, Flukes, at the north end of the beach.
Tortola to Calgary:
The same flights were nearly fifteen hours on the way back due to prevailing winds and flight delays. It was a bit brutal. If you can afford it we would recommend flying first class.
PART TWO, Island Information
Yacht charters and tourism are one of the main staples of the economy. We found traveling around the BVI's very easy and accommodating, Where ever you go, they are expecting you. They are set up to deal with just about anything you might need. Don't be afraid to ask.
Cooper Island. Manchioneel Bay. Easy access. Beach bar and restaurant. Mooring balls available for $25/night. You can't anchor due to turtle grass on the bottom. Nice little beach. Get someone to point out a manchioneel tree, the fruit is poisonous and the sap will burn worse than poison ivy. Don't take refuge under one in a rain shower. We experienced a rough night and local Captains told us they seldom overnight there. However it is a quick sail from Road Town. If daylight is running short it's a good bet and even if it's choppy you'll be properly moored and safe.
Virgin Gorda, North Sound. The entry channel is surrounded by reefs so be careful and alert. By all means ignore the GPS once you get close and watch your markers. The channel is a couple of hundred feet wide and is clearly marked. If you're nervous, wait and follow another yacht through. We had a little trouble spotting the channel markers at first but found out we were being overly cautious and weren't near the channel yet. If you are docking, point your bow east. Our biggest complaint is we didn't spend enough time here. I've read where folks plan for an entire week exploring all that Virgin Gorda has to offer. Leverick Bay is a nearly perfect cruiser stop. Unreservedly recommended. Look up Saba Rock, Biras Creek and The Bitter End Yacht Club for other ports of call in North Sound. As well, Virgin Gorda is the location for one of the must see tourist attractions, The Baths. From what we discovered, it would be easier to pick up a mooring at Leverick and catch a cab to the Baths. You get a tour of the island and don't have to worry about how you're going to get into the site from the sea. There's a marina at Spanish Town and lots of services if you need them.
Brandywine Bay. Other than being a nice sheltered place to maybe stop for lunch, there's no point in visiting the bay. It's an artificial beach created by Public Works and is the only beach on the south side of the Island. There are no overnight moorings and I'd be very nervous about dropping the hook as there are numerous submarine cables. Although charted there is no way of knowing if their location is accurate. There are a couple of private mooring balls to the west side that are maintained by the Brandywine Bay Restaurant. You can use them for free if you dine there but the owners don't seem to trust their holding power very much. There are half a dozen private moorings on the east side of the bay but we got told in no uncertain terms (yelled at) to untie and vacate when we mistakenly thought they belonged to the restaurant.
Jost van Dyke. Unfortunately we only visited Little Harbor and Great Harbor. White Bay, home of the Soggy Dollar, is supposed to be one of the best places in all the Islands. Sandy Cay is the archtypical deserted paradise island. It is ringed by sandy beaches and you can walk entirely around it in forty minutes. In Little Harbor you can pick up a mooring or anchor. It's well sheltered and calm. While there are shallows either side of the entrance and the charted markers seem to be missing, access was easy. You'll be personally invited to dine at either Harris' Place or Sidney's Peace and Love. Harris' is more personal, Sidney's is more of a party. We watched a 50 footer drop anchor and stern tie to the dock in front of Sidney's! Charts don't indicate there is that much draft there, but hey, you can't beat local knowledge. Great Harbor is of course home to Foxy's. Check the schedules and try and find time to go there when Foxy is performing. He's a Caribbean treat in big bare feet. Go out back and check out the traditional island skiff under construction. Just down the road is Corsairs. This is where Eric Stone plays and there's a Lats and Atts burgee signed by Bob Bitchin on the wall if you're into those things. Most businesses on Jost seem to close down between 2 and 4. If you want to anchor in Great Harbor it has to be further out as there are shallow coral reefs along the shore. Charts show this and you can see it clearly.
Soper's Hole. The day we motored into Soper's Hole we couldn't find a single unused mooring ball. It's quite congested and busy. Call the Harbor Master on VHF 16 and request dockage. It is $20 for two hours and makes for a great place to stock up on provisions and liquor. Lots of shops and plenty of gorgeous yachts to eyeball close up. Garbage drop off at the west end of the docks is $2 a bag, ice is $3.50 but they are big bags. Take a good look at the multi leveled house
perched on West End as you approach Soper's Hole.
Norman Island. The Bight on Norman Island is one of the most popular anchorages. We kind of pushed ourselves to get there early to ensure we got a mooring. Needn't have, even at the end of the evening there were plenty of empty ones. I believe this is because is was a Tuesday and it could fill up other days. Pirates is a great beach bar. Food was good but pricey. Walk around the gift shop and take the trail up into the hills.
The Willy T is a floating bar that's famous/infamous. If you don't want to party late anchor far to the other side of the Bight. There is a boat called Deliverance you can hail on 16 that will bring ice, beer and so on right to your yacht. Mooring balls are $25/night and we saw people anchoring as well with no problem. The Bight is teeming with fish
and even without going out to the Caves there was lots to see close to shore with a swim mask.
This anchorage is warm and protected in pretty well all weather. Norman Island is privately owned.
Peter Island. Also privately owned, and like Norman Island the owners generously allow visitors to roam around and use it's beaches. The Peter Island Resort is world famous and caters to some pretty high rollers. You can visit the Resort during the day, use it's free WiFi and pick up a few supplies. They ask non registered guests to clear out by sundown but if you brought your long pants you can enjoy dinner at their restaurant before you dinghy back to your yacht for the evening. Word of caution, mooring balls are $65/night here. Little Harbor, on the NW corner of Peter Island is a good overnight anchorage but fills up with the really large cruisers who Mediterranean anchor and stern tie to shore. You'll see all these boats side by side facing out to the Channel. Anchoring could be daunting if you're not one of the first. Around the south side of Peter Island are Key Cay and Sandy Cay. Key Cay is really pretty and rugged but only half a dozen boats at most could find room there if they were careful. Sandy Cay has a gorgeous private beach. Cruisers can use the beach but signs are posted and kindly ask you to respect the privacy of the registered guests and not use the on shore facilities. You must anchor outside the swim buoys but holding is excellent.
PART THREE: Tips, Tricks, do's and dont's
Things we did right:
Start Early: Possibly the smartest thing we did was early planning and booking. We started planning and doing our research a year in advance and began contacting people very early, in July. We booked in September and got our ideal dates for February.
Flights First: It can take as much as 28 to 30 hours to make all the connections necessary to reach the BVI's from here. It took numerous tries through several different on line booking services over the course of two weeks but eventually we got connections with no layovers and reduced the travel time from Alberta to Tortola to 12 hours. At the end of the day, Orbitz on line was most successful in putting this itinerary all together. They have a great system and all the flights, both there and back, worked out fine.
Charter Second: Once we tentatively confirmed our flights we contacted Sunsail to see if we could charter the yacht we wanted within our airline timeframe. Because it was so much in advance we were easily able to book the boat we wanted for exactly the days we wanted. As this was our first charter we didn't fool around with second or third tier companies. Sunsail let us choose the day of the week we wanted to depart. Some only have Saturday departures.
On line Provisions: After reading the prices? it was a no-brainer to have Sunsail stock our yacht with the various beer, wine and rum we felt necessary for a week long charter. The price per bottle stocked on the boat is the same as here at home in the store. We were a little leery about provisioning all our food. We had it on good authority they'd over supply us so we ordered the "starter package". Some time when you have half an hour to waste, go on line and review what Sunsail's starter package consists of. For $260 we could have lived on all the stuff they gave us. Mind you it was supposed to be for four people, not two. But still. All we ended up needing to buy were some steaks and chicken. If you don't want to spend time shopping, have these guys provision the boat. They know what they're doing and you can't get the same sheer volume and variety of stuff for what they charged us. If you're an experienced charterer you might be better at provisioning but for a newbie this package was incredible.
On shore Provisions: Forget Bobby's and the Road Town Rite Way. Before you get your boat at six, walk the fifteen minutes east to the big Rite Way Supermarket to pick up all your supplies. Try not to get killed jaywalking across at the gas station. Seems it's always open season on pedestrians in the BVI's. This is easily the best supermarket on the Islands. You won't be disappointed and they will arrange delivery to your slip the next morning so you can be underway as soon as your briefings are done.
Don't overstock: We were approached by a couple of guys at the end of their charters, the morning we set sail, as they
were trying to give away all the liquor and beer they had no place for. If you are so inclined you could probably walk the docks on a busy morning and score a huge amount of free liquor for your charter. One of the Staff hanging around our boat shook his head and said everyone overstocks on liquor. We tried to put up enough booze in keeping with our 'at home' consumption. We didn't want to lose part of our long planned, expensive holiday to hangovers. For what it's worth, and you can judge for yourself our level of alcoholism, we stocked up 24 Heinekin, 6 bottles of wine, and a bottle of Rum ('yo ho hey ho') for our week. We had drinks ashore and drinks with new found friends and gave away some of our booty, but at the end of our charter we still had left one drink of rum a piece and half a dozen beer left wanting.
Tan at home! We went to one of those tanning salon places to get a good base tan. That meant we hardly had to worry about sunburn or suntan lotion ( were careful none the less) and came back with a golden Caribbean tan. Do it. Best $35 you can spend.
Book mid-week, book off season: Most charters start Saturday or Sunday because flights arrive Friday or Saturday evening at the end of the work week. Most of the boats leave the marina those days. We cast off on Thursday and never had a problem with congestion and never failed to find suitable anchorages. We were one of only two boat briefings that morning so we got underway immediately. The majority of the charters were three days ahead of us or four days behind.
We booked our charter in February, not the best time of year. But if you're from the northern prairies the weather is better than most of our summer days, being 70F to 80F, maybe with rain squalls. As a bonus, there are virtually no bugs. I got one or two mosquito bites the whole time we were there. I was concerned we couldn't buy mosquito repellant but found out it wasn't for sale because mosquito season hadn't yet begun. I have an aquaintance who has sailed these Islands for years late in October at the end of hurricane season. He sails for less money a few weeks before the prices go up. Only once was he restricted to daysailing, had to triple tie back at the docks during a hurricane watch for two days.
Be polite: I shouldn't have to make this point, but from what I saw, it needs to be. Most of the people you will meet during your cruise serve the tourist trade. They are unfailingly polite and helpful, but too often impolite guests leave a bad impression. As a visitor it pays to educate yourself in their customs. The easiest thing to do is to take a moment and greet each person with a heartfelt " Good Morning! or Good Afternoon! ". Take your time. Be the customer they mention to their friends. It's well worth your while.
Pay attention during boat and chart briefings: We kept quiet and took down some notes. With no interruptions our briefer was able to fly through the material in about half an hour and we felt well prepared. Ask your questions after he's finished and don't try to impress them.
Check the boat over: We did a fairly careful check on the rig and systems and found the jamming cleat for the boom vang was missing. We missed the boat hook was only four feet long and the drain in the fridge didn't work. There was no rigging knife so I don't know what we would have done if we wrapped a line around the prop shaft.
Things we did wrong:
We spent eight days afloat and it should have been ten to fourteen. We didn't want to rush madly around so our itinerary was limited.
We didn't sail as much as I would have liked. Again, time constraints.
We didn't do a MOB drill and I had a small nagging worry about what might happen if I were to take a plunge. Wore PFD a lot.
Our phones and bank cards didn't work. We weren't aware that would be a problem and Janet felt cut off from her daughter.
We weren't prepared for seasickness. We had ear patches and queasy bracelets with us but should have used them before setting out instead of after the hurling monster hit.
Some Tips:
>I don't know if this is valid or just a one time fluke, but- A couple of weeks before we left I checked with Sunsail to see if our boat was re-booked immediately. We were to return it Wednesday morning but I found out it wasn't booked out again until Saturday. I told Sunsail we'd be interested in keeping it an extra day or two. They quoted us the daily rate of $450. I said no, and offered them half that with the rationale that some income was better than no income at all for the extra days. They hummed and hawed but eventually agreed to $215. Please don't tell them you heard it from me.
>Bring big Ziplock bags, a cable and lock for the dinghy, 50' of cordage, a good flashlight, half a dozen clothes pins and a hand held GPS if you have one.
>Bring glow sticks. It gets very dark very fast and those white hulls all look the same from a dinghy in the water. We took along a couple of packages of glow sticks and hung one under the bimini. Green and yellow seemed most visible, blue not so much. You'd be amazed how far you can see them. One night we hung a couple around the cockpit just because it looked festive!
>Put a flashlight in the dinghy locker. We'd buzz off somewhere in the late afternoon and every time we left our flashlight behind. We had to come back in the dark with no illumination. People can't see you and it's scary.
>Pack your bag. Then take half your stuff out and put it away.
>You only need one bathing suit.
>Take walking shoes as well as your sandals.
>If you snorkel, take your own mask and tube but use the company's fins.
>Some places don't take credit cards or travelers cheques. Always have cash on hand.
>Speaking of money, bring lots of it.
>Bring a t-shirt or two from home with your sports team or your city/state logo. Some places will trade you for one of theirs and many want them to staple to the wall. Free drinks ensue.
>You can get a sunburn on a cloudy day.
>Ask for meat cooked well done. I've heard countless stories about cruisers getting food poisoning from undercooked chicken and hamburgers.
>Do as much on-line research as you can. Knowledge is power.
>Buy the most recent edition of the Cruising Guide by Nancy and Simon Scott. It's indispensable.
>We bought three different charts but the Imray-lolaire A233 was the best. There was one on our boat but don't count on it.
>Local fruits and vegetables are fantastic.
>When in Soper's Hole, eat at Pusser's restaurant before shopping in the store. The waiter gives away Pusser's bucks.
>Examine your bill carefully. Most places automatically add 15 to 18% gratuity but leave the line for "Tip" blank. There is no need to double up. If tip has not been added there is usually a note saying "Service not included".
>Souvenir merchandise is the same price or cheaper in the airport as anywhere else.
>You could spend a month and not do or see everything. Don't try to "collect islands".
>Don't jump down into the dinghy.
>An outfit called Yacht Shots will take pictures of you underway between Peter and Norman Island if you have at least two sails up. They post them on line and you can buy them when you get back.
>Look up the cruise ship schedules and plan on not being where they are.
Feel free to email or PM me if you have any questions,
And if all goes well this will be the view as you pour your first sundowner!
