BVI Vacation, January 2007
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Day 5 - Sunday, Jan 14, Virgin Gorda Marina, Spanishtown, Virgin Gorda
We all got up at a "reasonable" time, and had breakfast aboard. It had been windy all night. This morning the swells looked to be about 6 feet. But, sunny and warm with just a few clouds.
We discussed our itinerary for the day and decided on visiting The Baths at the southwest tip of Virgin Gorda. It would not be a long sail, but after the excitement of the day before, the crew decided it would be better not to head back out to the Atlantic side of the islands.
We dropped the mooring and motored over to the fuel dock for water. We topped off the tanks and picked up another bag of ice. We also dumped our garbage at the dock.
Then we headed out around the north side of Marina Cay.
When we cleared the reef protecting the island, the seas picked up to maybe 3' with 15-18 knots of breeze. This seemed considerably more civilized than yesterday. It was an easy close reach across towards Virgin Gorda.
The current carried us a bit south, so when we were just a mile or out, we fired up the iron jib and motor sailed up to The Baths. We found a mooring, and did yet another perfect mooring pick-up. Up to this point, we had done Tradewinds proud!
Butch, Lynn and Kelli went snorkeling, but the consensus was that it is mediocre snorkeling. The rock formations are indeed interesting, and it seems that it might be best approached by land on foot. The surge was pretty strong, so one had to have good swimming skills to feel comfortable snorkeling to shore.
There were a lot of people at the beach from nearby resorts. The rock formations were pretty cool, but the crowds on the beach didn't help the tropical paradise feeling that we were use to.
Kelli's artsy photos...
There are a couple beaches that can be reached, and there are dinghy moorings to facilitate that. However, it means a swim in and back out to the dinghy.
We lunched aboard on cheese, celery, crackers and apples. Oh, and a beer or two. After lunch, we motored the short distance to the Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbor in Spanishtown.
Beach homes on the way to Spanishtown...
Each night up to this point had been a little rolly, and the wind blew consistently. We had decided that a night in a slip would be more restful and we could use the marina facilities for showers and provisioning. A couple miles out we called the harbor to find out about slip availability. Yes, a slip was available and the dockhand would meet us. $50/night versus $25/night for a mooring ball.
Approaching the harbor and the ship greeter inside...
With Butch at the helm, and the crew in top form, docking in the crosswind slip looked professional. The slips were double slips for catamarans and we never even got close to the boat next to us on the downwind side of our double slip. No jumping off the boat, no crashing into the dock.
Just a perfect approach, line handling and securing of the boat..
The next two guest boat arrivals were disastrous. A group of Germans on a Moorings 44.3 crashed down on the FootLoose charter boat downwind of them with the harbor dockhand shouting "Reverse! Reverse!" Very amusing to watch a crew disintegrate right before us. The FootLoose couple was in the cockpit as they watched the much bigger Beneteau crash into them.
Another fellow did a great job backing a Moorings 51 footer. Docks and boat ramps are always very entertaining.
After relaxing for awhile, Butch and Lynn decided to wander off to find a place for dinner. It turns out that they hiked over to the airstrip on the east side of the island and had cocktails and dinner. Mike and Kelli walked south to Fischer's Cove and had dinner at the Beach Club restaurant. Very nice sunset dinner and fairly good food.
After checking out the stores at the marina, and having an ice cream cone, Kelli and Mike headed back to the boat and to bed by 9:30. It was a quiet night, the boat was still, and all got a good night's sleep.
Butch declared that "it really can't get any better than this!"
Day 6 - Monday, Jan 15, Bitter End Yacht Club, Virgin Gorda
Rising again at a reasonable hour, all four of us had breakfast ashore at The Bath and Turtle. Mike, Kelli, and Lynn drank lots of coffee--taking advantage of an endless coffee machine. Then it was free showers at the marina, and provisioning. We needed ice, soda, bread from the bakery at the marina, peanut butter, cheese, and rum.
After stowing all our provisions, we decided to head up to Gorda Sound since the run on the open water would be only a couple miles if it was still rough.
Once again, Perseverance's snappy crew did a proper undocking. With the wind on the beam wanting to blow us down on the next boat, we formulated our plan. Butch at the helm, Kelli on the bow line, Mike on an aft spring through the bowline chock standing at the bow, Lynn on a stern line. We cast off and backed out with Lynn and Mike providing just enough tension to hold us up until the bow would clear the next boat. As Butch shifted from reverse to forward and changed direction, the wind blew the bow down, the way we were headed, and we motored away. The crew of the boat below us smiled and gave us a wave since we never even got close and made it look easy. I can't imagine what the Germans looked like with their undocking. Probably a need for more fiberglass repair. If we ever see them again, we'll give them Matt's business card for an Advanced Motoring and Docking class.
We exited the harbor and raised the single-reefed main.
Leaving Spanishtown...
At this point, we had had the reef in for days. The winds were still up and and the seas remained 2-3 feet close-in to shore. Since it was still a beat, we chose to stay close to shore and motor-sail.
With Kelli at the helm, we arrived at the entrance to the sound in short order and turned in, passing a huge power yacht just exiting the channel. Kelli took us over to the Bitter End Yacht Club where we picked up a mooring and shut down. With Kelli at the helm instead of at the bow, we missed the mooring the first time, and did a go-around. She claimed we did it on purpose so the other boats would think it was something she did. In reality, it wasn't the helmsman -- fumble fingers at the bow was the culprit. Sigh.
Mooring balls here are $30/night.
Darn, another "ugly" anchorage...
There were several very large power yachts in the harbor and docked at the club.
After relaxing and napping, we dinghied in to track down the Moorings representative for an Anegada briefing...
The Bitter End Yacht Club...
When planning a trip to Anegada, Moorings recommends a briefing from Christine at their desk at BEYC. She was not encouraging about going due to the current sea state and the near-term forecast for wind. She said it was up to us, but that with the wind in the ENE to NE, rather than more easterly, it would be a tough ride. We decided to get an update the next morning.
So, what else to do but head over to the BEYC for cocktails...
After a pleasant sunset, we decided on dinner at Saba Rock (the island in the middle of the second picture above -- the building is the restaurant and hotel,) but we returned to Perseverance first to cleanup and get the dinghy light.
We buzzed over to Saba Rock in the dark for a very pleasant dinner.
After checking out the small island and Butch getting a replacement baseball cap, it was back to the boat for another round of cutthroat Phase 10 cards. Kelli won, tying the score at Boys 2, Girls 2. Much grief from the girls.
It was a bit stuffy in the quarter berth, and the wind had eased, so Mike and Kelli deployed a wind scoop for the small quarter berth hatch. It worked well and kept a breeze in the berth most of the night. Lights out was around 11:15. The younger yachtee crowd partied at yacht club until late.
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