May BVI: Tortola and The Baths

Virgin Gorda (the fat virgin) was so named by the Christopher Columbus crowd because the shape of the island supposedly looked like a fat virgin reposing in the sand. Whatever. I have to agree with Craig...these were men who had just spent too long at sea without any, well, company. I have taken artistic license with the view to help our reading public make the visual:

Monday morning, 5-25 we sailed over to The Baths at Virgin Gorda. We got there about lunchtime and were glad to find a spot as this is a very popular location. One dinghies in a certain distance and then swims into shore for a hike/climb amongst the granite boulders. There is a nice beach on the other side of the boulders for a cool down swim…also a restaurant/pool which is another hike up the hill.
We left late afternoon for Cane Garden Bay after replacing the blower to the engine room which apparently experienced sudden cardiac death. This is not engine exhaust. This unit draws fresh air into the engine room and exhausts hot air out. It worked just fine, right up until we tried to turn it on for our departure. Magic bag not needed. Whew.

Does this look like a skull face to you????

This photo opp is specifically for our Shrader readers. Kristie has been brought into the Keen fold...with a spectacular color selection, I might add. Teal! How many pairs can I justify having??

View from the top of the hill. Craig enjoying a fruity drink and then employing his newfound strength because the rock was in my path. He is The Man.

A few critter pictures for Mom...

Bless his heart, but I love the shirt...

This seagull was drafting behind our main sail....

May 23-28 BVI Kristie Yakel Visit...

We picked up Craig’s sister Kristie at Beef Island/Tortola Saturday evening, May 23. She quickly settled into her berth. We left the next morning for a sail to Norman Island. There was a Poker Run going on, so there were jet boats and cigarette boats everywhere…something we had not seen in prior travels here. These are races in which the participants jet around to various sites picking up cards. When they get to the final destination, the cards are displayed to see which boat has the best poker hand. With all the go fast/loud engines, it reminded us of our days on Lake Texoma. There was an impressive presence of law enforcement vessels. After an afternoon of snorkeling the caves, we made the required stop at the Willie T, a moored boat that serves as a restaurant and bar. Kristie was very sad to learn that jumping naked from the top deck for a t-shirt was no longer allowed.
We met Mary, Queen of Shots, who hailed from Brooklyn. Well, there’s something about Mary, besides the fact that she also wears OPI Cajun Shrimp. Among many interesting and useful life lessons, the best we learned was how to pose for the camera and never have a double chin again. It is a painful maneuver, but we practiced until we got it right.
We dinghied over to Pirates’ Bight and Kristie ordered the bucket, filled with tequila, I mean, margarita mix, which was shared by all. We came upon a Kansas family who was vacationing on their catamaran, S/V Seas the Moment, and racing on the beach. I challenged Craig. Alcohol was involved. I hit the ground so hard I think I bounced, flipped and landed in the water, fortunately face-up but still cannot figure out why both knees feel broken. No blood, no protruding bones, all good.




Waiting at the airport; THE BUCKET; relaxing on SVHM

S/V Seas the Moment; Family races...

Norman Isalnd during the poker run. What's with the jet boats? Are we at Texoma??

The Willie T and Pirates Bight

Mary, Queen of Shots:

May19-21 British Virgin Islands

In this part of the world, all the islands are within eyesight of each other and very short sails. On Monday, 5-19 we head over to the BVI to spend my birthday in White Bay, Jost Van Dyke. We make a quick stop at Great Harbour to check in with customs and immigration. We take a quick walk around the beach town, visit a hammock but decide to blow off Foxy’s bar which is highly overrated in our opinion. The last time we were here, Foxy was drunk and railing against white oppression….the same oppressors who run up huge bar tabs at his wildly popular bar.
We scoot over to White Bay, known for the Soggy Dollar Bar, named as such for boaters swimming up with wet money and also home of the “painkiller”, a rum, fruit juice and nutmeg concoction. The BVIs are ever more popular now as a bareboat charter destination. There are boats everywhere and the bays are almost covered in mooring balls, leaving precious little real estate in which to anchor. Even so, the captains (Craig and Ross) find a spot and we tuck in for the night. We have adult swim, this episode complimented by jello shots that Fran made for the birthday celebration. After a quick run over to the Soggy Dollar, We return to S/V Hakuna Matata for champagne and steaks. Fortunately, the boys drank beer so the girls had the champagne to themselves….
We take off for Sandy Spit (of Corona beer commercial fame) and proceed to Cane Garden Bay for a relaxed evening on the boat. We discovered a leaky fitting on a propane tank when we were changing over to the spare so now have a priority repair. We will head around the corner to Road Town. Many charter boat companies run out of this harbour so there are marine outfitters who should have the parts we need.

Approach to Cane Garden Bay:

Sandy Spit and White Harbour:

The hammock scene at Great Harbour, Jost Van Dyke:

This morning, Thursday 5-21, we parted with S/V Pacific Quest. They will tour other parts of the BVI as we stop in Road Town for repairs and then proceed to Beef Island to pick up Craig's sister who arrives Saturday. We hope to catch up with them down island. Thirty minutes out of the anchorage, we smell hot/electrical and see smoke, quickly followed by the cacophony of fire alarms. And I thought the squall was scary...try being in 100 feet of water under full sail and see smoke billowing out of the engine room fan. As our Aussie/Kiwi friends say: BUGGERS!! (my new favorite word of disappointment...so much nicer than the usual). Fortunately, no fire. Unfortunately, alternator burned to a crisp. Fortunately, spare on board. Unfortunately, mounts and belt with the spare do not fit. Fortunately, Craig an expert at engineering and can fabricate mounts from the magic bag. What is the magic bag, you ask? A magical bag of "stuff", the bowels from which my captain can retrieve kinky things and fix anything. And I mean anything, even if it means that the boat goes from tidy/ship-shape to nightmare faster than you can load up a Buffett CD...

So, we are glad to be in Road Town, where we hope the chandlery has propane fittings and a referral to an alternator re-build shop. We remember that the definition of cruising is repairing one's boat in exotic locations....these things are frustrating but it is still ALL GOOD!!

May 15-18 Spanish Virgin Islands and USVI

Our private anchorage for the night Culebrita, Spanish Virgin Islands (before the arrival of the weekend warrior Spanish Armada):

We arrive in St Thomas on Saturday 5-16. S/V Pacific Quest hails us on the VHF radio about an hour prior to our arrival. We get into the anchorage around 3pm, drop the hook beside our friends and celebrate Ross’ birthday that evening on S/V Pacific Quest. St Thomas is more big city than anything else…a good stop for supplies and laundry. We got a recommendation for a jeweler (there are jewelry stores everywhere), so I was excited to get my ring repaired as well as pick up a bottle of Veuve Clicquot champagne for my birthday.

St Thomas in the distance from Culebrita, approach and anchorage in St Thomas:

We went to St John 5-18 and stayed in Cinnamon Bay. If I tried I could probably write the blog at this point entirely from Jimmy Buffett and Kenny Chesney songs. JB: “St Thomas off in the west, I see General Electric still doing their best”. KC: “I’ve watched boats sail in and out of Cinnamon Bay”. JB: “as soon as we sail into Cane Garden Bay”. St John is pretty but not a lot to see above or below water, and we decide to move on to the British Virgin Islands.

St John, USVI...boats sailing in and out of Cinnamon Bay:

May 12-16 Spanish Virgin Islands

We head for Culebra and stop at Cayo Luis Pena, a national park (land and sea). We spend the day snorkeling the protected reefs. The next morning, we dinghy around the point to the other side of the island and go to town for breakfast and a few provisions. It is a quaint place with small hotels and restaurants. We think the iguana signs are cute, then hear a splash as one drops in the water, swims over (who knew?) and crawls up the side. He snuck up on some Japanese girls. Hilarious.













Afternoon activities: naps and checking the mooring ball. You just never know if these are screwed into the sea bed (acceptable) or simply tied to a sunken engine block (not acceptable) until you look:

A most interesting draw bridge, Culebra and a food picture for Skip:

These look like a snake devil serpent swimming through the water:

The following day (Friday) we went to Culebrita while S/V Pacific Quest pushed on to St Thomas to meet a friend who is there crewing a super yacht. We are the only boat and have the anchorage to ourselves. We will head to St Thomas, USVI tomorrow.