British Virgin Islands - 2006
In mid-January, I had the good fortune of being able to go down to the British Virgin Islands for a week to escape the snowy landscape of Minnesota. This was my third time down there, so the relaxation factor was pretty good since I knew what to expect.
We rented a 450 Cabriolet from Voyage Yachts. This was slightly larger than the 440 we rented last year, and had a drastically different setup. The entire salon area was covered, resulting in a huge space for hanging out while under sail. It was kind of weird steering from the center of the salon (instead of being on the outside where I could feel the wind):
The twist to this trip was the extremely strong winds we encountered for the first few days. A storm system was moving out of the area, making things interesting. The night before we signed for our boat, a 50' rogue wave had hit a cruise ship near St. Thomas, causing some damage as a result. Hmm. Same storm, same ocean. That's the kind of thing that helps one stay alert. In our case, the heavy winds made for choppy seas and some queasy guests. On several occasions, the waves washed over the top of the cockpit, which was pretty cool. Eric and I felt like we were in "The Perfect Storm" - all we needed were windshield wipers!
One result of the heavy seas was that we spent much more time on shore for the first few days. I was able to enjoy a pretty full day in Cane Garden Bay, which was nice.
Over on Jost Van Dyke, we practically had White Bay to ourselves. Hung out at Ivan's Stress Free Bar, which is mentioned in Kenny Chesneys song Somewhere in the Sun. The bar operates on an honor system - make your drink and leave the cash in the metal box.
The fish in that bay were going crazy, jumping 5 feet (or more) into the air. The pelicans were going crazy trying to catch them. There were schools of baitfish churning up the water like some oversized cauldron. Very cool to watch. I also took advantage of the phone signal to call my Dad and wish him a happy 70th birthday. (Kind of surrealistic being on a cell phone in the middle of nowhere...)
Sailing up the channel we stopped at Sandy Cay, which is where this photo was taken:
Unexpectedly, the "party night" of the trip was in Leverick Bay, which is in the North Sound of Virgin Gorda. It started out as Martini Night, and sort of went from there. I kept waiting for harbor patrol (or some similar entity to come over and ask us to quiet down, but it never happened. The only downside was Pam getting stung by a jellyfish during some late night swimming.
The usual stop at The Baths was fun. Enjoyed spending the bulk of the afternoon snorkeling. I took Rachel and Pam around, where we saw some cool fish. For whatever reason, the best display of tropical fish is still from 4 years ago at The Baths.
Sailing down to Cooper Island (home of the infamous Willy T's floating bar and party spot) was fun. We picked a course that took us outside of the Sir Francis Drake Channel. I was pretty amazed at how much choppier the ocean was out there. I also saw a real flying fish - it came up about 50' from the boat, then flew alongside for 50 yards (maybe more), skimming just above the waves before dropping back into the ocean. Truly amazing!
Eric makes the most of the last night in the BVI:
Our last night in Manchioneel Bay was a nice, low-key to wrap up the trip. That's a pretty laid back location, with a nice view to the west. A bank of clouds came in as the sun was setting, so we were denied our customary end of trip sunset. I'm still trying to figure out who I should call to complain!
We rented a 450 Cabriolet from Voyage Yachts. This was slightly larger than the 440 we rented last year, and had a drastically different setup. The entire salon area was covered, resulting in a huge space for hanging out while under sail. It was kind of weird steering from the center of the salon (instead of being on the outside where I could feel the wind):
The twist to this trip was the extremely strong winds we encountered for the first few days. A storm system was moving out of the area, making things interesting. The night before we signed for our boat, a 50' rogue wave had hit a cruise ship near St. Thomas, causing some damage as a result. Hmm. Same storm, same ocean. That's the kind of thing that helps one stay alert. In our case, the heavy winds made for choppy seas and some queasy guests. On several occasions, the waves washed over the top of the cockpit, which was pretty cool. Eric and I felt like we were in "The Perfect Storm" - all we needed were windshield wipers!
One result of the heavy seas was that we spent much more time on shore for the first few days. I was able to enjoy a pretty full day in Cane Garden Bay, which was nice.
Over on Jost Van Dyke, we practically had White Bay to ourselves. Hung out at Ivan's Stress Free Bar, which is mentioned in Kenny Chesneys song Somewhere in the Sun. The bar operates on an honor system - make your drink and leave the cash in the metal box.
The fish in that bay were going crazy, jumping 5 feet (or more) into the air. The pelicans were going crazy trying to catch them. There were schools of baitfish churning up the water like some oversized cauldron. Very cool to watch. I also took advantage of the phone signal to call my Dad and wish him a happy 70th birthday. (Kind of surrealistic being on a cell phone in the middle of nowhere...)
Sailing up the channel we stopped at Sandy Cay, which is where this photo was taken:
Unexpectedly, the "party night" of the trip was in Leverick Bay, which is in the North Sound of Virgin Gorda. It started out as Martini Night, and sort of went from there. I kept waiting for harbor patrol (or some similar entity to come over and ask us to quiet down, but it never happened. The only downside was Pam getting stung by a jellyfish during some late night swimming.
The usual stop at The Baths was fun. Enjoyed spending the bulk of the afternoon snorkeling. I took Rachel and Pam around, where we saw some cool fish. For whatever reason, the best display of tropical fish is still from 4 years ago at The Baths.
Sailing down to Cooper Island (home of the infamous Willy T's floating bar and party spot) was fun. We picked a course that took us outside of the Sir Francis Drake Channel. I was pretty amazed at how much choppier the ocean was out there. I also saw a real flying fish - it came up about 50' from the boat, then flew alongside for 50 yards (maybe more), skimming just above the waves before dropping back into the ocean. Truly amazing!
Eric makes the most of the last night in the BVI:
Our last night in Manchioneel Bay was a nice, low-key to wrap up the trip. That's a pretty laid back location, with a nice view to the west. A bank of clouds came in as the sun was setting, so we were denied our customary end of trip sunset. I'm still trying to figure out who I should call to complain!
posted by Aras at 7:00 PM
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