BVI Adventure 2010

July 19, Sunday

Our trip began with horrid highway traffic and a five hour drive to Lacey. We connected with R and R and headed to SeaTac under more heavy traffic. A five hour flight to New York and 4 more hours to St. Thomas and we were in the Caribbean. We debarked to warm and humid weather. We explored around Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas and had lunch at a Jamaiican restaurant before taking a ferry to Tortola. That was followed by a cab to our hotel and then a cab to a local restaurant before returning to our rooms to crash after over 24 hours of travel! We were beat!

Tuesday, July 20
Once we drug ourselves out of bed, Rachel and I walked to Roadtown Bakery to pick up some goodies for breakfast, then we walked over to the Moorings base. The guys took a cab and brought the luggage. We sat through the morning briefing and then checked out our boat. We are on the 39 foot “Abbey”. We unloaded our stuff and learned about the boat and waited for some minor repairs. We had a couple of rain showers while at the base but nothing big. We left about one pm once the rain had stopped. We set out from Roadtown toward Norman Island. Not long after the rain began again and then the wind picked up some. We put the sails out but reefed them. I was “at the helm”, i.e. “driving the boat” and the wind and rain got stronger. Then we were hit with a squall- very strong wind, rain, and seas. It felt like “Deadliest Catch” meets “Pirates of the Caribbean”. We were soaked to the skin and tossed all about and visibility was about one yard. The lightning cracked nearby and the thunder rolled. We rode it out but it was SCARY. The rain continued but the major squall passed. We watched the lightning all around us. We finally figured out where we were and motored across the channel and found a mooring ball in “The Bight”, a protected anchorage off Norman Island. Normally it is known for the party scene but the pouring rain made for a quiet night. There were about 30 boats moored there. We fixed dinner and settled down from our big adventure. The rain continued most of the night but we stayed dry on the boat.

Wednesday, July 21
We woke up to a dry morning. We were up early and unmoored and motored over to the The Caves. After a quick breakfast we hopped in the water and got our first taste of snorkeling. The water is warm and full of life. We climbed back aboard and then headed out to the main channel and hoisted our sails and headed toward Cooper Island. The skies were overcast with some blue and the day was great for sailing. We sailed for several hours and then resorted to motoring to get to our final destination – Machioneel Bay. We got a mooring ball about 2 and fixed lunch and decided to relax a bit. Shortly after that another squall came through and the rain poured. We were glad to be safely moored this time. The weather is very warm and humid and water is warm as well. Late this afternoon we dinghyed over to a nearby spot to snorkel and then came back to the boat to fix dinner. It’s still rainy and very warm but pleasant. This evening (sunset is about 7) we took the dinghy to shore and had some "painkillers" at the Cooper Island Beach Resort. Back to the boat to crash!

Thursday, July 22
Another pleasant morning. We sailed over to an island called Fallen Jerusalam, part of Virgin Gorda, actually and near the famous "Baths". It had big boulders and a small beach. We took the dinghy to shore and did some snorkeling and exploring. Next we set sail again and went up the channel to the other end of Virgin Gorda. The sailing was good and the weather held. By about 5 we made it to Leverick Bay where we moored. Rachel and I quickly took the dinghy to shore for some very needed showers. Back to boat for dinner and then back to shore to do some laundry and use the wifi. Pictures to come later. We are having a good time and getting lots of sun!