British Virgin Island Trip

The ain't Virgin anymore!

Mr. Bramble approached me 6 months ago asking if we wanted to go to the British Virgin Islands on a sailing holiday. We said we couldn't afford it but he wore us down; with offers of a free ride if we would skipper a boat. One boat soon turned into 3 and then 4. It fast became apparent that it had the makings of an epic adventure and we could not refuse. In the end it was 30 people 4 boats (two were Beneatau 47.3, one 46, and a 42.3), and one week in the British Virgin Islands.

St.Thomas' ferry terminal on the USVI.

Being busy with a new job I didn't really think much about the event until the day before we left. We hoped on the new Canada Line and made our way to the airport. There were a fair number of us going out on the same flight and we began forming up in the international departure wing. The flights there were anything but direct. We flew first to LAX and took two buses to get to our connecting flight. From there we flew to Puerto Rico and after that on to St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands. From St. Thomas we took cabs to the ferry company (expect to pay per person $8 USD, I want to be a cabbie!). From there it was a ninety minute ferry ride to Road Town the capital of the BVI where we cleared customs. By the time we made it to the charter company we were all exhausted and there was no way we were going to be heading out that day; instead we opted to remain at the dock.

My new command JUSTICE.

Cheryl and Trevor.

As I had said I had not done any real research on the company the boats or what we would be doing. I had no idea what to expect. I was a little concerned as our cab ran us down a dirty run down industrial park and I saw a beat up hand painted sign for BVI Yacht Charters. My initial concern was completely misplaced. I had heard horror stories of other people's charter experiences with third rate companies. This one was nothing like that. The people on the dock and in the office were friendly, honest and really knowledgeable. I would happily refer anyone to this company (see the link below). We were shown to our vessels which were in great shape. All of them were equipped with all the cruising gear you could want including AC! We were given a thorough run down on all the systems on the boat and a chart briefing with some advice on the "must see areas". We were also fortunate to have Tom's Dad (a BVI local) come down and give us some valuable advice on where to go. We spent our first night jumping off the docks and exploring around Road Town. The next morning we set about provisioning the boat. On our boat, JUSTICE, we opted to go in on food together and avoid eating ashore. We also setup a kitty for all boat related expenses. This was a excellent idea; we had all the funds pooled for mooring, fuel, extra fuel, and any other expenses that came up. There was no hounding anyone for their share of everything we did. Provisioning in Road Town was easy there were three grocery stores within a 10 minute walk. They were reasonably well equipped. The prices were about on par with what you would pay at home. Some processed foods where pricy so we avoided those. Our favorite items were fresh hot chilies and avocados the size of footballs (I am not kidding). One of the stores was a "Costco" styled shop but it was closed the Sunday morning so we missed out on that. Alcohol was quite cheap, in particular 60 oz of Rum was about $8 USD, all other alcohol was much cheaper than Canada but not Rum was the bargain drink. Like a bunch of homeless people the crew brought two shopping carts of provisions back to the marina. We also loaded up on some of the snorkeling gear the Charter Company offered up for free. If you are going make sure that you check to see if it works. Many people had to share equipment after we got out there because the gear was broken. A quick dive off the dock would have solved this. With the boat loaded up we got underway. On our boat one of the crew had ignored our warnings that we would be leaving soon. She was left at the dock and had to catch a ride on Bramble's boat that was going to wait until later to leave.

The view from BVI Yacht Charter's base in Port Purcell.

Cheryl and her crew race out to take the lead on our run to the "Indians".

We make our attempt to overtake GIANTA but Cheryl forces me up.

Team SEA WEASEL without me?!

Making another attempt to overtake Cheryl.

The "Indians" are the three rocks grouped together in the centre. A good snorkeling site.

Our first destination was Norman Island, but before we got there we tied up to the mooring buoys at "the Indians" a rock formation off Norman Island. The sail over the Indians was amazing 16 knots of breeze from the North East made for a nice reach. We had some initial difficulty getting the main hoisted without getting it fouled in the lazy jacks. Cheryl took this opportunity to get ahead of us. Now the race was on. We sped after them and gained slowly. Not to be over taken she forced us up and kept us at bay. I got my break though and was able to get on top of her stealing her wind and getting ahead. I won't say we left her in our dust but we got to the Indians well ahead of her boat (she probably would have corrected over us). There was some excellent snorkeling and Ruan went on what would become a fruitless hunt for lobsters. The snorkeling was pretty good here (no Belize) but pretty good.

Frog man Tyler ready for action.

Ruan takes some time out from "lobster hunting" to blow a bubble ring.

Pirate's at the Bight.

After several hours of snorkeling and splashing around we sailed over to the Bight on Norman Island. We followed Tom's Dad's advice and took up moorings near the Pirate's resort and as far from the infamous Willey T's as possible. From here we played around exploring the pub on shore. Ruan and Antony went hiking and came back bloody tired and telling hair raising tales of giant land crabs that could crush your skull. I had myself hoisted to the top of the mast in the boson’s chair provided and got some great scenic shots. Too bad my camera was not working and they didn't really turn out. After dinner and drinks we all opted to go to the Willey T to here what all the legends were about. It did not disappoint. The Willey Thornton was a wooden Baltic Trader brought to the BVI in 1989 and anchoured at Norman Island where it was turned into a floating pub and developed a reputation for crazy hedonistic parties. In 1997 during one of these parties the Willy T sank. It was refloated and sunk off a neighbouring island as a artificial reef. The vessel was replaced with a steel hauled boat and was reopened.

Mike find's a hermit crab.

Tom's boat; another 47.3

Sunset in the Bight.

When we reached the Willy T the party was in full swing. It was an odd mix of locals and bare boaters. The Willy T consists of a cafeteria side and the other is a two leveled bar. It was nuts with people bumping and grinding on the dance floor. I am not talking about the tame dance floor bumping and grinding on dance floors hear I mean full on front to rear pounding. Things took their turn for the worst. The cheap local rum was having its effect on the crews. I began ferrying people back to their boats on the dinghy acting as the designated driver. It was on one of these trips I came across one of our dinghies motoring back to one of the boats with 4 dazed and soaking friends in it. When I enquired what happened the story came out. They had like all the others indulged and were in no shape to be piloting the dinghy. They had been planning at full speed when they hit the side of a moored catamaran. The impact launched all four into the side of the catamaran and then into the water. One remembered: "we were motoring along and then I was under water and I did not know which way was up.”. One of the girls had smasher her nose, the other had hit her head and one of the guys had his shoulder thrown out. The impact had woken up the family on the boat and when they came outside they helped pull the victims out of the water. Some with missing clothes! They were great and got them water and towels, and recovered the dinghy. When I returned the situation had deteriorated. A girl was on the bar topless doing body shots. Crew were working their way to unconsciousness. I ferried one back to their boat who had to crawl down the dock into the dinghy. When I got back someone else was trying to drive a dinghy and was so out of it they ran it up onto the dinghy dock and we had to intervene. They subsequently flooded the engine. Cheryl rode in the dinghy trying to fix it. Ben towed them in the meantime in a separate dinghy while Ruan and I motored back. We quickly noticed that Ben was motoring off with the other dinghy in tow in the opposite direction of the boats. We motored over to them just in time to see them entangled themselves into the mooring lines of a parked catamaran. Finally we guided everyone back to the boats without further incident... well not if you don't count when we thought Curtis was missing only to find him asleep on the bow of the boat. Throughout the night of motoring around the bay I was amazed by the shooting stars and the huge schools of fish leaping out of the water all around me; it was a beautiful night. The next morning everyone awoke bleary eyed and trying to remember what happened the night before. After breakfast we spent some time hunting for giant land crabs before heading off to our next destination Cane Garden Bay. It was a bit of sail over there passing through some narrow channels. Excited to but Norman Island behind us we hoisted our main and sailed off our moorings. The wind was perfect again and we averaged 6 knots almost the entire way. We didn't have to touch the engine as we sailed through the narrow channeled and began beating up the backside of Tortola. When we entered Cane Garden Bay we found a more developed bay then on Norman Island. There were several beachside restaurants and pubs.

Things getting started on the Wiley T.

The Wiley T lives up to its reputation.

The next morning the skippers recovered crew and returned dinghies.

Max capacity....who cares.

Good bye to the Bight hello Cane Garden Bay.

We avoided eating ashore and had lunch and dinner on the boat. A soon to be reoccurring theme took hold while washing dishes when we kicked a number of them off the back of the boat into the ocean. We recovered them the next morning. We also took notice of the large number of sea turtles swimming in the bay. That night there was the usual hard partying. People swam between boats and more or less put on a repeat performance of the previous nights activities. In the morning we took the dinghies ashore to re-provision some of the perishable fruit and vegetables we had gone through. I was denied entry into the grocery store "Bobbi's because I wasn't wearing a shirt. We also found some of the trash bins and were able to get rid of our trash. When we looked over the boat and began cleaning up we realized that our plan to raid one of the other boats for rum had been successful.

I try to convince Ruan that their is no need to "Hoist the Jib" as it is on a furler.

Captain Ru.

Ant strikes a stirring pose.

Rum in a bucket; now the night gets ugly.

Convinced that charcoal will help with alcohol poisoning to unnamed crew members forget they are soaked in lighter fluid.

Returning from a garbage run ashore.

Motoring to Marina Caye.

We headed out for Marina Quay with a stop at Monkey Point for some snorkeling. As we headed out of Cane Garden Bay I consulted my charts and chart plotter. I motored out of the bay. As I did so I saw the depth get dramatically shallower and at that point I noticed I was on the wrong side of a channel marker not shown on the charts. I also failed to notice Cheryl and Trevor racing after me in their dinghy screaming to watch out for the reef. The mistake I had made was not to consult my cruising guide which did show a reef and the channel markers. I felt sick to my stomach. The thought of grounding the charter boat on a somewhat marked reef would have been awful. When we got to Monkey Point we found 2 mooring balls free and there were three of us (the other boat had already been their leaving earlier). I opted to anchour and leave the mooring balls for the others. I had more experience at anchouring so I thought it was fair. It was something else to anchour a 47 boat with 150' of chain and a windlass in 23' of water. After setting the anchour I had the luxury of being able to swim over with my snorkel and fins and check it out through the clear water. When I got there I realized a problem. The hook was completely upside down. The anchour was a Delta Plow style and I could see that it had already dragged. I swam down the 23' and was able to tip the anchour on its side. It was a heavy anchour and that was already past my diving limit. I returned to the surface gasping for air. While I had only got it on its side I had noticed that if it dragged any further it would have jammed between two rocks securing it; so I left it and joined the others snorkeling off Monkey Point. The Point was billed as the BVI's best snorkeling but was far from it when we were there. Cheryl did see a nurse shark and Ruan saw a puffer fish but it was otherwise unremarkable. We all remounted our boats and set out for Marina Quay. This was going to be the most nerve racking sailing of the trip. We had to negotiate a narrow channel dotted with rocks at a perfect height to rip off the keel. Cheryl and I were side by side approaching the pass. Cheryl decided to go first and I follow. We both were glued to our chart plotters, charts, and cruising guides constantly evaluating our position. When we cleared the channel we breathed a sigh of relief and carefully entered Marina Quay which had its own set of navigational hazards. As we tied up to the mooring balls we got our first rain, that came on fast and hard but soon dissipated and moved on. Here for the first time we noticed schools of Tarpon, large reef fish circling around the boat. They were easily a meter long. Ruan got out his child sized rod and tried unsuccessfully to catch one. We began to doubt his stories of being a "great white hunter". Many of our group went ashore at Marina Quay and shut down the bar. When we joined them ashore we found the party well underway. One of our crew was enticed into participating and over indulged. When we returned to the boat there was rough housing leading to Cheryl and others being tossed into the sea. As the night progressed Ruan was persuaded to have half his eyebrows shaved off, and his shorts run up the mast. When he woke up in the morning he was wearing a hat that read: "Captain Retard". Cheryl was covered in bruises from trying to remain on the boat during our rugby game.

Marina Caye. Nice phone booth!

Sensing weakness we go in for the kill.

The LaRutard

Time to get breakfast at Trellis Bay.

We all had agreed to go over to Trellis Bay for breakfast. There was apparently a good breakfast place and a lot of local shops. We loaded the dinghies up and motored over to the bay which was located on Beef Island near the airport.

When we got to Trellis Bay most of the shops were closed with it being the off season; and in fact when all 30 of us showed up at the breakfast place we found that only one old lady was working. She put up a valiant effort to bring us all drinks, take our orders, and serve us meals. She inevitably fell behind and breakfast took hours to complete even though she employed some locals to help out.

Trellis Bay.

The hardest working cook in Trellis Bay; her vs. 30

Wounds caused by fighting with Ruan the night before.

Waiting for food.

Our new flag: Ruan's shorts.

JUSTICE racing for Virgin Gorda.

After exploring around the Bay we loaded up into our dinghies and motored back to the boats to head off to our next destination Virgin Gorda. This was going to be our longest sail. We decided today was going to be the day we raced everyone to our next destination. Too bad we didn’t tell anyone about it. We headed off in 12 knot winds beating up towards the “dogs” a group of islands between Marina Quay and North Sound. The sailing was awesome. We worked our way up on the outside of the Dog Islands. The other boats ended up trying to stay closer to the coast of Virgin Gorda. The wind became fluky and soon we saw the others put on their engines. This was a common theme with us waiting to put on our engine until there was no hope of anymore wind. We continued for hours working our way up until we were able to tack over and lay the channel entrance to North Sound. The sun was beginning to set when we negotiated the narrow channel into the sound and took up our moorings near the Bitter End Yacht Club.

Virgin Gorda was very commercial the BEYC was a private resort and while beautiful had a “all inclusive” feel to it. In the morning we wandered around and bough out all their water before packing up to leave. Our next destination was Cooper Island with a stop at the Baths at the South tip of Virgin Gorda. We took our time getting out of the sound and sailed all the way to the southern tip of the island where the baths were located.

GIANTA closing in on the Dog Islands.

Safe and sound in Virgin Gorda

Team WEASEL.

The ideallic Bitter End Yacht Club

The baths were a rock formation that created caves and sandy beaches. Getting there as late as we did we did not get much time to explore. Still it was a neat area with a lot of surf. Some went exploring over the giant boulders and explored the caves and pools while others sat on the white sandy beaches.

After an hour we headed off again for Cooper Island. On the way I spotted an old commercial fishing vessel wrecked on a reef. Further on the shore of Ginger Island we spotted a wrecked sailboat. We found out later that a owner of a small charter company had committed insurance fraud by wrecking the boat when it no longer met his needs and claiming it was accidental so he could buy a new vessel. He then went back and stripped the boat bare to the hull we had seen that night.

Burried at the Baths.

Mike does his R. Kelly impression.

Wait for it...

...here it comes.

Towing GIANTA's dinghy in.

Ummm....

The Sunsetting on our way over to Norman Island.

The sun had set and under the last bit of twilight we picked up our moorings off Cooper Island. We collected Cheryl from her boat and had dinner. During dinner someone produced a bottle of Tequila and soon we had a dance party on the boat. The party spilled ashore and the night took a turn for the surreal with crew left unconscious on docks, a fight with a knife wielding local and more that does not bear repeating.

Everyone woke up bleary eyed and feeling it. As I set about doing the dishes from the night before I was approached by a local in a dinghy who was heavily inebriated. He was looking for his South African friend. He climbed aboard and asked for rum. After an hour we woke up Ruan and had him get rid of the guy so we could have breakfast. Following breakfast we recovered all the items I kicked off the back of the boat in my attempt to do the dishes earlier. We noticed we had a visitor; a large barracuda had taken up residence behind our boat waiting for scraps of food to be thrown in. He was nasty looking and had a large fishing hook sticking out of him. We all swam around him in the water chasing this fearsome fish around foolishly.

For lunch we tried again to light the charcoal BBQ without the fire starting liquid. It was a exercise in futility (easy light my ass). I got the bright idea to douse it in diesel fuel and light it up. That got it started and we began our weinny roast when we had some nice coals. It became apparent when we all got sick after eating our diesel smelling hot dogs that this was not a good idea.

The after dinner dance party begins.

The party moves on shore.

A casualty is found on the dock and recovered.

After lunch we decided to head back to Road Town; while we had the boats until the next morning it was easier to be there the night before instead of rushing in the morning to meet the 11am turn in time. As we set out a fearsome rain squall set in blasting us with sheets of rain water and 18 knot winds. Tom’s boat had set out ahead of us motoring; Cheryl and I gave chase under sail. Now we were really sailing. We were close reaching. The boat was dialed in; the wind had the boat on its side; I got the crew out on the rail and we were flying 7.8 knots dragging a dinghy. We were fast catching up on Tom. Closer and closer we got with Cheryl trailing behind us. At the last minute the rain shut off and the wind with it. We stalled and stopped one boat length from Tom’s boat. Cheryl bore away and held the wind for a few minutes longer gaining on us. It was time to fire up the engines and motor into Road Town Harbour.

We entered the harbor in a big group. Tom’s boat went into the refueling dock ahead of us while we waited outside Port Purcell. I got the bright idea to ditch the dinghy so that we didn’t have to contend with them while docking these beasts. We kicked Belinda and Amy into the dinghy and set them adrift. Cheryl’s boat followed suit. Then in turn we motored into the refueling area. I have to say it was a lot easier than I expected. I took it slow but got it there no problem.
We were ashore again. The crew set about showering and getting cleaned up for a night on the town. We plugged the boats in and got the AC going it was pure luxury. That night we explored around Road Town. That night we carried on the party back on the boats into the wee hours.
The next day it was time to leave. We organized the boats, cleaning them and passing on all our unused food to the guys who were staying for a few extra days. We then made our way to the ferry terminal and passed through customs. It was a long journey back home following the same route we had before except with a eventful stopover in St. Thomas where Curtis’ iPhone lead us off on a wild goose chase and there was a lot of spooning with 5 people in two beds.

Heading home to Road Town.

A massive rain storm hits us as we motor in to the fuel dock.

Disembarking.

Good bye Virgin Islands

Here are some tips if you go:

Getting there:
· Try and get “as direct” as you can flights. 3 connections and a ferry is a lot of travel to get there!
· Taxi’s: Expect to pay $7 per person (no matter how many the cabs hold) from the St. Thomas Airport to the Ferry Terminal. On Tortola you can walk to the Charter Companies (30 minutes) but it is easier spring for the $5 cab per person to the offices.
· For ferries confirm the departure times no matter what the advertisements say. In the off season they cut runs.
Boats & Charter Companies:
· I only have experience with the one we used. They were great. Make sure that the staff shows you how to use all the systems. Get them to turn on the electronics too so that you know how to use them.
· Fuel was cheap; when we paid at the end of the trip it was approximately a dollar a litre. The boat with the genset on it used less fuel for power generation than the boats without. Still the more you sail the more efficient you are.
· Water consumption is a big deal. Water can cost a fortune so make sure that you conserve it. Over the course of the week we used 3 of our 4 tanks and did not need to buy any.
The People:
· In general the people in the BVI were easy to deal with. I would say that they on the whole were not friendly at all. (Charter company staff would be the exception). Of course they have to deal with partying tourists so it is understandable.
Food:
· Food is reasonably priced in the markets. Road Town is the best place to load up for sure. All other areas began costing more and had poorer selection. This was the way to go. We saved a lot of money by eating on the boats.
· Try the avocados! They are freaking huge!!
· Rum is the cheapest drink by far so go that route if you want to keep the costs for booze down.
· Restaurants for the most part are quite expensive and designed for tourists. I would say the average price for an entrée at the tourist traps was over $20 USD. It was not apparent where there were cheap holes in the wall.

Money:
· Road Town has numerous ATMs and Banks. ATMs can be out of order, and banks are closed on weekends so be aware. The only chain bank I noticed was Scotia bank.
· Virgin Gorda has no ATMs on the North half of the island so be aware.
· Trellis Bay did not have a ATM but the airport did which was a short walk from the bay.
· Cane Garden Bay had a ATM at the local shop.
Sites worth seeing:
· The Indians was great snorkeling.
· The Wiley T
· The Baths on Virgin Gorda

Things not worth seeing:
· Monkey Point
· Road Town

BVI Yacht Charters