01/01/2010 Happy New Years!!!!! I was just enjoying the day with a quiet sail to Francis Bay. I set out for another cross island hike today to Coral Harbor. There is a cruisers bar there 
known as Skinny Legs. The burgers are fantastic and the beer is real cold after a hike like that. It was even better than the one with Harold because it was shorter and there is cold beer.01/02/2010 I have made it back into the BVIs again. My goal is to start checking out some lesser known anchorages and enjoying the peace and quiet. After clearing in I anchored off of Guana Cay again. I stayed here with Titus, Cliff and Julie one night. It has a beautiful beach. The island is a private island with a resort that can be rented out by the room or the whole resort, but they allow the public on the beach up to the high water line.
01/03/2010 Today I sailed over to Virgin Gorda Sound. I had spotted an area past the cut from Bitter End Yacht Club that I wanted to try out. There is a large Sound there known as Eustatia Sound. There is a fringing reef that protects the whole are. There are many shallow spots, but I figure I could work my way in there. This reminds me of the anchorage at Tobago Cays in the Grenadines. It is wide open and the reef is submerged, but it protects you from the waves of the open sea and allows the wind. I did snorkel it, but the reef is in really bad shape. There is nothing to see. At night time though, I did see bioluminescence jelly fish. 
01/04/2010 I had to spend another evening at Saba Rock. This is by far my favorite bar in the Caribbean. You just can’t beat the $2.50 Pain Killers from 4-6PM and the wonderful company.
What more can I say!?
01/05/2010 The winds are blowing real good and in a favorable direction today. I sailed to Great Harbor on Peter Island. This is a great anchorage, but I need to anchor close to the shore as the bay is quite deep. I was anchored in 30’ of water, which is about as deep as I want to anchor in with only 150’ of chain for my anchor rode.The next morning I was watching a large personal yacht try to raise its anchor. It was having a hard time and I kept an eye on it. There
was a crew of four on the boat, plus the guests. Eventually they were able to raise the anchor out of the water and it was hooked to another anchor, probably off an old sailing ship. I watched them try to release the anchor. I decided they would need to release the anchor the same way I had to release a cable I caught in Charlotte Amalie Harbor the year before. That is to loop a line from the deck, through the caught anchor and back to the deck. You can then lower your anchor to clear away from the “garbage”. When your anchor is clear or stowed, then you can release one end of the line to the deck and the anchor will fall. I still have nightmares about getting my anchor stuck, like when Titus, Cliff and Julie were on the boat. This anchor would have done the same thing to me since my windlass is not that powerful.01/06/2010 I sailed to Sandy Cay today. I was trying to decide where to anchor. It was either here or Green Cay. The weather did not look good for Green Cay so I took the chance on Sandy
Cay. Sandy Cay is a beautiful little island that is a donated National Park from the Rockefellers. When Carolyn and I brought the kids down here, this was our favorite spot. Tonight did not enhance the situation. I had swam to the beach and walked around. I believe, why I was there, that I picked up some no see-ums. If I have not talked about these little buggers in the past, let me tell you, there is no worse torture that these. I had to eventually crawl into the nets with a sheet to sleep, because the bugs got into my bunk for the night.01/07/2010 After a lousy night of sleep, I bummed around the anchorage for a little. While I was sitting there a large personal mega-yacht came by. It is Le Grand Bleu. It is a 370 foot yacht and if you look closely you will see a large power fishing boat on one side of the deck and there is a 60’ sailboat on the other side. These are lowered by a crane. I then sailed back over to West
End to clear out. On my way in I saw a film crew filming a large catamaran outside the entrance. I was hanging around West End when I heard all of the boat horns going off and watched 
as the catamaran had tied up to the dock right in front of me. The boat looked very familiar. I thought I had seen it in one of the sailing magazines a couple of years ago. It was designed by the owner that needed to use a wheelchair to get around. I had just witnessed history as it was Geoff Holt and he crossed the Atlantic Ocean. You can read more about him and his journey at http://geoffholt.com/. 
As I was leaving the harbor, at anchor was the Sea Cloud. This is a four masted tall ship being used in service throughout the Caribbean.I decided to try a new cove on St Johns after clearing out. That is Hawksnest Bay. The problem is that is has a total open entrance to the north and the seas were really rolling in. I was able to get on a mooring, but I was rolling so much, and I was afraid that if the mooring let go, I would go ashore. As the sun was setting, I let go of the mooring and headed over to the nice calm and safe Francis Bay.
01/12/2010 Today I started Captains School. This is a two week class that assists me in getting my USCG Captains License. It is packed with information that will take 12 evenings and 4 weekend days all day. Through the other courses I have taken through the Coast Guard Auxillary, most of this is review. The regulations are the toughest part as I don’t live those, but I breeze through navigation.
01/24/2010. Today I passed my exam for my Masters License. I need to review my ocean time, but should have enough to earn my 50 Ton Masters Near Shore license. This would allow me to captain any Coast Guard registered vessel to a gross tonnage of 50 tons with unlimited passengers. On Monday I passed my exam for a sailing addendum that allows me to captain a sailboat and on Tuesday I passed my exam for Towing. I can charge to tow another boat.
I had been thinking about doing this and not much else was going on. The instructors are very knowledgeable, especially for the local conditions. If you want to get your license and be in an area that is beautiful and warm, this is the way to do it. If any of you need a captain for your boat, I could be your man. This was a great way to wrap up January. I have been sitting and bouncing back and forth between St Thomas and the BVIs and I needed something new to do. It was well worth my time and energy.
