01/19/2010 BVIs with the Allens

11/23/2009 Richard, Leslie and Taylor flew in last night and stayed at a local hotel. This is a good thing to do when you have had to travel all day and a good night’s rest and hot shower in the morning is called for. We met up this morning and prepared for a week on the boat. We made the trip to Pueblo grocery store and stocked up. We had so much that we needed to push the shopping cart to the dock with all of the food. This is a first for me. It took several trips from the dinghy dock to the boat to load the groceries and bring everyone out the boat. After all was put away, we took off for an afternoon sail. We had some choppy water on the south side of St Thomas. Not always a good way to start out the trip, but we all did good.
We anchored in Christmas Cove for the night. I decided this is a good place to start each trip as it is a good anchorage and a place for everyone to get acclimated to the water and snorkeling. As I have written in the past, it is a great anchorage with a couple of good reefs with plenty of fish and the water depth is less than 15 feet throughout most of the cove.
11/24/2009 This morning Richard went to the top of the mast for me. The anchor light went out again after I just replaced it when I was in St Martin. It appears that it was not fitting properly within the plastic cover. Richard was able to fix it and we have a proper working anchor light.
Afterwards we then set off for Trunk Bay and Beach. Trunk bay is a popular beach on St John. We took the snorkel gear and swam a couple of the reefs. The brochures push an underwater snorkel trail here. I decided to try the trail. They have put stone markers on the bottom and they point out different reef structures and fish. This area is where most of the tourists snorkel and is very busy there. The park service is working to bring back living reef, but there is a way to go. After walking the beach they snorkeled the west end of the bay. I like this area much more and recommend it. I have seen a Hawks Bill Turtle here. It is the only time I have seen one of them.
Afterwards we motored down to Francis Bay. This is in my top five anchorages in the Caribbean. It is a quiet area due to the hills that protect you from just about any weather in this area.
11/25/2009 Happy 15th birthday to Taylor. This has been her second birthday on No Rush. We took off for West End on Tortola today. This is my first time checking in at West End. I usually go out to Jost Van Dyke. This is a lot easier. You can pick up any open mooring for the afternoon at no charge. We then went in and visited with Customs and Immigration.
Afterwards we walked around the boardwalk. There are many shops here for the needs of visitors including a full grocery store, many clothing shops, a place to pick up ice, drop off garbage, get fuel and of course, a Pusser’s Store, restaurant and bar. We stopped there for lunch and a couple of drinks. For dessert we had their famous coconut shell filled with ice cream.
We then loaded back into the boat and had a great sail over to Norman’s Island. The weather brought in some choppy seas so we by-passed the Indians for the time being and snorkeled the caves. I started to play with the video option on my underwater camera here. There are three caves you can swim into along with a good reef that runs along the wall between the caves.
Afterwards we took a mooring for the night in The Bight. Richard took Leslie and Taylor ashore and cruised the shoreline with the dinghy. Happy birthday Taylor!!
11/26/2009 Happy Thanksgiving!! Today we took off for a long sail with a stop along the way at the Indians. It paid off by waiting until today to swim the Indians. The wind chop was down quite a bit and made for a good swim. We swam along the wall and then to the back side. It is amazing how one area can be so different from one side to the other. On the ocean side there is a wall that drops straight to about thirty feet the whole length of the Indians. There is plenty of coral growth and small fish along the wall. When you swim around the corner, due to the currents there are usually a couple large schools of fish and then the water gets shallow onto a large reef that extends all the way to a close by island. There are many different kinds of fish to be seen here. There is also a tunnel that you can swim down about ten feet, through the tunnel and back up to the other side.
We then sailed up the length of Francis Drake Channel and into Trellis Bay. This bay is located at the end of the airport runway on Beef Island. It is a good place to pick up friends when they fly into the BVIs. There are several bars and restaurants and an artist there. The artist has made sculptures out of metal that are in the shape of a large ball. He has then cut out designs in the ball. These balls are used for full moon parties every month. They are filled with wood and when light make a contained bonfire. There are several along the beach. I hope to make it there for a full moon party before I leave.
For dinner tonight we made a pork tenderloin along with baked yams and a salad. Not nearly as festive as last year’s jambalaya and key lime pie.
11/27/2009 This morning we motored over to The Baths. We had the wind directly on our nose I decided to motor and make good way instead of long slow tacks all the way over there. We had a great time swimming in amongst the rocks. I have a set way now of swimming south along and through the rocks and then take the trail back up the beach through the rocks. There is a good path and some locals have put in steps and stairs to make it around the rocks much easier. I noticed the crowds are building with the holidays coming.
During the afternoon we sailed north into Gorda Sound. We had a chance to fly the spinnaker a little bit and did some fishing. Taylor caught a Bonita and landed it.
We then went and spent a couple of hours checking out the Bitter End Yacht Club. It is a full service resort with plenty of water sports. They also have a restaurant/bar, a pub, couple of clothing stores and a small market.
From there we sailed up to Leverick Bay. When you pay for a mooring there you also receive a tank of water and a bag of ice. These are two things you want to keep an eye on when sailing on a boat this size. We went ashore and decided to have dinner there. It was a wonderful barbeque buffet with salads, pastas, fish, steak, chicken, some of the best ribs I have ever had, prime rib and ham, along with desserts. For entertainment that night they have a troop of Jumbies come down and dance for the crowd. Jumbies are people dressed up in bright clothing walking on tall stilts. They are popular at carnival throughout the islands.
11/28/2009 Now it is that time of the week to start heading west again. After tanking up the water and grabbing a bag of ice we are sailing in light winds again. I am glad we had the good winds on Thursday as it was the only really good sailing we got in the whole trip. I have been warned about the Christmas winds that are suppose to arrive in late November, but alas, light winds. It is like most of my trip with not normal weather conditions. That has been a good thing.
We sailed over to Guana Cay to swim with millions of small bait fish and the Tarpons. We were not disappointed. Leslie and Richard spotted a small shark. I have yet to see a shark since getting back on the boat in September. While sitting in the bay I watched a couple of small dolphins doing back flips off of the wake from a power boat.
We then motored towards Cane Garden Bay. On our way we spotted a small pod of dolphin and passed through them twice. We could stand on the bow and watch them swimming under our bows. There really isn’t any sight on the ocean like that. The dolphins are so inquisitive, just like us.
We then made our way into Cane Garden bay and dropped the anchor for the night. We took the dinghy ashore and hung out on the beach. It is a beautiful beach with nice gentle waves washing ashore. Being we arrived late in the afternoon it was real quiet after the cruise ship tourists left. We walked the length of the beach and then waded in the water or hung out on the beach. Cane Garden is also the area for another full moon party. I am told it is one of the wildest places for a full moon anywhere.
11/29/2009 This morning we tried sailing out of the bay and head back to St Thomas. The winds were so light that I gave up and started the motors. It amazes me how little wind there has been. We did not need to clear out of customs and immigration on this trip because the agents pre-cleared us when we arrived. We motored past St John and into Charlotte Amalie by early afternoon. We needed to clear in with US Customs and Immigration. We needed to pay an overtime fee of $35.00 for Sunday support.
We then went and had lunch just in time as it started to rain. It rained heavy for a couple of hours and we enjoyed a good lunch at a restaurant in the marina. Afterwards we brought the luggage back to the dock and we said our good-byes for this trip. It was another wonderful time together.