Cruising the Virgin Islands

February 22, 2000 - March 1, 2000
by Ana Sánchez

 

 

Sailing the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, a part of the Caribbean archipelago, has become a yearly magical adventure. This year, Doug Roether and Vinnie McGuire joined our skipper, Bob Bortolin, for their second Caribbean sailing excursion. Mary Sakalian, who had sailed the trade winds on two other occasions, was new to the club's Caribbean experience but did not hesitate to join the crew. The fifth sailor willing to learn and thirsty for all that the islands had to offer was yours truly.... and truly it was memorable!

 

 

Columbus discovered the Virgin Islands in 1493. It took Bob another 507 years to organize this year's millennium adventure. We arrived on Tuesday, 2/22/00, and boarded the 40.5 foot Hunter we chartered from CYOA. We soon provisioned the journey with gin, rum, beer and, of course, ice cream, cookies and food. Bob's airplane cargo had consisted of frozen fillet mignon, chicken kiev and 48 Milky Ways, which we quickly protected from a tropical meltdown, once we boarded the yacht.

 

 

Our yacht was home based in the French Town Marina, located in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, the capital city of the U.S. Virgin Islands. Charlotte Amalie, named after the Danish Queen, was once the haunt of spirited pirates and what has become a Mecca for gold and jewelry. Our crew stayed away from the hustle and bustle and looked in awe at the hillside city overlooking the harbor. After we completed our onboard obligations, we dined at Betsy's to a fine meal of baby lamb chops, chicken and tuna.

 

 

A thunderstorm poured on us the next day, Wednesday 2/23/00. Did Bob delay our planned departure? No... And who would want to? The ground seas were running fast and I at the helm held on until an hour later when the swells subsided, as we were on the lee side of land.

 

We sailed between Hassel and Water Islands and changed our course to pass Christmas Cove by St. James Island. Current cut can carry a strong current of up to 4 knots running in either direction depending upon the tide. As we negotiated this narrow passageway, we spotted an ill-fated yacht wrecked on a beautiful shoal beach. We all pondered how this misfortune could have occurred to this 36 footer. Was it due to a storm or negligence?

 

 

The weather changed from a gloomy to a sunny 80-degree day, so we decided to stop at the underwater trail at Trunk Bay, off the island of St. John for the first of many snorkeling trips. We spotted a variety of tropical fish, stingrays, and coral. Our journey then took us to Leinster Bay off St. John's Island, where we moored for the night. Mary and I snorkeled and encountered a huge sea tunic and many starfish among numerous tropical fish near Watermelon Cay. When we returned, Vinnie, our onboard chef, barbecued the fillet mignon and "mickey" potatoes, which we quickly devoured. After dinner, we spent time looking at our star finder and gazing at the stars. A beautiful bowl of shining guiding lights, the constellation of Orion, the Big and Little Dipper, the planets Jupiter and Saturn, to name a few, all rose to the occasion.

 

 

 

Thursday morning, 2/24/00, was spent bathing and snorkeling in Leinster Bay. After breakfast, we headed out in our dinghy to the Annaberg Sugar Mill and later hiked to see remnants of the windmill and factory that was maintained by slaves for their Dutch masters. After spending a few hours there, we returned to our boat and decided to sail to the Bight, a bay located off Norman Island, to snorkel the Caves. The Caves in "Treasure Island" were populated with all types of fish whose colors matched the full spectrum of the rainbow. When we returned to and boarded our dinghy, the motor died on us and we had to row back to our boat. The warmth of the sun tempted us to swim some more before Vinnie, prepared an exceptional brunch of French toast, bacon, coffee, and orange juice. After brunch some of us motored on our dinghy over to the Billy Bones Beach Bar and Grill for spirits and action. We learned of a party that night that would begin at 9 p.m. and last until the last person staggered off to their dinghy. Vinnie ventured out and returned intact before 11 p.m. after many rounds of Pirate Punch. By then all the stargazers, pirates and Billy goats that inhabited the island were fast asleep.

 

 

Friday morning 2/25/00 began promptly at 7:00 a.m. Doug dutifully turned on the motor to run for at least one hour for the battery to recharge. Vinnie whipped up scrambled eggs, crispy bacon and French toast. Afterwards, we cleaned up and headed for Pelican Island to snorkel the Indians, a very unusual rock formation. The swells were too rough in these unprotected waters so we decided to forgo the Indians and head toward Salt Island to snorkel the RMS Rhone, which was sunk in 1867. The RMS Rhone, 400 foot vessel, had carried approximately 300 passengers from England and was hit by a hurricane. As the vessel tried to cross over from Salt Island to Peter Island, the engine lost power and smashed into the rocks. Only three survived. Many of the dead washed ashore, and were eventually buried on the island.

 

The Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbour in Spanish Town was our next waypoint. This town was once the capital of the BVI and was commonly thought to be so named for the number of Spanish settlers who came to mine copper early in the 16th century.

 

 

We then dined at the Rock Cafe and got "Rock Smashed" and “Rum Punched”. Bob, Mary and I returned to our boat. Doug and Vinnie played pool and were then invited by a taxi driver to an upscale party up the hill. The music was jamming and the drinks slamming. Then they went to another hut and two more bars. Vinnie was dancing throughout the night and remained long after Doug returned to the boat. Vinnie was escorted around the island by the taxi driver, Lionel, and finally returned around 3 a.m. on Saturday 2/26/00. The next day both were hung over and slept all day. Since they were both useless, Mary, Bob and I had to set the course to the Bitter End in Virgin Gorda. On our way to the Bitter End we backtracked to the Baths, which are unusual formations of large granite boulders. Large pools of water were naturally developed where the sea washes in between these huge boulders thus creating a dramatic effect. The beach is white and sandy, surrounded by palm trees. The surge almost overtook our dinghy on our way to the Baths. The trip back was equally tricky. Ashore, Bob stayed with the dinghy while Mary and I hiked the trail from the Baths to Devil's Bay. Without our reef shoes, the hike would have been impossible. It was well worth the challenge.

 

 

From the Baths, we headed north to the Bitter End. The Bitter End is a recreational paradise and is located in the North Sound, which is almost completely surrounded by reefs. We set our anchor and went over to the Bitter End Yacht Club to test our skills on a Hobie Cat. Vinnie and I zoomed past our yacht on our cat while Mary shot photos of us. After an hour, we headed back to our boat for a full course meal of fillet mignon.

 

 

The next morning, Sunday, 2/27/00, before heading out to Trellis Bay off Beef Island, Vinnie once again whipped up home fries and onions, pancakes, scrambled eggs, which we had with orange juice and coffee. Vinnie made sure that Bob was served last. This allowed us the time to have an easy long morning before Bob would order us to raise the main. Once Bob ate his meal, we immediately raised the main and sailed through rough swells. Mary's feet were cemented to the cockpit deck as she steered the course through rough seas and high winds. The boat kicked up to a speed of 6 knots. We found that the only good point of sail for this vessel was a beam reach. Otherwise making headway was a challenge.

 

 

Once we reached Beef Island, we anchored our vessel near an old tank of a boat that appeared forever-grounded in Trellis Bay. An old bearded salty seaman dwelled on this tank. Doug wondered if he would follow in the steps of this ancient mariner. The Last Resort, a restaurant located off Beef Island in Bellamy Cay, is world known for Tony Snell and Vanilla, his famous donkey, and six howling dogs who entertained us after our buffet style dinner. We ate, we drank Painkillers, and we laughed and ate some more. We wobbled back to our dinghy and made our way from the Cay to our boat in total darkness. Soon, we were all asleep.

 

 

On Monday, 2/28/00, we headed out to Sandy Cay off Jost Van Dyke, an island owned by Laurence Rockefeller. Once there, we set anchor and took in the beauty of its white sandy beach as we went in for a swim. Doug commented how buoyant the water felt. Landing the dinghy on shore was another matter. The swells were high and the thought of surf breaking on the beach and being slammed into the shore kept us on guard. We gingerly approached the shore when the dinghy nearly capsized on its side. The force of our weight held it down as we jumped off and survived unscathed. On shore we discovered the small path that trailed around the island. We noticed dried coral piled up around the shore…all different colors and shapes. The views of the surrounding islands were spectacular. Since the seas were not flat, we were unable to explore the ocean life. Perhaps next year we will be able to snorkel the ragged breaking reef to the north of the Cay.

 

 

Mary and I swam back to the boat and left Vinnie and Doug to dinghy back. We then took off for Cane Garden Bay on the northwest end of Tortola. Cane Garden Bay is a picture postcard with a white palm fringed beach stretching the entire length of the bay. We were amazed to see a horse swimming in deep water with his owner by his side. Several beach bars lined up along the bay. At night, we heard the bands playing in the beach bars and from the boat you could hear them rocking the night away. We were rocked to sleep by the music and turbulent sea, as it was treacherous to try to dinghy out at night to party.

 

 

On Tuesday, 2/29/00, we rose bright and early at 7 a.m. and headed out to Great Harbour off Jost Van Dyke to meet Foxy and buy at least one of his T-shirts as a souvenir. It would have been nice to be able to spend the night there but soon we were off to our next destination, Cancel Bay, off St. John. While swimming and snorkeling, there was a fleet of approximately 15 kayaks being led by a female guide. We were told that they were on a half-day excursion from Cruz Bay. The day was hot and sunny and the seas calm. How wonderful their trip must have been.

 

 

The next day we geared up for our final destination to St. Thomas and then off to New York as we sadly ended our affair with these Leeward Islands… at least for this year.