British Virgin Islands (2000)
The Cruise of the Whisper III
Every cruise is a bit different from the others . . . different boat, different crew and different itinerary . . but there is always a certain comfortable sameness in climbing aboard a Moorings cruising yacht and setting out for a week’s sailing in the Caribbean.This was the sixth time now that we’ve bare boat chartered in the Caribbean and the fourth time in the British Virgin Islands.
Like our other boats , the Whisper III was a forty foot Beneteau sailboat but slightly different from earlier charters with it’s furling mail sail and center cockpit configuration. I think I still prefer the stern cockpit (better vision, less water over the helm) but I sure became hooked on the convenience of being able to furl and unfurl the main sail into the mast from a the cockpit winch. No more hauling up and down the main from the more exposed bow winch.
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The Captain and Crew of the Whisper III The Deck Hands
Our crew this time was Katherine and Alain . . . one a veteran of our first cruise in 1986, the latter a first time sailor . . . but by the end of the week they had learned the ropes and pretty much taken over the sailing and mooring routines on their own. The itinerary was much like the same circle route that we’d taken before in the British Virgin Islands . . . Norman, Cooper, Virgin Gorda, Cane Garden Bay (Tortola), Jost Van Dyke and Peter Islands.
Monday, January 3. Left Road Town in early afternoon and sailed across the Drake Channel under full sail to The Bight on Normal Island where we dropped anchor close in near the shore in an already crowded bay. (We discovered our mistake later in the evening when we were entertained by loud island music into the wee hours from a little restaurant on the beach nearby). Kath and Alain made a trip over to the "pirate ship" in the dingy for a pain killer and roti while Val and I stayed behind to check on our anchorage.
Tuesday, January 4. Shifted our anchorage to a mooring buoy at the far end of the bay and spent the day snorkeling out Treasure Point. Cooked some kebobs on the grill for the evening meal.
Wednesday, January 5. Sailed east around the Atlantic side of Norman Island up to Cooper Island where we moored at Manchoneel Bay. The sail up was exciting with high winds ( 20-25 knots) and waves up to fifteen feet in height. Alain positioned himself on the bowsprit and rode out the worst of it with occasional dunkings up to his chest as the bow plowed under the oncoming waves. It’s a bit ironic to be talking about "high waves" in the Sir Francis Drake Channel here when, it a little more than a month, Val and I will be sailing across the famed Drake Passage (same guy) from the tip of South America to Antarctica, with the possibility of seas four to five times that great. Hamburgers on the grill for our dinner.
Thursday, January 6. Headed east up to Virgin Gorda for a quick stop at the famed rock formations there known as the Baths. Val, Kath and Alain went ashore to explore but, unfortunately, found it a bit crowded which took the some of the edge off an otherwise charming destination.
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Breakfast On Board Katherine at the Helm
Leaving Virgin Gorda, we sailed across the channel on a broad reach, between the Great and Little Caminoe islands and then a great, one tack beat downwind along the north coast of Tortola to Cane Garden Bay . . . my favorite anchorage in the BVI. It was a fun, fast sail with speeds up over five knots at times. After a couple hours of snorkeling, we went ashore for happy hour and a fresh fish dinner at a beachside restaurant.
Friday, January 7. From Cane Garden Bay, it was an easy reach across to Little Harbor on Jost Van Dyke island where we moored for the night. Although well sheltered from the seas, it turned out to be a very windy anchorage, which made sleeping a bit fitful. This bay, like most of the others, had flocks of pelicans and frigate birds and one of the more delightful ways to spend an evening was simply watching them swooping over our boat and then diving into the water for their meals.
We swooped over to a rather unimposing beach restaurant which served up an excellent island barbecue dinner on the beach overlooking our boats moored in the bay.
Saturday, January 8. The next morning we sailed around the West End and Frenchman’s’ Key and then worked our way east into some heavy winds up the channel under full sail until finally dropping our sails to motor up to Peter Island, where we spend out final night at Little Harbor there. Given some rather fickle wind conditions we anchored with our stern to the shore and ran a line off the stern to a rock on the beach. With a week’s experience now under their belts, our crew handled this rather tricky maneuver very well. Our last dinner was grilled chicken proceeded by a bottle of champagne to salute a successful crew and cruise.
Sunday, January 9. From Peter Island, it was a quick sail across to Road Town, where we docked the Whisper III and unloaded our gear. Kath and Alain took the afternoon plane back to New York while Val and I stayed on for a couple extra days in a great, little resort on Frenchman’s Cay.
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View from our Villa Frenchman's Cay Hotel, Tortola
The resort consisted eight guest villas with a central dining room, bar, tennis court and pool and located on a hill overlooking the Drake Channel and we would highly recommend it to anyone. It was a magnificent way for us to wind down our week sitting on the balcony of our villa with our rum drink in hand and looking out over the blue waters, the islands and the tiny sailboats below.