This year’s annual pilgrimage to sailing mecca was perhaps the best ever. The main ingredient to a good sailing vacation is wind. Every day of this week-long adventure had great wind from the most pleasant direction I had yet to experience; S-SE. The BVI is the perfect place for SailTime to hold its annual flotilla. The event has been designed to make a first time bareboat charter experience much less stressful. Much of the logistical decision making is taken care of, so you just have to think about sailing. Unlike our intimate trip to The Abacos, this past June, our November flotilla had 11 boats total, comprised of Members from the USA and UK.

In reality we actually were only all together as 11 boats for one night. The rest of the time different groups chose different destinations.

The US contingent all gathered on Wednesday 11/4 at the charter base for a sleep aboard before the charter start the next morning. This strategy allows us get the boats provisioned, unwind and leave the docks early the next day. This evening we walked to C&F Barbecue for perhaps the best BBQ one can procure. A great way to start off the week.

Team Ty Soizic strike a pose

Day 1 We get an early start and all 8 US boats depart the charter base before noon. The wind is up and we beat out from Road Town to our first stop; Marina Cay. It was a little choppy but the snorkeling was great at the far end of the reef. Half of us made the quick trip across the channel to Trellis Bay for the night. The others stayed put at Marina Cay. Trellis Bay is an important stop because it is home to Da Loose Mongoose restaurant and the superior West Indies cuisine of Rose.

Day 2 The trip from Trellis Bay to The Baths is short, so we get there nice and early before the crowds. We take the obligatory trail walk out to the end and snorkel back the whole way. When The Baths are calm this snorkel is extraordinary. Lots to see and the huge rocks in the water are not intimidating lacking the surge. We weigh anchor for the 3-hour sail to North Sound in near perfect 15-20 knot winds that allow us to shape a perfect course. On our boat we cook aboard and then go to Saba Rock for desert and drinks.

Team Caca Fuego throws a group wave in!

Day 3 I put a lay-day into the itinerary this year so everyone could put in some required limin time. There is a myriad of things to do in North Sound, but our very laid back crew chose to do very little. We did get in a 2-hour snorkel out at the end of Virgin Gorda. The current wasnt cooperating for the perfect drift snorkel I have had before but we still managed to had a lot of fun. There is some development out there now. Buoys mark the deep water and it appears they may have blasted a passage through the reef. It looks like they may be building luxury homes, but I’m not sure. This night nearly all US boats converged at The Fat Virgin for some of Esther’s must have picnic table delights.

Day 4 We set out from North Sound bound for Anegada. We left about 10am to time our arrival at the tricky anchorage to be noon. This is a good thing because my chartplotter craps out right as we hit the approach waypoint and I use visual guidance on the bow to take us in based on the recommendations of BVI Pirate. It works! My crew heads to land to sample the incredible Loblolly Beach hospitality and I hang to catch some down time and help one of our boats with engine troubles. We ended the day with a fine Anegada Lobster dinner at Neptune’s Treasure

Larry presents John with the grey poupon trophy for winning the Anegada Crossing Race

Day 5 We leave Anegada for Jost Van Dyke This 30 mile crossing is the longest sail of the week and we are treated to a thrilling downind sleigh ride courtesy of a front from the North that brought wind from that direction along with a good 10 foot swell. We got our cat up to 11.2 knots and mostly hung out in the high 9’s the whole ride. This trip has taken me nearly 6 hours some times but this day was a little over 3 and a half! I had planned to go to Diamond Cay but it was full up so we went around the corner to Little Harbor. There we found dozens of open mooring balls and word quickly spread to the fleet that we had a place for all. That night we enjoyed a great meal and good times at Sydney’s Peace and Love. Strawberry and her staff treated us like kings!

Jonathan from the UK sporting the new colors on a new cat!

Day 6 We left Little Harbor about 9 for the short sail to Sopers Hole where we reprovisioned and did our mandatory trinket shopping. The harbor was full of Caribbean 1500 participants as they were at their height of arrival. From there we had a very favorable tacking track up “the cut” which separates Tortola, BVI from St. John, USVI. A glorious sail in 17 knots of steady breeze brought us to The Bight of Norman Island in the early afternoon. The snorkeling was so fantastic that was pretty much it until sundown. It was clear and calm and chock full of marine life. We had a leisurely sundowner period on the boat followed by a great onboard dinner. It began to rain so we all called it pretty early, escaping the clutches of the Willy T for once!

Day 7 The day began very still, calm and hot so everyone was eager to get moving. About 10 minutes into our first tack the wind came up to 15 and off we went on a wonderful day of sailing that allowed us to parade up and down the Sir Francis Drake Channel which is usually a tough beat up. Today it was broad reaches wherever you want to go. We got in some snorkeling at Cooper Island Rock and settled in for our last night at Cooper Island after getting a CA grp sht n the beach. The night saw the passage of a tropical wave which dumped nearly 5 inches of rain and gave us one of the most spectacular lightning shows I have ever witnessed

The next morning, once again, with heavy hearts, we began our last crossing of the Drake Channel to turn the boat in and wend our way home all too soon. The only comfort taken by those who know they will be back again!

Tags: bvi, flotilla, SailTime

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