Sailing – Page 13

I kind of zoned out there.

My posts for the last few months have been a tad infrequent. And it’s been two weeks since I last posted. I think I have just been decompressing. I have had a great summer – spending time with family, and then coming back to Austin for a couple of downtime weeks to play with Monte. Somewhere, in there, the summer has nearly slipped by. That’s ok, though. Onward!

Yesterday Sue & Marty joined us on the boat for a windless day on the lake. We headed directly for our cove, set anchor, jumped in and floated until just before sunset. A great day! Here is a shot of the blinding sun on its way to the horizon.

Foot of the mast.

Tonight’s vantage point:

Life lessons.

We went for a sail today on Lake Travis. It is almost the end of June and temps haven’t hit 100 yet (!*!*!) Lori and Doray went out on Camelot, we sailed along on Nirvana. We had a great day, with steady winds around 20 knots past Anderson Bend. We coasted back and made it to our marina’s cove about 5 o’clock. But at that point, Camelot radioed in that they couldn’t get the main down.

Ruh. Roh.

We sat a spell, and then talked them over to side tie on one of the far docks at the marina, which allowed them to come in pointed windward. We tied them off and then hoisted Doray to the top of the mast to loose the main. She wasn’t able to free the halyard, but we secured it below with a tether line that she attached and then got her and the mainsail safely back on deck.

Just another day on B-dock. 🙂

Fair winds, friends…

1st weekend of Summer: 630′

Summer arrived yesterday morning at 5AM central time (or thereabouts). Yesterday we set out for a raftup to mark the occassion. Marty & Sue joined us on Nirvana. We met up with Dancer, Kalliopi, Voodoo, Solace, Sapphire and Karma. It’s been a very long time since we enjoyed a raftup with that many other crazies. We had a fun evening, and a nice, relaxed day today. Fair winds and non-stifling temps. All is well.

Friday evening on the Sound.

This afternoon we hit the Sound, again, with Fran, Art, Rebecca and Aaron. We hopped onto their boat at this beach.

Then motored over to watch a local marina’s Friday night regatta up close.

Then toodled around to see what we could see. On the left, a sea lion sunning himself on a buoy. In the background, Mt. Rainier, Blake Island and a Seattle-bound ferry.

It was beautiful out, but not necessarily warm.

And, a lovely sunset.

Stalked by ducks.

We enjoyed a fun raftup last night with Lori, Dave, Kurt & Kevin. The wind was slack and light overnight, and we ended up getting our anchor lines twisted. We knew that was the case, though, so we were prepared for it when we went to pull up our anchors today. We enlisted the kayak and detached the anchor rode from Nirvana entirely while Camelot pulled theirs up, untwisting them as we went along. Back on-board Nirvana, we reattached our rode and pulled our anchor up and got underway. Next time, we’ll put out a stern line. 🙂

As we headed back to the marina, the two ducks that hang out in the cove were behaving very strangely. They have been in the cove everytime we have gone out there this year, and they hang out by our boat. We’ve named them George and Gracie. This time, though, as we were motoring along, they followed us well out of the cove, swimming hard to try to keep up.

They would fall behind and then take flight and land next to us near mid-ships. Then drift back to where we were pulling the kayak, and tried to keep up again.

They repeated this over and over. After watching them do this five or six times, we slowed down so we could see what they would do when they caught up with us. And they proceeded to paddle right up to the transom.

And Gracie jumped aboard as we were moving along. George seemed a bit more reserved.

Eventually they got tired of playing with us and moved along.

…..funny birds.

Fly ’em if you got ’em.

Anchoring out tonight with Lori and Dave on Camelot, and Kurt and Kevin on Dancer.

April 9 – Heading home.

Wednesday, April 9.

We all flew to San Juan together. Then headed to our respective destinations. What a great trip! Monte, you were an awesome Skipper. Susanne and Laura, you are TROOPERs! We’re so glad you could come along on this adventure.

This is our third charter with ProValor Charters, thanks Jim & Cecilia!

Thanks to Doray and Tom for Keeto-sitting.

And thanks, too, to Marty & Sue for teaching us the charter ropes on our past trips with them. We are looking forward to you joining the next trip with the crazy B-dockers.

I go to come back!

Our route…

So…. would I want to do the whole check-out-of-BVI, check-in-and-out-of-USVI, then check-back-in-to-BVI Customs & Immigration thing again? Not sure. St John was amazing, but it did burn some of our days planning where and when to check-in/out. I guess the take away is that it is best to be flexible….especially with the weather… and just roll with it.

April 8 – Our last night.

Tuesday, April 8.

This morning we dinghied over to shore to tour the shops and artists’ wares at Trellis Bay.

One of the bathyspheres that they cut away to make the fireballs for the full-moon parties.

We missed Full Moon by about a week this trip. Next trip we'll definitely have to book during a Full Moon! — We missed Full Moon by about a week this trip. Next trip we’ll definitely have to book during a Full Moon!

On the sail back to Fat Hog’s Bay today, Susanne was at the helm and Laura worked the lines by herself. They’ve both done really well with learning the ins and out of the boat, and they’re bonifide sailors now!

We got to the marina in time to finish up the closing paperwork on the charter. We’ll spend the night on the dock, since our flight leaves at 7:30 AM tomorrow. It’s a bittersweet day. Sad that it’s almost over. But ecstatic to use the showers at the marina!

We walked over to Red Rock for an amazing dinner. A perfect last supper for a fantastic trip. So many great memories and experiences. As always, I already can’t wait to come back.

April 7 – The Baths.

Monday, April 7.

This morning we are headed to Virgin Gorda to see the Baths – always an awesome sight no many how many times you’ve been before. The winds and waves were strong, but not too strong. We made it to the Baths with one tack.

When we arrived, the mooring field was already full, so we had to wait a bit for a ball to free up. One finally did, and when we tried to get the ball, we approached it from windward – a mistake in our haste to get the ball. We drifted too quickly after hooking the ball with the pole, so that we had to drop it and the pole in the water. I jumped in to retrieve the pole and we were able to hook it the second time, before the other circling boats did. Never a dull moment.

There was a yellow flag warning at the Baths, so the swim from the dinghy dock to the baths was a challenging one. Some of the sights from this trip to the Baths:

Looking out at the mooring field from the Baths.

We all enjoyed a cheeseburger in Paradise at Poorman’s Bar at the foot of the hill. For extra points, we all had to execute a dinghy flop one more time for the ride back to the boat. No pics of that, though. 🙂

After the Baths, we headed for Trellis Bay on Tortola to spend the night. We hit the Loose Mongoose for happy hour ashore (and a quick update on the Final Four and Championship game).

Sunset over Tortola - from Trellis Bay. — Sunset over Tortola – from Trellis Bay.

Then headed back to the boat for our last dinner aboard, and we played Rummikub until we couldn’t keep our eyes open. Noone made it ashore to watch the NCAA Championship game.

April 6 – Staying put.

Sunday, April 6.

After the marathon day we had yesterday, we’re taking it easy today. We all dinghied over to Cistern Point and snorkeled for quite a while.

Between Cistern Point and our boat, a turtle was hanging out. He was one cool dude – he didn’t mind that we floated close by to watch him for quite a while. These are the best pictures I’ve gotten of a turtle of all my Caribbean trips. I like how the colors get clearer and more vibrant as he gets closer to the surface.

Turtle dude surfacing - 1 — Turtle dude surfacing – 1

Turtle dude surfacing - 2 — Turtle dude surfacing – 2

Turtle dude surfacing - 3 — Turtle dude surfacing – 3

The guys are headed back to Jost again today. Tan-a-na’s crew leaves early tomorrow morning, so they are headed back to Tortola to spend the night at the marina. After lunch we shopped ashore and enjoyed people/boat watching all afternoon, before hitting happy hour again on Cooper.

For sunset, we dinghied out to the mouth of the bay, beyond the anchorage, to get an unobstructed view of the sun setting over Tortola.

Sunset behind Tortola - viewed from Cooper Island — Sunset behind Tortola – viewed from Cooper Island

April 5 – A long day.

Saturday, April 5.

We headed out early this morning, by 7:30AM. Winds are still 20+ knots. 3-5′ seas, very rough. Luckily the rain seems to have passed. We sailed it to Soper’s Hole, to go through BVI Customs & Immigration again. We picked up a few more provisions there, but quickly headed back out to make Cooper Island by sunset, and join up again with Maggie and Tan-a-na.

The BVI Spring Regatta is in full swing this week. We got a front-row seat of some of the races as we cruised across the channel to Cooper Island.

We pulled into Machioneel Bay at 4pm, at exactly the same time Maggie did. After a quick dip we all met up at the Cooper Island Beach Club for Happy Hour and dinner. It’s good to have the gang back together.

Cooper Island has the best sunsets…..

April 4 – Just another day in paradise.

Friday, April 4.

Sunrise view from the v-berth hatch:

LameshurSunrise

The winds have turned nasty, 25-28 knots out of the east. Here in Lameshur Bay, we are very protected, so you’d hardly notice. We’re staying another night. Tan-a-na is going to make a run for Road Town on Tortola to check back into the BVI, as they discovered an error with their visas – they expire today, instead of the day they leave. The guys are heading back to Jost, I think, for the night.

So we look forward to a very relaxing day and night here. We made the right decision, as Tan-a-na told us that they had a terrible passage to Road Town. 6 foot waves, 28 knot winds, rain. Once in Road Town, the winds were so strong, they couldn’t get an anchor set, so they made a run to Norman for the night.

Nestled into Great Lameshur, we went for a long snorkel this morning.

Now, what is it they say about snorkeling among a school of baitfish...? — Now, what is it they say about snorkeling among a school of baitfish…?

In the afternoon Susanne, Laura and I headed ashore to hike the Lameshur Trail. We got lucky and missed the rain completely. We had gorgeous views from the hills along the trail.

View from the Lameshur Trail, overlooking the plantation ruin and Little Lameshur Bay.

View from Lameshur Trail. Great Lameshur Bay in the distance, Little Lameshur Bay in the foreground. That lone boat in Great Lameshur is ours.

Looking SSW from Lameshur Trail. Reef Bay in the foreground.

Another dinner aboard tonight and then we will head back to the BVI in the morning.

April 3 – New day, new country.

Thursday, April 3.

This morning we topped up the water tank, got some ice and emergency provisions (i.e., Dove Bars) before heading out from Great Harbour.

Destination: St. John’s of the U.S. Virgin Islands. Since we’ll be leaving BVI and entering USVI, we have to visit Customs & Immigration to check out before leaving here, and check in at Cruz Bay once arriving in St. Johns. This is our first time to go to USVI by boat from BVI and deal with the Customs/Immigration thing. I’ll let you know later if it’s worth it.

We didn’t go ashore in Cruz Bay other than to clear customs. We caught a ball in Caneel Bay and ate lunch, then waited through some rain showers for the other 2 boats’ crews to come back to make a plan for the night. The original plan was to stay in Leinster Bay on the north side of St. John’s. But we’re getting intermittent rain stroms, and the wind is really kicking up now. So, the NE swells would make for a very rough mooring. Instead, Monte suggested Lameshur Bay on the south side of the island. Maggie stayed in Caneel Bay, since they were unable to anchor if it turned out they didn’t get a mooring ball. But Tan-a-Na and Jim’s Dream decided to make a run through the rain for a very remote and unspoiled Great Lameshur Bay, and got two of the last remaining mooring balls in time to watch a beautiful sunset.

A rain shower in the distance, from Lameshur Bay.

Sunset over Great Lameshur Bay, St. John's, USVI — Sunset over Great Lameshur Bay, St. John’s, USVI

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