Itinerary

We’ll adjust this schedule to suit your interests and any weather issues.  There are rarely weather issues in the BVI…the wind blows steadily out of the East at 12-18 kts.  One of the reasons it is so loved by sailors.

Saturday March 7 – Arrive in Tortola, BVI.  Breathe deep, smell the flowers  & salty air, feel the sun, relax.   Check-in at Pro Valor charter base at the James Young Marina (JYCM aka the Chalwell Dock).   JYCM is just 2 miles form the Beef Is. Airport (EIS) that services Tortola.  ProValor is a small charter company and marina run by a couple from West Allis, Wisconsin - Cecilia Donegan & Jim Gulczynski.  I had a very good experience chartering with them last year for an ASA course that I was teaching. On arrival, we stow provisions and once we are all assembled, we’ll have a welcome reception and dinner at one of the nice restaurants nearby.   We will spend the night on our vessel at the dock.

Sunday March 8 – Complete vessel check-out and chart briefing.  We’ll leave by noon on Sunday and sail the north to Trellis Bay or Marina Cay.  We'll pick up Kiki & Margaret by dinghy.

Monday March 9 – Sail to Virgin Gorda, hike to the top of Biras Creek for a view of the Caribbean & the Atlantic.  Happy hour on Saba Rock to watch the Tarpon Feeding, Music at the Bitter End Yacht Club.   Maybe we’ll try dinner at the Fat Virgin, a sweet little affordable joint in the midst of a high-end yacht basin.   The next morning we sail to the Baths, a unique natural formation in the BVI consisting of thousands of smooth boulders, some as big as a house, strewn along the beach on the southern tip of Virgin Gorda.  You can explore the gaps that open into massive rocky grottos filled with seawater. Superyachts are staging there for an annual race and a friend of mine is racing on P2.  Its a spectacular site to watch these gorgeous yachts sail! 

Tuesday March 10 – We have a long & fast sail to Jost Van Dyke. We lengthen the painter on the dinghy so that we have a smoother catenary between Midnight Song & her dinghy. Chris, Tom, Pam, Jacob & Claudia hike to the Bubbly Pool and have a swim.  Margaret & Kiki walk to try & snorkel in Diamond Cay.  Then dinner at Foxy's taboo with rounds of rounds of drinks by Pam.  

Wednesday March 11 – Off to Soper's Hole for a quick stop: mostly a few provisions.  But we came when everyone else did, mid morning, and scrambled around the Hole trying to catch a mooring ball. A futile exercise that resulted in frustration.  We eventually pulled onto the dock, provisioning crew heads for the store and we wait...eventually the dock 'boy' comes, I get ice & water and the provisioning team returns, and we're off the dock.   In the meantime, mooring balls seem to open everywhere.  We sail off to Norman Island...24kts on the nose, Chris' migraine has turned into a wicked case of seasickness.  We reach the Bight at Norman Island, reputed to be Robert Louis Stevenson's inspiration for his book "Treasure Island".  We pick up a ball..no painter, on to the next painter...and Jake & I dinghy off to the caves for a quick snorkel before dinner.  Dinner on Norman Is. is ashore at "Pirates" a great little restaurant on the beach that has beautiful slightly more upscale but still a Caribbean beach front vibe.

Thursday March 12 – Up early and a quick sail to the Indians, a fantastic snorkeling area that is a national park.   Then off to Peter Island where we drop the hook at Deadman's Cay.  A quiet spot, slightly rolly with breaking waves on the beach-landing a dinghy is not possible in this sea state.  We try to go ashore to get a Red Stripe...and while boarding the dinghy, Kiki takes a little tumble and lands hard on her right shoulder in the bottom of the dinghy.  She is in pain and has difficulty getting back into the boat but with a little TLC from all...she starts to feel a bit better.

Friday March 13 – We have a beautiful, the day is quintessential Easterlies and we sail to Cooper Island where we’ll pick up a mooring on the far eastern end of the bay in close proximity to what turns out to be fantastic snorkeling territory.  We dinghy ashore for a lovely lunch at the Cooper Island Yacht Club, a quick tour of the gift shop and restock the Red Stripe - care package for Kiki.  We’ll sail as far and fast as the weather permits for one last glorious day on the water.  At 4pm we return to the ProValor dock, do a bit of packing and and then dinner ashore at one of our favorite restaurants, Red Rock complete with a champagne toast of Veuve, thanks to Kiki & Margaret.

Saturday March 14 – Pack, boat check out, shower & taxi to town to catch ferries etc.