Al's here!

Al arrived in Tortola this afternoon. Bill and Cindy attended the weather briefing and I picked Al up at the ferry dock. Unfortunately, it sounds like there is not going to be very much wind for the next few days. So the sail from BVI to Bermuda might be more of a motor.....

The rally hosted a really nice dinner tonight. We feasted on mahi mahi, chicken, salad, rice, veggies, dessert....

We are calling it an early night since we have to be up early tomorrow (and since last night was NOT an early night...) My ferry to St. Thomas leaves at 9:45. I am taking a sea plane to St. Croix, which should be interesting (or scary). Bill, Cindy, and Al will push off from the dock between 10:00 and 10:30. The race actually starts at noon near Soper's Hole. So, Mary Elizabeth should arrive in Bermuda in four, four and a half days. It is an 850 mile trip.

Cindy is going to send updates via email so I can post to the blog to share with everyone. And of course we can track Mary Elizabeth's position via the Atlantic Cup website.

Cindy's here!

Cindy arrived safe and sound yesterday. After picking her up at the ferry dock, we went to the Rally happy hour here at the marina. We then had a nice dinner in Road Town with Andy and Cindy from Valhalla. It's so nice to see her!!!


We have spent most of today doing lots of last minute things....

Al should be here on the 4:30 ferry tonight.

Getting ready....

So today we are getting the boat ready for the passage. The big news is that Bill sold the dinghy. We have had lots of problems with it this season and it has been a constant thorn in our side. So... instead of hauling and mounting the motor on board, getting the dinghy out of the water and cleaning the bottom, deflating it, and then stuffing it in a bag to strap onto the aft deck - we found someone to buy it. We will get something in the States when we are back (a lighter motor so it is easy when we have to beach the dinghy, a hard bottom so it is easy to clean, etc.)

We also went to Cash - and - Carry (another Costco/Sam's/BJ's - like place) and got a lot of water, diet coke, paper towels, and wine. We got a case and a half of Santa Margarita pinot grigio (our favorite) to bring back with us because it is about 50% cheaper here! I also got my ferry ticket from Road Town to St. Thomas for Saturday. We still have a few more things to do before the rally party tonight.

There are 21 boats that are doing the trip from Tortola to Bermuda. Just like the Caribbean 1500, each boat will have a tracking device so we will be able to see exactly where Bill, Cindy, and Al are each day. Pretty cool.

The link to the site (for tracking, pictures, etc.) is: http://www.carib1500.com/ac/index.htm

Village Cay

Well, we had our last sail today... it is an absolutely beautiful day, and we did a leisurely 4 knots or so from Trellis Bay to Village Cay. We are in the marina until Saturday when Bill, Cindy, and Al will take off for Cape Cod via Bermuda (there were no slips and no moorings in Newport so the boat is going directly to the Cape instead.)

Last night we had Bill from Crazy Horse and Rick from Sophisticated Lady over for happy hour and dinner at Trellis Bay. We began and ended our journey in the Virgin Islands at Trellis Bay....

We are really excited about our decision to go north this summer. It will be so nice to see all of our friends and family in VA, MD, and Mass. And Dave and Molly will be in the Chesapeake this summer. We also found out today that our friends Amy and Juan are on a new boat that will be based out of Florida and Annapolis -- so we will hopefully see them soon as well.

We are looking forward to the next stage of our adventure!!!!

Cane Garden, Soper's, Marina Cay

We have been having a great couple of days. On Wednesday we dropped Patrick and Jason off at Soper’s Hole so they could catch the ferry back to St. Thomas. Bill and I went back to White Bay and tried to get a mooring again -- and again, no such luck. We spent the rest of the day and the night at Little Harbor, Jost Van Dyke and enjoyed the great weather. We watched the last of the movies in the Godfather trilogy, and ate dinner on board. It has been really hot and since there has been a lack of breeze, we are really feeling it. We have also had to run the generator more than usual because we aren’t getting any charge off of the wind generator. We have started to discuss the possibility of solar panels. As Miles and Ann said – it is either always sunny or always windy – but not necessarily both at the same time.

On Thursday morning we got up early and gave it a last ditch effort to get a mooring at White Bay. We have found that at least 90% of the boats here in the BVI are charters. People come down to the islands for a week, rent a boat, and island hop. Most boats vacate the mooring field by 9 am so they can see as much as they can in a week. Since we aren’t on the same time table, we usually stay in each place for at least two days. We thought we could get a mooring at White Bay if we got there by 9:00 – the old boats would be gone, the new boats just coming in. Well….White Bay is a popular place… and we were unable to get a mooring again. And we weren’t the only ones. At 9:00 am there were 4 or 5 other boats with the same idea all vying for a mooring. But enough is enough… In November Bill and I had a fabulous four days at White Bay, and we were lucky to have been able to experience the Soggy Dollar, Ivan’s, and the beautiful beach and water then, so we decided this was our last try….

So, we went to the Bight at Norman Island. We got an outside mooring so we could snorkel from the boat and hung out. The water has been so clear (the lack of wind makes the waters calm and the visibility has been great). We saw a huge and very beautiful Leopard Ray swim right by us – which was absolutely amazing. There were a ton of fish, and the coral formations were different from any other place we have snorkeled so far. It was really nice.

On Thursday night we ate dinner on board and watched a movie. We have been using the George Forman grill that my mother gave us for Christmas a lot. We brought it to the boat with us the last time we were in DC, and have been using it ever since. It is easy to use and clean up – especially when we don’t feel like messing with the propane grill.

Friday we had a lazy start and spent the morning reading. We decided to get lunch at the Willie T’s – the floating bar that is in the Bight. We had a nice lunch and decided to hang out there for a few hours. Bill met a retired F-4 pilot who now owns a flight school and a P-51 (Bill was excited to say the least). Willie T’s is known for plenty of shenanigans and we weren’t disappointed. We saw several people jump off the roof of the boat/bar (a few with no clothes on) and lots of people getting the most out of the last few days of their vacation. We called it an early night and came back to the boat.

Our tank indicator has been broken for about two weeks. It is functioning, but not displaying, making it virtually useless – except for the high/low warning, which is still working. So we have been able to tell if we are either are high (holding tank) or low (starboard, port, and head water supplies) by the alarm – but we can’t tell which one. Saturday we realized that we are very low on water (even though we topped all of the water tanks off when we left Nanny Cay a few weeks ago). The boat is equipped with a water maker, but it takes a lot of energy to run. Since the batteries have been low (no wind = no charge), and the tanks are fairly big (300 water [port and starboard combined] + 65 head water supply [the head flushes with fresh water, which requires a separate water tank]) we thought it would be easier / better to fill at a marina. We tried to go to Nanny Cay to get fuel (Bill wants to have a full fuel tank for the passage) and water but the fuel dock was full and other boats were waiting. Since Nanny Cay is such a tight fit, we decided to try somewhere else. Currently we are enroute to Marina Cay, where we will most likely spend the night.

Island Packet did send us a new tank indicator, but we haven’t installed it yet because it is fairly tricky to do. First all the tanks have to be empty so an initial reading can be done. Then all the tanks have to be full so a “full” reading can be taken. This is hard to do when we are using the boat (we need water and don’t want a full holding tank!) and we are not entirely sure how we will tell that the holding tank is “full.” Right now we have been emptying the tank every other day or so to ensure we aren’t full. So right now we are still trying to figure out the logistics….

We have been mixing up the games (Texas Hold’em and Spades with Jason and Patrick, Mancala, Scrabble, Yahtzee) and laying off the backgammon because ever since we switched to the new board (dice and stones went down the scupper on the old board) Bill has been on a losing streak – although he is still winning by a mile….(currently the running tally is Bill = 89, Lauren 74).

The plan to do the Atlantic Cup on May 3rd still stands. Al and Cindy will be flying in next week sometime and we’ll be in Village Cay Marina in Road Town starting Wednesday to prepare the boat for the offshore passage. Until then, Bill and I are enjoying our last few days on the water in the BVI.

So we are here at Cain Garden Bay again. Don't get me wrong.... We really like this place - there are plenty of moorings, there is always live music, and it is a beautiful view (and sunset). It's just that we always end up here because we can't get into White Bay (which is my FAVORITE) on Jost! Literally the past five times we have tried to get into White Bay it has been full (i.e. the moorings are all taken; there is no where to anchor because there is a big reef) and we have had to go to either Little Harbour or here to Cain Garden. Hopefully we'll get a mooring at White Bay in the next ten days.... :)

So tonight we have Patrick and Jason on board. We played a little Texas hold'em (Patrick won!) and had a delicious pork tenderloin dinner on the new grill. The boys went to shore to check out the nightlife; I am calling it an early night.

Tomorrow looks like it is going to be another great day for weather. It has been unusually calm and very light wind (not that we are complaining). Jason and Patrick will take the ferry back on Wednesday; Bill and I will hang in the BVI until the 3rd of May when Mary Elizabeth takes off for Bermuda.

YHG

We spent Sunday night at Cain Garden Bay. There was a beautiful sunset that night, and the boat next to us took this picture of Mary Elizabeth. They actually took a series of shots that all came out stunning and were nice enough to get our email address so they could send us the pictures.

The boat was fixed (again) at Nanny Cay on Monday. We actually got to the marina late on Sunday night and were out of there by 12 noon on Monday thanks to Ann and Miles who always make things quick.

We left Nanny Cay and decided to go to Peter Island, a short 45 minute sail. Well we were about five minutes into our "trip" when it began to rain, rain, rain. The winds picked up (we saw 30 knots for a little while) and the visibility was literally nonexistent! Poor Bill got soaked (even though he had his foul weather gear on) since the rain was coming in sideways. It let up a little as we got to the anchorage and we successfully got on a mooring. Then it started again....

It literally poured all day. It was very strange! We played a few games of scrabble, hung out, cleaned the boat, etc. and stayed out of the rain. Monday night we experienced our first HUGE thunderstorm. There was lightning, thunder, pounding rain, LOTS of wind - for about three hours!

Tuesday morning was beautiful. The seas had calmed down and we had a nice ride out of the BVI. We had the easiest experience with customs and immigration EVER and the dinghy started with one pull on two different occasions! What was going on? :) We got to St. Thomas around 3:00.

Yesterday we spent hanging out, doing our standard errands (laundry, email, food shopping, etc.). There were four cruise ships in town - so everything was crowded and took twice as long. We also cleaned out and rearranged the "office." I actually found storage for things that we had stowed in there that we never use that were taking up valuable real estate - i.e. spare part kits, lots of off shore emergency stuff, linens for the beds, etc. I think we were both amazed at how much storage Mary Elizabeth has when we really started looking. So now the things that we do use regularly are easily accessible and there is actually room for Bill when he needs to use his tools.

I also did an inventory (the librarian in me) of where everything is so when we do need to find the sleeping bags or bimini connector or extra water filters we will both know exactly where to look.

We watched the Red Sox v Yankees game last night and today we are hanging out. It's really hot today and very sunny - beautiful as always. So that's about it. Our reservation at Yacht Haven is through Saturday morning. Not 100% sure where we are going from here.

Nice bottom!

Well the boat went back in the water on Friday afternoon. It was too late in the day for us to go anywhere, so we stayed in the marina until Saturday. The boat looks great. The bottom was painted, the stainless polished, the freezer fixed, and the stuffing box was repacked. Mary Elizabeth got some serious TLC.

Bill and I enjoyed ourselves as well - it was a break from the norm staying in a hotel. We actually got to lounge by the pool one afternoon. And of course we had a really special day on Friday!

On Saturday morning we got up early and finished some chores before sailing to White Bay, Jost Van Dyke. There was no "room at the inn" so we continued on to Cain Garden Bay - which was virtually empty. It has been pretty rolly in the mooring field, but it is sunny and beautiful.

Unfortunately we have to go back to Nanny Cay either tonight (Sunday) or tomorrow morning to have the stuffing box checked again (it is dripping too fast and is really hot). We have to be out of the BVI by Tuesday since that is when our "visas" run out.

The general plan (right now!) is we are going to spend a few days in St. Thomas before heading to the Spanish Virgin Islands and / or Puerto Rico. We are thinking that we are going to go NORTH for the summer instead of going south to Trinidad. So we would hopscotch from Puerto Rico to the Dominican Republic to the Bahamas to Florida. Nothing is set in stone yet, but that is the tentative plan....




Before and after shots of the prop / rudder.

The big haul

So the boat was hauled at Nanny Cay Marina (Tortola, BVI) on Monday. To be honest, it looks so strange to see it out of the water. And big. The growth on the bottom was incredible. And everyone was surprised how fast and easy the paint came off. But...it will be good as new by the end of the week.

Since we can't stay on the boat while it is in the boatyard, we have been staying at the marina hotel. On Monday we went to dinner with Miles and Ann Poor, who Bill knows from the 1500 and who are overseeing all of the work that is being done on the boat. Yesterday we spent the morning in Road Town doing a few errands downtown. We were also able to catch part of the Red Sox game at a little outside bar that had satellite TV - which was great because it was opening day and they won! Today we spent the day exploring the marina.

So that's about it. We are told that everything will be done by Friday so we should be on our way this weekend. We do have to go to St. Thomas at some point to get our mail, but other than that....

.

(view of Peter Island from Nanny Cay)

We finally took a hike.....

(view of the anchorage from Guys Trail)

Well, we decided to stick around the Bitter End / Saba Rock until Saturday (and changed our reservation in St. Thomas from Friday to Sunday). Bill actually was supposed to do another two tank dive on Friday, but the other guy who signed up never showed and they won't take out the boat unless there is a minimum of two people.

Since we were up early anyway (7:15!) and already ashore, we decided to do "Guys Hike" - which is a (quite vertical) trail that goes from the Bitter End Yacht Club to Biras Creek. The views were fabulous and it was a good workout to boot.

(cool cactus. view of Saba Rock from Guys Trail)

Bill did end up going on the afternoon dive and went to Great Dog Island and dove Great Chimney - which was an underwater canyon. I stayed behind at Bitter End and read and watched the Hobie cats.

We also met up with Carina and Todd from LA who were at Bitter End on their honeymoon. The four of us had drinks and dinner at Saba Rock and then more drinks at the pub at Bitter End. It was another fun night with the happy newlyweds.

Needless to say, it was hard to get moving this morning....We finally left Gorda Sound and headed to Cane Garden Bay (Tortola). But - there was NO wind. I mean less than 8 knots. So, even though the wind has been really great lately, and we were going down wind, we had to motor (or else get to Cane Garden after dark...)


The other funny thing that happened is it finally rained. After eight days of wanting a downpour (it is the only way to wash the corrosive salt off the boat) it rained really hard last night - the one night we didn't close the hatches because there was no wind and it gets hot down below. Thankfully Bill woke up and closed everything up before it got too wet.


So now we are at Cane Garden Bay and surprisingly have a good wi fi connection. We did a little food shopping and it is just about backgammon time (although we are playing with a quarter because I dropped one of the white stones down the scupper). We are going to do dinner and a movie on board tonight. We'll leave for Soper's Hole (to take care of Customs/Immigration) in the morning and then its back to St. Thomas.



We will have (regular and cheap) phone service starting tomorrow (Sunday) afternoon, so we'll give everyone a call.

R.M.S. Rhone

Yesterday Bill did a two tank dive of the RMS Rhone off of Salt Island. I actually went along and snorkeled the wreck. It was really cool to snorkel because I followed Bill and the other divers. Also, it was the deepest water I had ever snorkeled (about 30-40 feet) so it was a a different perspective.

The ship went down in 1867 when it hit Black Rock (see picture below) during a hurricane. It is amazing to think that most of her is still visible and parts are recognizable. We saw the propeller, and Bill was able to see actual portholes and even a spoon that is now encrusted in coral.

Of the wreck of the RMS Rhone, the Dive BVI website says..... Certainly the most popular and well known of all BVI dive sites, the Royal Mail Steamer "Rhone" was the setting for the hit movie "The Deep", starring Nick Nolte and Jacqueline Bissett. The wreck itself is fascinating to explore with parts of her still in tact. The Rhone foundered during a hurricane and is lying in depths from 20 to 80 feet. She is colourfully decorated by a wide variety of corals and is home to several resident barracuda, sea turtles, stingrays, angelfish, yellowtail snappers and many other varieties of fish life visit the Rhone. This is a "must see" for all levels of scuba divers!


We have been having fun at the Bitter End. We have actually been here a week - longer than anywhere else we have been so far. We had a great dinner last night at Saba Rock (we finally made it!) and hosted dinner (and a scrabble tournament) for our friend Keith on Mary Elizabeth the night before that. We have met a lot of nice people at the resort restaurant and bar.

And of course we have been reading a ton. We both just finished Islands in the Stream by Hemingway on loan from Cindy - and loved it. I am now reading Motherless Brooklyn and Bill is going to start Gone Baby Gone. Mary Elizabeth is almost bookless, but we will be getting a 'new supply' when Andrea comes next week.


One day we took the dinghy and explored nearby Biras Creek. There is not too much there except a really exclusive resort, but there are plenty of mangrove trees, which absolutely amaze me.

Let's see... wind was really, really strong all week and then it died to practically nothing yesterday. It is back up to maybe 10-12 knots in the mooring field now, which is good because we do rely on the wind generator to help keep the batteries charged.

We are not sure what our immediate plans are at the moment. We have reservations back in St. Thomas for Friday, but we are thinking of staying in the BVI (here? Cane Garden Bay? Trellis?) until at least Sunday to keep out of the marina and stay on the water a few more days. Andrea comes in on Wednesday night - which we CAN'T WAIT for!!!!!

Hope everyone is doing well.

BEYC

Here are some more pictures from the Bitter End Yacht Club in Gorda Sound.









View from one of the walkways













Kite surfer












View of the cottages











Relaxing in the hammock












Go Red Sox!

Gorda Sound

Well we finally made it to Gorda Sound yesterday. What an incredible place. We are moored off of the Bitter End Yacht Club , and for our mooring fee, we get to enjoy all of the perks of the resort (including Wi Fi!) Yesterday we took the dinghy to shore and did a little exploring. We found a TV that was showing the Red Sox, so of course we sat and watched a few innings. And we had a really nice dinner last night.

Today we explored and walked the whole resort. There are several beaches, a pool, restaurant, pub, and a few stores for provisions. We spent a few hours watching kite surfers enjoy the strong winds that we have been having. Bill just might try it before we leave.

The views are incredible. The Bitter End is the "last stop" before open ocean, and it really is breathtaking. We are right next to Saba Rock, which we also hope to visit before we leave.

Bill is thinking about diving the wreck of the Rhone. The next dive tour from Bitter End is scheduled for Wednesday, so we will most likely spend a few days here before heading back to St. Thomas. We won't make it to St. Croix before Andrea arrives, but we will get there eventually.















Thanks for all of your emails. It is really nice to hear from everyone. Keep them coming!

Trellis Bay, Tortola

Well, we are on our third day at Trellis -- we'll eventually make it to Gorda Sound! We ran into Rick who did the 1500 and who runs his chartering business out of Trellis Bay. We went to dinner at the Last Resort on Monday night, and last night we went over to Marina Cay, which is just across the way from Trellis. We went for happy hour at the resort to see the Michael Bean show. It was actually a lot of fun. Bill and I had seen the show before in Annapolis during the boat show but somehow it was much more fun / more engaging overlooking the beautiful water from a table at Pusser's at the top of a hill in the BVI. Bill even participated in a conch blowing contest. He didn't win, but it was a lot of fun to watch!

We also stuck around because Rick helped us troubleshoot a problem we were having with the freezer (not getting cold enough but sucking up a lot of power in the meantime.) It is nice to run into people you know because everyone is so willing to help out with anything and everything.

So, tomorrow we do really plan on leaving Trellis and going to Gorda Sound. More later....

More pictures

Here are some more pictures from last week -- including a few shots of the spinnaker.

BVI

Saturday we went to Soper's hole in the morning and checked into the British Virgin Islands and restocked some food. We then went to the Indians, which are three big rocks (see below!) near Norman Island where we moored for a few hours and did some more snorkeling. Again, amazing. We saw an even bigger baracuda and again, lots of fish and coral. The water was a little deeper, so it was a different experience.


We left the Indians and went to the Byte at Norman Island for the night. We had dinner at the famous Willie T's - which is a floating restaurant. Sunday we we were off to the Baths - which is my favorite place so far. The Baths are basically these huge boulders that you can swim in and out of. We snorkeled from the boat to the beach and then took off our gear and climbed through the rocks to the other side. Then we snorkeled back and saw some of the coolest coral and fish yet. Again, hopefully the underwater camera pictures will come out well.



We left the Baths and sailed to Trellis Bay in Tortola where we cooked on the boat and had drinks at the Last Resort.



Monday we sailed to Jost Van Dyke. Bill and Al got the spinnaker going and the Mary Elizabeth was the most beautiful boat on the water. It really was amazing - and well worth the effort. Once we got to Jost, we tried to get a mooring in White Bay but it was full. We ended up mooring at Little Harbour and ate lobsters at Sydney's Peace and Love.



In the morning we took a taxi to Great Harbour and did the Foxy's tour while Bill checked us out of the BVIs. We left Jost and had a great day of sailing back to Yacht Haven Grande. On Wednesday Al and Corinne left in the afternoon and Bill and I started in on our errands.

We had so much fun with Al and Corinne. It was a great visit full of backgammon tournaments, amazing snorkeling, and fun times with friends. Come back soon!!!

More to come....

Pictures....

Here are links to our photo albums on the web from the beginning of our journey before we started the blog.

• Bon Voyage Party October 2007
• Preparations for the Caribbean 1500 in Hampton, VA Nov 2007
• BVI Thanksgiving 2007
• St. Thomas, New Years 2008
• Al and Corinne's Visit Feb 2008