Apr 1
We left Christmas Cove this morning after the morning radio net. As we were getting ready to go, I was hailed on the radio by Don on Asseance. They wanted to say goodbye and reiterate how good it was to see us again after several years. We talked about how the best part of cruising is all the friends you make along the way, but how the worst part is parting ways never knowing when or if you will see them again. I know we have been especially attuned to this fact this season, since we don’t plan to be cruising next year.
On to happier topics though, we are very excited today to be traveling back to the BVI. Our destination is Soper’s Hole, where we will be meeting Jerry & Mary Diaz from Texas. Jerry is one of our favorite Trop Rock singers, and he and another 64 of his friends and fans are traveling this week on the Wind Surf cruise ship. I tracked Wind Surf this morning, and they should have dropped the hook at Soper’s about 8:30 this morning.
Given our short hops all season, this is a longer one of nine miles. We motored all the way as it was pretty much into the wind, and we need the electricity we will generate. I set a course in the chart plotter, so that I could estimate pretty close when we would pass Wind Surf. I then sent a text to Mary letting her know when we would be passing so they could wave if they were still aboard. As we cleared Fungi Passage by Francis Bay, Wind Surf came into view. About that time I got a text back from Mary that they were already on a tender to shore to set up today’s show. Jerry will be playing at Pusser’s from 13:30 to 15:00. We passed fairly close alongside Wind Surf anyway in case anybody else we know might be looking. We don’t know how many of the other people with Jerry are folks we know.
When we got into Soper’s Hole, we saw only two empty moorings. One was about the farthest one out in the harbor, but another was up in closer to where I would like to be. When we got up near the one in close, we found it not only didn’t have a float on its pennant, but it looked awfully close to the boat in front of it. So we turned around and went back towards the other choice. However, another boat was coming in and heading for the same mooring. It is not uncommon to race to the last mooring in the BVI, and the race was on. I won the race, but only by going full throttle to just past the ball and then doing a one-eighty very fast. Since I was approaching much faster than usual, I then had to do a full throttle reverse to not over-run the mooring. That’s when the engine stalled. So, we drifted past the mooring dead in the water as the other boat picked up the mooring behind us. They probably wondered why we gave up on it since we had the race won. We started back towards the other one that I didn’t like, but then saw another boat was clearly going to take it before we got there. We saw friends Gary & Laura on Lucille on a mooring and had seen Gary going to the Customs dock. We drove by them to see if they were checking in or out, and if they would be dropping their mooring soon. They were checking in, and not staying the night, but had to do some grocery shopping first. So, we went way out in the harbor and picked up a large mooring that is intended for large boats. While I started filling out the paperwork for our check-in, Barb kept an eye open for anybody who appeared to be getting ready to leave. Lots of boats come and go here just for the purpose of clearing Customs, so it is likely a mooring will free up. Normally I wouldn’t be in any hurry, but we want to get ashore to see Jerry & Mary. Just as I was finishing the paperwork, we heard a boat that we had seen on a mooring call the marina and ask for a slip. As Barb watched through the binoculars I started the motor and got ready to move. When we were sure they were about to drop the mooring, we dropped ours. I slowly moved up behind them and as they pulled away, we pulled in behind them. The mooring line barely had a chance to get wet.
Once secure, I hopped in the dinghy and went to Customs. On this check-in I have not only the regular Customs form, and an Immigration form for each of us, but I also have forms to do what they call a Temporary Import of the boat since it will be staying for an extended period. The Customs man asked me if we had ever done a temporary import before, and I said that indeed we had, last year. He wanted the paperwork from last year, which I did not have with me. He said this year’s permit should start when the last one ran out. I politely told him I didn’t think that was relevant since the boat had been out of the BVI since then. After he and I debated several minutes, another agent who had been listening to the whole conversation finally chimed in and said I was correct. While all this was taking place, the Immigration lady took our passports. The Customs man finally gave me the forms with the amount due written on them and I went to the cashier. I paid the fees, and returned to the other office, only to find both agents I had been dealing with gone. So, I had to explain where we were in the process to a different Customs man. He was satisfied, but the Immigration ladies were both gone now. Our passports were lying on the desk, already stamped. All they needed was their copy of my form stamped “paid” and to hand me the passports. Do you think the Custom’s man could do this? Of course not. So, I waited for the Immigration lady to return. All in all, this was by far the longest check-in we have had this year.
I dinghied back to the boat and picked Barb up and we went to Pusser’s. We found Jerry & Mary and friends at a table having lunch. Bobby Summers, the bass player from Jerry’s Band, Hanna’s Reef, is on the trip too. We looked around the crowd waiting for Jerry to play and noticed lots of familiar faces that we recognize from working registration at Pardi Gras, and also a number of folks we know well. We had not been there long when Jerry & Bobby started playing. It was great hearing them perform, as well as catching up with Mary during the afternoon. It was really funny to watch the staff at Pusser’s. For one thing, the deck was packed all afternoon, which kept the wait staff very busy. Usually the place is dead between lunch and dinner. The kitchen staff kept coming out to see what this music they didn’t recognize was, and at one point several of the women put on a good show of dancing to one of Jerry’s original songs. Jerry played until almost 16:00 instead of 15:00, and nobody complained. They had to pack up though because the last tender back to their boat was at 17:00. We said goodbye, but we will see them again tomorrow.
When they were gone we stopped in the grocery store and picked up a few things. We are in the mode of trying to use all the food on the boat in the next week, so there was little to buy. We did need rum and Coke though. We have made our own soda on MoonSail all these years with a SodaStream machine. We are going to run out of syrup a few days before we are out of rum though. So we bought two large bottles of rum, and two six packs of Coke which in addition to the soda we can still make, should work out. I asked the check-out girl if she thought one six-pack to one large bottle of rum was the right quantity. She didn’t seem to get it.
As we returned to MoonSail, we noticed that now there were six or eight empty moorings. Ah well. Promptly at 18:00, Wind Surf was raising anchor to move to their next port of call. The next port of call is a whole five miles away at Jost Van Dyke.
GPS N 18-23.193 W 064-42.200 Nautical miles traveled today 9. Total miles 10637.
Apr 2
We were up and underway early today. Moorings at Great Harbor, Jost Van Dyke, tend to turn over early in the morning, and as we have witnessed before, they can fill up. We were underway for the five-mile journey in dead calm, flat water by 07:30. We even had our coffee underway because it was so calm. As soon as we turned out of Soper’s Hole, we could see Wind Surf anchored just outside Great Harbor. I set a course for her bow. In the States, post-9/11, you cannot come within one hundred yards of a cruise ship. I was about that distance away from the bow of Wind Surf when I turned and drove parallel to her. I was honestly surprised that somebody on the bridge of Wind Surf didn't hail us on the radio to see what our intentions were. We saw Bobby & Cindy on the upper deck waving at us. We turned around the stern and went almost back to the bow along the other side, but didn’t see anybody else. We turned away and proceeded into the harbor and found a mooring close to Foxy’s corner of the bay.
It was not even 9:00 when we got settled, and I sent Mary a text that we were here. The tenders from the ship are already bringing people in, and because the texts got delayed, we didn’t find out that Jerry & Mary had already come in and taken a taxi over to Ivan’s at White Bay. We went ashore about 10:30 and went to Corsair’s. We have never been to Corsair’s for breakfast drinks. We had several Bloody Mary's and visited with Vinnie and Deb, the owners. We also chatted with a nice couple, also from Wind Surf, but not part of Jerry’s group. They had seen Jerry sit in with the regular boat band, but had no idea there were sixty people traveling together just to enjoy Jerry in the Islands. About 11:30 we saw Jerry & Mary go by in a taxi headed to Foxy’s.
We walked down there and joined Mary at her table right up front. Jerry & Bobby are playing here from noon to 14:00. The place was full, and they had the large BBQ going, which is unusual for lunchtime. I figured it was because the cruise ship was here. We noticed the people in line for the BBQ all had wristbands on. I went to the bar thinking we could buy wristbands, but was told to see my group coordinator. Apparently the BBQ was for another large group on Wind Surf, not the whole boat. So, once more Foxy’s disappointed me. We then got a waitress to take orders for us from the regular lunch menu. Of course, she would not do more than one check for our table, so my Foxy’s dislike went up another notch. If you are ever in Jost Van Dyke and have never been to Foxy’s, you have to see it because it’s an iconic tourist destination. But take a look, buy the t-shirt, then go to any of the other places in Great Harbor where they remember that service and good food are why they are here.
Jerry played until 14:00 and had to pack up on time today. The last tender to the ship is at 15:00. We walked back to the dock with them, and we walked on to Corsair’s to make dinner reservations. Usually Corsair’s closes between lunch and dinner, but we found Vinnie still there tending bar. He joked that he couldn’t close until the ship left because people kept coming in for drinks. I told him all my friends had just stopped next door at Ali Baba’s for final drinks because I told them Corsair’s would be closed. We rejoined the group as friends Sue & Charlie bought everybody a round. They boarded their last tender and we went back to MoonSail.
At 19:00 we were back at Corsair’s. We chatted with Vinnie at the bar for about fifteen minutes before being seated for dinner. As usual, the food was excellent. We both had an espresso crusted seared tuna, with rice and steamed veggies. I have never been disappointed with dinner at Corsair’s. When we were done, we went back to the bar and I had a shot of a concoction that Vinnie makes. We had watched him mix this special shot last year, but had never tried one. It is a mixture of many different rums and other stuff. It was a sweet shot and very nice. We immediately said our goodbyes and dinghied home, just in case the shot snuck up on me.
GPS N 18-26.586 W 064-45.041 Nautical miles traveled today 5. Total miles 10642.
Apr 3
Wind Surf’s destination today is North Sound, Virgin Gorda. That is about twenty-five miles from Jost. We considered going, but the weather is supposed to get very windy after tomorrow, and the party on the beach that the Wind Surf people will be having is technically a private party. So, we decided not to follow along today. Instead, after coffee and radio nets, we headed out to Trellis Bay, on the far eastern end of Tortola. Trellis Bay is technically on the eastern end of Beef Island, but Beef Island is separated from Tortola by about a hundred feet, so it all counts as Tortola in my mind. Our choice of Trellis was based on two things; there is a large north swell starting today, and a north swell doesn’t affect Trellis Bay, and the trip to Nanny Cay Sunday when it is forecast to be very windy will be downwind.
We motored east into the wind and seas for about eight miles long the north coast of Tortola. The north swell was about eight or ten feet, but it was coming at us from the port side, and was spaced out enough that we just rose and fell with it. It put on quite a show though as that swell crashed into the rocky shoreline. The wind was only about ten knots, so the wind chop was only a couple of feet. It was just enough to be annoying, but not really that uncomfortable. We passed Monkey Point and turned south into the more protected waters just north of the airport runway and Trellis Bay. We found lots of available moorings, unlike last time we were here, since it is not Full Moon Party time.
We stayed aboard for the afternoon as the wind picked up. There is a cold front pushing through here all the way from the States. I don’t think I have ever seen a cold front make it this far south, and it was a big topic with our weather forecaster this morning. It was noticeably cooler than usual (about 77) and very cloudy and windy by evening.
GPS N 18-26.763 W 064-31.909 Nautical miles traveled today 13. Total miles 10655.
Apr 4
The wind blew hard all night, making lots of electricity for us. When I got up, I turned the instruments on to see how hard it was blowing. It was a sustained 18 knots, with the occasional larger gust. It was very overcast and looked like rain any time. I listened to the weather report on the SSB, and found that the front had actually gotten as far south as Antigua. That is unheard of. The forecast for today is for high wind and squalls all day. The forecast was correct. We had heavy rain squalls one after the other all day. We stayed aboard all day again. I have decent Internet access here, and interestingly I am picking up from Pusser’s at Marina Cay, ¾ of a mile from me, instead of anywhere right here in Trellis Bay. The connection was good enough for e-mail and browsing, but not good enough to upload a website update, so that will have to wait until we get to the marina in a couple days.
Last year, Trellis Bay was also one of our last stops before hauling out at Nanny Cay. It was then that we were hit by an out of control boat during a violent thunderstorm. So, being here during bad weather is bringing back memories. We seem to have witnessed more than the usual compliment of clueless charter boaters today. If they weren’t dangerous it would be comical entertainment.
GPS N 18-26.763 W 064-31.909 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 10655.
Apr 5
The wind continued through the night once more. As far as I know, everybody stayed attached to their moorings. At least if they didn’t, they didn’t hit us. We planned to lower the dinghy and make a trip to shore today, but around noon, we decided why go through the extra work of launching the dinghy in the choppy conditions, just to have to raise it again tomorrow. This means, I have hoisted the dinghy for the last time. I spent the day writing, and Barb read.
Around the Virgin Islands, we hear the US Coast Guard make announcements on the VHF radio all the time. Sometimes they are just about the weather, but sometimes, they are what is called a “pan pan” message. A “pan pan” is an urgent message, usually requesting that boaters keep an eye out for something. Sometimes a “pan pan” is issued for a report of people in the water. Boaters are asked to keep an eye out and assist if possible. This would assume the people shouldn’t be in the water wherever they are. Today there was a “pan pan” for “four people in the water off such-and-such beach”. Aren’t people supposed to be in the water off a beach? Barb thought maybe the problem was that there were only four people at the beach and there should be more.
The charter boat dance continues, but as I mentioned yesterday, we seem to be having even more than usual clueless ones. I know I have ranted about bareboat charterers before, but I can’t help myself. It amazes me that the charter companies will give these people boats. Maybe the market is so slow that they will rent to anybody, even more so than in the past. Without going into the gory details of the standouts, let me just put this thought out there. If you were of advanced age, poor physical condition, and had no knowledge of how a large sailboat works, why would you choose to do a bareboat charter for your vacation? Several of the most glaring examples of what I am talking about, didn’t seem to be enjoying themselves at all once the ordeal of mooring the boat was over. Why would you do that?
While I am philosophizing, let me touch on another subject. I’m not sure if I have clearly stated our intentions after this season, but I have alluded many times that we are ending our cruising after this year. We didn’t come to this decision lightly, and still occasionally feel a little conflicted about it. Perhaps that’s why I haven’t clearly stated it, because I didn’t really want to make the final decision, but we both agree it is time. A couple of years ago, when we spent the whole season in Antigua, we saw a lot of boats come and go that we had not met before. One of those was a couple a little older than us. From the moment they docked the boat, they did not seem happy. They guy had hurt his back and was not getting around well and the wife seemed quite grumpy. They spent a week there and we had several conversations. In one of those conversations, they explained that they left cruising with a five-year plan. At the end of the five years, they formulated the next five-year plan. At the end of that five years, they didn’t really make another plan. They just kept plugging along and had pushed it past where they enjoyed it. That last year, they were miserable while they made their way back to the States to sell the boat. While we never had a formal plan, I think they taught us a valuable lesson in that when it stops being fun, it’s time to quit before you are miserable. We have enjoyed the cruising lifestyle immensely, and aren’t really giving it up as we transition to an RV. But, the part that involves always having something to fix, the physical rigors of sailing, and always being at the mercy of the weather has gotten old. The sailing was never why I chose to do this. The attraction was taking my home from place to place as the mood hit me. That will continue with the RV. I don’t want anybody to get the wrong idea. As I said we have enjoyed what we have done immensely, and we are grateful we had the opportunity to fulfill this dream. I don’t want to discourage anybody from pursuing cruising or any other dream. Just recognize when the time comes to move on.
GPS N 18-26.763 W 064-31.909 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 10655.
Apr 6
We are headed for the marina today. This will potentially be our last cruise on MoonSail. It was forecast to be very windy today, and the forecast was correct. Turning out of Trellis Bay, we head pretty much straight into the wind and chop. The first hour was pretty ugly, but we have been in worse. I hoped once we turned west and had the wind behind us, we might have a nice final sail. But, the wind was just where it would have been directly behind us, and with the large swells coming from behind, we would not have been able to maintain that course without worrying about gybing. So, our last trip turned into another motor.
Nanny Cay is filled with boats participating in the BVI Spring Regatta, and we were lucky to be able to get a slip today. When we got there a little after noon the race boats were out racing and the transient docks at the marina were quite empty. We got our slip and none too soon, as the race boats all started to pour back in soon after us, keeping the dockhands busy.
We went to Peg Leg's for lunch, as the Beach Bar was closed due to the regatta's evening events being set up in that area. After lunch, the reality set in.
GPS N 18-23.906 W 064-38.145 Nautical miles traveled today 10. Total miles 10665.
Apr 7 - 12
I won't go into all the day-to-day details of decommissioning, but will just hit the highlights. We learned starting in 2009 that laying a boat up for a season is a lot of work. It doesn't matter if you live in the north and lay up for the winter, or live in the Caribbean and lay up for hurricane season. There is a lot of work involved with storing a boat. This time though, the task was even harder. We had all the regular lay up work to do, like take off sails, put the dinghy on deck, remove everything else from the topsides, etc. But this year we have a much harder task. Since we are putting MoonSail on the market, we have to remove all our "stuff". Ideally, in a broker's mind, a for-sale boat is empty. In my mind, I want to sell MoonSail as ready-to-cruise. That means she has spares, bedding, galley supplies, and lots of other stuff. Without going into all the details, in the course of a week, we packed up nine - yes nine- bags to come home with us. That was five checked and four carry-ons, all fortunately within weight limits. Even with all that coming home, we got rid of so much more. We threw away at least thirty garbage bags of stuff. Much was stuff that would have been useful to somebody, and I felt bad about trashing it, but there wasn't time to find new homes for everything. Many things that I knew would be useful got new homes. All our dive equipment was given to Blue Water Divers who are located in the marina. They were thrilled. Several bags of clothing were left with the office staff to take to a local charity for people who could use them. Anything boat related that was useable was simply left at the head of the dock, where it disappeared within minutes. In the end, it was amazing how much crap we have been carrying around. Most people wonder how we could possibly have our entire lives contained in the space within a 38-foot boat. Once we went through it all again, we found so much we had been carrying that we didn't need. Once the boat was cleaned out, the water line was at least four inches higher than it had been.
During the course of the week, we met with Brian, from BVI Yacht Sales, and arranged the listing of the boat for sale. This involved taking pictures, at several points in the decommissioning. We needed pictures, particularly above deck with all equipment in place, and then below deck with all our stuff off the boat. I made a list of tasks to be done, in pretty much the order they had to be done, with the milestones of pre-pictures, post-pictures, pre-haul, post-haul, etc. In the end, it all came together pretty well, although we were both exhausted by the time it was done.
On Friday the 11th, we were scheduled to haul out at 08:30. We were at the haulout slip right at 08:30, only to find another boat there already. Add to that the fact that it is raining pretty heavily off and on, and we didn't get hauled until about 10:30. Once hauled, we learned that we were not going to be parked for a day in the work yard, but rather taken straight to our storage spot, where they said we would not have access to water. So, I convinced the lift operator to give me ten minutes and a ladder so I could do the fresh-water flush of the engine right there at the haulout slip. We got that done and then they switched MoonSail from the Travelift to the trailer they use to put boats in storage. Since the boat is for sale, they parked us in an area where it won't get blocked in, in case a potential buyer wants to take it out for a sea trial. As we were finishing up our last few details of buttoning her up, we got a visit from Judy & Torben from Tivoli. Tivoli was the boat we helped a couple weeks ago when their mooring broke in Christmas Cove. We chatted for a few minutes and then agreed to meet them at Captain Mulligan's for lunch in a bit. We met them and visited for a couple of hours. This was our first time to meet Torben, as he had been back in the States when we met Judy in the dark during the mooring event. We were done with our tasks, but they were in the middle of preparing for their upcoming trip across the Atlantic to Europe, so we said our goodbyes. We went back to the hotel and spent some time rearranging stuff in suitcases in the hopes of not paying an overweight fee. It will be bad enough with the extra bags.
Our travel day started with a no-show taxi at 06:00, but thanks to the marina security guard, he got a replacement, who got us on a better ferry from Tortola to St. Thomas, where we got a taxi to the airport. With the help of a porter, we got the bags checked in, all under 50 pounds, and we were finally through security, and waiting for our flight. The flight was very bumpy but on time, and on the NY end, we loaded two Smart Carts, got to a rental car, and were at my brother's house by about 19:30. It was a long day, but with so may opportunities for things to go wrong, it was a successful day.
So thus ends, the saga of MoonSail we think. The boat is for sale, and the RV awaits us for future land cruising. If the boat hasn't sold by next fall, perhaps we will return and spend some time in the Caribbean next year. Part of me thinks that would be good, but really I hope the boat sells and we move on. It has been a wonderful journey, even with the stressful times, and we are excited about the next phase.