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Catamaran Trip Report - Part 4
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California Girl
Catamaran Trip Report - Part 4
Catamaran Trip Report – Part 4
Thursday 4/30
I must begin with a note about meals: I really didn’t keep track of our meals in my notes. One day blends into another in my mind as far as that goes. But we ate really, really well and mostly always on-board. I have failed to mention two very good meals in my previous reports and I must give Sydney her props! She made us some EXCELLENT fresh lobster sandwiches on fresh baguettes that we bought on STT (Sydney brought the lobster from Canada frozen). I believe that was our first day at Hawksnest with Deb. Then one night Sydney whipped up an awesome taco salad that was super good! And I forgot to mention the awesome cinnamon rolls Kellee brought from an Amish bakery near her home for breakfasts. Soft and sticky and drowning in frosting! To die for! I’ll try to get better at remembering the food for the foodies reading this. I can tell you that we never went hungry, and we had a good variety of stuff to choose from for breakfast, lunch & dinner. And lots of expensive snacks!
Thursday 4/30 - Off to Jost Van Dyke!
I think this day I might have seen some of the prettiest scenery ever! The entire day was filled with beauty (although I still can’t get Cooper Island out of my mind). I don’t know what time we got up or what we had for breakfast, but we headed out of Marina Cay bound for Jost Van Dyke.
We sailed through the Beef Island Passage, passing Beef Island and Tortola on the port side and Great Camanoe, Little Camanoe, and Guana Island on the starboard. For me the scenery was breathtaking! I made a point to soak up every second of the moment and store it to recall in my mind when I’m having a bad day.
We passed Monkey Point on Guana Island, which Sydney says is great snorkeling when the water’s clear. It looked really pretty there – a protected little bay where the water was actually beginning to turn turquoise again.
MONKEY POINT
As we turned west toward Jost Van Dyke, we still had Tortola on our port side.
Our weather had been a little “off and on” during the week but it was mostly very nice. Today the clouds seemed to be getting “puffier” over Tortola and St. John, but we had an incredibly beautiful sail to Jost under blue skies!
As we got close to Jost Van Dyke, we passed a picture-perfect little mound of white sand called Sandy Spit floating in the turquoise sea. I know a lot of you have been there, but for those who haven’t, it’s one of those “stranded on a tropical island” kind of visions. Too bad the only palm tree fell over a year or so ago, but it looks like there is a successor growing to take its place. I’ll just have to come back in a couple of years to check on it for myself, just like I always have to check on the palm tree at the last beach entrance at Trunk Bay.
We sailed along the coastline of Jost passing Little Harbour, where Sidney’s Peace & Love is, and Great Harbour, which is home to the famous Foxy’s and an immigration and customs check-in point. We checked into the BVI days ago, so we didn’t have to stop there. We sailed into White Bay about 10:00 a.m. and we were one of very few boats there, however all of the overnight moorings were already taken. So Keith tendered Rick and Kellee and me into shore and dropped us off, and he and Sydney took the catamaran back over to Great Harbour to moor it, coming back to White Bay later in the tender.
White Bay is an incredible place in the morning. I think one of the best parts of this trip has been re-discovering morning! I mean “real” morning, with fresh air and blue skies, salt air and no stress. Not “morning” half-awake in your cubicle with a cup of coffee. What’s so wrong with that picture?
We got a Painkiller for “second breakfast” (since we already ate on the boat back at Marina Cay) and walked down the beach and checked everything out. I got so many great pictures, but I just can’t put them all in my trip report. Whenever I get them all edited and posted online, I’ll let you know, if you care to see more.
KELLEE & RICK HEADING TO THE SOGGY DOLLAR
We had the Soggy Dollar pretty much to ourselves for an hour or two before other boats started arriving, so we plopped down in the wicker chairs under the roof by the bar, ordered a round of Painkillers and made friends with Mic, the nicest and most efficient bartender on the planet!
We told Mic we wanted to buy a Painkiller for the VIOL and he said, “You with the VIOL?” I said, “Yup” and he said, “What is that, anyway?” So we explained that it’s an online travel forum and this whole “paying it forward” drink thing got started by one of our members. So he said, “Ok, but you have to start a new chart, the other one’s full.” He got out a large piece of paper and a felt pen and I volunteered Kellee to make the new chart. Funny… none of us thought to ask Mic who Joshie is. Seriously… it didn’t even cross our minds. And even if it did, I wouldn’t want to know and ruin the fun of the mystery!
Pretty soon the place started getting busier with day trippers arriving, so we decided to order some lunch before the kitchen got bombarded. I had the Chicken Roti, and it was soooo good! Rick had fish n’ chips which underwhelmed him. I think Kellee had Roti, too, but I can’t remember what anyone else ate.
While we were sitting there eating, the infamous Captain John Brandi made an appearance! He was with his wife and some friends just taking a day-off. Isn’t that nice? I want to take MY days off at the Soggy Dollar, damnit!
As the bar area got busier, we retreated out onto the sand for some serious limin...
We watched it rain on St. John,
We took pictures of ourselves,
(That's is the cover-up I got at Cooper Island)
And I took pictures of the incredible scenery.
As the afternoon wore on, Keith & Sydney poured our drunken butts into the tender and took us down to Ivan’s. I love Ivan’s! I have a TON of pictures from Ivan’s. For those of you unfamiliar with Ivan’s Stress Free Bar, it is covered in seashells! I love love love seashells, so this place was wonderful for me! And not just because of the seashells, but the art created with them!
I have no doubts whatsoever that this just might be the truth...
After a short stop and another Painkiller for me and a Caribe for Kellee we all hopped back into the tender and went back over to Great Harbour where the catamaran was moored. Keith & Sydney didn’t want to stay there because we would have to stay on anchor, and they prefer to stay on a mooring, so we motored back up to Little Harbour and moored there for the night. Before dark, a man came out to us in a little motor boat to collect our mooring fee for the night. Oh, and by the way, he also sold t-shirts and jewelry which he handed up to us in ziplock bags for our consideration; but none of us bought anything, but it was sort of cool, however.
We all took turns cleaning up after our sweaty, salty day at White Bay and Keith grilled up some really good sirloin burgers on the back of the boat. Sydney had brought some very cool hamburger buns from Canada… they’re flat, and they’re great! Not so much bread. I’d kind of compare them more to a smooshed English muffin. Super good! I wonder when we’ll get them in the U.S.?
After we cleaned up the dinner dishes, Keith offered to take us in to Sidney’s to check out the t-shirts and such. He & Syd said they have the very best t-shirts anywhere! Rick and Sydney chose to stay onboard, but Kellee & I jumped into the tender, how could we resist “the very best t-shirts anywhere?” It was night time and all the lights were on at Sidneys and they were ready to parrr-tayyyy! But no one was there. I think there was one couple either having drinks or a meal, but I really didn’t pay any attention to them. It all seemed very casual. We walked through the bar and said “hey” to Sidney, and shopped in his daughters’ shops. I did end up pulling out my credit card there because they really do have “the very best t-shirts anywhere.” I love my shirts from Sidney’s.
When we got back to the boat, as usual in the evenings, I’m pretty sure Rick & I downloaded all our day’s photos to the laptop, Kellee and I probably tried to get online with little or no success and we all went to bed early.
Ho hum, just another crappy day in paradise!
Thursday 4/30
I must begin with a note about meals: I really didn’t keep track of our meals in my notes. One day blends into another in my mind as far as that goes. But we ate really, really well and mostly always on-board. I have failed to mention two very good meals in my previous reports and I must give Sydney her props! She made us some EXCELLENT fresh lobster sandwiches on fresh baguettes that we bought on STT (Sydney brought the lobster from Canada frozen). I believe that was our first day at Hawksnest with Deb. Then one night Sydney whipped up an awesome taco salad that was super good! And I forgot to mention the awesome cinnamon rolls Kellee brought from an Amish bakery near her home for breakfasts. Soft and sticky and drowning in frosting! To die for! I’ll try to get better at remembering the food for the foodies reading this. I can tell you that we never went hungry, and we had a good variety of stuff to choose from for breakfast, lunch & dinner. And lots of expensive snacks!
Thursday 4/30 - Off to Jost Van Dyke!
I think this day I might have seen some of the prettiest scenery ever! The entire day was filled with beauty (although I still can’t get Cooper Island out of my mind). I don’t know what time we got up or what we had for breakfast, but we headed out of Marina Cay bound for Jost Van Dyke.
We sailed through the Beef Island Passage, passing Beef Island and Tortola on the port side and Great Camanoe, Little Camanoe, and Guana Island on the starboard. For me the scenery was breathtaking! I made a point to soak up every second of the moment and store it to recall in my mind when I’m having a bad day.
We passed Monkey Point on Guana Island, which Sydney says is great snorkeling when the water’s clear. It looked really pretty there – a protected little bay where the water was actually beginning to turn turquoise again.
MONKEY POINT
As we turned west toward Jost Van Dyke, we still had Tortola on our port side.
Our weather had been a little “off and on” during the week but it was mostly very nice. Today the clouds seemed to be getting “puffier” over Tortola and St. John, but we had an incredibly beautiful sail to Jost under blue skies!
As we got close to Jost Van Dyke, we passed a picture-perfect little mound of white sand called Sandy Spit floating in the turquoise sea. I know a lot of you have been there, but for those who haven’t, it’s one of those “stranded on a tropical island” kind of visions. Too bad the only palm tree fell over a year or so ago, but it looks like there is a successor growing to take its place. I’ll just have to come back in a couple of years to check on it for myself, just like I always have to check on the palm tree at the last beach entrance at Trunk Bay.
We sailed along the coastline of Jost passing Little Harbour, where Sidney’s Peace & Love is, and Great Harbour, which is home to the famous Foxy’s and an immigration and customs check-in point. We checked into the BVI days ago, so we didn’t have to stop there. We sailed into White Bay about 10:00 a.m. and we were one of very few boats there, however all of the overnight moorings were already taken. So Keith tendered Rick and Kellee and me into shore and dropped us off, and he and Sydney took the catamaran back over to Great Harbour to moor it, coming back to White Bay later in the tender.
White Bay is an incredible place in the morning. I think one of the best parts of this trip has been re-discovering morning! I mean “real” morning, with fresh air and blue skies, salt air and no stress. Not “morning” half-awake in your cubicle with a cup of coffee. What’s so wrong with that picture?
We got a Painkiller for “second breakfast” (since we already ate on the boat back at Marina Cay) and walked down the beach and checked everything out. I got so many great pictures, but I just can’t put them all in my trip report. Whenever I get them all edited and posted online, I’ll let you know, if you care to see more.
KELLEE & RICK HEADING TO THE SOGGY DOLLAR
We had the Soggy Dollar pretty much to ourselves for an hour or two before other boats started arriving, so we plopped down in the wicker chairs under the roof by the bar, ordered a round of Painkillers and made friends with Mic, the nicest and most efficient bartender on the planet!
We told Mic we wanted to buy a Painkiller for the VIOL and he said, “You with the VIOL?” I said, “Yup” and he said, “What is that, anyway?” So we explained that it’s an online travel forum and this whole “paying it forward” drink thing got started by one of our members. So he said, “Ok, but you have to start a new chart, the other one’s full.” He got out a large piece of paper and a felt pen and I volunteered Kellee to make the new chart. Funny… none of us thought to ask Mic who Joshie is. Seriously… it didn’t even cross our minds. And even if it did, I wouldn’t want to know and ruin the fun of the mystery!
Pretty soon the place started getting busier with day trippers arriving, so we decided to order some lunch before the kitchen got bombarded. I had the Chicken Roti, and it was soooo good! Rick had fish n’ chips which underwhelmed him. I think Kellee had Roti, too, but I can’t remember what anyone else ate.
While we were sitting there eating, the infamous Captain John Brandi made an appearance! He was with his wife and some friends just taking a day-off. Isn’t that nice? I want to take MY days off at the Soggy Dollar, damnit!
As the bar area got busier, we retreated out onto the sand for some serious limin...
We watched it rain on St. John,
We took pictures of ourselves,
(That's is the cover-up I got at Cooper Island)
And I took pictures of the incredible scenery.
As the afternoon wore on, Keith & Sydney poured our drunken butts into the tender and took us down to Ivan’s. I love Ivan’s! I have a TON of pictures from Ivan’s. For those of you unfamiliar with Ivan’s Stress Free Bar, it is covered in seashells! I love love love seashells, so this place was wonderful for me! And not just because of the seashells, but the art created with them!
I have no doubts whatsoever that this just might be the truth...
After a short stop and another Painkiller for me and a Caribe for Kellee we all hopped back into the tender and went back over to Great Harbour where the catamaran was moored. Keith & Sydney didn’t want to stay there because we would have to stay on anchor, and they prefer to stay on a mooring, so we motored back up to Little Harbour and moored there for the night. Before dark, a man came out to us in a little motor boat to collect our mooring fee for the night. Oh, and by the way, he also sold t-shirts and jewelry which he handed up to us in ziplock bags for our consideration; but none of us bought anything, but it was sort of cool, however.
We all took turns cleaning up after our sweaty, salty day at White Bay and Keith grilled up some really good sirloin burgers on the back of the boat. Sydney had brought some very cool hamburger buns from Canada… they’re flat, and they’re great! Not so much bread. I’d kind of compare them more to a smooshed English muffin. Super good! I wonder when we’ll get them in the U.S.?
After we cleaned up the dinner dishes, Keith offered to take us in to Sidney’s to check out the t-shirts and such. He & Syd said they have the very best t-shirts anywhere! Rick and Sydney chose to stay onboard, but Kellee & I jumped into the tender, how could we resist “the very best t-shirts anywhere?” It was night time and all the lights were on at Sidneys and they were ready to parrr-tayyyy! But no one was there. I think there was one couple either having drinks or a meal, but I really didn’t pay any attention to them. It all seemed very casual. We walked through the bar and said “hey” to Sidney, and shopped in his daughters’ shops. I did end up pulling out my credit card there because they really do have “the very best t-shirts anywhere.” I love my shirts from Sidney’s.
When we got back to the boat, as usual in the evenings, I’m pretty sure Rick & I downloaded all our day’s photos to the laptop, Kellee and I probably tried to get online with little or no success and we all went to bed early.
Ho hum, just another crappy day in paradise!
Last edited by California Girl on Wed May 20, 2009 1:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Fun!
Kellee, where's your point-of-view dialogue?!
"We had some painkiller stuff at, like, 5 bars and I got dizzy cuz I didn't eat anything, so I switched to Carib and felt whole lot better, but I wanted FRENCH FRIES. I did NOT do a lap dance, that was just a friendly guy - I can't remember, whatever, where's my FRENCH FRIES!"
I know you can do better than my imagination.
Cheers, RickG
Kellee, where's your point-of-view dialogue?!
"We had some painkiller stuff at, like, 5 bars and I got dizzy cuz I didn't eat anything, so I switched to Carib and felt whole lot better, but I wanted FRENCH FRIES. I did NOT do a lap dance, that was just a friendly guy - I can't remember, whatever, where's my FRENCH FRIES!"
I know you can do better than my imagination.
Cheers, RickG
S/V Echoes - Coral Bay - St. John, VI
LOVE!!!!
I LOVE your trip reports!!!!!!! I hope that in the future when the kids are grown that the wife and I can do a trip like this.Great job and thanks for bringing me back to the caribbean! Parafins
HELLO FROM MICHIGAN...
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California Girl
Besides enjoying the hell of of 'em, I am learning a LOT from these reports. Gromit, add these tips to the list:
9) "Local foods from home" are to be brought and shared. (Note to self - pack pork rinds, PBR in the can, spam, and cheese whiz.)
10) If Keith asks if we want to be tendered, this is sailor-talk and is not dirty.
11) Painkillers for breakfast are ok.
12) Must learn to drink beer two fisted, like Kellee.
13) Do not confuse ziploc bag with jewelry for sale with "other" ziploc bag.
I am going to be an expert by the time you finish, Margo.
9) "Local foods from home" are to be brought and shared. (Note to self - pack pork rinds, PBR in the can, spam, and cheese whiz.)
10) If Keith asks if we want to be tendered, this is sailor-talk and is not dirty.
11) Painkillers for breakfast are ok.
12) Must learn to drink beer two fisted, like Kellee.
13) Do not confuse ziploc bag with jewelry for sale with "other" ziploc bag.
I am going to be an expert by the time you finish, Margo.
I think Ziploc should start paying us royalties!!!VickiH wrote:Besides enjoying the hell of of 'em, I am learning a LOT from these reports. Gromit, add these tips to the list:
13) Do not confuse ziploc bag with jewelry for sale with "other" ziploc bag.
I am going to be an expert by the time you finish, Margo.
Or we could just write a book "101 uses for Ziploc bags".
Along with your "101 uses for Pool Noodles" book.ScubaGirl wrote:I think Ziploc should start paying us royalties!!!VickiH wrote:Besides enjoying the hell of of 'em, I am learning a LOT from these reports. Gromit, add these tips to the list:
13) Do not confuse ziploc bag with jewelry for sale with "other" ziploc bag.
I am going to be an expert by the time you finish, Margo.
Or we could just write a book "101 uses for Ziploc bags".
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cypressgirl
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