Sarah writes:
“Up bright and early to get ready for our ferry ride to Tortola.  It is cloudy and looks like rain.  We called our taxi last night - “The Sisters” to make sure we had someone there early.  He was waiting at 7:30.  We had told him 7:40.  We went on down and checked out of the motel, loaded all of our things in the van-taxi and went on in to the ferry - Smith’s Ferry.  We started out up on the top deck but before we left it started raining and everyone had to move down stairs.  Talk about a wild ride!!  The wind was blowing hard, it was raining hard, and the waves were huge.  We were hurled up to the top of the waves and crashed down between them.  Will and I were sitting toward the middle of the ferry and we held on tight to keep from being tossed out into the aisle in a heap.  Water (rain and spray from the huge waves) was blowing in on us, so the deck hands came and put down plastic flaps over the windows.  It did help but water still splashed in around the edges and our seat was pretty wet.  I didn’t like not being able to see out, but the plastic was thick and cloudy and prevented it.  I peeked around the edge as much as possible.
“I managed to distract myself a little by striking up a conversation with the man sitting behind me whom I had heard talking a little to the person sitting beside him.  Victor Horvath was his name.  He is an artist from Budapest, Hungary.  He had been in St. Thomas for about 10 weeks working in a restaurant for one of his friends.  He said he works for a few months and then quits and shuts himself up in a room and paints until he runs out of money.  Today he was taking his day off to go to Virgin Gorda to take pictures for research for his painting.  When we peeked around the plastic window to see the clouds and the rain storm on the island, he said, “To most people, it just looks gray and ugly, but do you realize how many shades of gray are there?  Thousands.  It will be a beautiful picture.”  He showed me a packet of photos of some of his paintings - they were beautiful paintings of landscapes, Grand Tetons, Louisiana, South Florida beaches, some portraits, pictures of Olympic athletes, Michael Jordan, the Atlanta skyline.
“He talked about his philosophy of life that he learned from his grandfather who told him you can’t wait for life.  There is no such thing as retirement.  You have to get as much of it as you can as you go.  He said he doesn’t like the water much, but goes out on it sometimes just for the challenge - to know he is really alive.  He had a friend who wanted him to sail around the world but that was too much for him.  He says if you only do the same routine every day and go the same places you are already dead.  That is not living.
 “It was an enjoyable conversation and I guess I found out I was definitely alive - what an adventure on the high seas.  We did live through the ferry ride to Tortola, but it made me nervous about the sailing trip.  I was wishing for calmer seas and fewer clouds.  By the time we arrived at the customs office, the sun was coming out and the weather was improving.
“We reached Tortola and went through customs.  It only took about 20-30 minutes.  There were taxis waiting so we loaded all of our bags on to the open-air taxi and settled in for the ride around the island to Roadtown.  We curved around the bottom of the mountains hugging the left side of the road.  They drive on the left in St. Thomas as well as in the BVIs.  There had been a wreck on one of the curves with a car turned on its side to the left and another car battered and smashed on the other side.  There were small ramshackle houses hugging the sides of the mountain with a lot of chickens, roosters and their babies.  We came to a stop in the middle of the road beside some metal buildings and the driver announced that this was our stop - Conch Charters.  We got all of our bags and went through the gate and a girl with a Conch Charter T-shirt met us and said, “Are you the Anders?”  She led us out to the dock to our boat “Pilgrim” and we stowed our bags.  Our food had already arrived and been stowed in the freezer and refrigerator.
“Pat, Will and I walked to the grocery to buy potatoes (They gave us two potatoes instead of two pounds of potatoes) while the men got their briefing on the boat.”

Mickey:
By 8:00 we were at the ferry station waiting for the Daphne Elise to take us to the BVIs.  Andy ran next door to McDonald’s to get sausage biscuits for everybody while we waited.

The Daphne Elise is about a 50 footer with powerful diesel engines that make it a very fast boat.  We started out up top in the open air, but the rains came before we ever left dock.  So we settled in downstairs.  Because of the rain, the deck hands zipped the plastic windows shut severely restricting our visibility.

Before we made it out of the bay to the open ocean we saw a sailboat coming in and the skipper made a motion with his hands to indicate rough seas.  He was right!  The howling winds had really stirred up the ocean with huge 6 to 8 foot swells.  The Daphne Elise crashed into the swells throwing showers of spray everywhere.  Then as she raced down the far side of the swells and the prop broke free of the water, the engines raced until they engaged the water again.

Rough!  It was indeed a rough ride.  Sarah was being baptized by fire.  Her eyes looked like saucers.  It’s a wonder she didn’t quit the vacation right then and there.  But like a trooper she hung on.

After about an hour’s ride, we finally pulled into Soper’s Hole on Tortola to go through customs.  Customs everywhere in the world is a strange and convoluted process.  Red tape piled on red tape.  Forms to fill out.  Money to declare.  Then the agent asks, “Do you have any cigarettes?  Liquor?  Food?  Are you carrying a speargun?”

Then we piled into a taxi and took the route along the beach to Roadtown about five miles away.  As we drove along the beach we saw lots of sailboats out on Sir Francis Drake Channel, lots of them “rail-down,”  heeled way over until the top edge of the boat is in the water because of the high winds and big waves.

Finally the taxi driver came to a stop and declared, “Conch Charters.”  We looked around expecting to see a nice building, in fact ANY BUILDING.  But there was only a chain link fence and a small sign.  The docks with charter boats were just beyond the fence.  So here we were, dumped in the middle of the road with all our luggage by a sign.

As we lugged our stuff through the gate, a twenty-something lady headed to the boats asked, “Are you the Anders?  We were expecting you last night!”  Well, that was disappointing news.  Originally, Conch Charters had told me we could spend Friday night on the boat which would have been a lot cheaper than we paid for the hotel.  But later on e-mail they had informed me that our boat would not be available for sleep-aboard the night before our charter.

We made our way down the docks where about 6 or 7 other charterers were preparing for their take-off.  Pilgrim is a 38 ft. Benetau with a navy blue bottom.  Quite an attractive boat.  When we first went aboard, I was concerned about it being too small for the six of us.  That’s not a lot of square feet for six people.  But as the week progressed we all declared that the boat-size was “just right.”  Seven would have definitely been overcrowded, but six was just right.  Plenty of sleeping room, plenty of room at the dinette for six.  But seven would have been a problem.

Ample Hamper had apparently arrived early on Saturday with all our provisioning.  Pat and Sarah had carefully planned our meals and faxed to the Ample Hamper our order.  The staff at Conch Charters had put the provisions on the boat already and filled the freezer and refrigerator.

The staff all wore T-shirts which said, “If you didn’t charter with Conch, then you missed the conch-cept.”

Sarah and Pat finished putting away the canned goods and explored the nooks and crannies containing pots and pans and dishes while Darl, Andy and I took the guided check-out provided by the staff.  They showed us how to check the oil and the bilge, where the toolkit and charts were, how to pump the head, and how to run the windlass.  From bow to stern, we had a quick guided tour.

Then we were off to The Pub for our chart briefing led by another 20s girl with a British accent.  Darl and I were expecting some serious navigation tips, but all we got were the tourism tips regarding local shopping and site-seeing on each island.  It was the same stuff we had been reading for months.

The exit from the harbor was a bit tricky so one of the staff served as a pilot until we passed the reefs, then took his dinghy back to the docks, and we were off.  Free and easy.  I was surprised that they didn’t check out our sailing ability a bit more.  I had sent them a sailing resume but I assumed they would want a first-hand confirmation that we really did know what we were doing.  It’s a strange feeling for someone to turn you loose with an $80,000 boat and say, “Okay, she’s yours.  See you in a week.”  And we were free to go wherever we wanted to.

After clearing the green can to starboard, Andy and I pulled out the jib sail, and we headed for Norman Island about seven miles across the channel.  With such strong winds and rollers coming across the channel, I tried to take it as easy as I could and used only the jib sail.  But it was still quite a ride with the big waves.  We spotted the Indians just the other side of Pelican Island, but we headed straight for the Bight so that we could get settled in for our first night.

Sarah writes:
“When we are sailing, there is lots of noisy activity on deck and lots of shouting instructions.  All of that makes me nervous so I went below to wait until things were all set.  The problem is that things never get “set.”  There is nothing else to do, but adjust the sails and “fix” things a little better so the activity doesn’t really stop until you get where you are going.  The waves are fairly big rolling waves but its nothing like the ferry ride so it’s Okay.  Mickey really wants me to come up so I guess I’ll see if things have settled down and check out the scenery.  Don’t want to be a party pooper.”

Mickey:
As we turned into the bay, we saw a clear spot among the 25-30 boats anchored.  Andy was on the bow ready to release the anchor.  Darl was the first to spot the sea turtles swimming along beside the boat.  We were all so excited about the turtles we almost forgot to do our anchoring chores.  But quickly we were secure with the Bruce anchor in 15 ft of water and lots of chain out.  Andy snorkeled over the anchor to assure a good set and saw three more sea turtles in the process.

Andy, Will, and I decided to take the dinghy and head for the Indians for some snorkeling while everybody else settled in or prepared supper.  It was a wild ride to the Indians because we had to take the dinghy across about a quarter-mile of the open waters with five or six foot waves rolling by.  The little dinghy bobbed up and down and around, but we made it.  After tying to a mooring buoy, we swam around a bit.   The visibility was incredible.  The Indians are three big rock outcroppings with sheer cliffs plunging deep into the water.  We didn’t see a lot of fish, but the ones we saw were big.

Next we headed the dinghy off to the Caves on Norman Island and picked up a mooring buoy there too.  There were lots and lots of fish in the Caves, bright blue, purple, yellow and black striped - all kinds.  When we returned to the dinghy, we saw about 40 big angelfish right under our boat.

When we arrived back on the Pilgrim, Darl was getting the grill started.  After using a half-box of matches trying to get the charcoal lit in the howling wind, it finally caught and the wind fanned the flames into a mighty roar off the back of the boat.  When the flames settled we cooked steaks to go with the potatoes and salad Pat and Sarah were preparing.

Will writes:
“I left St. Thomas this morning on the ferry.  It was a little like a scene from The Firm when Tom Cruise is on that tram crossing the river.  I sat on the top towards the front, but before we left it started to rain so we went down to the bottom part and there he was in the back.  Yes, him.  The stranger with the green and gold ink pen.  I sat in the front.  There was an artist sitting behind me.  He showed me some pictures of his work.  One of his commercial pictures had two nude people on it.  He also had pictures of some tropical places and pictures of the Atlanta skyline.  The boat was bouncing around because of the waves.  When we arrived it took about an hour to get through customs so I could get my luggage.  After I got my luggage I got a taxi to Conch Charters where I hopped on “The Pilgrim” and went to Norman Island.  After I got settled, I went snorkeling at The Indians, basically cliffs that start out of nowhere and go 40 feet or so under water.  There were purple fish with yellow tails, rainbow colored fish and lots of dark purple sea urchins.  After that I went to the Caves and saw more of the same fish and a few more kinds of fish.  One little bitty fish came up and bit my scab on my knee.  I returned and dried up then I started to cook T-bone steaks and fried potatoes for dinner.  There are several sea turtles roaming about where I anchored.  A man that is sailing around the world selling necklaces made of either wood and glass or a cow’s shin bone, the figures on the necklaces without a hole for the necklace, and stuff made out of coconut shells shaped and colored into different things.  His name was Sake Reekers.  He was from the black boat named Styx.  I bought a necklace with a stingray or a mantaray.  It’s hard to tell.  Since I started writing on my way to Norman Island and took many breaks from writing, the time is now 9:16 Virgin Island time.”

Mickey:  When Pat met Sake and he said he had his wife on board, she could only think of Peter Tangvald and wondered, “which wife and how many?”

The William Thorton is disappointing from this distance.  No one was interested in going over for a CDA (Cheated Death Again) beer.

At anchor tonight we broke out the Jimmy Buffet tape and got in the Caribbean mood with “Cheeseburgers in Paradise.”

Cheeseburger in Paradise by Jimmy Buffet

Tried to amend my carnivorous  habits
Made it nearly seventy days
losin' weight without speed, eatin' sunflower seeds
drinkin' lots of carrot juice and soakin' up rays.  But at
night I'd have these wonderful dreams, some kind of sensuous treat.
Not zucchini, fettucini or bulgar wheat, but a big
warm bun and a huge hunk of meat.

Chorus:
          Cheeseburger in paradise
          Heaven on earth with an onion slice
          Not too particular, not too precise, I'm just a
          cheeseburger in paradise

Heard about the old-time sailor men
They eat the same thing again and again
Warm beer and bread they said could raise the dead
Well, it reminds me of the menu at a Holiday Inn.

But times have changed for sailors these days
When I'm in port I get what I need.
Not just Havanas or bananas or daiquiris
But that American creation on which I feed.

Chorus:
          Cheeseburger in paradise
          Heaven on earth with an onion slice
          Not too particular, not too precise, I'm just a
          cheeseburger in paradise

I like mine with lettuce and tomato
Heinz 57 and French fried potatoes
Big kosher pickle and a cold draft beer
Well, good God Almighty, which way do I steer for my

Chorus:
          Cheeseburger in paradise
          Heaven on earth with an onion slice
          Not too particular, not too precise, I'm just a
          cheeseburger in paradise
 

Andy writes:
“While we were putting out the anchors we saw three sea turtles.  They were huge.  After we got the anchors to hold, I saw the three turtles laying on the bottom so I dove down to look at them closer.  I got a few pictures of them.  I hope they turn out good.  Then we went over to the Indians in our dinghy and snorkeled there for a little.  We saw a few fish there.  Then we came back and went to the Caves where we saw a bunch of fish.  I saw an eel that was cool.  I have also seen a fish about 2 or 3 inches long that is a real deep dark purple with a yellow tale that I want to know the name of.
“Then we came back to the boat and changed clothes.  We were getting ready to fix dinner when a man in his dinghy came up and asked if he could show us his artwork and maybe buy some of it.  He had some really beautiful pieces of jewelry.   It was all beautiful and nice.  He and his wife are from Holland and they have been sailing around the world for nine years now selling their stuff.  He was a nice guy.  I got a cow’s shin bone necklace. It is shaped into a shark.  We had T-bone steaks.  They were good.  Now it is time for bed. Good night.”

End - Day Four - Motherofallvacations Vacation