Road Town, Tortola, January 18, 2008

Here we are January 15, and finally we have established our web site. Efficiency and effectiveness is our motto!

Here is a recap of our adventures to date.

November 10-November 16 – Larry, Erik, Sergei Sikorsky (professional delivery sailor) and Paul Ford brought Singoalla from Portsmouth RI to Bermuda. Challenging to say the least. One day of calm, 3 days of nice sailing and two days of endless storms. Water everywhere, gear failures starting before we were 8 hours out of Newport, everyone exhausted, and quite a lot of new gear didn’t stand the test of Mother Nature. Paul left us in Bermuda because he had to be back for Thanksgiving, and we were joined by Mike Rossi.

After a week of repairs to engine, the mainsail and various leaks, we set off from Bermuda late Sunday afternoon, November 25. Except for the need to pump water from the bilge after every shift, this leg was about as pleasant as the first one was difficult. We arrived at Soper’s Hole, Tortola about 1:30 am on December 1, substantially quicker than we had expected.

Sergei and Mike left for Rhode Island while Singoalla was waiting in Soper’s Hole for completion of the engine repairs we began in Bermuda. Elisabeth joined us December 5th, and Erik, Elisabeth and Larry spent several relaxing days at anchor in Benures Bay, Norman Island, waiting to go in to Road Town on Monday to get our new inverter-charger repaired. After 2 days at Village Cay Marina, Cay Electronics gave us the bad news that the device had not survived the salt water bath we gave it on the way to Bermuda, so we ordered a new one from our royal purveyor of things nautical, Defender Industries.

OK, back to Norman Island to await delivery of the inverter. Three easy days in the Bight, drinks and dinner with new cruising friends on Teka Nova andIrie. Hikes on the island, swimming and snorkeling in the bay. Then on December 17 a fantastic close reach back to Road Town. Yachtshotsbvi.com was out with camera (and a dog) in a dinghy. Look us up under Singoalla on that web site. We will get a couple of the shots for our walls at home. We stay at Village Cay for the night. The new inverter-charger has arrived, and Erik spends a couple of hours (with minor help from Larry) installing it. Hallelujah, it works!!

Singoalla in the Bight at Norman Island, December 15

Larry and Erik hiking on Norman Island

December 18: Clear out of BVI at Road Town, downwind sail to Cruz Bay, St. John, USVI to clear in, continue with another nice downwind sail along the south coast of St. Thomas to Crown Bay Marina, where we plan to take a taxi to the airport to pick up Alexandra. Half way up East Gregerie Channel the Blackberry rings – Alexandra is early and already at the airport! She takes a taxi to the marina and is on the dock to greet us when we arrive. Tears and laughter all around. Late lunch at Tickles, provisioning at Pueblo. Joy to see fresh produce, which is woefully lacking in the BVI.

December 19: Beat back to Caneel Bay. Alexandra sleeps most of the way recovering from a really rough exam week plus helping with Imprima accounting. Dinner on board while everyone catches up on recent events.

December 20: Dinghy in to Caneel Bay Resort, then the mile and a half walk over rough national park trail to Cruz Bay. Everyone gets rash guard shirts at Mongoose Junction for snorkeling, then the return walk. A much deserved late lunch at Caneel Bay Resort. We stay at Caneel Bay for the night. St. John is a wonderful discovery for us. Although we have sailed in the BVI several times, we have never gone through the customs hassle to go the half mile to the USVI before. About 70% of St. John is national park, courtesy of Laurance Rockefeller. Moorings in all the nice bays ae provided by the National Park Service, for $15 per night (honor system – you have to fine the little boat with a box on it to put your money in. Alost like a scavenger hunt in reverse. Of course, if you are of advanced age like Larry (even somewhat younger) a $10 investment gets you a senior discount pass for all national park services, and the moorings cost only $7.50.

Singoalla at Caneel Bay, December 20

December 21: We try to clear out of the USVI for the BVI. The customs officer tells us we are the first boat ever to clear out for the BVI, but since we went to the trouble to fill out the paperwork, he duly stamps it and we are officially out. Short sail to Soper’s Hole where the customs folks are much more serious. Then, as time is very short we motor the whole way along the south shore of Tortola, around Beef island to Trellis Bay where we pick up a mooring and rush to the airport next door to pick up Virginia. All this to discover that her plane is delayed by an hour. She eventually arrives, and we return to the boat for pina coladas prepared by Chef Erik (his culinary talents are limited to great scrambled eggs, steak and drinks made using a blender).

December 22: Motor between Great and Little Camanoe Islands, then a really nice downwind sail to Sandy Cay, a picture postcard little island just off Jost Van Dyke, where Erik and Alexandra vie for snorkeling/swimming championship. When we weigh anchor, we find a very nice dinghy anchor attached to ours. Since there is no one around to claim it, we claim it as abandoned property. On to Great Harbor at JVD. Elisabeth and Larry need exercise, so we walk to Little Harbor where we discover Sydney’s Peace and Love and the Harris Place. Its our new favorite anchorage on JVD. Alexandra goes for a run, but discovers that everything is vertical on volcanic islands (you would think that a geology major would know that already). Erik and Virginia content themselves with exercising their elbows at Foxy’s bar. Dinner is Foxy’s famous barbeque with Duane and Ines from Saxonia, more new cruising friends. We decide that we will never eat again!

December 23: Water is running low, so we sail to Soper’s Hole to fill the tanks. Virginia got so excited to see Pussers that she lost her head and hosted lunch. We then had a terrific sail up Drake Channel to Cooper Island. We picked up the last mooring, more exposed than we like at the northern tip of the island, so we rocked a lot during the night.

December 24: Early departure from Coopers to make sure we get to Bitter End in time for a good mooring. Light rain showers for the first 1/3 of the trip, but a wonderful light air beat to the top of Mosquito Island. Lunch buffet at Bitter End. Santa made his usual rounds on the pontoon boat with steel band Christmas music, but timed it with a number of pretty hard rain showers. Christmas Eve dinner on board, drinks courtesy of Erik, followed by smoked salmon, Swedish Wort bread, Jul ost and chocolate truffles for dessert, as well as Christmas crackers, all courtesy of Virginia. Elisabeth and Virginia went to a Christmas Eve church service to get some Christmas spirit. Elisabeth came back with a cold as an added bonus.

Elisabeth at the Bitter End, Christmas Eve 2007



December 25: Short motor over North Sound to Drake’s Anchorage. Lazy day of reading and swimming. Comfortable night on the hook.

Figure 5 Christmas Day breakfast, Bitter End 2007

December 26: A fantastic downwind sail to Norman Island. Larry was happy when we sailed past two 51 foot charter boats. Moored in the Bight, lunch at the Willy T (the William Thornton, an old schooner converted to a restaurant of sorts), then Alexandra, Elisabeth and Larry went for a nice hike on Norman. Geology lesson from Alexandra, who can’t look at a rock without seeing a story.

Elisabeth and Larry on Norman Island walk 12/26/07

December 27: A great close reach to Brandywine Bay, over in no time. Alexandra and Larry walk to town – the roads are a pretty scary place to walk without sidewalks. Return by taxi with groceries and especially wine. Fabulous diner at the Brandywine Bay restaurant, our long-time favorite. A rocky night at the mooring.

December 28: 10:00 am departure, motor to Village Cay Marina. Virginia leaves for the airport. After taking on water, great downwind sail to Soper’s Hole. Shopping attempt at harbour Market failed – everything is sold out. Laundry. Dinner of black bean soup specially doctored by Alexandra. Mmmm! Early to bed (as usual). It gets really dark right after the sun sets at about 6:30.

Deceember 29: Cleared out of the BVI. Nice sail through the narrows to Cruz Bay. Elisabeth steered most of the way. Cleared in and returned to Maho Bay. Wonderful harbor, quiet. Alexandra and Larry went for a long walk ashore, found a funky resort, Maho Camps, where the guests stay in tents. Really fun! Elisabeth is feeling ill – too much Christmas handshaking. Another fine dinner prepared by Alexandra: chicken breast, pasta and tomato sauce.

Would you recognize this as a fee station?

December 30: Downwind sail to Crown Bay where we picked up Molly, Alexandra’s housemate who flew in to St. Thomas from Chicago. Erik and Alexandra cleaned the boat while Mom and Dad went grocery shopping at Pueblo. Elisabeth is feeling better.

December 31: Strong winds on the nose, lumpy seas. We motored back to Maho Bay. Larry totally worthless (allergy attack). Very quiet evening. Great salmon steak with ratatouille, exceeded all expectations. Adults still under the weather went to bed early while the kids watched Shrek 3 ln the laptop. Parents woken up at 11:30, champagne toast at midnight, fireworks in the distance from St. Thomas. Lights out again at 12;30.

January 1: Ashore for breakfast at 10:00 at Maho Camps, only to find that they stop serving at 9:30. Wonderful breakfast on board. 12:00 departure for Red Hook on St. Thomas. Nice downwind slide. Anchorage at Red Hook is very uncomfortable. Alexandra and Elisabeth dinghied ashore for provisioning and to pick up Catharina and Jason, who flew in from New York. They arrived at the boat very wet. Motored two miles to Christmas Cove. Nice anchorage and wonderful evening. We are now 7 on board, which is about all we can cope with.

What you get for breakfast when the restaurant is closed!

January 2: Short nice beat to Caneel Bay. Mooring off Honeymoon Beach. Everyone but Elisabeth dinghied ashore and walked to Cruz Bay. Lunch at a great little restaurant whose name has been forgotten in the sands of time. Shopping and internat at Mongoose Junction. Back about 5:00. All youngsters swam from the beach to the boat. There was more current than expected, so the return swim just missed being dramatic. Rocky rolly night at the mooring. Interesting to see a half sunk water taxi being towed from Durloe Cay. Oops!

Beauties and the beast? Alexandra, Molly, Catharina & Jason

January 3: Spinnaker run to St Thomas. Douse off Water Island, motor in to Lindbergh Bay, anchor next to Saxonia. Erik ashore by dinghy with younger generation for the walk to the airport. We were sorry to see him leave, but he is anxious to get back to the real world after almost 2 months on the boat. Coincidentally, he is on the same plane as Ines from Saxonia. Wind is pretty far northeast, so we were able to do a one legged beat acoss the south shore of St Thomas, through Current Cut (with motor assist), and into Francis Bay with the last of the daylight. Forecast is for the worst northeast swells in several years.

January 4: We reluctantly decide not to go to Vieques to see Rick and Chery (Larry’s siblings) who happen to be vacationing there only about 35 miles away. Instead we have a great sail around St. John to Coral Bay, anchor amidst a lot of pretty funky looking permanent boats. Dinghy to Skinny Legs Bar for a big hamburger lunch. Dinner was a non event – everyone still full from lunch.

Dinghy parking jam at Skinny Legs Bar

January5: Pre-breakfast walk from Coral Bay to Waterlemon Point on Leinster Bay. 1.5 miles, mostly straight up and down over the island’s center ridge. Heavy rain squall gave everyone a fresh water shower. Interesting ruins of an old plantation house. Late breakfast at the Donkey Diner – funky and unusual. Short sail to Soper’s Hole, where we clear in without fanfare. Showers – great! World’s longest laundry run as EEL and LDL by shifts wait for the electricity to be fixed. Catharina made a nice salad for dinner. Every one was surprised by how good canned chicken can taste in the right environment. Lots of rain during the night. We have learned a new concept from friends here: “hatch aerobics”, where you get up many times during the night to trade off being stuffy for being wet.

View of Coral Bay from the trail, 1/5/08

January 6: Rainiest day yet. After taking on water and dinghy fuel we motor to Sandy Cay – it looks rolly and wet, so we don’t stop. On to Great Harbor on Jost Van Dyke. Everyone but EEL go ashore for a beer at Foxy’s (rum drinks are beginning to get old). A loaf of good bread from Christine’s Bakery, back to the boat, up anchor and motor to Little Harbor. Fun dinner at Sydney’s Peace and Love, where they have an honor system bar -- you mix your own drink and write on the tab what you had. Movie evening – My Fair Lady. Good, but ooh, so long.

January 7: Breakfast courtesy of Alexandra. After yesterday’s rain, today was a “breath of fresh air”, so to speak. Calm seas and 10 knot breeze provided an easy sail from Little Harbor to Norman Island with a quick stop at Sandy Cay on the way. Lots of swimming to make up for the lack thereof in previous days. Broad reach to Thatch Cut at the West End, then a light air beat to Norman. Lots of sun, snorkeling for some., in general a great day in paradise. LDL and EEL get the evening to themselves as the kids head in to the Pirate’s Bight to watch the championship football game between Ohio State (Jason’s favorite) and LSU. As we are on Atlantic Standard Time, the bar closes before the game is over. Who won, anyway?

Molly tries her hand at steering. 1/7/08

January 8: Norman Island. Catharina and Jason are picked up at the boat by Blue Water Divers for a morning of scuba diving. The rest of us, after a lazy morning, went ashore for a wlk over the top to Benures Bay and back, then by dinghy to the caves for a little snorkeling. All back on board, an afternoon motor trip to Village Cay. LDL and EEL walk to the Golden Hind (chandlery) and Rite Way for provisioning. Mercifully, we get a ride back with Georgia, a lady who manages yachts for people who leave their boats here and only use them part time. Cocktails with the Teka Novas, then by taxi to Brandywine Bay;for a spectacular dinner.

Alexandra, Catharina and Molly on the bow at Norman Island 1/7/08

January 9: Very light wind, almost none. Alexandra and Molly go on White Squall, an 80 foot daysailing schooner, to the Baths and then back to Cooper Island. Singoalla has a very light air but very pleasant beat to Cooper, arriving about 1:30. We had planned to go on to the baths, but since progress was so slow and we really didn’t want to turn on the engine, we elect to stay at Cooper Island for the night. Alexandra runs into her boat load of Italians that she had met at Norman Island, so she lobbied for staying at Cooper, too. Nice dinner ashore, then early to bed for all except Alexandra and Molly, who stay on the beach with the Italians until midnight or so.

Molly, Alexandra and Catharina on the beach at Cooper Island

January 10: No wind at all. Up early, motor to the Baths, breakfast along the way. We swim ashore to the wrong beach, and have to walk about a mile and enter the park from the land side. Since we are so early, we have the place pretty much to ourselves, and enjoy exploring the caves. We leave just in time – bus loads from a cruise ship arrive and fill up the beach before we have completed our swim back to the boat. We then motor sail back to Soper’s Hole (mostly motor), and clear customs there. There is no fuel at the fuel dock (typical BVI efficiency), so we use one of our Jerry Jugs and head for Cruz Bay where we intend to clear in to the USVI again. Unfortunately, we arrive at the same time as a lot of other boats as well as a ferry from Tortola. We try to anchor in the designated place, but find that we are bouncing on the bottom. We are forced to go around Lind Point, pick up a mooring near Caneel Bay, and go back to customs by dinghy. It is now 5:00, and dark falls hard at about 6:00, so we make the short trip to Maho Bay for the night. Very rocky tonight with the north swells, but the grilled chicken dinner is great. Our wine supply is totally wiped out.

January 11: Pancake breakfast on board – terrific! Last day for Alexandra and Molly. After the customary morning swim, sail/motor to Crown Bay. We attempt to stop for a quick swim at Hassel Island, but the water is not very attractive – too much ship and industrial activity in the area. Slalom into the slip at Crown Bay. LDL didn’t stop in time, so we got a small ding in the bow. Alexandra and Molly off in a flood of tears all around. Deck and hull thoroughly cleaned by Catharina and Jason. Elvings arrive in a terrific rain squall. Late lunch at Tickles while we wait for it to stop raining. Everyone walks to downtown Charlotte Amalie just in time to see all the shops close at 5:00 (very economical timing). Dinner consists of an excellent assortment of cheeses and some very nice wine found by Stefan and Ursula at the Gourmet Gallery.

January 12: Leisurely breakfast on board. Transfer to fuel dock for refill, then motor to Lindbergh bay for swimming and lunch. Spirits scarcely dampened by several short rain “events”. At 12:30 LDL rows Catharina and Jason to the beach so they can walk to the airport. Up anchor immediately and a very nice light air beat along the south coast of St. Thomas – except for one odd wind gust that unexpectedly tacks the boat. Many tacks up Windward Passage and the Narrows, where we overtake a much larger boat – fun! Pick up a mooring in Leinster Bay; great chicken dinner with good wine (begun with champagne courtesy of the Elvings). The usual early to bed and a quiet night.

Farewell lunch for Catharina and Jason 1/12/08