The JD Sailing Adventure

Wednesday May 24, 2023 Jost Van Dyke --> Road Town (Alan) It’s said that all good things must come to an end and so it goes with our sailing adventure. We had planned a fairly long leg back to Road Town and we had to make it by noon in order to turn in the boat and catch some of our flights. In spite of a hangover and a bruised ego from last night’s misadventures, exacerbated by some of the tall tales you may have read in previous postings, Alan was up at 6:30 ready to make an early start. Deb was up too to help slip the mooring, so we went ahead and got under way using our “iron spinnaker”. It was a beautiful morning to be on the water, with light winds, calm seas, and interesting cloud formations. There was even a beautiful full rainbow to guide us toward Road Town. We chased the south end of the rainbow until we found it over Deb's shoulder! With the north end firmly implanted in Jost Van Dyke near our starting point for the day Everyone was in a q...

Tuesday May 23, 2023 Lee Bay --> Great Harbor, Jost Van Dyke (Erika) We all woke up leisurely between 7-8 am today, and ate some grub before the motor to Monkey Point for some great snorkeling. Once we got to Monkey Point, we jumped in the water for what may be our last snorkeling of this trip. We saw many fishies and made so many friends, the best of which were the two blue fishies who were fighting and the very kind nurse shark Alan met.                 Fish are friends, not food.         Snorkelers are not to be trifled with. After 40 hours on the sea (it was Sunday evening when we were last ashore for lobstah), we moored at Cane Garden Bay on Tortola and finally got our land legs back – not to be confused with Cap’n Jack’s Tortuga. We had a great lunch including margaritas (which made the “land swell” even stronger) and fish tacos.    After a nice stroll on the beach of Cane Garden Bay, we head...

Monday May 22, 2023 Anegada --> Lee Bay, Great Camenoe (Debbie) Monday was another amazing day on J Dog and so much of it unfolded in a way that Dad (JD) would have loved. We adjusted & adapted, imagined, improvised & indulged, relaxed, reveled, reminisced & reflected – in addition to a full 8-hour day of sailing! While we were suitably prepared for them, several squalls seemed to magically pass us by, and we pictured Dad and Ruth paving our path through the rolling seas and leading us to a safe harbor for the evening. The day began with bright and sunny skies over most of Anegada and our (now experienced) crew quickly prepared breakfast and readied J Dog for a brisk sail to……NOT to Guana Island.  After getting a windy/rainy forecast for the day, our esteemed Cap’n Al recommended a more ‘leisurely’ route heading south from Anegada, along the southeast shore of Virgin Gorda, through Round Rock Passage, past Spanish Town, across the Francis Drake Channel, and ultimatel...

Sunday May 21, 2023 North Sound --> Anegada (Kyle a.k.a. Winch Boy) We awoke in our slip at the Bitter End Yacht Club following a stressful day of drinks on the beach, general relaxation, and Hobie racing. The night before, after the publication of Saturday’s blog, Ryan, Erika, and I took the dinghy to Saba Rock where there’s a restaurant and (more importantly) an excellent bar. So it’s safe to say we were feeling the ill effects of our day off this morning. We checked the weather and got the go-ahead for our sail to Anegada, which can be prohibited in the case of too much wind or waves. We pulled out of our slip by 9:20, and were on our way. It was a single beam reach in 15-20 knot winds the whole way to Anegada, a prospect that excited the dedicated Winch Boy (me) following the mixture of smoked margaritas the night before and taxing gybes on the way out of North Sound. Between the strong winds, four-foot swells, and isolation of not yet being able to see low-lying Anegada while h...

 Saturday May 20, North Sound: Bitter End Yacht Club (Ryan) The day at Bitter End Yacht Club started off in true island fashion … nice and lazy with nowhere to go. The most pressing thing to do was register for the regatta (yes, you read that right, we found a way to race Hobies on the cruising vacation!). Despite all the lethargy and still weather, it turned into a surprisingly busy day. After Dad (Alan), Kyle, and I (Ryan) strolled down the beach to the sail shop to get officially registered for the regatta (first gun: 1400 island time), we enquired about any nearby hiking opportunities for the land lubbers in the group. And shiver me timbers, the hike turned into quite the slog. It went up, and up, and up, and then flat, and then up, and up, and then a little flat (and then a little more up) and then took a turn down toward the water. We promised Gramma Bronny we would “take care of her” this trip, but after forcing an open water swim to the Baths and a heat-stroke inducing hi...

  Friday May 19, Cooper Island à North Sound (Bronny) Another lovely day dawned with dramatic cloud formations. Everyone arises when they please and gets their own breakfast. By 8:00, all are fed and ready to set sail. Today the itinerary included sailing in fine fresh winds (15kt, gusting to 20). Erika set a new record for boat speed while at the helm, breaking 10 knots. The crew women, Lisa, Debbie, and Erika have been impressive in their competence in performing many nautical tasks, including taking the helm. Alan is our salty skipper, assisted by first mate Ryan and champion winch-grinder Kyle. Grandma Bronny mostly watches everyone else working and enjoys every moment. Today’s first destination was The Baths at Virgin Gorda, a popular spot for exploring an enormous pile of huge rock formations, formed deep in the earth millions of years ago. We had to swim from our dinghy a fair distance to shore while trying to keep our stuff dry. Once ashore, we waded through tunnels an...

Thursday, May 18, Norman Island --> Manchineel Bay (Alan) For all of you on the edge of your seats ... no we have not sunk (yet), nor have we been abducted by pirates (yet), nor have we been overcome with the magic of the islands and decided to unplug from civilization (yet, although that's probably the most likely to actually happen). It's actually Friday and we're at Virgin Gorda, but our internet access has been insufficient to allow any posting. Thursday was a marvelous sailing day. We awoke at our anchorage at the Bight, had a leisurely breakfast, and set sail. We took pride in being the only ones in the anchorage to sail off our mooring, rather than motoring. We sailed out to the Indians, a formation of rocks in shallow water off Norman Island, which is a renowned snorkeling and dive spot, and spent an hour or so snorkeling on the reef. We saw lots of fish and coral, as well as a few other tourists. Ryan and Kyle were both careful to apply sunscreen... except they ...

 Wednesday May 17, Tortola -> Norman Island (Alan) The day started with a leisurely wakeup and nice breakfast. Yvonne, our lovely British innkeeper, gave up cooking long ago, so the "B" of our B&B, consisted of single-serving cereal boxes. Luckily good hot coffee trumps any lack of culinary excellence. The next step was to provision our boat. The previous evening we had brainstormed a list that truly would have made JD proud -- 9 different breakfasts menus for a 7 day cruise, and liquor to supply a multi-month adventure. We split up into Alpha, Bravo, and Delta teams and stormed the grocery store. Our driver, Edwin, entertained us with original jokes, such as: "First Time in the Islands?" "Yes," we replied. "Oh, so you're Virgins!" Bronny was in charge of fruits and veggies; Ryan and Kyle in charge of beer & liquor, and Alan as Chief Restraint Officer. In a couple hours we had two full carts and we were ready to go. Edwin drove us ...

Tuesday, May 16, 2023, Tortola After our unexpected overnight stay in Puerto Rico, Alan, Lisa & Kyle finally arrived in Tortola on Tuesday, May 16. The flight in on a Cessna 402 was well worth it! (Just the pilot & 5 passengers.) Hard to say which was more exciting: the approach into the Beef Island Airport, or the fly over of anchorages to come in the following days! We enjoyed our stay at the inviting Hummingbird House in Road Town, a relaxing Bed & Breakfast overlooking the harbor.  We ventured into town for a quick look at our accommodations & sailing vessel for the upcoming week: J Dog is spectacular and seems ready to take us on our adventures! Ryan & Erika arrived mid-afternoon, and Bronny & Deb followed soon after. Dinner, cocktails, and provisioning plans led us all to an early turn-in, ready to set sail on Wednesday! ⛵  Approaching Beef Island Airport in our Cessna

Monday, May 15, 2023, San Juan, Puerto Rico Hi and welcome to our blog! This is a journal of the Davis family sailing trip to the British Virgin Islands in May 2023. The trip was presented by Lisa to Alan on his 60th birthday and also commemorates our 30th anniversary, the celebration of which was delayed by Covid. We did a charter in the US Virgins for our honeymoon oh-so-many years ago and have been eager to recreate the experience. Ryan and Kyle had also both expressed interest in doing a sailing charter, so here we are. We decided on the title "The JD Sailing Adventure" in honor of my Dad, who's passing last week was a blessing that ended a period of suffering for all of us. Dad was known by many simply as JD, and gifted his love of sailing, boating, and all things outdoors to our entire family. Perhaps coincidentally, and perhaps not, the boat we are chartering is named   "J-Dog". Oddly, I did not make the connection until last Thursday, then it hit me. Thi...