BVI Sailing Adventure 2026 - Days 4 - 5
Fifteen men on Dead Man’s Chest
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum.
Drink and the devil
Had done for the rest.
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
Alison and family were up at 3:30 am to catch their flight from Boston to Newark and connect through to St Thomas. They arrived in St Thomas at 1:30 pm. The Road Town fast ferry departs at 4;00 pm so they had plenty of time for lunch at the ferry dock. There were 114 passengers on the ferry. Alison chatted with some sailors from the Hingham Yacht Club in Hingham, Ma. They have a group that chartered 17 catamarans for the week. I hope we don’t end up trying to get into the same harbors as them. My wife Priscilla grew up in the town of Hingham. Maybe a few of her classmates are among the group.
As it turns out Yorell the taxi drivers magic only works at the airport not the ferry dock. I had set unrealistic expectations. Alison and family had to stand in line among the common folk to clear immigration and customs.
They finally arrived at our giant condo at 6:30 pm. We cocktailed for a little while and then made the one minute trek to Peg Legs for dinner. After dinner and their fifteen hour trip it was lights out.
It is finally Sunday and the day we get onboard our charter boat. There is a wonderful breakfast restaurant in the harbor called Omar’s. At night it is an Indian restaurant but in the morning it is all about the eggs and pancakes and bacon and sausage.
On our way to breakfast we saw a rooster with one leg. He was climbing stairs by hopping. He was coping as best he could.
After breakfast Jack wanted to swim in the ocean and the pool.
I wandered over to Navigare to find out what the timing will be for boarding. The new boss Theresa told me to come back at 11:30 am to sign all the paperwork. Oscar and I picked up two large dock carts to load all our gear from the condo and take it to the boat. At 11:30 I returned for my briefing. It took 30 minutes to complete the check in. Our boat was ready to board at noon. Priscilla, Alison, Oscar and Jack were already at the boat loading our gear. Soon after boarding we had our grocery delivery from Bobby’s. In the meantime Oscar and I are getting the detail on operating the boat from Johnny. We crawled all over the boat and looked under all floor boards. We started the engines and generator so we know to do it. There are many valves and switches that we need to understand. We started the dingy motor and reviewed how to raise and lower the sails. And finally we tested the anchor windlass.
It is finally time to cast off the dock lines and head out into the Sir Francis Drake Channel. Our catamaran is wedged in between two larger catamarans. A Navigare captain came aboard and spun us out from between the other boats like magic. He has done this before. I was impressed. We fueled up and the captain took us into channel and was picked up in a dingy. We are finally on our own.
We planned a six mile trip to Norman Island. Upon arrival it was obvious there were no mooring balls available. The Bight is a favorite harbor among cruisers because the famous beach bar Willie T’s is located there. The downside is Willie T’s plays loud music into the wee hours of the morning.
We headed east looking for a suitable anchorage. It was only one mile to Benures Bay. There were several moorings available and we selected one. Benures Bay is quiet and well protected. After dinner Jack fished off the boat using a piece of steak. That was our only bait except for a hotdog. A large Lane Snapper decided to have steak for dinner. He was a magnificent fish.
The flag of the British Virgin Islands has the Union Jack as most British territories do.
The most distinctive part of the flag is the shield, which tells a story of the islands' naming and religious heritage:
• Saint Ursula: The shield features a woman dressed in white robes, holding a gold oil lamp. She represents Saint Ursula, a 4th-century Christian martyr.
• The Eleven Lamps:Surrounding her are 11 additional gold lamps. According to legend, Saint Ursula was accompanied by 11,000 virgins. When Christopher Columbus sighted the islands in 1493, he was so struck by their beauty that he named them Las Vírgenes in honor of this story.
Around dusk a powerboat started visiting all the yachts moored in Benures Bay. He was collecting $50 per boat for the overnight mooring.
Tomorrow we will swim in the caves on Treasure Point on Norman Island.