BVI Sailing Adventure 2026 - Days 10 -11
This is the final day of our BVi sailing adventure. We will return to the Navigare Marina tonight and depart for home tomorrow. That is why we didn’t participate in the Boatyball lottery today. We saved $55.
It is a beautiful morning in Diamond Cay. I slept in until 7:30 am because I didn’t have to fight for a Boatyball at 7:00 am.
We have been extremely fortunate with the weather. No rain and no storms. The week prior to our trip it rained every day. If it rains too hard the AA flight from Miami diverts to Puerto Rico and kicks you off. You have to find an alternate route to Tortola.
We had a visitor join us for coffee. This sea turtle was hanging around our boat all morning.
Alison, Oscar and Jack took the dingy and went snorkeling on a nearby reef. They saw lots of fish and coral. When they returned to the boat we all went swimming off the stern. I brought a 100’ length of floating line and we strung it with pool noodles. This created our own enclosed swim area. We had also rented pool saddles so we all floated around. While in the water we watched the other boats come and go. The Moorings 450 that pulled in behind us proceeded to provide several minutes of hilarity as the father and two children yelled at each other while failing their attempts to secure their Boatyball.
Alison enjoying a final swim off the stern of Jaxnjoe
We had a nice lunch onboard trying to use up our remaining food supplies.
The wind filled in and we had planned one final sail before the end of our trip. As usual the wind was from the wrong direction but we had lots of time so we sailed between Tortola and the USVI. After sailing for several hours we dropped the sails and motored around the west end of Tortola to Nanny Cay. We have gone full circle around the BVI and ended up where we began.
This was not our actual course because we sailed around for several hours and then then headed to Nanny Cay.
I called the Navigare base on VHF channel 72. They brought out a skipper to take us to the gas dock. We took on 24 gallons of diesel for $182. They said we were very frugal. Most boats use a lot more fuel. I pointed out we were on a sailboat. We had also used just over half the water in our water tank. Our water tank holds 150 gallons. Everyone showered and rinsed off as often as they wanted. We had a sea water faucet at the galley sink for dishes. When the dishes are clean they are rinsed in fresh water. The heads (toilets) use sea water to flush. If we did run out of water we could buy it at several locations including Cane Garden Bay for 25 cents per gallon.
After refueling the skipper drove to our berth in the marina. The docking skills are nothing short of amazing. Our skipper put our 40’ Jaxnjoe into a face dock space between two other boats that was no more than 42’ wide. I was in awe.
We tied up, plugged in the shore power and guess what - we had air conditioning for the first time in a week.
We walked over to Peg Legs and had a delicious farewell dinner. It was BBQ night and all the boys had the half slab of ribs. We headed back to the boat for a final game of ship, captain, crew.
In the morning Alison, Jack and Oscar went to Omar’s for breakfast. Jack bought a chart of the BVI at a dive shop. I marked all our harbor locations for the week on it. I had my debrief with Dion regarding the operation of the boat. We discussed what worked and what situations occurred. We had not run aground or broken or lost any equipment so we passed the debriefing.
This is the chart of the BVI that Jack bought as a souvenir.
Alison and family had a 9:15 am cab ride with Yorell to the EIS airport. That is a 40 minute drive. It is so much easier flying out of Beef Island than taking the ferry to St Thomas and having to pass customs and immigration at the harbor and dealing with TSA delays at the airport. Yes it was a good decision.
Priscilla and I have an 11:30 am taxi. We stayed on the boat packing but the Navigare people wanted to be onboard too. They came for the linens, towels and trash. Then the rental company came and picked up the dingy ladder, fishing rods and floaties. We lost a few trolling lures so that charge might show up on my credit card.
A tech showed up and was working on the generator. He was there for over an hour before we left. I had hoped to hear the generator run.
I returned a bag full of gear to the Navigare office. That included the WiFi which worked flawlessly all week, dedicated phone, tool kit and charts. With all that complete I received a full refund on my $1,600 deposit.
I took a dock cart back to the boat. We loaded our gear and headed back to the Navigare office. A few minutes later Yorell’s sister Diana picked us up and drove us to the airport. Our flight is on time and we will be met at the Miami airport by our Miami friends. We will enjoy dinner with them and drive back to Stuart on Sunday morning. We will be in Stuart for one more week before we drive back to Lake Bluff. Five months in Florida has once again flown by. As Jimmy Buffett says “It’s been a lovely cruise.”
Until next time,
John and Priscilla
