Page 24 - Yachter Autumn/Winter 2022

24 CRUISING REPORTS
REAR COMMODORES VENTURE WEST
Last year, towards the end of the Moroccan Evening, Rear Commodore Facilities,Tina Daniel and prospective Rear Commodore House,Virginia Boyle, mused in the setting sunshine on the possibility of sailing in warmer climes with gentle breezes and soft white sandy beaches and so a trip to
the Caribbean was suggested. Neither had been to the British Virgin Islands (BVI) so that was the destination.Two other couples thought it a grand idea so joined in the planning. Remember we were coming out of COVID, or thought we were, so it was assumed planning would be easy. It wasn’t but eventually we tracked down the same flights for eight people, two hotels and a catamaran for eight.
the seventies but kept reasonable by wind; that said loading the provisions and sorting cabins, unpacking and having a hand over
of the cat was hot work as the marina was sheltered from the prevailing wind. By mid- day we had cautiously exited the marina keeping close to pier head and adhering to the marked channel, heading for the other side of the island and Cane Garden Bay. Starting with a run down the south side of the island then a broad reach across to the passage between Little Thatch and Tortola we crossed Soper’s hole, which was full of yachts. Passing Thatch Island, the course took us close to St Johns, which is part of the American Virgin Islands. Here we could see two cruise ships with several dayglo orange tenders ferrying people into Soper’s Hole before turning northeast into the wind to Cane Garden Bay. For a cat she sailed well to windward with only about 10 degrees of leeway but as it was sunny and a flat sea with only 5 miles to go, who cared?
A well-marked channel into the moorings where a swim, trip ashore and problems starting the outboard were highlights of the
COVID reared its head again and we all were self-isolating before the trip which was planned for 19th – 30th March, so that the testing regime of having a negative test 48 hours before arrival in BVI was met.We all tested negative on 18th March and clutching our certificates arrived at Heathrow for flights at 06.30. By 20.00 on Saturday 19th March local time in Tortola (18.5 hours later) we arrived, booked into hotel for the night and had our feet in the sand drinking beer/punch/wine and eating Caribbean burgers.Very relaxed and ready to sail.
Next morning, we set off to the marina to pick up our catamaran Susie Sea a 46-foot Nautica Open 46. A lovely boat, four double cabins, four separate heads, a shared shower between each head in each hull, a generator, air conditioning, water maker and three fridges/freezers. Susie was also equipped with a mobile phone that linked to a wireless router in the cabin that provided faultless Wi-Fi everywhere in the islands.
The weather was partially sunny with predicted winds from NE (the trades) of between 18-25 knots.Temperatures were in