A group of 11 of us were scheduled to come down to the BVI. Five of them being newbies. We had a beautiful Saba 50 reserved with BVI Yacht Charters. After the hurricane, we communicated with them about the boat and if we should cancel. BVI Yacht Charters said that the boat Liberty was just fine and all was good. We kept in contact with them several times throughout the months and got the same answer that all was good. Fast forward to six days before our trip, they told us we could not use the boat, as it was not ready to sail. They said the lifelines were not installed and we could not take the boat. They had a boat that we could use for five days but it would not work with our flight and hotel schedules, and then offered another boat that did not have enough room for the 11 people.

We were in panic mode and very frustrated with BVI Yacht Charters. We have used this company exclusively for all of our charters. When we reached out to them I wish they would have been honest. I can’t blame them too much as they obviously need and want the business. We will look around next time we go.

All of that being said, we reached out to a boat broker and she gave us several options that were available and would fit our group. We ended up with a boat with Navigare Yachting. A 2017 Lagoon 450 F. They are located very close to the airport on a very small dock. The staff were so kind and helpful.

Six of us went to Puerto Rico for a few days and relaxed and partied it up in San Juan, while the other five flew into Tortola directly. We all did a sleep aboard the night before. I am the planner of the trip so I made different meals/froze meats ahead of time to take down with us. It also helps since my dad is a cattle rancher and I have access to some great quality meat.
On a side note- I had been down to Puerto Rico a few weeks earlier to do some Humanitarian Work with my family through WINGS OF HOPE PUERTO RICO. Check them out if you have time. They are doing great work for the people in Puerto Rico. All is not ok still down there, especially in the remote areas. We spent a day making food bags and sorting through donations, and then another day driving and delivering food, water, and donations to people that live out in the remote areas. This was a real eye opening experience to see that these people still do not have power, running water, or access to necessities. It will be an experience I will never forget.

Back to the trip report…

We rented a car and did grocery shopping, liquor pickups, and other random errands. Everything is fully stocked in the stores that you would not tell they just went through a hurricane. The roads and the houses on the other hand are a different story. It was so devastating to see all this destruction. The resilience of the people and their positive attitudes were just unbelievable. What a strong and optimistic group of people that live down there.
Day one we had a Navigare Employee motor us out of the bay as there were sunken boats and debris in different areas. Once we got out he was picked up, we raised our sails, and off we went to snorkel at the Indians.
(I am not an educated sailor and I don’t know all the rules and terminology. I am the organizer and travel planner. So please forgive me in the rest of this report if I’m not technically correct or not saying things right )
We got our sails down and were getting ready to get mooring ball at The Indians when our captain couldn’t get the port engine/propeller to work or do anything. He couldn’t steer very well or get us where we needed to go. We got out away from the mooring balls and someone jumped in to look at what was going on under the boat. Our propeller was gone! Sometime from sailing from the base and to The Indians it had fallen off.

We took out the jib to get us into the mooring field at Norman for the rest of the day/night. I kept thinking to myself “all these boats are going to think we are idiots for coming into the mooring field like this!” We finally got a mooring ball and enjoyed swimming, drinking, and just relaxing the rest of the day. Navigare said they would be out later that afternoon but then they said the next morning at 9:00am. No worries at all since we were in paradise!

The next day (after we now had a propeller) we headed over to Jost Van Dyke to Great Harbor. We got caught in a short rain storm but it ended quickly. We had lunch at Foxys with a limited menu but everything was GREAT! Employees were awesome, gift shop open, fast wifi, and the manager (I can’t remember his name) came over and talked to us for a while-very nice guy! His ice machine was being repaired; otherwise he would have sold us some ice. He showed us where we could get water, fuel, and ice across the bay the next morning. We ended up walking down to another little bar where they happily sold us ice. After a quick swim and a Carib or two, we sailed off to Diamond Cay.

We saw on Facebook that the B-Line Beach Bar was open but no one was over there so we went ashore and the devastation of the two establishments there was so sad. There is also a big trash pile burning as well. We hiked to the Bubbly Pool and it was a completely new experience. All the vegetation was gone but the newbies had a great time regardless. I love watching the surf break here from the boat. We swam and enjoyed dinner on the boat. This evening was quite spectacular as our fisherman of the group was catching a lot of fish this night, as well as, these glowing shrimp type animals in the water. I have never seen them down in the islands and they were EVERYWHERE! For over an hour the entire crew was in awe looking at these glowing organisms in the water. Someone did some research and said they were some type of shrimp that when scared or excited have a glowing excretion. If this wasn’t enough beauty for one night, we were lucky enough to be there during the meteor shower and saw a lot of shooting stars. This is a night I won’t soon forget.

The next morning we headed over back to Great Harbor and filled up on water, ice, and drinking water. We then headed towards Guana Island. It was very rough sailing and the newbies enjoyed sitting on the net and being splashed through all of this. When we got close to Guana we realized the first mate didn’t secure both ends of the tie line to the boat so during the rough sale it fell into the water….Can you guess what happened??? It was caught in our propeller! It was windy and we could use that engine again to help us get to our mooring ball. We had two people get in the dinghy and lead us into the ball. After that excitement we all swam, relaxed, and some of us took the dinghy to Monkey Point and the beach to just explore around. It was a beautiful and calm night. The mooring field was completely full.

The next day we sailed to Anegada and got a ball there. Not many boats there. We got our reservations for The Wonky Dog that night and walked around. Most of us walked past the restaurants and just enjoyed a beach day. We all got ready and went into dinner. The Wonky Dog did not disappoint! We LOVE this place. The Bushwackers and the signature drink The Wonky Dog were hits. The next morning we got our truck and started to explore. We got a nice fresh shower from a rainstorm and headed to explore the island. Flash of Beauty was our first stop and we didn’t stay long. Pretty much everything looked like it was destroyed here, but looked like they were working on the building. Part of the group decided to walk up the beach to Big Bamboo while the others drove. Big Bamboo is looking good, and served an excellent lunch as always. The water was very rough and was not good conditions to snorkel in. We then made our way to Cow Wreck and things are looking good there. They are rebuilding things and the spirit and energy there was wonderful. We had a great time at all the beautiful beaches.

Next, we headed for Leverick Bay. We had reserved a slip and made reservations for the BBQ. Nick helped get a nice rental car for us as well. As soon as we got there, we went to check in for the rental car. You can tell there was damage here but I cannot believe how much progress and how many people were busily working on repairing things. I think this moment is what stood out to me most on this trip. The attitudes of the people and the work they are doing to bring Leverick back to what it was, was astonishing. Everyone was cheerful, working hard, and their spirits were infectious.

We got in the rental car and headed to the Copper Mine and The Baths. Driving through Spanish Town was devastating seeing all the boats damaged just all sitting there. This was my favorite trip to The Baths for sure. We hiked down and NO ONE was there!!! We took our time, went into every side path we could find and discovered some neat areas we have never explored before. Most of the time there are so many people you just walk through on the main path from beach to beach. Some of the group snorkeled and had a great time. Some of us got a drink at the bar and just relaxed in the water. After we were finished we met the rest of our group at The Top of The Baths and had some food (Great Conch Fritters!), swam in the pool, and ordered some drinks. A lot of work is being done here as well and is looking great. We drove around and stopped at Hog Heaven to show the newbies the view. Lots of progress is being done here and it looking GREAT! I can’t wait to stop here next time when it is finished. We got back and headed over to dinner for the BBQ. It was a good meal (The fish was everyone’s favorite), next time we are going to make sure we don’t do it the night after The Wonky Dog . The dancers and DJ was fun. Our group always brings glow sticks to wear when we go out and this night we gave them all to the kids. They loved them.

The last full day of the trip we headed all the way over to Nanny Cay to fill up with gas, as that was requested before we brought the boat back in. It was HOT here. We have never been here and when we walked around by the pool and beach side bar we decided this was some place we could end/start our vacation. From the looks of things I think the recovery is doing well here, but from never being here I can’t say for certain. I can’t remember the company that is there but some of the dock hands were very nice and let a couple of us walk around some power cats. After we filled up the tanks, we went over to The Indians. We snorkeled there and it was as beautiful as ever. We then headed to Great Harbor on Peter Island. Had fun relaxing and going over to the shell beach and exploring all the things that had washed up during the hurricane.

The next morning we headed back to Navigare. Our rental car was there waiting for us and six of us headed to the airport while the other five checked the boat back in as they were staying on Tortola for another two days. Four of us got delayed but we all made it home that evening.

We can’t wait for our next BVI adventure!!!