Grab a cold one, it’s a long one!
What a week, many thanks to GeorgeC1 for arranging an owner’s week for us aboard Dream Cat, the trip was almost scrubbed when our usual steed for this one, Sanctuary was no longer available, there is a tight budget for this crew.
What a great crew, had Nephew USAF Sgt. Keith Roscoe, USAF Sgt. Scott Stueven, Justin and Jenny and Chris (Tradewinds) aboard.
The crew quickly adapted to boat life and “learned the ropes” ”Baptism by fire” style.
Day one: Arrive STT and taxi over to the CA Ferry terminal, next ferry to WE is at 1:30 so we settle into Petite Pump Room for first on ilon beers and some lunch, great food, great service, got a round of Rum Punches for the ferry ride.
We were treated to a ride on Bomba Charger, my crew could not believe that thing even runs and were amazed how fast it goes, what a pile of a ferry!!
Arrived WE C&I and took a cab over to Voyage charters and got settled in on Dream Cat, Manpot came by and ran me down to Kelly’s Market to pick up our beverage order, everything there, very reasonable prices, $24.95 a case for Presidente and Red Stripe.
Dinked over for a great dinner at Jolly Roger with Candace and Malcolm, my rib eye was great, turn in for a nice sleep with the AC on.
Day 2: Eggs Benedict at Jolly Roger, my favorite.
Bobby’s order was right on time and very complete.
Brief briefing performed by Kimo, just right, the basics for the crew and we were off to a great sail to Trellis Bay.
Several of the crew took turns at the helm for a very spirited sail to weather, passed many boats and sailed about 36 degrees apparent and around 8 knots most of the way.
We buzzed by Mark and Marie on Pura Vida and did not even notice it was them.
Picked up a ball at Trellis, the crew went ashore as I stayed aboard to chill a while, had a great dinner at Last Resort joined by Tony and Melody of Utopia, Rick and crew from Sophisticated Lady, Tony Snell was great entertainment, Jenny from our crew even got up and sang a bit!!
Day 3: Bloody Mary’s aboard Dream Cat with Mark and Marie followed by a nice sail up to Leverick Bay, got a spot out on the T and hit the pool and Jumbies Bar, had a blast with Nick and Monica, Mark and Marie, Doug and Wendy of Mustang Sally, and the usual suspects….rum took over and the rest was a blur…except of course Chris (Tradewinds) getting a short buzz cut aboard Mustang Sally and the flyboys tearing it up and dancing to the band!
Day 4: Off to Anegada!
A bit delayed at the dock with a stern shower and bilge pump issue but got it sorted.
Nice sail over in squally conditions picked up a ball near Pura Vida and the Chuck and crew (Wildmeridian) showed up, OMG what are we in for now???
Great dinner at Potters by The Sea, Potter is quite a host!!!
Day 5: Lay day at Cow Wreck, Mark and Marie were nice enough to get 2 Jeeps since the safari they reserved was not available, had a great lunch and drinks all afternoon, it was very windy and rough, the water actually felt very cool yet refreshing.
Stopped by Neptune’s Treasure on the way back and made dinner reservations, Randy was awesome and the food was as well, nice evening, off to bed, the flyboys went over to potters for additional libations.
Wildmeridian was practicing with his water balloon launcher in the late afternoon, the Flyboys collected the stray ones and hopped in the dink armed with water cannons and ambushed No Worries, Chuck’s boat and crew, Chuck returned fire and started chasing around with his dink, luckily our neighboring boats did not appear to get upset with the antics.
Wildmeridian’s crew joined us at Neptune’s as well, did not even bring any water balloons!
Day 6: Planned to sail to JVD but changed plans due to the Port Engine would not start, see day 4 stern shower and bilge pump issue. Opted to sail to CGB so Voyage could tend to the starter issue. Wanted to fly the spinnaker but did not fell like replacing it if I exploded it, winds were 20+ and gusting close to 30 knots. Took a DDW wing and wing course followed by a wide Port reach, incredible quartering seas, a real task to stay on course, we would scream down waves at over 14.5 knots of boat speed!
We made the crossing in just over 2 ½ hours and pulled in for a mooring at CGB.
The mechanic from Voyage was on the dock within an hour and made quick work of installing the replacement starter, all is good! Got some provisions at Bobby’s and had a great day just chilling about CGB.
Day 7: Off to JVD, White Bay being our first stop, tried to sail but fickle, light shifty winds made it frustrating, engines on…anchored close in between Soggy and One Love and swam in to Soggy Dollar, Shaneek greeted us all with a big smile, this was to be a fun day!!! We were joined by Tony and Melody of Utopia, Mustang Sally pulled in, we saw them later at One Love, Rachel’s Bushwhackers were great as always!
We visited Lagerhead the donkey on a one donkey Island, Tradewinds helped get his lead untangled, poor guy was all wound up in the wood shed by the sloop.
Visited with Foxy and Seddy and a very nice, light meal off the appetizer menu.
Hung out with Wildmeridian and crew, the flyboys were dancing and carrying on, fun night, Vinny from corsairs invited us to breakfast, “be there at 9:00 AM or I will kill you” is how I remember the invite.
Nice, quiet sleep on one of Foxy’s moorings..
Day 8: Dinked into Corsairs for breakfast, Vinny did not show and locked up tight so by 9:20 we shuffled next door to Ali Baba and had a decent bacon and eggs breakfast. Picked up some ice there and set up for a sail to The Bight for our last night aboard.
Light, variable, shifty breezes presented a challenge to the newer skippers but managed to get up wind and make The Bight early afternoon.
The Willy T appeared to be hopping with day trip boats but by the time we put the dink down to head over they were all gone.
We headed into Pirates to chill on the beach, the Flyboys got into the suicide bucket drinks while a couple of the crew went for a hike.
We loved the Jerk Chicken Wings and cinch fritters.
There was some incredible entertainment provided by the guests aboard a mega yacht that I will reserve naming here, old guys with young, bouncy augmented lady friends, it was quite a show, people watching at it’s best!!!
Made reservations and headed over to Willy T for drinks and dinner, flyboys made some incredible jumps, Keith started a run from the dining area and flew over the rail at incredible speeds while Justin and Jenny did the rooftop jump.
Chicken Roti was the choice of most but I really enjoyed the English fish and chips, very good and very reasonable.
Chris and I were delivered back to Dream Cat while the rest of the crew basically closed the Willy T; it was a quiet night there.
Day 9: Up early for our sail back to Sopers to return Dream Cat, reached at speeds up to 9 knots with squalls all around us, made it Sopers in about an hour and picked up a ball.
We dinked Chris and Scotty over to the ferry dock and prepared dream cat for return to base, Kimo brought the boat in and we checked out with a quick debrief.
Jerry’s picked us up and soon we were off to CGB, great lunch at Stanley’s then checked into Elm for a bit of a nap.
Dinner consisted of great appetizers at the bar at Quitos while Quito played solo, Orangeburtst, Toni and several other TTOL crews were hangin’ for some dancing and good times, Quito was quite gracious in visiting with everyone and signing CD’s as well.
Day 10:Woke up to smelling wood burning, Tony at Elm was already starting the pot for slow cooking the ribs for the BBQ!!!
Chilled at CGB starting with Bloody Mary’s and breakfast at Rhymers, J&J took the rental car over to Smugglers while Keith and I just limed about..
We tried to teach the wait staff at Elm Bar to make Island Dogs but later re-named the result “Pit Bull” a new drink that is probably still served there.
The Elm BBQ was awesome, great food, great music, great people, buncha TTOL’ers including Island Jim! Steve and George put on an awesome show later joined by a great sax player, what a night!!!
Day 11: Travel day, breakfast at Rymers then return the car to Jerry’s, ferry to CA at STT and great lunch and Limin at Emerald Beach Best Western with Eric serving us up and entertaining us behind the bar.
The STT airport was a zoo being a Saturday, luckily we got there early enough to get through C&I and TSA in time for some great rum punches to properly medicate us for the long flights home.
We caught quite a few fish, all released, barracuda, bonito, Spanish mackerel and one not identified possible some sort of Jack.
Was hoping for some Tuna, Wahoo, maybe a Dorado or two but that was not to be, the winds were way up all week and sea conditions quite lumpy.
Awesome trip, great (fast) boat, great crew, great wind, great people, food and service, cannot wait to get back!!!
Pictures to follow, still sorting and editing (deleting the really "good” ones)
