TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands S/V ORION revisited 3

Missing SABA and BEYC, hope their rebuilds are making progress. Curious if anyone knows if the Biras Creek Resort is rebuilding?


BVI July 31 - August 9, 2017 (Part 3)

Another 0530 wake up for yours truly! I actually slept 7 hours straight without the a/c!! The breeze was awesome all night and it didn't rain a drop, so thankfully no hatch dances in the middle of the night. When my daughter woke up later in the morning she said she was a little warm in the middle of the night, but I think they didn't leave the forward cabin door open. In the blue glow of twilight I boiled up some water for coffee and tea. I opened the big sliding window over the galley which provided an even better breeze. My daughter and I are big coffee drinkers and we brought just a few Starbuck Via packets, they are pretty good instants for one cup at a time. We did transition to the big coffee pot after a couple days and I preferred that. I slowly sipped my coffee at the helm in the soothing breeze, alone, I liked it. Donna joined me just after 0600 and we enjoyed a beautiful sunrise together, I liked it.









We started breakfast early and around 0730 the TMM cell phone rang, it was Rory the engineer. He said Mark had contacted him about the genset issue and asked that I try everything we did again, same result. He asked if we minded moving to Trellis to pick up his mechanic in an hour, no problem I said. Everybody was awake by 0830 and we motored over to a ball in front of Trellis Market. 1000hr Phone rings and it's Elvis the mechanic asking can you see me on the dock? I zipped over humming "iiiit's now or never..." (silly Elvis song reference!) and brought him and Jonathon to Orion. These were two of the most pleasant mechanics I've had visit our boat and we've had a few over the years, boats are boats, they will have issues! They went to work and found an impeller fin was cracked and the coolant was low. With these 2 issues resolved in less than an hour we were free to resume our journey! Way to go speedy TMM guys! After dropping those 2 hound dogs off we decided to fill 3 empty water jugs at the $1 refill station in front of the market, I know... 3 gallons of drinking water in 1-1/2 days, hydrate, hydrate, hydrate! We then walked to the end of the Trellis beach and bellied up to De Loose Mongoose bar, we've never been there. Perfect timing because a squall was soon upon us. It lasted just long enough to have a couple orders of wings and BEER! A local cat jumped right in Craig's lap, cool.
































With a nice weather window we decided to head through the cut between Scrub and Great Camanoe, in hindsight I wish we had raised the sails and headed straight into the channel because the wind angle was poor and we simply motored directly to the North Sound. We arrived quickly that way, but I wish we had sailed some this day. We had a nice chop heading this direction and the crew made the best of it by sitting on the trampoline and getting seriously sprayed most of the way, good laughs!! My daughter has a lot of go-pro photos/videos from this and other parts of the trip, I just haven't gotten them in my hands yet. I let Craig take over the helm and helped him navigate into the sound, I think he liked it. Entering the North Sound we headed straight to Biras Creek to grab a ball, we like it there. Once settled we wanted to stretch our legs on the Biras property, but there's a big sign at the dinghy dock NO TRESPASSING, UNDER RENOVATION...so we headed to BEYC...NO TRESPASSING, CLOSED FOR SEASON...so not wishing to be prosecuted we continued on to Saba, which was OPEN! Everybody was at Saba, very busy evening there. This was one of those days with overcast skies and drizzle here and drizzle there... didn't dampen spirits though, the breeze felt good and the smell of the sea air was intoxicating... and the cold beer was flowing!




































Once back on S/V Orion we started preparing dinner when I noticed a cat coming in fast with its main up. I watched a crew mate try to grab the ball next to us at too fast a speed...leaning way over the bow he lost the pole in the pennant, I think he was lucky not to fall over to be honest. I heard the engines thrust full in reverse and saw another crew member retrieve the pole from a scoop as the ball slid between the hulls. Funny thing is she took the time to rinse it off with the fresh water hose before handing it back to the guy who lost it?! "Judge not lest ye be judged!"...but my daughters photos and my words can't describe this well enough, the power cat on the other side saw this coming and had roving fenders to port side just in case. It became obvious that they had a halyard hung up, but in my opinion that should have been discovered outside the field. They turned the boat around near the Biras docks then returned for a second try a little further back from us, they secured her with one mooring line on starboard cleat, hmmm.












Oh well drinks anyone?! We enjoyed a beautiful sunset with the low purr of a fine running generator!












To be continued...CHEERS!!

Hi Rick, thanks so much for posting ...I really miss Saba , Biras and Bitter End. Looking at your awesome pictures makes me sad and happy simultaneously...we visited Nick and Monica in November 2017, , 2 short months after Irma and took Intrepid around for a spin... it was devastating to see what that bitch Irma did ...I know Saba is rebuilding but the North Sound will never be the same .

I sure miss the old days ....but wounds heal and people in BVI are incredible ...the resilience I witnessed on that November trip changed me forever

Kim, I totally agree with that line. We went down Dec of '17. I was blown away by their resilience.

Agree! We went down in December 2017 and were devastated by the destruction. When we were back in November 2019 I couldn't believe how much they had rebuilt.

Great to see another Hokie in the islands...

Great reports Rick! We sure miss the BVI, seeing your pictures and clever writing style brought back many good memories. Hoping to make a few more memories next month.

Tony

Hey Tony old friend! Have a great charter and we'll look forward to a report??

Bailau...GO HOKIES!!!

Kim, great things seem to always change don't they (the storms certainly amplified this), I first started going to the islands in 1981, I wish the change came at a slower pace. We will certainly feel "the change" if we choose to stay at Leverick, Nick and Monica were to us, Leverick. The pic is from my first time traveling from USVI to BVI.

Miss the Loose Mongoose...anybody seen any work being done there?

yes, they are currently rebuilding the dock