TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands Week of April 16-23...

Looking forward to our bare boat charter on a Horizon Bavaria Cruiser 46, sounds like the weather is great and hopefully continues! We get in early Sat and hope to have the charter released to us shortly afternoon, a few of us will ready the boat while others will pickup provisions. Our hope is to make it to Cooper and grab a ball Sat afternoon...is this a little optimistic? (We already booked our dinner reservations!)

Anyone else out that week? How are the crowds in mid-April?

Cheers

Look at some of the recent posts here that discuss Cooper. I hate to say it, but you will be lucky to get a mooring any time after 2pm. Have a plan B ready. There is very little, if any, room to anchor in the mooring field.

Plan B is Norman, I hate to leave while on the hook so it looks like Plan B will be likely!

You could also consider Marina Cay. About half an hour further than Cooper but almost always space. Good reports of the restaurant there now. Depends whether you want to turn right or left when leaving the base!! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/dine.gif" alt="" />

Marina cay is night number two but plans can change!

My husband and I are doing a weeklong course with Swain Sailing on Party of Four - 51' Benaeteau April 17-23. If you see us, feel free to yell "HEY BLAKE" - not too many Blakes around so I'll always look up

Or Kryssa's! I will keep an eye out for ya...We will be flying a few flags, one is a Newfoundland flag so if you spot that, shout "Hey Newf"!

To help your anticipation and planning, check out this time elapse web cam of Cooper. You can see how the mooring field pattern shifts hourly, daily, monthly, etc.

Cooper Island Web Cam Time Lapse

The Bavaria 46 Cruiser is a great boat - or at least it is at the dock. Haven't taken it out, but it's on my list for when we go back to a mono. Would love to see a trip/boat report from your experience.

Have fun!

I love the time lapse! Interesting to look over the past 12 months as well...it's a ghost town in August! This is my first trip on a mono so I'm sure I will enjoy it!

We are there for the same dates. Sailing a 44' Lagoon from Conch Charters. Our boat at home is a monohull so hopefully we will NOT be the afternoon's entertainment as we try to pick up a mooring in a boat we are not used to handling. If you do see such a sight, be kind, and come over for a cold beer after we manage to sort things out.

We did our first catamaran charter last summer and we got used to it pretty quickly. There was no way I could see a mooring ball from the helm, so a spotter was key. I'm spoiled by the twin helm on our mono and can see the mooring ball all the way to pickup.

Cheers, RickG

With twin screws you should be able to put the starboard hull right on a ball and hold it there until the crew on the bow completes their work in silence. The biggest flaws are way too many people on the bow. Do not put anyone up their you do not need until you have boat control nailed. Then from the beginning make sure you are approaching the ball into the wind with just enough speed to control the boat long before your get to the ball and never more speed than you need for the boat to track straight. No extra bodies, weight, arms, and mouths on the bow. Dead slow into the wind long before you get to the ball. Speed, overcontrol, confusion, too many directors all piled up on the bow make for great laughs and YouTube. Find an empty mooring area early where you will not attempt to pick up the ball and practice putting and holding your favored bow on the ball. Maybe one person with a boat hook that directs and calls the drill complete when they can easily touch the ball and hold the boat hook against the ball for 10 seconds. Go slow early otherwise you will have no idea whether you have boat control or not.

We used to use hand signals between the bow & the helm to pick up mooring balls, until I was told that I overuse one particular hand signal. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Blush.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" />

<img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" />

Laugh while you can...I'm sure this will be me in July! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />