March to April 2025

Sorry in advance – this is a bit of a long one as we’ve been so busy the past couple of months – but it’s the 2nd to last installment of Season 2 so hopefully you can bear with me.

Though Billy was reticent to turn the bow north, after several months in the Leeward Islands as well as the Grenadines, it was time. We made our way up from Bequia to St. Lucia, where we spent a few days at Rodney Bay Marina – one of our favorites, not only because the amazing Pat comes by in the morning to grab your laundry and has it back by noon – all neat and tidy – but also because we are able to to catch up with several Salty Dawgs who spend weeks there at a time.

We also took the opportunity to tour St. Lucia and hired a guide for the day. The tour included a stop by the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, a stop at the highest point on the island, the St. Lucia Distillers rum distillery – where of course we had to buy some rum and finally the fishing village of L’Anse La Raye. It’s always so cool to tour the island beyond the shoreline, to meet new people and better understand the culture.

Leaving St. Lucia we hopped up the island chain quickly making only overnight stops in Martinique, Guadeloupe and Nevis before reaching St. Martin which was an important stop for Billy who was dying for the pizza at Pizza & Co! In addition to provisioning (at a great big supermarket) we also met up with Salty Dawgs Nikki Layton and Barry Duncan (SV Momentum 42) at the Soggy Dollar Bar. Always fun to get to know other sailors and hear their stories!

We crossed from St. Martin over to the BVIs to Soper’s Hole Tortola where we planned to have the boat hauled for some basic maintenance. Our customs check-in took over 2 hours as there was a huge festival on the island and several day tripper speed boats from Puerto Rico were all lined up and waiting! The next morning West End Boatyard crew quickly hauled Carried Away and got to work sanding and painting the bottom, working on the props and fixing up a few “dings” that we’ve earned over the past couple of years.

Since we couldn’t stay on the boat we booked an Airbnb way up in the hills and rented a car for the week. We’d been reluctant to rent a car nervous about driving on the left hand side of the road, but Billy got used to it quickly and we really enjoyed having a car to get around. We drove to the north coast where there are several cool beaches not accessible by boat. We went up to Sage Mountain and climbed to what is the highest point in the BVIs. Sadly the viewing tower was taken out in the 2017 Hurricane Irma, but we stood at the highest point anyway

With Carried Away all fixed up and back in the water, next up was a visit from my brother Peter. He had never been to the BVIs, so it was fun having him fly right in to Beef Island, picking him up at the airport and then walking the short 200 yards to the dingy dock! We had so many fun times with Peter so I will just share the highlights: At Cooper Island and met up with our Salty Dawg friends Cathy & Todd (SV Critical Path) – since they both graduated from Kings Point, they knew many people that Peter had worked with during his days at Charles Webber (small world getting smaller). They had just bought a Sunchill raft and wanted to try it out – so Billy made some Mudslides (very yummy ones I must say) and we had a great time in the float. Of course we couldn’t go to Cooper Island with Peter and NOT go to the rum bar. So we all did.

We sailed up to North Sound and spent a couple of days at Saba Rock and the Bitter End Yacht Club. The weather wasn’t right to get to Anegada so we headed back down to Peter Island Marina where we got to meet up with Peter’s good friends from CT – Gary & Shelly Vogel (small world smaller – they are also classmates form Kings Point with Todd & Cathy). Then we were off to Jost Van Dyke to show Peter the Soggy Dollar Bar where we waved to the kids back home on the webcam. And then to Foxy’s where we each found a college shirt to sign and Billy even found a Figawi one!

The weather was going to be a bit blustery, so we headed for the protection of Cane Garden Bay (north shore of Tortola) for a few days, enjoying the beach (and beach bars), a great dinner at Bananakeet and yet another rum tour. This one is amazing – it’s very small but has been operating for over 400 years and is operated by 5 guys who also provide tastings and tours. We think our tour guide was stoned and/or hung over – but we enjoyed it anyway.

With the weather calming, we headed back up to Little Jost Van Dyke to visit the Bubbly Pool and to meet up with the Sunchill guy who brought us our new toy. After trying it out with Cathy & Todd we had to get one! We spent a couple of days at Norman Island with a requisite trip to Willie Ts. Then it was back to Tortola and Nanny Cay where Peter was due to disembark. It was a whirlwind couple of weeks but we had a great time with Peter – though my liver needs a rest!

A few days later our “best man” Bobby Alves was arriving to help us bring the boat back up to the Bahamas. While we had planned to have him fly to the BVIs we diverted him to St. John (USVIs) so that we could get there a bit sooner. We picked him up from Cruz Bay ferry dock and headed to Francis Bay where we reconnected with our Marblehead friends Doug and Lucy aboard SV Surprise. We haven’t caught up with them all season, literally “ships passing” in the Caribbean. Another great surprise: after a morning hike to Annaberg Ruins, we came back to the boat to find our friends from home, Elaine & Richard Spenceley moored right next to us aboard their beautiful yacht Lady Ginger. What a fun afternoon we had!

We were having such a nice time at St. John we also diverted Danny McCarthy (our 4th crew for our passage up to Turks & Caicos) to Cruz Bay. We scooped him up from the ferry dock and headed up (via taxi) to the Windmill Bar with Doug and Lucy – it’s a famous spot and we now know why! What views and a really fun bar scene. We were planning to leave the next day so it was a “bon voyage” party as well.

The next day we prepared to depart for the Turks & Caicos Islands (TCI). SV Critical Path (Cathy & Todd) was also planning the transit and it was great to have a “buddy boat” for the 465 nm trip . While the forecast indicated we would likely run into a strong line of storms, it seemed that it would not be too severe and overall the window looked “good”. We wanted to reach the Caicos bank in daylight so we left St. John at 5:30 pm on Monday April 14th. The winds were moderate and the seas pretty mild and to start and as soon as we turned to port north of St. Thomas we had a nice sail overnight – with fair winds and a full moon. Day 2 the winds got light and we had to motor sail. We also saw a good amount of rain – but nothing too severe and to make the day, Bobby caught a fish which we ate it for dinner!

Day 3 the winds came back and we made good time. We had been communicating with Critical Path and we agreed we should get into the Caicos Bank (very shallow with coral heads) by mid afternoon and while we couldn’t get all the way to Providenciales (our destination) that we could cross the bank part way and anchor for the night. Well….it sounded like a great idea – but as we set the anchor we realized the wind was really up and while we were within the bank and protected by the reef – it’s so vast (~40 miles across) that the wind was a strong “fetch” and we found ourselves riding up and down in 2-4 foot waves. Cathy & Todd ventured over via dingy – a feat in and of itself – for a quick visit and then they made it back in one piece to their boat for the night. The joke the rest of our time in TCI was Todd’s quote “I think the wind is laying down a bit” – It wasn’t and it didn’t. None of us slept much and at first light we pulled the anchor and took the final leg in to Providenciales. Luckily we were able to tuck in to the South Bank Marina and Critical Path tied up right next to us! Phew! Passage complete.

My next and final Season 2 installment will cover our time in Turks & Caicos (loved it) and our trip up to and through the Bahamas from where we will launch back toward the US East Coast and on towards home.