Sailing in the Virgin Islands
(February 1 to February 10, 2000)
After two
cruises
aboard the
M.V. Royal Princess
in South America,
we decided to try the other extreme: sailing with Capt'n Dave aboard
his 37-foot cutter, the
Glory of Christiansted.
We wanted to become more familiar with sailing, and get instruction from a pro... and we did!
As we have during previous vacations,
were putting a travelogue of our trip on-line. The following is the day-by-day
itinerary of the trip:
pictures are available at the
italicized areas.
- February 1: Leave from Detroit for St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands.
No problems with the flight. Check in for an overnight stay at the Holiday Inn. (Everybody calls
it the Windward Passage: apparently Holiday Inn recently bought it.)
Wander around St. Thomas, and go over to the Yacht Haven Marina
and get our
first view
of our home for the coming week.
- February 2: More
sight-seeing in Charlotte Amalie.
At noon, boarded the
Glory of Christiansted
at Yacht Haven.
Sailed to Christmas Cove at St. James Island, USVI.
- February 3: From
Chrismas Cove
to Leinster Bay, St. John, USVI. Took some
pictures on board.
- February 4:
Trade Wind Marina (the old CSY marina) at Road Town, Tortola, BVI.
Dinner at the Spaghetti Junction restaurant (excellent Italian food!)
- February 5: From Road Town, Tortola, to Gorda Sound, Virgin Gorda, BVI.
Sailed around
south Tortola
to the northeast, to
the dogs and Virgin Gorda,
past
Mountain Point
to
North Sound.
- February 6: From Virin Gorda north to the coral atoll,
Anegada.
Had dinner at the Anegada Reefs Hotel.
Glorious
sunset.
- February 7:
We watched a
rain squall
while at Anegada, then sailed
south
back to the volcanic islands of the BVI, to
Great Camanoe Island.
We anchored at
Lee Bay.
- February 8: Sailed from Lee Bay to
Great Harbor
on Jost Van Dyke Island. Visited
Foxy,
got our
typical tourist photo
taken, and saw the
Sea Cloud
and had another wonderful supper at Foxy's (and had a
kitty
mooching for food!).
- February 9:
Leave the
Glory of Christiansted
at St. Thomas. Back to land and the Windward Passage hotel. More shopping!
- February 10: Fly home from St. Thomas. Collapse.
(For those of you who are interested, the Sailing Vacations website
(www.sailingvacations.com)
has further information on chartering the
Glory of Christiansted
and other boats.
You can contact them at
info@sailingvacations.com. We highly recommend them: their staff is very knowledgeable,
friendly, and goes the extra mile to assure an excellent match between your dream vacation and the available boats.
Everything on the sailboat was at no additional charge,
except meals ashore. David is an excellent, patient and foregiving instructor in the fine arts of sailing, and
we learned more and more day by day. He's also a gourmet cook, who loves his work.
Oh, and we brought way too much "stuff"; 2-3 pairs of shorts, 6-7 T-shirts,
swimsuit, and some excellent deck shoes would probably do. Dave has an full
library of sailing and general books on board: you don't need to bother bringing any.)