Tag: british virgin islands

September 2, 2017

Hurricane Irma

So, Hurricane Irma has been barreling across the Atlantic during the last few days and she’s headed right for us. Though the forecast doesn’t show her as a direct hit, all bets are off with a major (Cat3 and above) hurricane. The most reliable model is the Euro and that has it coming straight for us. The less reliable GFS model shows it going further North of us. The two models still don’t agree and we are anywhere from 4-5 days out. The direction and strength can change so fast despite what the forecast models show so we pretty much have to prepare for the worst.

It’s really difficult to wrap my brain around this, especially after the recent flooding we had here on Tortola and all the destruction caused by Hurricane Harvey in Texas. I mean, I know it’s peak hurricane season here in the Caribbean but you just never think it’s gonna happen to you. I’m really good at being in denial about stuff like this. It’s our fourth hurricane season and really the first time we’ve ever had to “expect” a named storm on our doorstep.

I’m actually pretty emotional about the whole thing. Granted, I have all these postpartum hormones making it worse, but Peter and I made a decision to have me fly off island with Brig. It’s just not worth risking our safety with something this big and this strong coming so close.

It wasn’t until just two days ago that this was even an option. Technically, he cannot enter the U.S. without a passport. Since he was born in BVI and does not qualify for a BVI passport, we technically have to wait until the US Consulate in Barbados comes to visit here in BVI to apply for his US passport. Well, given our circumstances with an impending life threatening storm headed for us, the US Customs and Boarder Protection agency at the St Thomas airport has granted me special permission to let us travel with just a birth certificate for him instead of a passport. The moment they told me that, I of course started to cry with relief. I don’t want to have to go anywhere but it really is the best thing.

Peter is going to stay here and continue to secure our boat for as long as it’s safe before taking shelter somewhere nearby. He’ll have Betsy to care for but at least he won’t have the added stress of making sure Brig and I are safe too. I’m going to take a ferry from Tortola to St Thomas and catch a flight out on Monday. I will be going up to stay with my family in Washington State far away from the Caribbean and the East Coast.

Its a decision we wouldn’t have made if we didn’t have Brig. I would’ve just stayed here and helped Peter with the safeguarding of our home. Everyone knows that when you have kids, your life changes. Your priorities change. You make different decisions. You do what’s best for your children no matter what.

A round trip ticket cost me $1400 two days ago with one three hour layover via American Airlines. Now there are no more American flights, and tickets are $1500 only available with Jet Blue with two layovers including one for 10 hours. ($2200 with United). I pretty much got one of the last decent flights available to fly out Monday. Let’s hope they didn’t overbook it.

Our boat is in the best possible location it could be in. Literally, the best spot inside this hurricane hole. The boat really shouldn’t see any waves at all and should feel reduced wind. Peter will do everything he can to make sure our home is safe.

I’m just sick about leaving my husband, my dog and my home in the path of a hurricane. Everything could be totally fine and then again it could be really bad. I pray they will be safe and that I will have a home to come back to. Everything we own is on that boat. It’s insured of course and it’s just stuff, but I can’t imagine losing everything I own in a natural disaster.

It happens all over the world. The west coast gets earthquakes and is due for “the big one”. The midwest gets tornadoes. We get hurricanes. I suppose we should be grateful we have so much warning.

I’m sure the cell towers will be down for quite some time so I may not be able to hear from Peter. I’m going to be worried sick. Power will be off island wide and he’ll be relying on the water and food supply we have stocked up. If the boat fares well, he’ll be able to stay aboard after the storm. If not, one person has offered their home to us so atleast Peter and Betsy will have a place to go either after the storm or before if things get too crazy. Before I made my flight reservation we really didn’t have anywhere on land to go, so it wasn’t even a question of whether or not I should leave.

If you pray, please pray for us and for everyone in Irma’s path. We need all the positive vibes we can get…

I may not get a chance to post an update to our website as the storm approaches, but I will definitely be updating our Facebook page as I have more info. Even if you don’t have a Facebook account you can still see updates by clicking HERE.

To all my friends and family in WA… now’s your chance to meet Brig! Send me a message <3

August 10, 2015

Cruising BVI: The Baths (round 2)

In December we took Dad and Stacy to visit The Baths on Virgin Gorda. It’s by far one of the most spectacular places to visit in the Virgin Islands. If the weather isn’t cooperating, however, it can be difficult to visit by boat. Dad and Stacy were in luck, the weather was just right to pick up a day-mooring and swim in.

Each time I visit The Baths it’s more breathtaking than the last. It could be that I’m always looking for a pretty picture and this place is plum-full of them! As if this weren’t photo-overload enough, check out the first post I did on The Baths for a totally different perspective.

Stacy, Dad and I swam in and stashed our fins in the bushes. The inner-Tarzan in Dad made a swift and limber appearance as he scaled a nearby boulder to find the perfect spot. I stood back and laughed a little knowing full well I was NOT going to follow. That one was just a bit too steep for my short, stubby, little legs.

In we go!

Can you feel the magic? This place is incredible. I’m so glad we timed it just right. Well, we planned for the perfect timing but Island Time ended up working in our favor instead.

Let me backtrack a bit to several hours before.

Knowing full well we’d visit The Baths next, we left Norman Island in the afternoon and anchored off of the West side of Cooper Island. The plan was to pull up our anchor before daybreak for arrival at The Baths at first light. We wanted to make it extra special for Dad and Stacy and we wanted to make sure to get there plenty early enough. Early as in 6:45. We know it can get crazy in there once the cruise ship passengers and charter boat guests start to arrive between 8 and 10am. We wanted to make sure there was no one in front of us, and no one behind us as we explored this majestic place all by ourselves.

Well, lets just say things didn’t work out as smoothly as we’d like. I turned on the engine, then the chart plotter and radar. Peter made his way to the bow to pull in our anchor chain with the windlass. Dad and Stacy were just waking up and thought we were crazy for leaving in the dark, yet they were super excited for what was to come.

All of a sudden Peter stopped the windlass. Shit. The anchor was stuck. “Must be wrapped around a piece of coral,” Peter mumbled into the walkie-talkie.

He had me motor around in a few different directions to see if we could dislodge the chain. What seemed to be an eternity later, Peter decided he had to dive it. IN THE DARK. We were in about 50′ of water and the sun hadn’t even begun to come up yet. A little sharky? Yeah, I’d say so! Dad wasn’t too excited to jump in either. So, we waited another 30 minutes until there was a little daylight. Peter took his new super bright underwater flashlight and his spare-air, then asked Dad to assist. Peter planned to dive down and unwind the chain while Dad stayed on the surface with a mask to communicate with me if I needed to pop the engine forward a jib or do anything else at the helm.

Peter’s an excellent diver but he was not happy about this little hiccup. I wouldn’t want to be the one to do it either. We could have just waited it out until full daylight when it would have been much easier to see, but then we’d be visiting the baths with boatloads of other tourists and waiting in line to get from one area to another.

What a guy! It took some serious underwater skills to unwrap that chain from the huge underwater boulder we had somehow swung around at night, but he did it. We were a bit behind schedule, but we would still get there at about 9-am.

Okay, back to our amazing day at The Baths…

Thanks to Peter and Dad braving it out a few hours before, we managed to sneak into our destination without anyone in front of us and without anyone behind us!! SUCCESS!!

It’s hard to see, but this stairway leads into a little pool of water brought in by the tide…

A view of Mary Christine with the mizzen sail up for stability on a mooring ball just outside The Baths:

I had showed them the secret area that not everyone gets to see, but now they had to come back out…

We made a new friend. This little guy followed us along the trails all the way to Devil’s Bay Beach. He didn’t seem to belong to anyone but acted like he’d been here a thousand times.

I almost caught a photo of this little dog leaping off the rock into the water! Dad was ready to get the photo too, though he didn’t make a second leap.

Cool creatures everywhere.

All in all, we had an amazing morning!

Don’t forget to see all the photos from my first time through: The Baths

What is ONE word you would use to describe this place?

October 18, 2014

Cruising BVI: Checking out in Spanish Town

Sailing from one end of Virgin Gorda to the other was a breeze. On June 24th we anchored in front of Spanish Town and got settled for the night.

The following day marked 30 days we had spent in BVI. Our mission was to visit the Customs and Immigration office to check out. We were misinformed about the location for checking out and found ourselves at the office up the hill which happens to be the place to go only for extending visas. The officials kindly informed us at 3pm that they were closed for the day and we would have to visit the Customs office near the Port Authority back down by our boat the next day. Go figure.

The next morning Peter and I dinghied back to shore and hiked across the field adjacent to the Marina to reach the Customs office. We brought our cruising permit, Certificate of Documentation, passports and money. Expecting to be hit hard for taxes and fees in a country that thrives on the Charter Boat Industry, we were pleasantly surprised to only be charged .75 cents for administration fees. It was even more strange since we had to visit three different windows with three different staff members to complete the transaction. One person could have done in two minutes what it took three people to do in 20.

Before this experience we had heard that various offices around BVI charge different rates for checking out of the country. Some are as high as $20. We heard Gun Creek was only $1.75 but it wasn’t convenient for us to check out of there since they didn’t have a decent grocery store or propane filling station. We took our chances with Spanish Town and everything worked out great.

The officials here did make sure to inform us, however, that our cruising permit had in fact only been valid for one week – not the 30 days we had thought. It wasn’t a terribly big deal and they waved us away after we told them it was our first time in BVI. They warned us for next time to notify the officials upon entry if we plan on staying longer than one week. NOTED!

On June 26th, the day had finally come to say “Goodbye BVI” and “Adios to Jost”. Already late in the season we still had a long way to go before reaching Grenada where we would be spending Hurricane Season below 12-degrees latitude. If you’re interested on why a lot of Caribbean cruisers choose to spend Hurricane Season in Grenada, take a look at this fun little tool from NOAA: Historical Hurricane Tracks.

Next up… St. Eustatius! We’re currently finishing up projects in Grenada as Hurricane Season comes to an end :)

September 30, 2014

Cruising BVI: The Baths at Virgin Gorda

The Baths at Virgin Gorda are one of the most spectacular attractions in all of the Virgin Islands. Giant natural rock formations have created caves and tunnels at the shore’s edge with incredible tide pools hidden inside.

Over the years, dozens of mooring balls have been installed near the entrance to the caves as well as outside Devil’s Bay. They are free for day use only on a first come, first served basis. During the high season it will seem as though every charter boat in the BVI is there. They start showing up from around 7am and rotate out like bees from a hive until sunset.

If you prefer to tour the baths privately without crowds of people on your tail, be sure to get there just after the sun comes up. If you want to take any pictures without a bunch of strangers in your way, definitely get there at 6am! The caves are significantly more majestic when no other voices or sounds can be heard. It’s also recommended to not enter the caves after 4:30 pm because it takes a good 20 minutes each way through the caves. When the sun sets, the caves get dark and the tide rises, making for a potentially dangerous passage back out.

An alternative to fighting for a mooring ball is to anchor just East of all the mooring balls near the reefs at Little Trunk Bay. It was a bit rolly for us, but not too bad to stay overnight. The view is spectacular with a gorgeous palm-tree-lined beach just ahead, crystal clear water and up to 100′ visibility. From there it’s just a short dinghy ride over to the main entrance to the baths.

A designated swimming area has been roped off at both the entrance to the caves, as well as at Devil’s Bay to keep the swimmers safe from the dinghy traffic. There is very little shore access and it’s recommended to swim in instead of being dropped off by dinghy. For those that don’t want to swim in, The Baths can also be accessed by land. Any taxi on Virgin Gorda can bring you there. Swimming in requires careful consideration of the weather conditions. If there is a Northerly swell, entrance to the baths is extremely dangerous and dinghies are not allowed to approach. Take care, especially those that are not strong swimmers.

To access the caves just follow the signs and be prepared to duck down, crawl, squeeze and climb over these boulders. A series of wooden staircases and climbing ropes and have been installed to aid in the journey through these caves, yet they are quite steep.

Peter and I tied our dinghy to the perimeter of the swimming area and swam in with our snorkel gear. We aimed for a gap in the rocks and made our way up onto the sand. Since it was still early, there were maybe only 4 other boats tied up to moorings already, yet we were the only ones entering the caves. We left our snorkel gear stashed behind a boulder and proceeded in barefoot, armed with only our iPhone and waterproof case.

The Baths were warm and clear. The colors etched into the rocks were fascinating. These immense boulders formed windows to the sky as we looked upward. We waded and swam through passages in the rocks to the next set of hidden pools. Just beyond the caves we could see the waves crashing in around us, only to slow to a trickle of flow inside. Tiny little fish swam around in the pools with us. Shadows in the early morning cast upon the walls and golden rays of sunshine poured in through the cracks.

Each new cave led to another secret passage way as we climbed up the old wooden ladders and crawled through holes in the rocks. We slid over crevices in the rocks marked by the sand left behind from those that have gone before us. Some areas on the sandy floor had been washed smooth from the incoming tide the night before, making our footprints the first tracks to appear.

The caves gave way to a trail leading to Devil’s Bay. The tree branches opened up to the crisp blue sky and a pristine sandy beach lay ahead. The water inside the bay was as clear as the water we saw in the Bahamas.

We went for a swim and took a short walk on the beach just before a large family appeared behind us singing songs as they made their way out of the caves. We did it! Our whole journey through The Baths and Caves was done alone! Proud we had woken up early, we returned back the way we came and swam back out to our dinghy just in time to see dozens of families arriving on shore.

It was a spectacular morning indeed, and a place we want to visit again. The only thing we would do differently is get there even earlier, and bring a better waterproof camera :)

We are currently reminiscing about our journeys this summer as we wait out the rest of hurricane season in Grenada…

Leave us a comment, we’d love to hear from you!

September 28, 2014

Cruising BVI: Peter Island

June 15th: Father’s Day 2014

What a perfect place to spend Father’s day! Although we are technically on Peter Island every day, this was our first time visiting the REAL Peter Island. With not many anchorages to choose from, we tucked into the less popular Little Harbour in an effort to distance ourselves from the giant fields of mooring balls and charter boats.

Almost no breeze enhanced the peacefulness of this quiet little bay where everything lay still. The lush hills reflected down into the green water.

We went for a swim and set off to explore.

Setting foot on Peter Island makes it official! We have arrived!

The water wasn’t as clear as we thought it would be, though it was cleaner than most bays and felt extremely refreshing. Just a few little fish shared their home with us that day since there wasn’t anywhere for them to hide on the East side of the bay.

We swam back to the boat and grabbed the paddle boards to explore a bit further.

A small structure sat at the shoreline. Inside, it was clearly built to be an outhouse some time ago. Behind the structure was a stairway leading up the hill. Peter and I pulled the iSUPs up on shore and began climbing, wearing only our thin water booties we had brought to help protect our feet from anything dangerous we might encounter.

The stairway took us about half way up the hillside where it looked like we had come to a dead end. Just then, Peter noticed a faint trail in the dirt that was carved out underneath a clearing in the branches. We kept climbing.

At the top of the hill we discovered an old deserted house. Grafitti covered the walls and roofing materials lay scattered on the ground. We took a quick look around and got out of there before the mosquitos could find us.

Back on the boat, we showered off, made some dinner and had a lovely evening relaxing and looking at up at the stars as we cuddled with Betsy and Gunner to celebrate Father’s Day. One he’ll never forget, we’re sure.

The next morning the resident barracuda came by the boat to introduce himself. They always look scarier up close.

Later in the morning we took our snorkel gear and paddle boards over to the Southwest side of the anchorage to see if the reefs were livelier, and that they were. Our underwater phone case wasn’t sealing properly that day so unfortunately the pictures didn’t turn out. We did see a few tarpon and just as we got back to the boat we saw a huge turtle swim away from her nest. Attached to her back was a remora, who also made the picture.

We had a beautiful time on Peter Island, but The Baths were calling our name. Next up: Photos from the famous Baths on Virgin Gorda!

We’re currently exploring the Grenadines as we wait out the rest of Hurricane season in the Southern end of the Caribbean. Send us a message…we’d love to hear from you!