Our friends Mike and Rebecca on One Love were making the same passage so we snagged a few photos as they passed us.

Somewhere along the way, Peter decided to check the fishing lines. We had two out and there is usually Sargassum weed tangled around the lures. It seems to be everywhere between the Caribbean Islands, making trolling for fish a real chore.

Just as he was bringing in the cedar plug, he got a bite not more than 10 feet from the boat and the fish took off! I leaped up to slow the boat down and bring in the other line while Peter reeled his in. Just then, we both saw it jump. He had hooked a gorgeous Sailfish! Sailfish are “highly prized game fish, and are known for their incredible jumps and great speed. They can swim 100 m in 4.8 sec.”

We got a beautiful show. Surprisingly, the fight wasn’t very long before the fish gave up. Peter reached over the side, grabbed the bill and shook the lure loose. Technically this counts as “landing” the fish, and I was able to snap some amazing photos in the process.

From the photos you would think it all happened in slow motion, but the truth is that there was an awful lot of commotion! The dogs were barking excitedly as they watched the fish come closer and closer to the boat. Peter and I were both excited and were trying to execute everything as flawlessly as possible. Landing a billfish is actually a pretty dangerous task with that sharp object whipping around! Peter was trying to not lose the fish and I was trying to take pictures. Our autopilot did a fine job steering the boat under sail (far from any land, boats, or other dangers of course).

When we arrived in Carriacou, we had a much smoother approach than our nightmare of a first visit and got settled at anchor quickly. We knew we wouldn’t stay long, just enough time to check in and get some sleep.

During passages, we always put the dinghy motor up on deck and either tow the dinghy behind us or raise it all the way up on the bow. This time we had brought it up on the bow. Instead of dropping the dinghy for one quick trip to shore, Peter decided to launch one of our Tower Paddle Boards and paddle over to Customs and Immigration. He was so excited to attempt the delivery of our precious passports and boat paperwork via paddle board that he forgot to bring shoes. Oops. The customs guys weren’t too happy about that but it was okay in the end. He won’t be making that mistake again.

We had a lovely dinner and enjoyed the sunset.

We are currently in the USVIs while Peter completes the courses needed for his USCG 100 ton Near Coastal Masters Captain’s license.

The post Carriacou Round Two appeared first on Where The Coconuts Grow.

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 :)

The post Cruising BVI: Checking out in Spanish Town appeared first on Where The Coconuts Grow.