The girls enjoyed dinner at Fat Virgin Cafe, Named after the island it sits on, Virgin Gorda and danced the night away to Monday night's DJ at the Bitter End Yacht Club to celebrate passing the US Sailing Basic Keelboat Course.
After lunch at the pub, the girls headed back down to the classroom for more land training. The girls breezed through the course material and were quickly back on the water on the small boats. After class the girls came back to the boats for dinner aboard, studying, and some down time. After some rest we made it back to shore to catch movie night at BEYC.
After a session in the classroom, the girls hit the water to begin the practical section of the course aboard the small boats. The girls practiced tacking, jibing, and man overboard procedures with our US Sailing Instructors. the are furling the boats and heading in for a pizza lunch before resuming the course.
The girls left the Baths after their afternoon cookout and headed over to Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbor to reprovision for the trip. After a quick stop into the local market the girls planned out the meals for the remainder of the trip. Leaving VGYH, we headed upwind to North Sound, Virgin Gorda. The girls came into the channel marking Colquhoun reef at sunset and anchored as the light faded in the lee of Prickly Pear Island. The girls grilled fish for fish tacos and prepared for a big day in North Sound tomorrow.
After leaving the RMS Rhone, the girls set sail for the Baths on Virgin Gorda. On the upwind sail we worked on sail trim and the girls worked on speeding up their rigging, furling, and tacking. Once we arrived at Virgin Gorda the girls picked up a mooring ball and swam to shore. We hiked to Devils Bay and snorkeled back to Spring Bay for an afternoon cookout at the Baths
The girls woke up early and took advantage of the great sea conditions and headed over to Salt Island to Snorkel the RMS Rhone - The girls were able to snorkel the RMS Rhone guided by Captain Stuart and Captain Jim who guided the tour from below the waves on SCUBA. Here is a quick video from their dive.
The group woke up on the moorings in Trellis Bay, just east of Bellamy Cay. After a quick breakfast aboard they dropped the mooring ball and headed into the Sir Francis Drake Channel. The day began with an upwind leg to the Dogs. We practiced tacking upwind and snorkeled the Chimney on the west end of George Dog Island. After eating lunch on the mooring, we sailed down wind to Cooper Island and practiced jibing. Once arriving at Cooper Island, we headed over to Cistern Rock for another snorkel trip around the rock, followed by dinner aboard the Mary Jewell. The girls are heading to the Cooper Island Beach Club to enjoy a refreshment and the opening ceremonies of the 2012 Olympic Games. The girls are learning the boats and excited for another big day on the water tomorrow.
The girls caught the 7am flight out of Beef Island and are headed back to the states. We were sad to see them go and are looking forward to another successful Seafarer SAIL BVI trip in 2012. We would like to thank the YMCA, Camp Seafarer, and the girls for making this another successful trip. If you know anyone that would be a good fit for our 2012 trip, please contact Leigh Longino at (252) 670-7190 for more information and to get a 2012 application.
After beating upwind from Sandy Spit the girls stopped off at Guana Island for a snorkel. After snorkeling at Monkey Point the made their way to Trellis Bay. We picked up moorings close to the airport dock and caught the ferry over to Marina Cay for celebratory milkshakes. After returning they began cleaning and packing for their early morning departure. We will dinghy the girls to docks around 5am and they should be in the air by 7am, bound for the states.
The girls made breakast on docks in Little Harbour. After breakfast they cast off lines and pulled up the anchor and headed out of Little Harbour. We headed around the corner of Jost Van Dyke and anchored at Sandy Spit. The girls swam to shore and walked around this small island that was made famous by Dell Computer's factory backgrounds and a visa commercial that the girls were all too young to have seen. After leaving Sandy Spit the girls tacked up wind to Guana Island for a snorkel before striking sails, and heading through the Camino Cut to Trellis Bay.
The girls arrived and anchored in White Bay around 9am after sailing through the night to Jost Van Dyke. After breakfast and a quick rest, the girls swam into shore to enjoy White Bay. Around 11am we weighed anchor and headed to great harbor where the girls explored and went to Foxy's. Around 2:30 they left Great Harbour for Little Harbour. At Little Harbour the girls Med-Moored (Mediterranean Mooring) to Sydney's House of Peace and Love for the evening. On shore we enjoyed lobster dinner in celebration of Sara's Birthday!
The weather finally broke this morning and the girls headed out of the North Sound and off to the Baths at the far end of Virgin Gorda. Once they arrived at the baths we swam in and went for a hike to Devil's Bay. After the baths we headed east of the Baths and anchored. We plan to head to bed early and get up for a night and sunrise sail to Jost Van Dyke.
The girls waited out the remainder of the weather this morning going over the written exams and quizzes for their US Sailing Basic Keelboat certification. Foul weather continues to serve as a good time to review. We plan to depart Bitter End shortly as the passing weather clears and head for the Baths on the far end of Virgin Gorda.
The girls woke up on moorings in Soper's Hole and took inventory of the provisioning aboard each of their own vessels. After taking inventory they headed into shore to provision their own vessels with guidance from our captains and counselors. After provisioning we set sail up the Sir Francis Drake Channel toward the Bitter End Yacht Club. The breeze was heavy and the girls practiced sailing with reefed sails. When we arrived at the Bitter End we picked up a mooring and headed in to the yacht club for a hike.
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