12/28/25-Diamond Cay, Jost Van Dyke, BVI
Beautiful sun rise and another gorgeous day. We are starting
to get into a rhythm and a routine here in the Caribbean. Up with the sun,
coffee, sun salutations on the fore deck, a round of pushups and some
stretching. While it is cool in the morning it is a good time to tidy the boat
and do some boat chores. Today we had heavy dew on the decks, so we gave the
topside a good wipe down. Usually there is an afternoon swim when it is hot.
Read and nap in the shade of the cockpit.
I was looking forward to a walk today. We dinghied over to Foxy’s pier and left the dinghy there. We took the trail from Foxy’s to the Bubbly Pool. The Bubbly Pool is a natural pool where the Atlantic swell smashes into the rocks and a small opening in the rocks to create a bubble bath effect in the pool. The water was cool and fresh and the bubbles felt good. There was the occasional overzealous wave that would sweep everyone to the rocky beach, lots of bathing suit adjusting at this point.
In the afternoon we were running the generator to make water and cool the cabin, but the water maker would not go to “Good Water”. For now, I wrote it off as there was too much stuff in the water. I did reach out to Marten, the engineer for the water maker” to get his opinion.
We received a Whats App video call from our good friend
Kevin. We enjoyed a great conversation and got a tour of his new home in Costa
Rico. Technology is amazing!
It was a rainy night; we were up and down opening and
closing hatches.
12/29/2025-Diamond Cay, Jost Van Dyke, BVIs
Up early with rain and an overcast sky. I did get a response
from Marten on the water maker, but it was not very helpful and seemed to
contradict previous instructions. We got underway and ran the water maker while
we were in cleaner water and it was working. Problem solved? For whatever
reason the sea water here is full of particles and the visibility is terrible.
Heading east we motored into the wind and sea to Guana Island. We anchored in White’s Bay in sand and rock. It took 3 tries to get the anchor to hold but we could not check it as the water was not clear. In 17’ I could not see the bottom or find the anchor. I did manage to get stung by a jellyfish. A vinegar spray to neutralize and a hot, very hot, towel did the trick.
In the afternoon the wind shifted, and we were dragging the anchor,
so we grabbed a mooring that had come available. Another night with the mooring
ball banging my hull. It was predicted to rain at 0200 and it did. Even a
broken clock is right twice a day.
12/30/25-White’s Bay, Guana Island, BVI
No, not Gauno, Guana like Iguana. The anchorage was rolling
from the swell off the Atlantic, no wind so bouncing on the ball drove us to
depart early, 0930.
We worked our way through the Islands and out to open sea
for some clean water for the water maker. We were back to not good water. I did
some plumbing work on the fly so that we could test the two RO tubes
separately. As we have experienced before, the top tube was working and the
bottom was not. This means we will limp along at half capacity until I can get
a new RO filter. Further conversation with Marten led to more confusion and contradictions.
We arrived in Nanny Cay at about 1230, now a very familiar place.
The chandlery here had the batteries I needed to replace the existing house
batteries. They would be an upgrade as they added an additional 30 Ah of
capacity. The swap out went well; it took about 3 hours hauling 2 batteries at
a time from the chandlery to the boat and 2 old batteries back to the
chandlery. At 62 lbs apiece I got my work out for the day but there was still
work to do.
When checking the water maker, we are sending the rejected water from the bad tube to the bilge and letting the bilge pump send it out of the boat. The bilge pump kept running intermittently after we shut down the water maker. It turned out that the check valve on the bilge pump outlet hose was not working. I removed it and cleaned out some debris in it and general scale. It was much improved, but it will need to be replaced.
The last chore of the day was to make the temporary RO
filter bypass secure by running a drain tube directly to the sump for the
bilge.
While I worked on my projects Suzette hit the grocery store
for some fresh food and necessities.
We were spoiled at the marina in that we could plug in and
enjoy a night of air conditioning and calm. At anchor I do not like to leave
the generator and AC on all night because I cannot hear what may be going on
outside my boat and it will likely bother the neighbors.
12/31/26-Nanny Cay, Tortola, BVI
Up with the sun after a very restful night. First stop was
the chandlery for a new check valve and a 12v outlet to install in the sail
locker. The 12v outlet will make it more convenient to plug in my pump and inflate
the dinghy.
The marina was hot and still so we were ready to get away
from the dock. We motored into the wind and sea around the east end of Tortola
to Trellis Bay for the New Year’s celebration. There were moorings available,
but we found a great spot to anchor at the outer edge of the mooring field in
10’ of water that was reasonably clear. The spot turned out to be a great
location and on a short chain we were clear of the moored boats. The harbor did
fill by the end of the day. We were at the end of the airport runway but there
are no flights at night and very few during the day.
We headed into shore to scope out the venue for New Years
Eve. Trellis Bay Bar and Restaurant, they were very welcoming and said it was a
party for all no need to have dinner or reservations. We enjoyed dinner on the
boat and came ashore around 2100 when the music was kicking in. I must be
getting old…the music was too loud, but it was fun. We arrived to a fire show
on the pier. Next the Moko Jumbies danced and paraded. Two of the Jumbies were
kids, very talented, carrying on the tradition. The Moko Jumbie is from west
Africa and is part of a ceremony to ward off evil spirits. Next was the world’s
longest conga line, maybe, no one was counting.
Back on the boat we toasted the new year as fireworks were sent up off of our stern. It was a great show. Here in the BVI we celebrate midnight 1 hour ahead of New York.
1/1/26-Trellis Bay, Tortola, BVI
I am not sure why we were awake at 0530, it was cool calm
and overcast. I was motivated to do some projects, so I installed the new check
valve. I had lost the button for the ignitor on my grill a year ago and have
been unable to order a new part from Eno. So I got creative and fabricated my
own out of an old plastic bottle cap. Works like a champ. Next was the
installation of my new 12v outlet in the sail locker, that was an easy one.
The sun was up and it was getting hot, it was time for the afternoon ritual, swim, read, nap. We ran the genset primarily to make water, but lots of battery charging and cool air was a side benefit. We have been trying to eat local foods, tonight we had collard greens and rutabagas. The collard greens were sautéed with hot peppers and onion and put over a toasted slice of pumpernickel. The rutabagas were boiled and mashed with salt and butter like mashed potatoes, delicious and filling.
1/2/26-Trellis Bay, Tortola, BVI
An overcast morning made for a good day to service the
engine. I had noticed that the little general store here had the motor oil that
I have been using. We dinghied in and picked the motor oil and a few grocery
items. They had these miniature 4” homemade pies on the counter, coconut, guava
and pineapple. We bought one of each and they turned out to be delicious,
especially the guava.
Back on the boat I made short work of the engine service and
oil change. It has been a process to perfect the oil change operation, but I
have all the right tools now to make it easy. On shore they have a place to
dispose of the old engine oil and filters, we completed the job with a trip to
shore. We stopped into a beautiful art store complete with studios where the
artists practiced their craft, wood sculpture, ceramics, painting and sculptures
from tin and copper. There was also an Organic Farm advertised here. It turns
out that the farmer was there now and he was setting up his boat to sell his
organic vegis boat to boat in the harbor. We bought a variety of fresh vegetables
and fruit, probably too much, but it was fresh and should hold up.
Back at the boat we had a new neighbor, a 60’ Hinkley with a glistening black hull and a ketch rig. While lingering in the cockpit we saw a huge wake coming at us from the ferry. The dinghy was in the water and secured by the davit lines and the swim platform was down. This quickly turned into mayhem, one minute the dinghy nearly flipped over and the next it was being wedged in the swim step. The Hinkley was being tossed wildly as well, but no one was on board. When the water settled the dinghy was nearly capsized and my flip flops were floating away. I had to go out in my half capsized dinghy to retrieve them, glad they float. We bailed out the dinghy and secured everything for the night to avoid any further mishaps. This is when I discovered that the lock and cable for the dinghy had gone in the sea. I will have to dive for it in the morning.
The breeze had picked up making for a perfect night to have
dinner in the cockpit under the stars and a nearly full moon rising. We were
planning to head to The Bomba Shack at the west end for the full moon party.
12/3/26-Trellis Bay, Tortola, BVI
Up with the sun with a nice steady breeze from the east. Sun
salutations on the fore deck then a dive to find my cable lock for the dinghy.
It took a little searching, but we found it and easily retrieved it in about
12’ of water. The water was fairly clear, so we went for a long snorkel out to
the reef at the point. Ther are lots of huge conch here, the biggest I had ever
seen in the wild, 10-12”. The fish were abundant in the rocks and what remained
of the coral. The coral is definitely taking a beating.
We decided to stay in Trellis Bay for their full moon party.
The places to moor and the anchorage at the west end are very limited so Bomba
will have to wait. We worked on my bimini infill for a while, it is a slow
process to hand stitch the Sunbrella.
Online I needed to pay some bills including the one I hate
the most, quarterly taxes. We had dinner on board and then headed in to shore
for the full moon party. The moon rose beautifully, big and yellow. On shore
the bon fires were raging. The music was danceable, so we hit the floor. There
was a fire show and a reprise of the Moko Jumbies. The crowd was a great mix of
people, not unlike Doug’s Harbor Reef on Catalina Island (The Star Wars Bar).
1/4/25-Trellis Bay, Tortola, BVI
A quiet night on the hook but it is time to leave. We departed
at about 0930 and headed across the channel to the Baths on Virgin Goda. We
anchored in Valley Trunk Bay just north of the baths. We were clearly anchoring
in rocks and sand, more rocks. When we dove the anchor, we could see that it
had found a perfect hole in the rock to hook into.
We took the dinghy to the Baths, but we were not properly prepared. Evidently you tie your dinghy to a line out in the water and swim a couple hundred yards to shore. Then there is a 15 minute hike through the woods and over and under rocks. We did not bring shoes for the hike so we will have to try this another time. On the boat we were in good company with several super yachts anchored close by. The anchorage was a bit rollie for us, but tolerable. It was Sunday so Pizza and a good bottle of wine in the cockpit with the full moon still shining. It was warm so I slept in the cockpit, it was very comfortable.
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