1/4/24 – Nanny Cay, Tortola, BVIs

We started the new year out by arriving in the BVIs and seeing our boat. It is great to be back! Splash day is Friday, January 5, 2024 and we have a lot to do before then to put the boat back together. The pictures below are what the boat looks like after two and a half days of cleaning and organizing. Before leaving we seal as much as possible in plastic bags to protect against mold and mildew. I also spray the entire interior of the cabin down with a mixture of vinegar and water to protect against mold and mildew. Cushions are put on their sides so that as much air can circulate around them as possible. We have been lucky. All of the preparation before leaving the boat on the hard has enabled us to return to a relatively clean boat and we rarely find that mildew has grown while we were away.

Arriving back home at the end of April meant that the house wasn’t frozen anymore.  So, Steve was able to get the heat and water turned on relatively quickly. 

Steve spent quite a bit of time preparing the house to freeze before we departed in December.  His efforts paid off, as everything worked when we returned.  Now our focus is on preparing for our next adventures.

We don’t stay on the boat once it is in the boatyard.  Here at Nanny Cay, we decided to try an Air B & B that was a five-minute walk from the boatyard.  It was a one-bedroom apartment with a full kitchen and family room.  And, it had a washer and dryer which was much appreciated because we had about ten loads of laundry to do.  The internet worked well too (better than the internet at Nanny Cay).  Every morning, starting around 3a, we were serenaded by roosters.  We think their internal clocks were off. 

Unfortunately, the apartment only had a room air conditioner in the bedroom.  So, it was a challenge being in the apartment during the day, as it was quite hot. 

The last two days in Tortola we rented a car.  This enabled us to transport a lot of our baggage off of the boat much more easily than if we had schlepped it to the apartment on foot.  We decided to take one afternoon off to drive around the island a little bit.  We found a large supermarket where we can provision the boat in December, which is great news.  And, we found the hardware store so that Steve can stock up on supplies.  Our car was a little challenged when going up hills.  Steve would have the pedal pushed to the floor and we were not sure that the car would make it up the hills.  Finally, we figured out that if we turned the air conditioning off, the car had a little more power.  We were not going to win any races with the car, but at least we felt a little more confident that it would make it up the hills.

On April 28, we dropped our car off at the airport and flew home.  Actually, we spent the night in San Juan, PR before catching an early-morning flight to Boston.  It had been another great sailing season! 

Today is “Haul Out” day.  We have worked hard for the last couple of days getting the boat ready as best as we could before going up on the hard.  It is always amazing to me to see the boat hanging in the travel lift because of its sheer size and weight. 

The crew here at Nanny Cay were awesome! 

They knew exactly what they were doing and did a fantastic job positioning our yacht on the stands.  Our “parking spot” during hurricane season is along the fence.  It is the row closest to the sea.  So, we enjoyed a breeze while we finished prepping the boat to be in storage until we return in December.

One afternoon we took a walk to Sea Cow Bay.  Steve was looking for a business that could notarize some documents for our boat permit.  The walk was along a busy road that, quite frankly, was a little smelly.  I don’t know if the smell is always there or if it was just because of the Sargassum.  Anyways, we found the office and then returned to Nanny Cay.

On 4.19.23, we headed to the other side of Tortola to Nanny Cay marina.  This is where our adventure started three years ago.  So, we are familiar with the property.  We pulled into the marina and were placed on the T-head, which we always like.  It makes it easy for us to tie up the boat. 

Cleaning started in earnest and Steve has been working on things like taking the sails down.  We had the boat surveyed because our insurance required it.  We have had to replenish some of our safety gear, like flares.  Other than that, the boat is in good shape and everything works as expected.  The surveyor will return to the boat once we haul it out, so that he can check the part of the boat that lies underwater. 

As I was walking around, I noticed a boat called “Cadence.”  It turns out that the owners were the ones who were quarantined next to us in 2020.  They have been enjoying their time on their new boat as well.  In the boatyard I also met a couple from Moultonboro, NH, the town next to Meredith.  Their boat’s name is “Three Quarter’s Time.”  It is fun to meet people in the marina.

It has been hot in the afternoons here in the BVI’s.   Most afternoons we have resorted to turning the air conditioning on. Unfortunately, last night a bunch of sargassum floated under our boat.  It stinks.  Unfortunately, Steve doesn’t think that we should turn the air conditioning on with it being so thick under the boat.  So, instead, we are sitting in the Nanny Cay lobby, using their internet.  For some reason, the internet throughout the property is not very strong and we can’t get a signal on our boat, unfortunately.

After a good night’s sleep, we headed towards Yost Van Dyke.  We looked at Diamond Bay, which was a little crowded, and then pulled into another bay, slightly west, called Garner Bay.  Unfortunately the wind was coming from the south and was blowing waves straight into the bay.  So, we moved on to White Bay where the famous Foxy’s and Soggy Dollar Beach Bars are located.  The water here was beautiful, but the wind was also heading straight into the bay.  So, we decided to return to Cane Garden Bay on Tortola, where we knew we would be protected from the wind.  This time we anchored on the other side of the bay, in front of the beach, but out a ways.  It was a great anchorage.  The water was calm and we were far enough away from shore that we didn’t really hear the traffic or radios blasting.  Our view was of very pretty houses and the horizon.  We were also protected by a small reef.  So, we enjoyed our last night at anchor.

We headed back to Tortola to Cane Garden Bay on the north western side of the island.  This was described in our book as the perfect Caribbean getaway, with a nice sand beach and beach bars. 

It was even mentioned in a Jimmy Buffet song.  There were plenty of mooring balls when we arrived so we picked one up.  It is cloudy today, but we could determine that the water was clear enough that we could see the bottom.  Unfortunately, this is a town bay and not as tranquil as is written in the book. 

We took the dinghy to the dilapidated dock and walked around. 

There is a small hotel on the beach, along with several beach bars.  This bay sustained quite a bit of damage in the last hurricane.  Many of the buildings were rebuilt – too many. 

Town is a one lane street with beach bars lining one side. 

There is a laundromat and a small grocery store in town.  And, we were finally able to throw our three bags of garbage away.  We ate on the boat tonight instead of going ashore.  As I’m typing, there is a smooth jazz band playing at one of the beach bars.  It is nice to hear the music from our boat.

Well, it rained around 3a this morning and I woke up to shut the hatch in my bathroom.  Then I wasn’t able to fall back to sleep.  So, I knew that I would have to take a nap later today. 

We awoke to calm winds this morning.  As I went on deck, I looked at the water.  It was gorgeously clear.  I could clearly see Sargent Majors, Blue Tangs, Grunts, and other fish swimming in the water. I tried to take a picture of them with my Nikon, so we’ll see if they turned out.  I sort of wanted to stay in the White Bay anchorage on Guana because of the beautiful, clear water.  But, it was time for us to try another bay. 

We decided to go past the airport to White Bay on Guana Island.  The water here is a gorgeous shade of turquoise.  There are coral heads and reefs here and there.  Snorkeling was OK.  While the island of Guana is private, we can go on the beautiful, white sand beach.  When we snorkeled from the boat yesterday, we ended up swimming to shore and walked along the beach.  The fine sand felt so soft on my feet.  There is good snorkeling at Monkey Point, which is at the end of this bay.  We haven’t gone snorkeling there yet, but hope to before moving on to the next anchorage.

Today, 4.16.23, I finished polishing the stainless steel on the inside of the boat.  There are still some spots that I need to work on, but I only have so much time and they will have to wait.  I started in earnest preparing the boat for sitting on the hard for 7.5 months by washing out the insides of some of the closets/cabinets and spraying them down with a mixture of vinegar and water.  Since these places all are closed, I’m hoping that not much sea air seeps into these areas before we put the boat up.  I just have to start somewhere so that we are prepared to leave on the 28^th.