Author Archive: Bill Black
I'm a baby boomer, lefty Democrat, Boston Irish Catholic, born in 1953. I work as a public affairs consultant in Washington.
Dinner at Cynthia’s
It was short dinghy ride to the restaurant, named Harris Restaurant. The restaurant was right on the beach. There was sand under foot.
Cynthia, pictured above with Captain Jean, greeted us like we were old friends and promised to take very good care of us. She didn’t disappoint. She was a very hard working woman, and treated her other customers like she did us, visiting tables frequently, checking on the service. There were only two other parties, separate groups of Canadians, but everyone sort of merged together under Cynthia boisterous social skills. The meal consisted of soup, salad, some huge lobsters and pie for dessert. The setting and the meal were very special, but Cynthia was particularly special. I’d love to know her story. I’m sure it’s a good one. The most interesting person I’ve met on this trip.
My admiration for Cynthia was even increased the next morning. I was out on the deck of the boat at about 6:30, reading. At 6:50 am, I noticed Cynthia exiting the small building that houses the restaurant, marching purposefully toward her SUV. She was all dressed in white now with a white knit cap. She got into the SUV and headed up the mountain. I followed her until she was out of sight. I’m sure a novel could be written about where she was headed.
— Post From My IPad
Little Harbour on Jost Van Dyke
We entered Little Habour at about 5 pm. There were a number of moorings and we found a good one right off the restaurant and bar that were the only commercial establishments in the harbor. It was surrounded by very steep hills, so the sun went down early.
Minutes after we arrived and secured the mooring, we visited by a woman dressed totally in black, with dreadlocks and a black knit cap. She was very friendly and gregarious and invited us to her restaurant for dinner that night, saying it was lobster night. We readily accepted and reserved a table for 7 pm. She said that the mooring was free and she would see us that night.
— Post From My IPad
Sandy Cay, off the coast of Jost Van Dyke, BVI
Our ultimate destination for Monday was Little Habour on Jost Van Dyke. This would be a return trip to Jost, having spent an overnight in White Bay. Our overall objective is to sail generally toward our return to Nanny Cay. Ultimately, we will have circumnavigated Tortola.
On the fly, we decided make a side trip and anchor off Sandy Cay (pronounced “key,” I’m repeatedly reminded. Repeatedly, because I keep saying it wrong). It’s a tiny patch of land with a beautiful white sand beach. The picture above shows the entire island.
It was an idyllic setting. A few other boats had moored. A group of people were conducted a sand castle contest between the boys and the girls.
I went snorkeling, which was good, but challenging because there was some heavy surf around the rocks and coral where the fish were. It was also challenging taking pictures with all the swaying back and forth. This was my only decent shot.
The rest of the crew took a swim. Note that two members of the crew are toasting their wives. The other would have, but neglected to bring a beverage into the water.
— Post From My IPad
To Soper’s Hole, Tortola
We left Cane Garden Bay for Soper’s Hole to restock a bit. Out of ice and figured we should top off the water. Soper’s Hole includes a number of marinas. It’s apparently the best place to go to weather a hurricane since it’s tucked in from the open sea and surrounded by mountains.
The first mate took the helm and we did a broad tack that increased the distance, but allowed us to get some good speed. Lots of pretty severe heeling, which used to bother me, but no more. I’m now mostly convinced the boat won’t tip over.
Soper’s Hole is the first place we’ve been to that seems to cater to tourists. There were a few shops that sold “island wear” and touristy knick knacks. We also had lunch and the best conch fritters, so far.
Filling the water, sixty pounds of ice, disposal of trash came to $30, including tip.
— Post From My IPad
Watching the Sunset on Cane Garden Bay, Tortola
Here’s the Sunday evening sunset off the stern of the boat.
It was a quiet night. We stayed on the boat. First mate/Cook Dave produced another masterpiece, boneless chicken with Cane Garden Bay sauce, an eclectic collection of ingredients, including leftover pickle juice. We also had leftover rice, peas with garlic and a salad.
After dinner, we listened to the music coming one of the beach bars. There were two bands, a Jimmy Buffet cover like the one at Foxie’s and a more rocking rhythm and blues/reggae band. We were told earlier in the day that the guitarist for the blues band was former lead guitarist for Bob Marley’s Whalers.
Experienced our first rain. Very light, but required a bit of battening down of hatches. A lot more rolling overnight and awakened bright early by non-stop rooster crows coming from the shore.
— Post From My IPad
The Beach at Cane Garden Bay
Here’s the view from the boat to the restaurant where we had lunch. It’s the one right in the middle.
It seems all the islands we visited had this topography, little strips of land with big mountains rising behind. The islands appear to be underwater mountains with the tips popping out of the water.
What’s has been most fascinating to me about this beach are the pelicans that dive bomb into the water for fish. The pelicans land like depth charges with their wings spread making a big splash and then munch away on their catch. There another kind of bird, some kind of duck, that mimics a torpedo, wings tight to its body and shoots into the water going under to get its prey. This will be part of the post return video.
What’s striking is that this bird behavior is absolutely amazing to visitors, like me, but the locals, not surprisingly, take no notice.
— Post From My IPad
Back to Tortola
Our departure from White Bay was a bit complicated by reefs that were partially unmarked. Jean took the dinghy to investigate. Eventually, a large catamaran left the Bay, which gave us an indication of the route out. The on deck issues are getting smoother and smoother. Lifted the sails and cut the motor in a matter of minutes.
Travel to our next destination, Cane Garden Bay on northern Tortola, was the most challenging sailing so far. Lots of wind shifts. We had to do a number of tacks and adjust our route to accommodate the wind. Also, we had a bit of trouble finding Cane Garden Bay, since the coastline had a number of similar bays. We got there in time for lunch however. Here’s the rest of the crew at lunch on the beach,
The following is probably the last picture that will ever show me with a beard. So white you can hardly see it. That’s our boat off my right shoulder. The logo on the shirt is the company I used to work for before I decided to become a Virgin Islands beach bum.
— Post From My IPad
Location:St Lucia Dr,,US Virgin Islands
Morning in White Bay
I’m trying to show the color of the water in White Bay in the above picture. Doesn’t really do it justice.
I swam to shore to go shelling. Very few shells, mostly rocks. Good exercise, though.
— Post From My IPad
Location:Peter Bay Rd,,US Virgin Islands
Sleepless in BVI
It was a somewhat restless night. Very rollicky on the boat. something called the traveler was banging for a good part of the night until Dave finally got up about 4 am and fixed it. He spent the night sleeping on deck. I did another stargaze at 5 am. The big dipper was above in a very different configuration that I’m used to seeing up north. Also, it’s not as well defined as up north and is more obscured by the other stars that are not visible in areas with more light pollution.
The banging didn’t really keep me awake, but the rolling affected my dreams. I had a very vivid dream that I was watching a Red Sox game with my wife, Rita, when an earthquake hit. I dreamed the earthquake would not stop, kept rolling and rolling and created a giant mound in front of my house. The dream actually woke me up to the real life rolling.
— Post From My IPad
Arriving at Jost Van Dyke island, White Bay
Sailing to Jost Van Dyke was pleasant, moderate winds with a few bursts. However, we did have to motor a bit. Our destination was White Bay, the next bay over from Great Harbor, home of the legendary Foxie’s Beach bar.
We arrived about 5 pm, about an hour before sundown. White Bay has a white sand beach that creates that stunning blue/green color in the water you see in tourism ads. It also hosts the lesser know Ivan’s Local Flavor Stress Free Bar. Jim and I swam from the boat to shore and had virgin Pina Colada’s at Ivan’s. It’s a tiny place with walls full of shells and encomiums to Ivan, said to be the nicest man in the world.
Dinner on the boat was fish. We’re running into problems with the refrigeration system and both the fish and chicken were submerged in solid blocks of ice. Dave managed to free some fish for dinner, created a fabulous makeshift sauce. So, we had grouper and something else, with rice and salad. Dave is an excellent field cook and works magic with whatever’s available.
A mild debate ensued as to whether we should go to Foxies, which would involve a somewhat treacherous dinghy sail around a point and over some coral reef in pitch darkness. Some felt Foxie’s was too touristy, others felt we needed to “check the box.” The “box checkers” prevailed and off we went. It probably took us a half an hour to motor over, guided mostly by the lights on boats. As we turned the point, the “too touristy” crowd was vindicated by a massive cruise boat with blazing lights anchored in the harbor. Surprisingly, for a Saturday night, there was a very small crown. A Jimmy Buffet cover band played all the hits, like Bad, Bad Leroy Brown and Proud Mary. I felt like I was at a sparsely attended wedding reception. But you could really see how this place must really jump on special occasions.
One drink and we left to go to the more authentic bar back in White Bay favored by the “too touristy” opinion. Unfortunately, that bar was literally empty and there was no place to moor the dinghy. So, we went back on the boat.
I did some stargazing. A magnificent moonless night. The IPad app called Star Walk was tremendously helpful in identifying constellations and stars, the first time in my life I’ve been able to do that. We are sitting right under the Orion constellation, with Orion’s belt never so visible to me.
— Post From My IPad