The RMS Rhone

For some reason the Rhone pic didnt post so ill try again

Day 7 All Good Things Must Come to an End:

Well today was quite the day. Finally, 7 days and i was given the privilege of being cap'n of the fair lady Patricia J. I got to take the wheel and call the shots! (those of you who know me well know i don't mind taking charge lol ). So we woke up ate breakfast, and set sail from Little Harbour in Jost Van Dyke.

We traveled a southerly course, through the "Thatch Island Cut" (a passage between the west end of Tortola and the neighboring Great Thatch island) and then east through the Sir Francis Drake channel. Our first destination: the western most point of Salt Island to see the Wreck of the Rhone.

The story of the RMS Rhone goes like this. Way back in the 1800s it was a steam ship that carried mail for the Queen (Great Britain). In the 1860s there was a hurricane and they got trapped in the area. Apparently they were taking safe refuge in nearby Great Harbour on Peter Island. When the eye of the hurricane passed over and things got really calm they figured they better make a run for it to open water. (big mistake) They almost made it, but at the western most point of Salt Island they met with the hurricane and ship wrecked. Leaving quite an interesting dive.

Twas really cool, this ship was huge! There was this giant hull and this huge propeller and anchor that had all this choral growing on it. And wreckage was teeming with tropical fish swimming through it. The only down side….i forgot to charge my waterproof camera! So no pics that i can claim to have taken.. :( Well i guess ill have to rely on memories (and the internet) for this one.

After that we headed back west for Deadman's Bay on Peter Island (the harbour across from Dead Chest Island, the Island where Blackbeard left "16 men and a dead mans chest, yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum" No joke!). We dropped anchor in Deadman's Bay and MAN! this beach is so pretty. Coconut palms lining the whole thing! At least i got pics of that. We walked basically most of the beach and headed back onboard for dinner. Spaghetti and meat sauce, one of my personal faves! After that i just laid on the deck, listening to the waves crashing on the beach, looking up at the huge moon filling the starry night sky. This place is so peaceful. I'm sad to think that this will be my last night on board.

I guess its like the old saying goes, "All good things must come to an end." ….Well, at least in this system of things it does..…. ;)

Well all, it's been a wild 7 day journey, thanks for reading and becoming followers. Stay tuned for "The Voyages of Cap'n Gabe Part II: Journeys to Work, Home and the Dog Park! Starring first mate Tollie (my dog) Skipper Dick (step dad number 2) and yours truly!

lol!…. just kiddin..…. no im not

Day 6 All Good Things Come to Those Who Wait:

So one thing anyone who knows anything about sailing can tell you is this. There is no instant gratification involved in it WHAT SO EVER. Everything takes time and work, it's not suited to the now generation at all. Patience is key to being able to appreciate sailing. Maybe thats why not to many of younger years are interested in it. I cant really blame em. I mean i cant even count the amount of times Ive been on a boat, watching the sails luff in the wind, looking at a destination in front of us and just thinking, "Gosh can we just turn on the engine and get there all ready!"

But i have to admit, it has forced me to learn about something that i am honestly not to well versed in. Patience. Supposedly there is a saying that goes, "All good things come to those who wait". Is this really true? Is it the case that if we wait for something then that means that it will automatically do some good for us?

Frankly I don't know, maybe, maybe not. But what I do know is that in a world chalk full of instant gratification, when someone actually has to wait and work for something, they ultimately appreciate it more. How many kids do you know that ask, nay, demand something of their parents and have to wait a whole day to get it, and just as soon as they do it's already on the ground getting trampled on and disrespected. But had that kid had to wait for that toy, or better yet, work and wait for it, would it still lay in the same condition as it does now?

Which brings me to our trip on the water today. After mooring at monkey point, we set sail east for Jost Van Dyke. After raising the sails, we sat there and watched them luff in a soft slow tail wind, all the while rocking back and forth in the ocean, feeling like we were getting nowhere. Things got so bad that Mike asked if i would go out on deck and use the boat hook to push out the genoa so it would catch more wind (a technique called a wisker pull, notice the pic). This agonizing pace went on for a good 2 hrs before we even got to our mid day stopping point. Honestly at times I felt like " Man! we arent ever gonna reach! Impatience rising, Now generation tendencies growing……!!!" And after all that time, after moving so slowly and working so hard to raise, tighten, ease, trim and lower these sails, all i had to show for it was one of the most beautiful deserted islands that i have ever seen (ok lets be honest, ONLY deserted island Ive ever seen!)

Sandy Spit was its name, and apparently a spit is an isle even smaller than a Cay. As we approached i saw a rim of bright blue and turquoise water like i have yet to see in all the beauty already encountered. The snorkeling was great, i saw an octopus and many beautiful fish. And the isle followed just in line. Bright white sands contrasting the light blue waters. Large choral formations just off the beach. And some of the coolest lil shells that have ever crossed my sight. Pelicans dive fishing just off shore. And a ray threw itself out of the water breaching twice in a row right in front of my eyes!

After leaving Sandy Spit we set sail genoa only past Sandy Cay (also gorgeous) and turned north west around the point into Little Harbour of Jost Van Dyke (isn't that a cool name for an island!?!?) As soon as anchor was set we loosed the Main Halyard from the Main Sail and turned it into a Tarzan rope, which was pretty fun! Little Harbour is home to a well known beach front restaurant called Sydney's Peace and Love (again, with a name like that how can you NOT wanna go there?!?!) Throw in the fact that they make some mean BBQ and you know Da Gabestaaa is there!

Now i don't know if all of these things wouldn't have been as good of an experience for me if i had just hopped in a car and went down the street to see them on a movie screen or in a local aquarium, rather than me journeying half way across the world and sailing miles to encounter them. But what i do know is that humans seem to appreciate things more when they have to wait and work for them. And i think Sheryl Crow said it best when she said "Its not having what you want, its wanting what you've got"

So in the words of those darn bud light commercials… Heres to you sailing, for teaching me a lil something about patience and appreciation. When you truly understand and can live with sailing, i think you have come to realize that life's not just about the destination, but rather its also about the journey.

Day 5 Wreck of the Chikuzen and Guana Island:

So today is thursday…. uhhhh… i think. And on the list of responsibilities, i am chief navigator. Uhoh, I don't know if we want the fate of the crew resting in my hands… lol. My job should i choose to accept it, is to guide our vessel from the port of Anegada all the way to the wreckage site of the Chikuzen (some lil buoy out in the middle of open water) and then from there to the southern tip of the Isle Guana called Monkey Point.

So we got up, had breakfast, and with some much appreciated help from Adnieszka i plotted our course from Anegada to the wreck of the Chikuzen. We set sail on a course of 245 degrees southwest magnetic. And we made pretty decent time to the wreckage site. It was Mikes first time there so we were all pretty unsure of what to expect. When the GPS indicated we were where the wreck site was we started looking around for a buoy that should of marked it out. We saw a small pair just off the port side, one yellow and one white so we went ahead and picked it up. When we did Don was stuck with the dirty job of securing it to the cleat hitch on our port bow. This thing was really gross, it looked like something straight out of davy jones's locker, covered in slimy sea weed barnacles and muscles. After we secured it Mike, Don, Agnieszka and myself dived in and started trying to find the wreck. Ill have to admit i was a lil intimidated, seeing as how this was a pretty "open water" dive… I wouldn't admit it at the time, but i still think bout the movie Jaws every once in a while. I know i know, theres more chance of me getting killed by bees or a car accident than there is of me getting bit by a shark, but i just don't care. Say the odds are 1 in a million that it could happen, just watch me be that one in a million…. Dang black side! why cant i just be totally dumb like that crocodile hunter guy!!! lol.. just kiddin…. no im not … Well, long story long, we looked around for about 5-10 minutes and gave up, i guess visibility was just a lil too bad in the area.

After that we took a change of course to 209 degrees S.W. magnetic for the isle of Guana. Our wind died down a bit so we dropped the genoa and motor sailed with our main the rest of the way. We came in to the channel between Guana isle and Great Camanoe, then headed south down around Monkey point on Guana and grabbed a mooring buoy on the east side of it.

Turns out Guana Island is privately owned. So you really arent supposed to go on shore. Well, today the crew of the Patricia J (the name of our ship) felt like living a lil on the wild side. Our mooring spot was a cool lil spot with turquoise water, just above a choral reef and there was a cave and a lil secluded beach we could call our own. The temptation was far too great to resist swimming to the beach of Patricia J (thought we'd get a lil conquistadorish and start claiming stuff that already belongs to someone else…lol….) So we took a swim through the reef and cave and ended up on the beach, which connected through to another beach on the other side of the point, which is where we got back in and snorkeled all the way around monkey pt. back to our boat. A lil more my style then the whole open water thing…

We then settled in for dinner, BBQ chicken. Ummmmmmhmmmmmm :-D..…. (the extra dots are drool coming out of my mouth…. (just kidding….. no im not))

Part 2 Sailing Movie

and part 2:

Some Sailing Action from Day 2

By poplular demand, heres a video! its divided up

Day 4: Anegada Davita Baby!!!

So when you pull up a map of the BVIs, they focus mostly on Tortola and the isles around it. But there is one more in the group thatsome maps cut off. It is the Island of Anegada. It lies about 12 miles North of the rest of the group.

Anegada is kind of the odd ball out in many ways when compared to the other BVIs. Not only is it the farthest outlying isle, but also in its composition. While the other BVIs came into existence from mountainous volcanic activity, Anegada is comprised of coral and limestone, with its highest point being only 28 ft. above sea level. Its a big long flat island with mile after mile of sandy beach, and a huuuuugeee (reportedly 3rd largest in the world) coral reef system (horseshoe reef) surrounding it almost completely. Therein lies the nautical challenge.

Horseshoe reef has caused over 300 known ship wrecks, it is so shallow and so vast that many a one eyed salin man have run there ships right onto it thinking they were safe in open water. I mean you could literally barely see the island off in the distance (because its so low on the horizon) and already have to be watching out for the choral heads. Add to this the factor of currents and wind strength and you have quite the sailing challenge on your hands. Due to all of these factors, many charter companies have made Anegada off limits as a destination.

Alright, a lil excitement! (as if we needed any more lol) So we set sail on a northern course for the western point of Anegada. There are only a few parts of the island where the coral reef is deep enough to allow a sailboat with a 7ft. keel to pass safely through. As we approached we had to look out for a red and a green buoy, and pass in between them, kind of like a small gateway to the island.

After navigating a tricky course we made it safely through, and anchored right off shore. Did some more snorkeling in some of the reef, then cleaned up and went ashore for dinner. The place was soooo pretty, right on the beach, check out the pics! O, and i had carribean lobster for dinner, it was huge! And quite delish if i do say so myself!

DAY 3 The Baths and North Sound of Virgin Gorda Isle:

Ok, well now i can understand (partially) what the navy men of old kind of went through. All of these days are starting to run together. There are no markers to determine which day it is, only sunrise, sunset, and a new course and island destination in mind. Todays destination: Fat Girl Island ( actually Virgin Gorda Island, sounds much cooler that way lol)

Turns out way back Columbus was the first EUROPEAN to "DISCOVER" the island, (even though the Caribs or some other indian tribe of the Carribean had already inhabited it. He saw it off in the distance on the horizon, and again, after a long, LONG time at sea he proclaimed he would name it Virgin Gorda, because to him it looked like a fat chick laying on her side, all seductive like n' stuff..lol. To the east some legs, then as you follow the horizon to the west some big mts. that make up some big hips, then some shoulders and a head. I guess he wasn't too far off, cuz when you throw salt water in your eyes, squint real hard, and focus on the fact that you don't have a significant other, all at the same time…. YEP!!! There it is! i can see it!!!, clear as day….lol just kiddin…..no im not

So we released the mooring booey from the coral reef protected waters of Marina Cay, and set sail on a south easterly couse for the famous baths of V.G. Twas a fairly strong easterly wind ablow (isn't it great when you just make up and use words to sound all educated, even though they prolly don't even exist , and as long as you don't use it around someone who thinks theyre smarter then you, then everyone just acts like its all good and compliments you on the size of your vocab…lol, yeah thats great..). We sailed about 2-3 hrs and reached the baths.

The baths are quite the lil natural geological site. We moored just off the coast and took the dingy in part way, then swam the remainder cuz you cant take the dingies onto the beach, i guess a swimmer got ran over or some junk… :( So i guess some kind of volcanic activity created all these crazy boulders right on the beach, and this network of boulders now joins together to form this large network of caves that allow in salt water. So it makes for a cool hike with some awesome pool filled caverns. Just check out the pics!

After the caves, we swam back out to the dingy, and after I pulled ALL who couldn't get onto the dingy on their own, (which was EVERYONE) back on board, we set sail east for the North Sound of V.G. We had a strong head wind so we took a close hauled course and made good time.

The sound was pretty cool, its home to a pretty exclusive resort (one of the many here) called the Bitter End. We dropped anchor and made a delicious dinner, New York steaks, potatoes, broccoli, and red wine.

I gotta say as i sat there, eating a delicious meal, hearing the sound of the waves lapping against the hull of the boat, and almost incessantly gazing up at the millions of stars shimmering in the night sky, i said more than a few prayers of thanks to Jehovah God. I remembered the scripture in Ecclesiastes 3:12,13. The one that says it is good for every man to eat and drink and see good for the hard work he has accomplished with his hand, it truly is the gift of God.

Day 2 3/22/10: All hands on Deck

Ok, sorry for the delay all. I guess the down side of going to remote places is that finding wifi is pretty impossible…O and i uploaded a map of the BVIs so you guys can kinda follow me though the voyages. That being said, lets continue...

Ok, so where was i when i last left off…. uhhhhhh… oh yeah! Sleepin under the stars, ok well, like i said, i deferred to sleeping in the main salon at about 4am. After everyone woke up Don and Barb made us some breakfast. Twas quite superb, eggs and toast. After this we took the dingy into the beach in pirates bight to check out a trail we heard about. This also allowed time for the charter company to come out and tend to some needed fixes on our boat.

Well the hike definitely turned out to be worth it. We got some awesome views of the North and South aspects of the island. Just check the pics, on the back there were these cool cliffs with wave spray crashing at their feet. And on the north we got a sweet view of the bight from up high.

After the trail we swam back out to the boat (some of us dingeyed it back) and it was time to get down to bizniss, oh yeah, sailing. So we raised the sails and headed out into the Sir Francis Drake channel. We were ready for some wind and man o' man, wind is what we got!

Out in the channel white caps were everywhere. The waves were big rolling swells and the easterly trade winds were hitting us at 20-25 knots! Our first destination: Marina Cay, so we set out on a close hauled north easterly course, then up around the Bluff of Beef island, and finally north west to Marina Cay, (Cay means tiny isle, and its pronounced Key).

Marina Cay was a cool isle indeed. There is a coral reef just off of it providing calm waters for a good mooring spot at night. We cleaned up and took a dingy into shore for a show at the Hill Top Bar in Robb White House called "Happy Hour". This guy Michael Bean was dressed up like a pirate and put on quite an entertaining show. I really liked him, not just because he could play the guitar, harmonica and foot drums all at the same time, or cuz he was dressed up like a pirate, (although that didn't hurt! lol) but rather i liked him cuz he had this huge smile while he performed and you could just tell that he REALLY enjoyed making people happy. I also really liked how he kept the whole show really clean. To many times these days people figure they have to be dirty to make a show funny. Frankly, this is completely false. The truly funny people can be funny without having to rely on shock value or dirty jokes, rather they use wit and the actual gift of humor…what a novel idea?!?!?!

I got some good shots of the Cay, check em out. After the show we had dinner on the beach. I had chicken linguinie, i know i know, go all the way to the carribean and have an Olive Garden Entree?!?!?! Well when you get good carribean eating at home all the time, sometimes its best not to compare with gramas cookin! lol you might just come away disappointed…. ;)

The travel Day from Hades and BVI Voyage Day 1

Ok guys, if you got the link for this blog, then you are all my friends. And as such you are required to forgive me for all errors in this blog! By reading the previous sentence you have hereby relinquished all abilities to be irritated by all misspellings, malgrammar, and poor blogging skills overall…lol

Having said that, lets get down to business…

For any who don't know, this is a blog following my adventures through the BVI (british virgin islands). Welcome, i hope it provides you some entertainment, maybe a laugh or two, and an overall diversion from the boredom of life in general….lol

So on friday night 3/19/10 i left seatac at 10 pm. And to make a long, boring story short, after a 6 hr plane "maintenance" delay and two missed water taxis later, after 21hrs of travel i finally arrive at my first destination, a Rhymers beach hotel at Cane Garden Bay, Tortola. Sooooo tired….. ,'-\ …. ( so the extra dots are drool coming out my mouth as i sleep) lol

Next day we woke up, Jared and his wife Agnieszka, (say that three times fast!!???) and i catch a cab to our port of call, The Moorings base in Road Town Tortola. There we met up with our instructor, Mike Rice, and all other crew members, Fred and his wife Julia, and Don with his wife Barbara. After loading up the boat with supplies we grabbed lunch and headed out to the high seas for a 7 day tour of the British Virgin Islands!!!

First destination: The caves of Norman Island. This was a pretty amazing lil spot. There's all these natural caves in the cliiff faces of this isle, with an amazing coral reefs teeming with brightly colored fish just outside them. The caves themselves could of been a hiding spot for treasures chest of pirates' of the carribean in the past! :-0 Sorry, i didn't find any…. :-(

We sailed due south around peter island, and dropped anchor right at the caves off the west coast of the norman isle, just south of "The Bight" or "Pirates Bight". We put on our snorkel gear, swam into the caves, and even saw a sea turtle!! (pretty rare to see!!) Notice the decent underwater shots i got!

After that we motored north, into the bight (a nice calm harbor) for the night, and dropped anchor. It was me and mikes turn on cooking duty, (go figure…. put the colored brotha kitchenside…lol just kiddin :-) so i fired up the bbq and grilled some lemon pepper mahi mahi ( quite delish if i do say so myself! lol) (note power crazed spakle in my eye on flame/bbq/sunset pic lol) which we followed with a delicious cheesecake with cherry topping… mmmmmmm

After dinner most people aboard wanted to hit the Willy T's, an infamous floating pirate themed bar in the bight thats known for its parrrrrty-harrrrrrrrty-haaarrrrrrrrs….! (pirate pun for those who didn't catch it…lol) Not to worry all, i was sooooo tired that i crashed instead. The stars were soooo, pretty and soooo bright that night on the water, and it was so calm and peaceful that i just decided to sleep up on deck under the stars. It was truly amazing, just hearing the waves lap against the boat and the perfect breeze blowing over your face, and opening your eyes to see the stars wish you to sleep… Truly an experience ill never forget……

..…..buuuuuuuutttttttt…….

Alas, the constant winter trade wind that has made the BVIs so famous as a sailing destination picked up strength and threatened to whip the blanket right off of my dormant body and carry it right into the blarney deep. Therefore i cried uncle and went in at about 4 am to retire below deck in the main salon…. :-(

Yet and still, one day of memories down, many more to make...