SURF AT LAST!

Current Location: Sandy Spit, JVD
Lat/Lon: 18°26.9' N 64°42.7' W
Air Temp: 80°F Sea Temp: 80°F
Weather: Calm

Yes we anchored in Apple Bay on Tortola, just in front of the famous Bomba's Shack, so I could catch some surf!! It was awesome!!! We dropped the hook around 4pm and there was no more than ten people in the water and I caught a bunch of waves. While surfing I ran into a friend who gives massages, which we desperately need! Moved over to Sandy Spit for the night, and visited with the owners of our sister ship, Catatonic, for margaritas and homemade guac (both delicious). Now Tara has some steak on the grill.

Marinas

Current Location: Village Cay Marina, Tortola
Lat/Lon: 18°25.4' N 64°37.03' W
Air Temp: 80°F Sea Temp: 80°F
Weather: Calm

Marinas suck. For one, they are crowded. Second, they are sheltered, which means there is no breeze and they are hot. Third the water is gross so no swimming! Also, marinas mean work -- when we are in port we like to get things done -- repairs, shopping, etc.

So, marinas are also good. They provide services - fuel, water, electricity, supplies, access to repairs, as well as shelter from the elements. We ran some errands, Tara went shopping, Issac from Wickham's Cay II Rigging installed a new halyard, and Junior from Doyle Sails dropped off our repaired gennaker and measured for cockpit shades.

So yet another very busy day of vacation. I can't wait for the vacation to actually start! Almost seems like we do less when we are on charter!

Lots of Cake

Our last charter was a birthday celebration for the entire family. Four people = four cakes?!? My first thought was to make one huge cake and call it quits. BUT if you know me, you know that I could not be that lame when it came to birthday cakes! So, every afternoon I could find a way to kick our guests off the boat while I worked on another surprise cake I went for it. The Dad had German Chocolate (his favorite), Mom had Pavlova (thank you Allison), older brother had Funnel Cakes and Ice Cream, and younger brother had my trademark Pirate Cake. The baking tested my "new to me" oven as much as my nerves. But I've learned that I can turn out a cake in just under 2 hours. (We're never even trying a roast on this boat.)

New Mailing Address

Current Location: Great Harbor, JVD
Lat/Lon: 18°26.45' N 64°45.0' W
Air Temp: 80°F Sea Temp: 80°F
Weather: Cool & Clear

What a busy couple of days have passed, especially considering that we are allegedly on vacation! We rented a car and did all sorts of food and parts provisioning for the things we discovered the boat was missing over the last couple of weeks. Also got a PO Box in the US of A so you can mail us stuff now!!!

The address is:

Alexander Bouis or Tara Chaille (as applicable)
6501 Red Hook Plaza
Suite 201
St. Thomas, VI 00802-1306

ANTS in me PLANTS!

A month of offering a fresh punch of flavor to our meals and I had to beg Sasha not to toss my little herb garden off the boat. A few days ago he noticed a lone ant trooping across the cockpit and wondered where it had come from. As it turns out my garden is harboring the little guys--- a whole village of them!! After filling my head with thoughts of ants infesting the entire galley and eating everything from loaves of bread to onions hiding under the sink, Sasha suggested we somehow create a mote around the plants to keep the ants in one spot until we have time to "deal" with them. I had nightmares about it all. Now Sasha is spraying bleach all over the bases of the pots and the deck they are sitting on to kill anything that dares venture out in the night. Any better suggestions out there?

Finally!

Current Location: The Lagoon, St. Thomas
Lat/Lon: 18°18.76' N 64°52.1' W
Air Temp: 80°F Sea Temp: 80°F
Weather: Windy, Partly Cloudy

We are finally off charter!!! It was a busy, eventful, and fun few weeks, but it is nice to have the boat to ourselves for a change. We found a sheltered cove that is the namesake of our yachtmaker, and we are hunkered down here for the night. Tomorrow we rent a car and do some shopping in St. Thomas!

Sunrise over Ginger Island

Current Location: The Baths, Virgin Gorda
Lat/Lon: 18°25.75' N 64°26.8' W
Air Temp: 80°F Sea Temp: 80°F
Weather: Sunny

All this automation leaves my hands free to capture images like this gorgeous sunrise over Ginger Island on the way to The Baths.

All in the TOES!

Oh how wonderful our beloved Capt. Sasha is. He can do just about anything around the boat.... with the push of a button! I was telling my dad the other day about our awesome electric winches on board when it dawned on me that Sasha may be taking waaay too much credit for the work around this little boat of ours. She sails like a dream, but can leave you with a bit of a foot cramp. It's all in the TOES! Check out the photo of Sasha hoisting the main single handed. The hardest part of the job is figuring out where to sit during the whole operation. In all reality this little luxery is probably saving my butt more than anyone else!!

Wonderful Weather Underground

Current Location: Cooper Island Beach Club
Lat/Lon: 18°23.15' N 64°30.9' W
Air Temp: 80°F Sea Temp: 80°F
Weather: Starry Skies

So as you may already know, I LOVE to track the weather, and one of my favorite sites is The Weather Underground. Well, it was annoying to me that the BVIs did not appear on the weather radar page, so I emailed them, and less then a day later, lo and behold, there they are! AWESOME!! Great work guys.

I also like Weather Underground co-founder Dr. Jeff Masters' weather blog. During the tropical season, that and Rob Lightbown's Tropical Discussion pages are invaluable resources. In addition, I rely on the local NOAA forecasts as well as other great Caribbean weather sites such as CaribWX, and WeatherCarib.

Finally, I have always relied upon the Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center (FNMOC) Wave Watch 3 (WW3) models to predict swell events for surfing both back in New York and down here in the Caribbean. In fact, we have some swell heading our way tomorrow, so we are going to try to avoid it since we have guests on board. I hope sometime soon I will get to use my surfboard!!!

SCUBA diving is fun

Current Location: Sandy Spit, E of Jost
Lat/Lon: 18°27.03' N 64°42.6' W
Air Temp: 80°F Sea Temp: 80°F
Weather: Isolated Showers

Here is a picture from our last charter. The honeymoon couple loved scuba diving so we dove as much as possible, up to three times a day! Here is a great pic of them having fun:

What's the Third time??

Cut me once, shame on you. Cut me twice shame on me. And third times the charm?!? Just sent my knives to be sharpened before coming down this way. I'm rethinking that so called great idea as I find myself chopping under sail or mid conversation with guests. Either way I'm usually only able to keep one eye on the knife and the other... not. Today was the third good one. Three fingers and one amazing wash cloth later I'm still learning. As he ran to get the Bactine and bandages today Sasha asked me to "please stop cutting myself". I told him I'd do my best. Ps. Mom, I'm setting up a PO Box next week-- please send more washcloths, at this rate I might make it till Christmas.

Second Charter

Second time around-- you'd assume it would be similar to the first, but this time they brought the whole famdamily. Mom, Dad, and 2 boys ages 14 and 8. The parents are originally from Kentucky but are raising the boys on the east coast now. Great people so far (aka. they LOVE my cooking). We are anchored in Francis Bay off of St. John and as soon as everyone is up and we do a little breakfast we'll be off to Jost Van Dyke to check into the BVIs and say hello to Foxy. I'm excited to work with the kids over the next few days, they are really into the ocean and all it's creatures. We bought fish ID cards for snorkle time and hope to begin naming fish this afternoon! The excitment over the underwater world is refreshing and a great reminder as to how special this place really is.

Gorgeous sunrise over St. John

Current Location: Francis Bay, St. John, USVI
Lat/Lon: 18°21.86' N 64°44.8' W
Air Temp: 80°F Sea Temp: 80°F
Weather: Partly Cloudy

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Current Location: Francis Bay, St. John, USVI
Lat/Lon: 18°21.86' N 64°44.8' W
Air Temp: 80°F Sea Temp: 80°F
Weather: Scattered Showers

What a long day! Wake up in Village Cay Marina (after dropping off our guests, doing laundry, provisioning, cleaning the boat, and servicing the generator yesterday), sail 15 miles downwind to Redhook, St. Thomas, anchor outside because our slip isn't ready, end up picking up our new guests at the fuel dock, get them moved in, tour the boat, motor out to St. John, eat lunch, snorkel, kayak, unwrap the dinghy painter from the propeller (yes, it even happens to professionals like me), grab a mooring in Francis Bay, re-splice the dinghy painter, cook dinner, and, finally, go to bed. We are sure to sleep well tonight!!!!!

Full Moon Party at Trellis Bay

Current Location: Trellis Bay
Lat/Lon: 18°26.88' N 64°31.9' W
Air Temp: 80°F Sea Temp: 80°F
Weather: FULL MOON

Howlin' at the moon, fireballs in the water, steel drum band on the beach, and our first full moon party at Trellis Bay! Pics soon, busy day of diving tomorrow.

Boat Photo

Here are some more photos of the boat. (Top Left: Crew Cabin, Top Right: State Room, Bottom Left: Master Suite, Bottom Right: Salon) These were taken during the boat show so they give you an idea of how good it can look when no one is allowed to touch anything! ! Sasha and I have been enjoying the first charter-- these people are up around 6:30 every morning wanting to dive. We love it!

Amazing diving today

Current Location: Cooper Island Beach Club
Lat/Lon: 18°23.06' N 64°30.85' W
Air Temp: 80°F Sea Temp: 80°F
Weather: Almost a full moon!!!

We dove Angelfish Reef and the Indians today and it was awesome. We saw turtles, sharks, barracuda, tarpon, and countless other fish, as well as corals, pirate caves, etc. Check out this Flamingo Tongue.

Hitting the water running

Current Location: Great Harbor, Jost van Dyke
Lat/Lon: anchored just in front of Foxy's (everybody knows where Foxy's is!)
Air Temp: 80°F Sea Temp: 80°F
Weather: Moonlit

Our first charter is going amazingly well. I fixed a few things on the boat that really needed fixing, and Tara fixed some great meals that got really eaten. We logged 25 miles of sailing today (from Anegada to Jost van Dyke) and went SCUBA diving twice, including a stop at the wreck of the Chikuzen! Setting up the boat was fun (Tara got to shop for her herb garden) and Hypnautic looks GREAT. We have done some fantastic diving already, and we rigged the absolutely MASSIVE gennaker for the downwind run. Here is a picture of Tara dwarfed by sail area. INCONCEIVABLE!!!

Boat show a success! Finally on charter!!

Current Location: NW corner of Salt Island, BVI
Lat/Lon: 18°22.42' N 64°31.9' W
Air Temp: 80°F Sea Temp: 80°F
Weather: Moonlit

The 27th Annual BVI Charter Yacht Society Boat Show at Village Cay was a great success. We are finally on our first day of our first charter. No time to write right now, but we'll get some pictures online soon! Planning on diving the Rhone tomorrow.

Liquid Courage

Wow. To all the boys out there, I now feel the pressure of asking a girl to marry you. Tonight was the big night for our owner. He has been planning his proposal for a couple months and Sasha and I have been in on it for a few weeks now. We took him out to run errands with us today so that we could talk specifics while his girlfriend stayed on the boat to keep an eye on the wash/ wax crew. As soon as we got back I started in with the cocktails to settle the nerves. In the end everything went well and she said YES! Not sure what we would have done had she said no. We actually talked about bringing her passport with us just in case we needed to drop her at the airport on our way back to the boat :) Looks like she made the right choice.