Where is the Far Reach?

[John Stone]

The Far Reach has been anchored in Great Harbor, Jost van Dyke for about a week. We sailed in looking for a tranquil place to spend some time to nourish body and spirt after our 2 1/2 week upwind bash from Cape Lookout, only to learn that our exact location is the site of one of the largest New Years Eve's beach parties in the world! We must have been the only two sailors in the western world that did not know what seems to be near universal common knowledge. We thought about leaving before the boats descended on us. When we dropped the hook we were outside every boat save one. But, within a few days we got boxed in due to all the boats decending on Great Harbor. We had lost the easy routes of egress. It was like being under blockade. Without our trusty outboard, we to come up with a strategy to sail out between some big yachts but finally thought what the heck, let's not fight this. It might be an interesting experience. So we stayed put.

And, we have met some wonder people. Other cruisers of course, but locals too. The highlight, without a doubt, is the Methodist church service I attended on 27 December. What an experience. There were only four non locals in attendance and one helps out with the local school for several months each year. The church was packed. The big barn-door style window were swung wide to allow the tropical breeze to blow through. Almost all in attendance were local women in their brightly colored dresses and marvelous hats accompanied by their well behaved smiling children. What a service. And they sang their hearts out. I'll never forget the soaring soprano voices and beautiful West Indies accents covering so many familiar spiritual hymms. It made the hair stand up on my neck. The rest of the week it felt like I was perhaps received a little more warmly than before. And Tricia and I are definitely known here since it seems common knowledge that we are brother and sister which is viewed as pretty unique sailing team.

On 29 December we shipped 74 gallons of fresh water by collapsible jugs from the local fuel dock topping off our tanks.

On 30 December, I helped Emma, a fascinating Scottish single hander, sail her boat over to Nanny Key, Tortola which gave me the opportunity to conduct a reconnaissance of the Thatch Island Cut and west end of the Drake Channel. It was another upwind bash in the BVI 25 knot Christmas Winds. I keep waiting for the legendary downwind sleigh-ride in the trades I have read about all my life. I always seem to be going the wrong way! Ha!

On the upwind slug we crossed tacks with the gorgeous wood schooner "Juno" from Vinyhaven, Maine. I'd previously only seen her in WoodenBoat magazine. She was stunning. She sailed up wind with her forestays'l, furled fores'l and a double reefed main. She pointed higher than we did in Emma's Jeaneu 37. She went up wind like a locomotive. In no time she was gone. It was an incredible site to behold.

Once arrived at Nanny Key I stopped in at Budget Marine and bought a 2 stroke Tohatsu 9.8 short shaft for the inflatable I purchased and stowed aboard the Far Reach before we left North, Carolina. I then rode the ferry with my new outboard back to Jost van Dyke. I love rowing Sweet Pea, our 9' Fatty Knees punt. But, I'd thought it would to fun to give my soon to be 16 year old twins a car for their 16th birthday -- a dinghy car so to speak.

Tonight, the scene here is unworldly. There are about 150 boats anchored here. The night sky is filled with anchor lights that make you feel like you are looking out of the center of a galaxy of stars. Music is wafting out across the water from a dozen beach bars--Corsairs, Ali Baba's, the A&B, and of course the legendary Foxy's, just to name a few.

Tomorrow we hope to sail out and maybe spend the night one harbor over at Little Harbor. Or maybe push on a little further to Cane Garden Bay on the west side of Tortola.

More to Follow.

[Jim Walsh]

Nice update John. That 2 stroke is worth it's weight in gold in the U.S.. Glad everything is going well

[Warren Kaplan]

Did you check out Soper's Hole at the west end of Tortola? That's a nice place to pick up a mooring. Nice little "town" ashore to meet people and chew the sailing fat with. I enjoyed a couple of stops there a few years back. Its good for a couple of days and then you can move on...even to St. John in the USVI. Lots to see there.

[jbenagh]

What an adventure! Thanks for sharing.

Jeff

[Steve A]

Greetings John, You are in a beautiful part of the Carrib, as you discovered getting ashore is about meeting some interesting folks and not the fancy restaurants. I guess you'll be bouncing around the BVI for awhile loads of good anchorages anywhere from minutes to hours away. Anchorages have evolved, when I was there, back in the day there were very few moorings nowadays moorings are just another revenue stream for some. In some anchorages the moorings are not in daily use. There’s nothing a mooring owner can do about your anchoring near a unused mooring, as the mooring owner only has title to the ball and ground tackle, not the space on the water. Keep a good stout chain or cable on that new motor, motors tend to disappear when they are shinny and new. We even chained ours to the stern pulpit at night when we got down island and brought the dinghy onboard nights as well. How are the solar panels working out ? Have you perfected the art of wick maintenance on all of your lamps ? We would always keep the points down and sometimes it was easiest to turn it up so only the charred portion was exposed and then rub it off till it was even rather than cutting. Well keep us posted, have fun and stay safe...........Cheers Steve

[John Stone]

Hi everyone. All good here. We departed Jost van Dyke this morning and beat up wind (of course) under reefed main, working job and stays'l to Cane Garden Bay on the west side of Tortola. The winds have backed off a bit as they are calling for 15-20 kts for the next week.

Cane Garden Bay is beautiful. Lots of boats here of course. We used the inflatable with the new motor as a yawl Boat to work in between the charter boats and anchor in 20' of gorgeous water. I dove the anchor to find it buried completely. All these bays would be easy to sail into and out of but with 40-100 boats in these small bays it is very difficult. We are looking into shipping the 9.9 high thrust long shaft Honda down. Will be expensive but will help I think. In the mean time we are developing new skills. We are not taking the moorings. $30 a night and by anchoring a little further out we have had a great breeze all day and night with out any bugs (knock wood). There are way to many boats here for my tastes but I knew it going in. It does not take away from the stunning beauty all around. I sailed here a thousands times as I fell asleep for nearly 40 years so this was always going to be the initial destination. All the work, dozens of drawings, hideous grinding of fiberglass, milling thousands of board feet of wood, installing thousands of bungs, endless sanding, applying gallons of varnish, and splicing the standing rigging are but a distant memory.

Most places seem to have free wifi. Kerosene lanterns, both interior and navigation, are working well. Yes, we are getting pretty good at wick trimming. The solar panel is doing a great job. We run that little clip on fan on low and it only uses 2.5 amps over the whole night. The battery is fully charged by 0900. Being able to move the panel around and keep it in the sun makes it much more powerful than the 30 watt size would suggest. We charge our phones and the little Bose Color Link wireless speaker. No problems. Have not seen the battery below about 97 percent to this point.

We do lock the outboard and the dinghy. One was stolen at Jost van Dyke on New Years Eve. Spade anchor working great. Don't really miss anything on the boat. Delighted in fact. I can see adding a few things later but I'd like see what skills I can develop with the boat as is. Once sister Tricia flys home it will be more challenging until the family joins. Again the issue is all the boats and crowded anchorages.

We are meeting some other cruisers and learning the ins and outs of provisioning and island transportation. We need to find a shipping point for the Honda outboard in the USVI to avoid customs dues on something I already own.

Will check out the large grocery in Road Town, BVI and see what that is like then clear BVI and clear in to USVI to find the best shipping point and then spend some time around St John. Probably back to BVI after that. Look forward to seeing my family.

I am thinking about single handing over to St Martin ((80 miles upwind! LOL) if I finish some projects and get restless. More to follow.

[John Stone]

We departed Cane Garden Bay under single reefed main and stays'l at 1045, 3 Jan. Prior to departure we topped off our water tanks by ferrying 18 gallons of water from the small marina back to the boat. We also found a small reef to snorkel the day before only 100 yards from where we anchored. I think the kids will enjoy snorkeling it.

We had a nice run to the SW in 15-18 kts of wind passing through Thatch Cut. At the last minute I decided we could leave Little Thatch Island to starboard and so we beat up through the narrow Frenchman's Cut, past Soaper's Hole. The Far Reach sailed it perfectly. We had good speed and were healed about 20-25 degrees max. The wind accelerated through the cut but there was no swell. She was very close winded under those conditions.

We broke out into the panoramic Drake Channel. We took long tacks beating up the ever widening channel between Tortola to the north and St John's to the south. The Far Reach found her groove and with the Cape Horn self-steering windvane engaged she handily powered over the top of several large catamarans struggling against the increasing chop. Norman Island was packed so we tacked away after deciding we would head to Deadman's Bay on Peter Island. We got in to some lighter winds and very quickly found the bottom end of the Far Reach's performance parameter with the reefed main and stays'l--about 18 knots. We had a short-lived squall roll over bringing a small amount of rain and about 30 knots of breeze. It passed quickly, the wind went light and we wallowed. We hoisted the working jib and it was like we got shot out of a cannon. The Far Reach came alive. We were making 6 1/2 knots and really powering upwind. Another squall and we once again we dropped the jib after some foredeck heroics by Tricia and we went back to the stays'l and reefed main. Eventually we sailed in to Deadman's Bay. There were 12-14 boats there. We sailed in, tacked, sailed out, gybed around, each time pressing deeper into the bay while we conducted our reconnaissance.

During this time a couple of charter cats departed and eventually we found the spot we wanted so we sailed up, dropped the hook, and dropped our sails. I put on my mask and fins and dove the anchor to make sure it was well set. The water was shockingly clear . . . the clearest we had seen our swim in the mid Atlantic during our 18 day passage. The anchor was in the grass though where it often doesn't set as well as when in sand. So, we tied the inflatable up along the port quarter and powered up weighing the anchor resetting it about 150' further up-wind in a nice patch of sand in about 25' of gin-clear water. I dove the anchor again and told Tricia she had to dive in and enjoy the beautiful water. She did and while swimming down to the bottom to see the anchor she saw my gerber folding pocket knife laying on the sand next to the anchor! I have no idea how it got there. I'm glad she found it as I have carried that knife a long time and have parachuted with it, swam with it while diving a LAR V rebreather, and carried it through two combat tours. You might say I am rather fond of it. So it was my lucky day and good fortune to have my eagle eyed sister with me. Have I ever mentioned she is a good piece of gear to have with you.

The anchorage was rolly but we did not care. It is a gorgeous place. I cooked Deadman's Bay steak patties (hamburgers) and we ate our fill. We were tired. We had several squalls pass over bringing a fair amount of rain. We both went to bed early.

Next day, 4 Jan, we ate breakfast and took the dinghy ashore to take in the very scenic view from a high bluff. We retuned to the boat, raised sails, and sailed right out and crossed over the Drake Channel, bathed in brilliant sunlight and filled with sails, to the large commercial port of Roadtown, Tortola. The anchorage is exposed to the easterly swell. It was tricky to anchor and we did drag a bit and had a little drama but we finally got set in place. The plan is to go ashore, check out the local market, check emails, and clear out of the BVI. Next stop is The USVI.

[Jim Walsh]

Great update, John. Your sister having spotted your knife is a godsend. You would have turned the boat upside down trying to locate it. My employees gave me a small Buck pocketknife many years ago and I'd be lost without it. I have lots of backups but that one is special.
Good luck on your continuing adventure. Watch out for lionfish when you're poking around the reefs. Even Bermuda is loaded with them now.

[John Stone]

Copy all. Glorious sail from Roadtown BVI to Cruze bay USVI today. All down wind with jib set on whisker pole--wing and wing-- for a large part of the sail.

More to follow.

[Steve A]

Sweet ! Finally a downwind ride...I'm not sure who the guy is on your boat, doesn't look like the guy I bought the main from. I found a webcam that is showing Cruze Bay and I figure Far Reach is the one with the tall stick over behind the powerboat to the left of the ferry docks looking in. Hey give us a wave sometime to let us know if that's really you. Webcams are amazing, anchorage looks a bit busy with powerboats in and out. This is about peak season and things should thin out in a little in a month or so. St John's was always a favorite with us and I wouldn't even recommend sailing over to St Croix, just not worth the slog. We owned a condo overlooking Buck Island for years on St Croix and there are far better places to sail off to. Enjoy the Virgins and keep sending pictures, most of N/E NC got snow this morning ......I am so jealous. Cheers, Steve

[John Stone]

5 Jan 2016
We awoke to a very light north easterly wind at our anchorage off Fort Burt in Roadtown, Tortola BVI. While we were drinking our coffee, two huge cruise-liners entered the harbor. The first was a dark blue hulled Disney cruise-liner complete with the Mickey-mouse ear silhouettes on the stacks. The other was similar in size but white. They both maneuvered, without tugs, turning 180 degrees using some kind of bow and stern thruster system. They slid in stern first along the quay pretty as you please. No drama there. Very slick.

Meanwhile, the John and Tricia show was about to get underway as we finished off our coffee and I ratcheted in about 200' of 5/16" chain with our manual windlass. We were underway at 0820 sailing to the WSW in the light but building easterly breeze. The weather report called for 20 kts winds so we sailed under reefed main, working jib, and stays'l slowly making our way west along the south coast of Tortola. Eventually we were sailing a very broad reach making about 4 knots. The sun was up in all his glory and he was flanked by a growing number of cumulus clouds.

As the wind continued to come more aft, I decided to set the whisker pole and because I had not used the new continuous line system under working conditions we had a few hiccups, but we eventually got it sorted out. And it was marvelous. We were able to sail a very broad run with the main out on the starboard side and "prevented" to reduce the likelihood of an "unplanned" gybe. We handed the stays'l and poled the working jib out to port sailing wing and wing. The 20 kt winds never materialized. The Cape Horn windvane held a nice course as we sailed for glory. We had the Bose speaker on deck and I plugged in my iPod and selected the playlist I used when I was deeply ensnarled in all the years of what, at the time, seemed like a never ending rebuild. As we sailed down the coast with the stunning scenery all around I rejoiced that most of my time listening to these songs had been while I was grinding fiberglass, fairing epoxy, sanding wood, varnishing, painting, or just dreaming about someday. But now it was someday and the Far Reach and I were sailing through these beautiful islands in the Caribbean while these same songs were making me smile. It all felt very "worth it."

With the wind about 12-15 knots from our stern and still wing and wing, we sailed into "The Narrows" between St John and Great Thatch Island. It was glorious sailing. Tricia lay on the side deck in the shade looking up at the sails and mast as they scribed a slow back and forth orb across the blue tropical sky. I stood on the lazerette with a hand on the backstay and took it all in.

We eventually made it to the north west corner of St John when we were approached by a large dark hulled mega yacht named the Phoenix 2 with a gigantic platinum colored eagle head jutting out forward of the bow. I mean a huge head as in maybe 5' tall and 7-8' long. The ship--and it was a ship make no mistake about it-- was flanked by three or four matching high speed ribs helmed by young men wearing matching kaki pants and dark blue shirts. The RIBs came roaring around its starboard side in echelon formation to take up station between the Phoenix and the highly threatening Far Reach. A Roberts helicopter swooped in to have a look at us and then continued to circle around the ship as it steamed off towards the BVI. I wondered if Goldfinger might send over one of his hinchmen to tell us we would be expected to join him for dinner at eight PM sharp. But alas, an invitation never arrived.

We worked out way to the east of Two Brothers Rock in a faltering breeze and in fact almost came to a standstill against a strong current. We shook the reef out of the main, dropped the whiskerpole, raised the staysail and powered up on to a close reach. About 1300 we anchored off of Cruze Bay, St John and took the dinghy in to clear in through US Customs. We were interrogated by a not too friendly agent. I think she was just not happy to see some American citizens return home. I didn't care.

We stopped by the National Park Service office, picked up some maps and received some great park information from the friendly park Rangers.

The St John's Island is about 2/3s US National Park. There is no anchoring. It's almost all mooring balls and $26 a night, thank you very much. Welcome home to the land of rules and regulations. They are trying to protect the reefs and Eco system and the policies they have implemented probably make sense. There are also are hiking trails and beautiful beaches on the island. I do hope to come back with my family and enjoy what I am told will be a less crowded, though more expensive, experience than the BVI.

We made it back to the Far Reach about 1600 and used the dinghy as a yawl boat to power her over to one of the morning balls. And that was that. Tomorrow, we head to St Thomas to get Tricia staged for her flight home.

[John Stone]

6 Jan 2016
Click clack. Click clack. I woke up about 0400 to a sound I could not immediately identify. "What is that?" "Ah, it's the sound of a mooring ball banging against the hull of the Far Reach." There was little wind so the ball was trying to occupy the same space as the hI'll. I got up and used the boat hook to push it off. The pendant with the pick-up buoy was on one side of the boat and the mooring ball on the other. Back to bed. When I finally got up Tricia had the coffee going and was standing at the foot of the companionway looking out over the bridge deck taking in the lovely sights.

We had a quick breakfast and took the dinghy into Cruze Bay to get some gas for the outboard and look for a chart of St Thomas as the one I had on board did not cover the whole island. In fact it only covered half of the main harbor at Charlotte Amalie. "No place sells charts here" I was told. "You have to go to St Thomas to get a chart of St Thomas." "But how do I get to St Thomas without a . . . Oh never mind."

We have used paper charts for the whole trip. I like them. I like plotting the Lat/Long on paper. I think it connects me to the surroundings in a way a chart plotter does not. It's timeless. It also connects me to those that went before. But charts are getting hard to come by. And they are expensive. I am using the grey scale reproductions sold by Bellingham Charts. They are OK. Reasonably priced but not especially durable. But let me tell you, when you don't have the chart you need it gets interesting pretty fast regardless the color.

We returned to the boat empty handed and slipped the mooring about 1055. A late start to be sure. The breeze was light. We sailed with the working jib, stays'l, and the main with one reef in it. We started on a broad reach but once we cleared Stevens Cay, came up onto the wind and were close hauled on a course of 180 degrees magnetic. We could not take the short cut past Great St James Island that I wanted to take because the chart I had did not have the details I needed to feel comfortable. So we sailed a couple more miles out, tacking twice, to get around Dog Island. We were back out in the Atlantic Ocean. The swells were not bad, only about 4 feet. The east wind was a pleasant 15-17 kts. Once we had the offing we needed we fell off the wind and steered about 285 degrees magnetic. We rigged the whisker pole for the jib and once again ran downwind wing and wing. Very comfortable. Tricia plotted our position on the chart. I sat in the cockpit identifying landmarks and terrain features. Our trust windvane steered the Far Reach unfailingly. We finally opened the East Gregorie Channel and spotted the cruise liners over on the east side of Hassle Island. We ran down Gregorie channel and gybed at the north end and then reached back along the west Gregorie channel where many cruising boats are anchored in the lee (west side) of Water Island. We sailed back and fourth a couple times looking for a spot to anchor amongst the mooring balls. This is a long stretch of water well suited to anchoring. We would get more seclusion if we pushed further south but would be further from the facilities we wanted--stores for reprovisioning, mail, laundry, etc. A quick dinghy ride to shore, or a long wet one. Easy decision this time. I picked a spot back near the head of the channel across from Crown Bay Marina. While sailing along, Tricia rigged the inflatable dinghy along the starboard quarter of the Far Reach in case we decided to use it as s yawl boat when it was time to anchor. As we were beating back a squall rolled in over the top of Water Island bringing light rain and about 25-30 knots of breeze. I told Tricia to raise the stays'l which she did and then immediately drop the jib after the stays'l was up. If we dropped the jib first we would have only had the mainsail up for a time, however brief, and it would have been hard to tack without a headsail so we needed that stays'l up before we could drop the jib and reduce our sail area. Tricia handled like she was in the NFL and sure enough as soon as she handed the jib we tacked around, the stays'l rapidly and reliably bringing the bow through the wind and onto the new tack. We ran back along the mooring field in the refreshing rain. We picked out a spot and made a trial pass shooting up into the wind to check our carry. Then, on the next pass we repeated our maneuver but this time we dropped the stays'l and anchored in 25' of water. I left the main scandalized and used it to back the boat down and set the anchor.

Tricia dove the anchor to see how it was set. It was upside down on a sandy bottom. Only the weight of the chain was holding us in place. She dove back down and flipped it over and watched it set. We were anchored in St Thomas, USVI.

Right behind us was one of two cruise ships that we crossed paths with on Christmas Eve off the north bank of the BVI. This one was not kind to us. She failed to respond on VHF as she closed with us. Initially we could not tell her direction as she was so lit up with white lights we could not see her running lights. It's nerve racking when closing with a large ship at night on the open ocean. Small boat sailors want to know the course and speed of these potential threats so they can ensure they stay out of the way. We flashed our spot light and used our strobe. Finally, she came up on the radio when we flashed the bridge. It took another 5 minutes for someone that spoke English to come on to the radio. By then, it was a non issue. She had steamed past. The Regal Princess had come up on the radio immediately earlier that evening, as did most of the ships we encountered during our trip. Probably another good reason for AIS.

While Tricia cleaned up, I took the dingy in and signed us up for a mail drop box. I also found out that AT&T covers the USVI so I had cell phone coverage without roaming. Hooray!!

I talked to some local cruisers and got some good insights into the local area for the supplies we needed.

Later, Tricia and I went in for a burger and Guinness to celebrate our fine day of sailing. Tomorrow we get Tricia ready to return home to NC soon.

[godspeed]

john

small world. i happened to be sailing the bvi on a "moorings" charter, a 50' beneteau. we were anchored at great harbor, jost van dyke, on the december 27. happened to see a boat named 'far reach' port of call swansboro nc. so i paddeboarded over to take a look. nobody on board.

the place is loaded with 'beneteau' look alikes and i was starving for some eye candy. could not help but check her out. never dawned on me it was the same 'far reach' i had been reading about. i recognized the grey commercial boat called the 'barbara' just forward of you in the picture.

you correctly described the sailing conditions. we sailed in 30-35 knot winds the entire time we were there. always under a reefed main and jib. there was not a day that the wind dropped below 20.

[John Stone]

Hi Steve,
What a small world indeed. That's a terrific photo too. I am sorry we were not there to greet you. We would certainly have invited you aboard. We remained in Great Harbor for about a week just relaxing and making friends. I trust your sailing charter went well and you had a great time. Hard not to enjoy the BVI.

Best Regards
John

[John Stone]

And look who just dropped in to the neighborhood--the Regal Princess! As I mentioned in an earlier post we crossed wakes on Cristmas Eve just off the north bank of the BVI near the Puerto Rico Trench. And, unlike the other ship we met that night, she responded to our first hail on the hand-held VHF. The watch officer was cheerful, gave us his course and speed, CPA (closest point of approach), and informed us he could just see us on radar (though he did say it was a weak return in the sea clutter (the waves were running 10-14' and wind about 30 knots). He wished us a merry Chrstmas. I recall the encounter lifted our spirits--simple acts of kindness. Two ships, two completely different encounters.