BVI Sailing

 

That's Fat Bottom Girl, our charter boat.

Tortola and Norman Island, January 15-16, 2023

(For the entire cruise, Click thru the "Newer Posts" at Bottom)

Admiral Kirby Lotz and Captains Cole and Cassano chartered a Dufour 530 for 5 days sailing out of Road Town, Tortola.  Good news for me, they required a charter captain to run the boat and I was fortunate that they chose me.  Jada had never been sailing on a boat like this, so she joined the crew.

Oceana Restaurant & Bistro, Kirby's favorite, was
our meeting place as the crew made plans for the
charter which began the next day.

Kirby arranged that we could board the boat early,
providing time to provision and move our gear aboard.

As most of the crew was accustomed to sailboats
much smaller than 53 feet in overall length,
FBG felt truly massive! 
John Cassano poses in the main cabin and galley.

Nicole Cassano checks the aft cabin she and John shared.
Kirby and Lisa shared a similar cabin to port.

The two cabins in the bow were a bit smaller,
but still with plenty of room to
sleep comfortably.  Tim Cole had the starboard
bow cabin while Jada and I took the port cabin.

The side decks were wide for easy deck work
with a lounging area just forward of the bimini
and an open foredeck to make
sail handling a breeze.

The entire crew made the
obligatory visit to Pusser's
in Road Town. 

This was the charter company's motto.
We took it to heart as we planned our
week of sailing.

Our first day we sailed from the harbour in Road Town to
the anchorage at Norman Island.

The crew had a blast singing along to "I'm On A Boat," as we sailed to Norman Island. 

Tim Cole captured this video of our terrific sail across the Sir Francis Drake Channel.

This ketch was anchored at the entrance to "The Bight,"
the anchorage at Norman Island.

The fleet at anchor in "The Bight."

Tim snags the mooring ball while Joey, Tim's son, 

signals the helm to enable Tim's snag.

The entire crew dinghied to the notorious "WILLY-T,"
a floating hulk, now pub, for a libation.

Tim and Joey stayed at the WILLY-T for dinner
while the rest of the crew dinghied to shore.

Jada enjoyed the great company!

Murph, John, Kirby, Lisa and Nicole.  Jada took the pic.