A BVI Sailing Charter Won in an Auction… for the Win!
What do you do when you bid on a British Virgin Islands (BVI) charter in a silent auction for the Magenta Project and win it? Go on a terrific sailing vacation with friends, of course! Here’s what Madde Vachon and her crew of Chesapeake racing sailors had to say about their seven-day charter aboard a 41-foot Sunsail catamaran out of Road Town, Tortola, BVI, in February 2024:
Did your charter include a captain, cook, or other crew?
Madde: Technically, yes, but none were paid—most of us were licensed captains!
Who was onboard for the vacation?
Jane Millman, Peter Gibbons-Neff, Madde Vachon, Xan Schlegel, Tyler Waldron, Kyle Mclaughlin, Alli Gutenkunst, and AJ.
Could you summarize where you went and/or favorite anchorages?
Since some of the folks onboard were having their first BVI experience, we tried to hit all the tourist spots: Willy T’s and snorkeling at the Indians, The Baths, Bitter End Yacht Club (Rum Runner!), Anegada, Jost Van Dyke, and back to the base.
Was the sailing exciting?
We definitely still had some of the Christmas winds. With a bunch of competitive sailors aboard, there were a lot of “trim this” and “ease that an inch” to make our goat of a catamaran slog as quickly as possible... sometimes even upwind! The seas were mostly calm. Our most difficult passage was Anegada to Jost Van Dyke, but it was downwind, so the conditions didn’t affect us too much. Most of the crew took the four- to five-hour passage to catch up on some zzz’s.
Tell me about your excursions… diving, exploring, other?
We did some snorkeling at the caves near Willy T’s, swam into the Baths, and did the big loop through the huge boulders. We got lobster dinners our first night on Anegada and rented a Moke and two mopeds the next morning to tour the island for a full day, hitting beach bars, checking out The Settlement, and snorkeling inside the reef along Loblolly Bay. We even spotted some flamingos! At Jost we visited the Soggy Dollar and relaxed on the beach before dinghying back over to Foxy’s for dinner and dancing.
Three highlights on sea or land?
We had stellar weather for our trip which was fortunate. Sometimes conditions can be a little hit or miss in late February, so we all packed for potentially chilly and damp days. We lucked out. For those of us returning post-hurricanes (Irma and Maria) it was pretty emotional seeing the destruction but also encouraging to see what has been rebuilt. There are significantly fewer goats, cows, and donkeys roaming the island, but they are slowly returning. Life will find a way. A big highlight of our trip was the final day when we were sailing back to the base. We stopped in the Francis Drake channel, shut the boat down, and went swimming in the open water.
Did anything surprise you about the trip?
How quickly the time flies by!
Would you do anything differently if you could do it over?
We were constrained by the charter limits of seven days for this charter, but I always recommend folks to do 10 days. It takes a full day to travel in and get the boat packed and usually takes a full day to check out and get back to the airport. I would recommend flying direct into Beef Island (you can do that now); although flying into STT via Puerto Rico is a fun way to go, too—you get to take the ferry from Charlotte Amalie to Road Town. From there you can walk to the Moorings charter base if the weather is good. When we go back, we intend to hit some lesser-trodden tourist places, do more hiking and snorkeling, and go to Trellis Bay for a full moon party!
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