Jost Van Dyke, BVI
18.26.596N
64.45.099W

After a leisurely breakfast, we hoisted anchor, tucked in a reef and motorsailed out of Charlotte Amalie Harbor and started our voyage around St. Thomas to Yost Van Dyke. We had no sooner exited the entrance to the harbor when we had to practice a man overboard drill; actually it was a bucket overboard drill.

Gerry was on the wheel, so Dale grabbed a boat hook, while I went to the swim platform for a second chance in case Dale didn’t catch it with the boat hook. Our first attempt looked the best. Nicky rolled in the jib, Gerry brought us up close but the bucket was upside down and Dale couldn’t get the hook around the handle. I actually grabbed the bottom of the pail but couldn’t get enough grip on it without letting go of the boat. As it was supposed to be a practice and not an actual man over board, I resisted the urge to dive in and get it.

Two more attempts in 20 kts of wind and Dale and Nicky were able to retrieve the run away bucket. Unfortunately, our weight belts and one of the four gloves that had been in the bucket made a clean escape.

We finished our voyage without further interruption and I think Gerry enjoyed sailing the Palace in high winds.

When we made Great Harbor in Yost Van Dyke, we did an anchor dance rarely seen on the Palace, thank heavens. We tried to anchor in a sand over marl bottom. Our first attempt, looked good after it stopped skipping along the bottom but when Gerry dived down for a look, the anchor was lying on its side. Not a good thing.

We circled around and tried another spot. It wouldn’t bite. We circled around again and tried a different spot; again, it wouldn’t bite. To be honest, I lost track of how many times we tried to anchor before we decided to let out 120 feet of chain, added the 35 lb kellet and hoped the winds would remain moderate within the bay itself.

We settled back and watched other boats come in after us. A few dropped their anchors and stayed where they had dropped them; oblivious to the bottom conditions. Others did as we did and dropped their anchor, backed down, tried again and backed down until they either gave up, left, or dropped a ton of chain then, like us, sat in their cockpits to see what would happen.

Once we felt comfortable with our anchor, we all loaded into the dinghy and went to check in with Customs and Immigration. Roger had told us that the day before, everyone was grumpy but today, probably because Mike, from MTNest, was pulling everyone’s leg, was in much better spirits. We smiled broadly, wrote legibly, and paid in cash.

In the evening, we joined DocNoMore and CheSerah on MTNest before we all went into Foxy’s for barbeque on the beach. When we approached the dock, one side was filled with dinghies, so we scooted over to the other side which had signs declaring that it was Foxy’s private docking space. I pointed the signs out to Dale and we kept working our way down the dock when a man on the dock said to toss him our lines that he knew Foxy’s boat wasn’t that big. When we climbed out and onto the dock, I recognized that we were speaking with Foxy himself. He didn’t perform at the barbeque as I had hoped he might, but it was good to see him again. The barbeque was tasty, bountiful and filling. Some of us danced to the music that was provided, while others preferred to sit and talk with those around them but in the end, I think we all had fun.