Wednesday, March 24, 2010
BVI OPTINAM Qualifiers Regatta
On March 20th and 21st, the BVI Sailing Team competed against each other in the final regatta of a 3 event qualifying series to determine which 5 sailors would be going to OPTINAM (Optimist North Americans) in Kingston, Ontario at the end of June. The regatta took place in Road Harbour and fortunately the winds decided to come back and we had a great 2 days of racing. I was running the regatta and managed to get 10 races off, and I also snapped a few great shots of the start line! I'm really looking forward to taking my team to Kingston for OPTINAM, as I have spent a lot of time racing, as well as coaching there over my sailing career. Also, I've been developing a bit of "island fever", so being back on the mainland for a bit will be appreciated. The regatta is 8 days, with a day off right in the middle, and coincidentally it happens to be July 1st, so I'll definitely be making a trip up to Ottawa to see the girl, and Canada Day party with all my buddies!!
Friday, March 12, 2010
Sunshine!!
So the other day I was complaining via my Facebook status about the heat, as it was ridiculously hot, sunny, and the wind was non-existent. As a result of my unappreciative attitude, mother nature seemingly called in a gigantic rain cloud to come hang out over the BVI for a week. It was the coldest, dreariest, week I've experienced since I lived in Ottawa! Thankfully, today the cloud seems to have moved on, and mother nature has proved her point. The sun is shining once again, and it's 29 degrees with a comfortable breeze to cool things down. Great day to go sailing!
Russian Around The Race Course
Last Sunday I had the opportunity to go match racing on custom made 44 foot carbon fiber sport boat against its identical sister boat. The boats are owned by a very rich Russian man who bought them as he was interested in learning to sail. What better way to learn how to sail and race than on your own custom yacht with all your buddies and a professional coach, against a team of professional sailors? And to think, I learned in a Opti....
The boats were absolutely incredible sailing machines. From the moment we hoisted the square roach main, you could feel the power that this boat possessed. Every little detail was thought of when this boat was designed, from the teak inlays on top of the carbon deck, to the lines running internally from the bottom of the mast to the pit, and the perfectly positioned winches. The small details made racing on this yacht a lot of fun.
Though it was raining most of the day and I had the chance to finally take advantage of my foul weather gear which has been collecting dust on my boat. Despite the miserable weather, the wind was still blowing and we raced 3 match races and our boat won 2 of them. It was a great experience to sail on such a powerful and fast boat, and hopefully I'll have the opportunity to do so again before the yachts are packed up and shipped to Europe for the spring and summer.
The boats were absolutely incredible sailing machines. From the moment we hoisted the square roach main, you could feel the power that this boat possessed. Every little detail was thought of when this boat was designed, from the teak inlays on top of the carbon deck, to the lines running internally from the bottom of the mast to the pit, and the perfectly positioned winches. The small details made racing on this yacht a lot of fun.
Though it was raining most of the day and I had the chance to finally take advantage of my foul weather gear which has been collecting dust on my boat. Despite the miserable weather, the wind was still blowing and we raced 3 match races and our boat won 2 of them. It was a great experience to sail on such a powerful and fast boat, and hopefully I'll have the opportunity to do so again before the yachts are packed up and shipped to Europe for the spring and summer.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Boats and Bros
For the past week I have been cruising around the BVIs on a 50 foot yacht with 8 of my buddies having the time of my life. The adventure started in St. Croix, USVI, where I was coaching my Opti team at the St. Croix Yacht Club Hospice Regatta. My team did extremely well and we took the top 3 spots! I had a nice hotel set up for the boys when they arrived and we had quit the reunion, and explored the night life of Christiansted. It was an interesting place, and St. Croix had some beautiful scenery, but I'm still not a fan of the USVI. Maybe I'm a little biased seeing as I living on Tortola and it happens to be the nicest of all the Caribbean islands I've visited.
Sunday brought some adventure and a little bit of stress, as the ride back to Tortola that I had arranged fell through as some of the boats were leaving on Monday morning instead of Sunday, and we had to get the opti team back that night. After a lot of hustling around the yacht club to pull some strings, I had arranged rides back to Tortola for all my buddies and I bolted out of there in my coach boat, in what was described as a James Bond-like fashion (sprinting down the dock, leaping into the boat, full throttle out of the harbour). My ride back to Tortola, had already left and I had to catch up to them before the yacht sailed into open water, which would make putting the coach boat onto the davits next to impossible. My sail back was one of the worst sails of my life, as the winds picked up, began to blow off the nose of the boat, and the weather turned foul. In addition, there were 7 kids on the boat, 2 of which proceeded to get seasick. Catamaran yachts are luxurious, but do not handle very well in rough water and heavy upwind sailing. What was supposed to be a 5 hour sail to Tortola became an 8 hour sail to St. John, in order to enter the Sir Francis Drake Channel where the water is much more protected, then to continue onwards to Road Harbour. We arrived late and I was pretty relieved to head back to my boat for a good night sleep.
The next day my crew arrived around mid-day and by the time everyone was checked in with customs, our boat was sorted out and we were briefed and had done our provisioning, it was too late to head out of the dock due to insurance reasons (the charter company had no faith in my captaining skills). We spent the night on the dock in Road Harbour and discussed plans for the cruise. We left as early as possible the next day and sailed to Norman Island and the crew got acquainted with the boat along the way. We picked up a mooring ball (extremely successfully!) in The Bight, and proceeded to swim, invent water sports, and get some rum in us before dinner and a late night dinghy ride over the the Willy T.
The next day we sailed over to Apple bay on the North shore of Tortola in order to catch some waves. After a successful anchoring, a few of us tried to catch some inconsistent and mediocre waves, right up until First Mate Warner had a sea urchin attack his foot (he actually stepped on it when we was going into shore). That put an end to our surf session, and Dan, the boat chef/surgeon, began to perform some gnarly pirate surgery on Warner's foot to remove the spines. Seeing as we were on a boat, the only anesthetic available to help Warner with the pain was a bottle of rum and his cigarettes! He was tough as nails as Dan dug into his foot with a needle and tweezers. After the operation, we sailed over to Cane Garden Bay for medical supplies, provisions, more rum, and mooring for the night. We had a pretty fun beach session which resulted in the most unchill lady yelling at us to get off a water trampoline, and then we caught happy hour painkillers at Quitos. After that, Dan and Warner cooked up some tasty island chicken, rice and beans, and I whipped up some fried plaintains. Later that evening, we thought it would be fun to hit up Bomba's surf shack, and had the most intense walk of our life through was seemed to be the deserted North side of the island. We managed to convince an off duty taxi to drive us there after we had climb two mountains, only to find out Bomba's was not looking too busy, and cut out losses and took the cab back to Cane Garden. The boys were pretty entertained by the rollercoaster of a taxi ride back.
The next morning we set sail for Virgin Gorda, with a quick stop in Josiah's bay to check the surf. We had a great sail, while Dan and Shane whipped up an incredible brunch. We arrived at the Baths in VG mid-afternoon and had a great time snorkeling the reef, exploring the caves, and climbing the rocks. We set sail from the Baths and hauled ass up to the North Sound to get a mooring ball at the Bitter End Yacht Club before the sunset. This was Ben's last night with the crew so we had to send him off with a big bash. We partied to the wee hours of the morning and ended the night with "freestyle" diving off the bow of the boat. I bet our fellow yachters just loved us!
Ben left us early that morning, and after breakfast we set sail past Necker Island, and headed back to Road Town to get stock up on water and provisions. We hustled our way out of Road Town and caught some excellent breeze through the west end which got our boat moving at 10 knots upwind, really helped us get to Jost Van Dyke before the sun set. We pulled into Great Harbor just as the sun fell behind the horizon and we managed to pirate what was apparently a private mooring belonging to some fisherman. We partied at Foxy's that night, and managed to leave the next morning without having to pay any mooring fee, and with little hassle from the fisherman.
Since we were close by, and I had heard it was a beautiful spot, we sailed to Sandy Cay that morning, dropped anchor and had breakfast. The wind was picking up and our anchor began to drag, so we had to relocate and had a hell of a time setting our anchor again in the broken coral bottom. Sandy Cay was gorgeous though, and we had a great day explore the island, eating prickly pears, climbing trees, creating coconut sports, and related coconut accessories. We had to leave the island to get back to Road Harbour for the night as half the crew had an early ferry to catch, and the boat had to be returned.
Shane, Ayrton, Dave, Charles and I had a quick breakfast before I took them to get some gifts and souvenirs to take back home with them. It was a pretty sad sight to see the last of the crew disappear on the ferry as they waved good bye to me like I was an egg shell deep-sixed off the back of our boat. It was an epic adventure and I know everyone had a great time. Until the next...
Sunday brought some adventure and a little bit of stress, as the ride back to Tortola that I had arranged fell through as some of the boats were leaving on Monday morning instead of Sunday, and we had to get the opti team back that night. After a lot of hustling around the yacht club to pull some strings, I had arranged rides back to Tortola for all my buddies and I bolted out of there in my coach boat, in what was described as a James Bond-like fashion (sprinting down the dock, leaping into the boat, full throttle out of the harbour). My ride back to Tortola, had already left and I had to catch up to them before the yacht sailed into open water, which would make putting the coach boat onto the davits next to impossible. My sail back was one of the worst sails of my life, as the winds picked up, began to blow off the nose of the boat, and the weather turned foul. In addition, there were 7 kids on the boat, 2 of which proceeded to get seasick. Catamaran yachts are luxurious, but do not handle very well in rough water and heavy upwind sailing. What was supposed to be a 5 hour sail to Tortola became an 8 hour sail to St. John, in order to enter the Sir Francis Drake Channel where the water is much more protected, then to continue onwards to Road Harbour. We arrived late and I was pretty relieved to head back to my boat for a good night sleep.
The next day my crew arrived around mid-day and by the time everyone was checked in with customs, our boat was sorted out and we were briefed and had done our provisioning, it was too late to head out of the dock due to insurance reasons (the charter company had no faith in my captaining skills). We spent the night on the dock in Road Harbour and discussed plans for the cruise. We left as early as possible the next day and sailed to Norman Island and the crew got acquainted with the boat along the way. We picked up a mooring ball (extremely successfully!) in The Bight, and proceeded to swim, invent water sports, and get some rum in us before dinner and a late night dinghy ride over the the Willy T.
The next morning we set sail for Virgin Gorda, with a quick stop in Josiah's bay to check the surf. We had a great sail, while Dan and Shane whipped up an incredible brunch. We arrived at the Baths in VG mid-afternoon and had a great time snorkeling the reef, exploring the caves, and climbing the rocks. We set sail from the Baths and hauled ass up to the North Sound to get a mooring ball at the Bitter End Yacht Club before the sunset. This was Ben's last night with the crew so we had to send him off with a big bash. We partied to the wee hours of the morning and ended the night with "freestyle" diving off the bow of the boat. I bet our fellow yachters just loved us!
Ben left us early that morning, and after breakfast we set sail past Necker Island, and headed back to Road Town to get stock up on water and provisions. We hustled our way out of Road Town and caught some excellent breeze through the west end which got our boat moving at 10 knots upwind, really helped us get to Jost Van Dyke before the sun set. We pulled into Great Harbor just as the sun fell behind the horizon and we managed to pirate what was apparently a private mooring belonging to some fisherman. We partied at Foxy's that night, and managed to leave the next morning without having to pay any mooring fee, and with little hassle from the fisherman.
Since we were close by, and I had heard it was a beautiful spot, we sailed to Sandy Cay that morning, dropped anchor and had breakfast. The wind was picking up and our anchor began to drag, so we had to relocate and had a hell of a time setting our anchor again in the broken coral bottom. Sandy Cay was gorgeous though, and we had a great day explore the island, eating prickly pears, climbing trees, creating coconut sports, and related coconut accessories. We had to leave the island to get back to Road Harbour for the night as half the crew had an early ferry to catch, and the boat had to be returned.
Shane, Ayrton, Dave, Charles and I had a quick breakfast before I took them to get some gifts and souvenirs to take back home with them. It was a pretty sad sight to see the last of the crew disappear on the ferry as they waved good bye to me like I was an egg shell deep-sixed off the back of our boat. It was an epic adventure and I know everyone had a great time. Until the next...
Thursday, February 18, 2010
STOKED!!
Stoked is probably the only word to describe how I feel about the upcoming events of the next 10 days. Tomorrow I depart for St. Croix aboard a 47 foot catamaran named Wild Thing, and will be coaching the BVI sailing team as they compete in the St. Croix Hospice Regatta. Upon arriving in St. Croix and getting all my team's boats unloaded and making sure they're all registered and sorted out, I will be meeting up with 7 of my closest buddies from Canada. We will be staying the weekend in St. Croix, then travelling back to Tortola, and cruising around the BVI for a week on a Bavaria 50. It's going to be a great time, and I'll have some awesome photos when I get back.
Sweethearts Regatta
On Valentine's day, the Loyal West End Yacht Club hosted the Sweethearts of the Caribbean Regatta. I had the opportunity to race on a boat named Heron, which is a really awesome 1928 Alden replica, which is a 65 foot schooner. The winds were pretty light, and the current was strong though favourable. The race started in Soper's Hole, headed upwind around Pelican island and the Indians, around Flannigan island, and back into Soper's Hole. We were one of the few boats who played the current properly sticking close to the St. John shore, and getting the wind lift off the land, which made us reach Pelican island a couple miles ahead of the rest of our fleet. We ended up finishing first in our fleet and were welcomed on shore by a Mount Gay Rum bar. Needless to say, I had a victorious Valentine's day, though I really missed my lovely girl back in Canada.
Apparently this boat will be seen in the upcoming Johnny Depp movie, The Rum Diary, which is based on the Hunter S. Thompson novel of the same title.
San Juan, Puerto Rico
So this is a little late, as I was in Puerto Rico two weeks ago, but I've been hustling around the yacht club trying to get things arranged for our next regatta and haven't found the time to put a new post up. I know it only takes two seconds but the team and myself are travelling to St. Croix this weekend and it is a logistical nightmare trying to get 6 kids, and 6 boats with all the rigging, and myself over from Tortola, via private yachts. On top of that, I have 7 buddies from Canada meeting me in St. Croix and travelling back to Tortola for a week of cruising, and more than likely some boozing.
Anyway, Puerto Rico was quite the trip. It was my first regatta coaching the BVI Sailing team and we were in full attendance as it was a qualifier for the upcoming OPTINAM (Optimist North Americans). Puerto Rico is the smallest of the Greater Antilles islands, but compared to Tortola, it's enormous. The population is around 4 million, and it has a huge American influence as it is an unincorporated territory. By large influence, I really mean it was like landing in Florida, except everyone is speaking Spanish. There were highways, and high rises, and mansions, and ghettos, and McDonald's and Starbucks, Wendy's and Dunkin Donuts, and everyone drives nice cars. Needless to say, I was re-culture-shocked from being in Tortola for the past several months.
The yacht club hosting the regatta was at was actually the Puerto Rican Navy docks. Puerto Ricans are known around the BVI for showing up in a navy-like fashion, meaning they show up with a flotilla of 5 or 6 huge luxury fishing yachts with outriggers and towers that are the height of a sail boat mast. The usually roll into the North Sound of Virgin Gorda, raft up, and party all weekend long. They travel with their entire family from the dog and the cat to the nannies and the maids. Anyway, the yacht club had dozens and dozens of these boats fishing yachts and maybe 4 sailing yachts in their docks.
The regatta itself was rather poorly run and there was a lot of trouble with the scoring of my team which resulted in me filling out a lot of inquiry forms. The race course was way out in San Juan harbour and we had a great view of Fort San Felipe del Morro. My team sailed well and overall we finished with a 2nd in Laser 4.7 fleet, a 2nd in Optimist Green fleet, and a 1st in Optimist White fleet.
Puerto Rico was a lot of fun! It would have been nice to actually get to see more of San Juan, maybe to do some shopping at the Mall of America, and eat some more rice and beans, but by the end of each day I was way to tired to bother going out exploring.
These are a few photos I snapped with my iphone while on the water.
Anyway, Puerto Rico was quite the trip. It was my first regatta coaching the BVI Sailing team and we were in full attendance as it was a qualifier for the upcoming OPTINAM (Optimist North Americans). Puerto Rico is the smallest of the Greater Antilles islands, but compared to Tortola, it's enormous. The population is around 4 million, and it has a huge American influence as it is an unincorporated territory. By large influence, I really mean it was like landing in Florida, except everyone is speaking Spanish. There were highways, and high rises, and mansions, and ghettos, and McDonald's and Starbucks, Wendy's and Dunkin Donuts, and everyone drives nice cars. Needless to say, I was re-culture-shocked from being in Tortola for the past several months.
The yacht club hosting the regatta was at was actually the Puerto Rican Navy docks. Puerto Ricans are known around the BVI for showing up in a navy-like fashion, meaning they show up with a flotilla of 5 or 6 huge luxury fishing yachts with outriggers and towers that are the height of a sail boat mast. The usually roll into the North Sound of Virgin Gorda, raft up, and party all weekend long. They travel with their entire family from the dog and the cat to the nannies and the maids. Anyway, the yacht club had dozens and dozens of these boats fishing yachts and maybe 4 sailing yachts in their docks.
The regatta itself was rather poorly run and there was a lot of trouble with the scoring of my team which resulted in me filling out a lot of inquiry forms. The race course was way out in San Juan harbour and we had a great view of Fort San Felipe del Morro. My team sailed well and overall we finished with a 2nd in Laser 4.7 fleet, a 2nd in Optimist Green fleet, and a 1st in Optimist White fleet.
Puerto Rico was a lot of fun! It would have been nice to actually get to see more of San Juan, maybe to do some shopping at the Mall of America, and eat some more rice and beans, but by the end of each day I was way to tired to bother going out exploring.
These are a few photos I snapped with my iphone while on the water.
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