Great Harbor, Jost Van Dyke, BVI

We took our time leaving Maho Bay, no rush as we only had a short hop across to Jost van Dyke and the BVI. Leaving Maho Bay, we didn’t have much wind, but as we got further into the channel, the wind began to pick up as we made our final tack to Great Harbor, we were on a perfect line to make 7 knots. With the First Mate on the wheel, I trimmed the sails for perfection. If we weren’t towing the dinghy, we would have made 7.5!
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Maho Bay, Northern St John, USVI

The goal today was to go round St John to the north wide and anchor at Maho Bay. Again, much slower going than hoped, so we had to head directly into the east wind to get round the south end, so, with the battery needing a charge, we motored for an hour to get round. With the sails up, we briskly went round the east end and then as we had the wind behind us, sailed wing on wing as the wind started to die. Halfway to Maho, the wind and current conspired against us and again we turned on the motor.
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Lameshur Bay, Southern St John, USVI

Thursday saw us leaving Red Hook. With three kids it took a little time to get everyone fed, life jacketed and checked out with the marina. Only had one mishap when Andrew slipped between the dock and boat and hung onto the lifeline. Fortunately he wasn’t crushed as he had slipped between two fenders that were wider than he. With three kids, it’s just impossible to look on them all. Sometimes I joke that “we have a spare,” but I swear, I’ll be amazed if all three reach adulthood. Note to self, with kids, double how much time you think it will take to get out of a marina.
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Red Hook, Eastern St Thomas, USVI

Flying out of Boston, we had to get up at 3am. It was going to be a long day, but the rewards were at the end! Travelling with three children is a challenge, we joke that when you have a 3rd child, you are changing from man to man to zone defense. You are a person short to watch after them. As we drove through the New England snow, we contemplated our Painkillers and sun kissed beaches. After a stop in Miami, we were flying into St Thomas. We have found this the place to get the cheapest flights to. You can fly into Tortola which can be more convenient for charters, but its more expensive.

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BVI/USVI Sailing Itinerary for Children Redux

So last week we had our bareboat charter in the Virgin Islands. I had posted A Kid-Friendly UVSI/BVI Charter Itinerary as I wanted to share one that focused on short sails and children. Something I had not found much online.

Well, after the fact, we ended up changing the route, go figure. Over the next few posts I’ll share what we learned about taking kids to the Virgin Islands and what islands we visited.

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