Day1
REAL BVI 2008 had officially begun. So how do you start a 21 day sail through the British Virgin Islands with a bunch of good friends? By starting the “morning” off with the shot gunning of beers at 4am. After a 4 hour drive to the airport, 7x 100lbs coffin bags (checked), 6 pelican cases, 2 princess bags and 4 back packs (all not checked), Jason Slezak, Matt Nuzzo, Sam Bell and I made it from Raleigh to Miami, Miami to San Juan and San Juan to Tortolla.
After nearly 16 hours of traveling, we made it to our boat. There we meet up with the Loops and our cook Liz. We saw our boat, a 47’ catamaran. It has 4 rooms each with its own bathroom. Its very nice to say the least. After a couple drinks, we called it a night.
Day 2
We had a nice sleep in at the port in Tortola today. After waking up we had breakfast at the restaurant at the moorings port. The first mission of the day was to unpack the 16 boxes packed with surfboards, Standup Paddleboards and a couple twin tip kiteboards. This endeavor took nearly all morning. Liz our cook made us a great lunch and we proceeded to put the boards together with deck pads and fins.
The food showed up shortly after. It took us a quite a while to load up the two cats with all the food for a week sail. It was nearly 4pm and it was time for a session. We picked our shred sticks (surfboard or choice) and waxed it up. We headed to Josiah’s Bay for a fun little surf. We packed up in Nuzzi’s rent-a-van. Slezy, Sam, Nuzzi, Mitch, Trevor and I packed into a van with 2 seats, maybe 2 cylinders (if we were lucky) and headed to the north side of the island.
The driver sat in the passenger’s side of an American car while the shifting and side of the road you drove on was also backwards. Not to mention the 40% grade inclines and declines this packed little van encountered. But we made it. We grabbed our boards out of the van and walked out to the beach to see an ankle high wave, and we were all STOKED! It was one of the most fun sessions I have had in a long time. We were all paddling for some inside beach break with an occasional waist rolling trough, and the scenery was unbelievable to say the least. We came back to a nice hot meal and it was chill time for the rest of the night.
Day 3
We started the day buy building and waxing more boards. I shot some of the new JL08 surfboards. The clients started to show up in force., and it turned into a huge party. We stayed up way to late partying and missed what some said were head high to + wave session. But it took us nearly til lunch the next day to recover.
Day 4
We woke up and finished getting the boards together for the clients who had rented them. The started to prepare the boat to sail. There was a captain’s meeting to go over the trip. We made the final preparation to the boats to leave port, and we headed out. The REAL party left with nearly 13 boats in our flotilla. We headed East to Spanish town for a surf session. Matt, Jason, Sam, Arron Sales and trip headed out for a surf while I shot.
The set waves rolling though were about head high and some of the best looking waves I have seen in person. It was however, pretty sketchy. The reef was very shallow. Everyone had a good session and came out relatively unscathed. While we were surfing the rest of the flotilla headed to go kite. Most of them grabbed an hour session before it got dark. We then motored up to Saba Rock Bar. It’s a very small island between two larger islands with enough room on it for a bar and hotel. We had the opening party at Saba Rock. It was a great time most of the boats showed up and we hung out for a while then headed back to the boat to get ready for the mornings session.
Day 5
We were outside Saba Rock for the day. Most of the group went kiting all day. The conditions were perfect. The kiting spot was located about 10 minutes upwind of the cats by dingy. We woke up around 8am. Forman and I headed down wind to try and grab a pic of all the boats but a storm came through which fashioned an amazing rainbow right in front of us. We then headed back to the boat for breakfast.
The wind was cranking everyone was on 9m kites and twin tips. The water is the clearest blue I have seen in a very long time. I took a bunch of shots all day at the beach and even scoring two kite sessions. I rode Sam’s 9m Cult and his Haze with .25” fins, which made that board extremely loose. I like the kite for all around riding, but I don’t think it’s a very good wake style kite as it is has very light steering and its hard to know where the kite is. The Cult can boost though. I had some great large boost on the kite. The Kiting day wrapped up with a massive downwinder.
We motored the Cat back up wind for dinner and a tech session (REAL BVI Session report 2 was live). As soon as I was done putting that together the crew headed to the bar. Ed Holden, Adam Michell, Liz, Sam, Jason and I headed out for the night. It was pouring rain and blowing about 25-30 on the dingy ride to the bar. Needless to say we were soaked by the time we got to the bar. We meet up with some of the kiters we met at the beach earlier that day. They were all sailors, crew or captains of sail and motor boats. We also met bob and his wife who are friends with Sam, Jason and Liz. We also met some guys from Virginia who were out for the week of sailing. They hadn’t a clue about sailing. They had lost a pulley to the main sheet and their dingy all on the first day. We took one of the most interesting dingy rides to the their cat to party for a while. Then called it a night.
Day 6
Sam some how got the boat ready for sail by 8am this morning. We sailed to an island I’m not allowed to mention. It was good to get the sails up and cruising along. We were sailing about 8 knots. Bob came along for the sail and teched us out on sailing. We pulled into the North side of the island. Most of the guys headed out for a kitesurf session. The waves were head + and it was windy, but huge squalls were coming through and the wind shut off every couple half hours.
Sam and Forman went out of SUP boards and Slezy, Brian, Nuzzi and Aaron wound up with no wind in an off shore location and needed a bit of a dingy rescue. I headed out to shot just before this happened. I stayed and shot a couple pics of the SUPs before it got way to dark to shoot. We spent the rest of the day surfing our brains out. I rode the new JL 9’1 and the 10’8 SUP, having the best and longest waves I think I have ever caught. Every one had a blast.
Day 7
We headed back to the same location. The waves were larger than yesterday. Everyone was out kiting on 7 and 9ms. I shot photos and video for both sessions. I was so exhausted after the day I had to miss what was a great party that night to sleep. We headed back to the mooring balls for the night.
Day 8
Again we headed back to the same location. I shot from the boat for the first session. The waves were bit smaller than yesterday as was the wind. Everyone was having a bit of a rough day so it was pretty laid back. I scored a little 12m helix and the new LF quad fin for a spin. I really liked the LF quad surfboard. Then, we headed back to the mooring ball for the night.
Day 9
We again headed back to the west end for a session. By the time we got there the wind died a little. Most of the crew headed to the head++ wave sets on SUPs and long boards. Sleazy rode a short board in the morning. Aaron rode a 12m and surfboard for a few hours. After shooting for about 2 hours and having a much needed lunch, I took out the 11’ SUP for a long session. I had a blast they were such long massive waves. I headed out after that for a second photo swim. The crew headed to Potter’s for dinner. By the crew I mean near all the 13 boats. It was a great evening with excellent food, people and drinks.
Day 10
It was again back to the west end. I shot for half the day. While the guys rode and surfed for the first half of the day. I took a very short kite session due to my energy and hunger levels at the time. It was a waist to chest high right. I again rode Jason’s LF quad and sam’s 12m Cult. We then headed to Jost Van Dyke to moore up for the night.
Day 11
We headed back to the Mooring to drop off the first week clients. We headed to apple bay to go surf and hit up the Bamba shack. After surfing some small wave and Me shooting for the night. I scored a quick 10 minute surf. We then headed to the Bomba shack for some tea and drinks. It was the most fun ride home.
Day 12.
We headed back to Apple Bay for shooting the surf video. Liz and I were the subjects. I was hoping to film but I guess it worked out. We wound out surfing most of the afternoon it was very small but still surfable. Liz was killing it. She got 4 waves all on her own power her first day surfing. The rest of us had fun playing around on the small waves. We were all very impressed with her surf session. After that it was round 2 at the Bomba shack. We meet up with Marko and Dom who we met the first night at Saba last week. We headed back to the moorings to meet some of the new clients and party with the ones that were till here.
Day 13
We did a dawn patrol at Apple bay. I shot in the morning and watched the guys ride. We headed back the moorings to meet the new clients and pack up the boat for the 2nd week. We headed out of port to go to Spanish Town to surf for the afternoon. Our boat got there early, so I took out the 10’8 JL SUP for a couple of macking set waves before heading to go shoot for the rest of the day and then we headed back to saba rock for the night. We had another great party at Saba Rock. After the party we headed to the Bitter End pub for the after party. After they closed we headed back to the boat for some more fun.
Day 14
It was a rough and slow morning. We finally got started around 11am. We motored back to Spanish Town to surf. Liz, Sam, Jason, Matt, myself and David Combe the Publisher of Kiteboarding Magazine cruised over to get a session. We stopped along the way to jump off the boat into the clear blue waters, and surf behind the boat. We arrived to find a very small Spanish Town. It was the sketchiest surf session I have ever had. It was very shallow with coral heads popping up all over. The wave was about waist high and the inside reef was about 6-12 inches.
We rode there for about 2 hours only getting a handful of waves. But when we caught one and made it back out to the line up unscathed it made for a very rewarding experience. I rode the JL 7’ Destroyer. As the tide continued to drop, it got even shallower and we decided to call it and packed up and headed back to Saba Rock. We arrived a couple hours before sunset and took a hike. We climbed the island that the Bitter End Yacht Club is on. It was hot, sweaty and beautiful. We made it down a while later landing ourselves in front of the BEYC’s pool, we took a quick dip and headed back to the boat for dinner.
Day 15
The fleet headed out early morning to back to our secret spot. We usually get to sail across the pass however because of the abnormal wind direction we were forced to motor it due to the time constraints. When we arrived to our wave spot we found very minimal waves but the wind was cranking. Most of the other boats were south of us enjoying the flatter water. We decided to anchor up there as well.
The Mooring’s new boat the Power Cat came along for the fist couple days of our trip along with the Mooring’s Marketing man David Rohr. He let us cruise around in the Power Cat for a an hour or so while a bunch of boats were anchored together and the kiters were all out doing there thing. I got some great shots during that session. I tried to ride after that on a 13m REV and a surfboard but by then the wind was lighter and just cruised around for 15 minutes and called it. Charley, Bryan and Erik from Puerto Rico flew in to hang with us for the new swell and get some riding time for the next few days.
After taking a bit of a break I decided that we needed to get some evening shots. This turned into quite a planning and coordinating feat. But we managed to find a way to get the two Cats docked and the screw and riders out to locations before dark. Myself, Trip, Jason and Sam took a rather long dinghy ride to another side of an island. The sun finally broke through the clouds and we scored a few good shots, while the guys were a bit underpowered on there largest kites and a ragging inside current. I scored a couple good shots, and as it got dark we had to pack up and ride in the dinghies all the way around to the other side while dodging the reefs and waves. We made it back in time to have dinner and head out to Potters to party.
Day 16
The crew headed out to the waves. The swell defiantly had hit as we were motoring out to the north. It was a very rocking ride. We some how dropped anchor near the break, while the swells were probably 8-10 foot. It would completely hide the entire boat but the mast and boom of the other boat from sight. It was a frustratingly slow start. By the time everyone got their things together a thick layer of clouds rolled in. Sam and I were on a mission to get something useful down with the day so we headed to Cow Wreck to hang out and photograph the clients if the sun came out. I wound up grabbing some great shots.
Sam and I navigated the very shallow reef and made it back to the boats for lunch. Sam, Matt and I paddled out to a little break that doesn’t usually go off unless there is a big swell. It was a fun little wave, but it was a little too windy for standup which gave me a bit of a problem. Then Jason, Charley, Bryan and Myself headed back up the Cow Wreck. So they could do a downwinder. I shot some more photos and with a quickly dropping tide and a very weightless gas tank, we barley made it back through the inside of the reef.
The two boats motored back to the anchorage. I scored some more great shots as we pulled in just as the sun was setting. Jason, Liz, Sam and I headed over to Heather and Ian’s Boat for some cocktails before going over to Potter’s for dinner. After a very good dinner, a lot more cocktails and partying, those left standing moved the party to our boat.
Day 17
We again headed to our usual spot to ride today. It was nice and windy at the anchorage but when we showed up to the waves the wind was only blowing around 12knots. The crew decided on a surf. The current was insane compared to the last few days. Only after about an hour out there a huge squall came through which ended our session. By the time we got back to the boat it cleared up and started cranking. The guys pumped up for a kite session.
Myself and a few others headed back up to Cow Wreck to hangout and ride with the clients. It became very cloudy so I scored a kite session. I rode Jason’s 16m havoc and 138 mission very powered for a good half hour. It was a much needed session. After that I took pictures the rest of the days on the beach. The Sea Leopard threw a cocktail party with some amazing appetizers and it was back to partying all night.
Some how we all survived the trip and made it home safely.
View the Pocket Camera video HERE.
Check out some of my favorite shots HERE.
