Day 10 aboard Untethered begins with clear skies and a nice Easterly blowing across the port beam after continued progress south overnight. New forecasts downloaded via satellite indicate good weather into the islands. She is making 9knts today and at this pace we will land in the USVI a day early, likely late this evening.
As we chart our arrival, we have a few considerations not typical to this transit as the British Virgin Islands (BVI) are firmly closed to all arrivals by sea and the authorities have in fact commandeered, fined and jailed vessels and crew recently that have crossed BVI waters! Welcome to passage making in a COVID world!! We want to ensure we pass well clear of BVI waters to the east and then pass north of the USVI heading east again to our point of arrival.
A solid day of sailing and as the sun sets and we begin to plan our nighttime arrival. Crew have not had much time in the USVI and we shift plans from a late night arrival at dock on St Thomas to a Mooring Ball on St John, off the National Park in St Maho Bay.
A special feeling the 1st time land is sighted after many days offshore. It is now well after sunset and all are on deck as we begin to see the glow of the Virgin Islands over the bow. LAND HO! We safely take the BVI to Port, well outside their waters and the lights of St Thomas grow large off the bow. We make are turn east and pass St Thomas and the many small islands in these waters and now have St John to starboard. As we approach Maho Bay, our AIS (Automatic Identification System) indicates over 20 boats at rest for the night in Maho Bay….crowded! We are fortunate to find an open Ball just off the beach and as all lines are secured and engines quiet we find a chance to toast our transit….and all jump off the stern into perfect Caribbean waters….