Bareboat sailing day 8: British Virgin Islands, BVI, returning the boat to Horizon at Nanny Cay

It's the morning of our last day on the boat and it's been raining all night. I woke Adam up in the middle of the night because it was raining really hard and we needed to close all the windows. He must have forgotten where he was because he sat straight up and hit his head on the underside of the cockpit. I made him sleep on that side, because that's the side he sleeps on at home. He shared his opinions about that and then rolled over and went back to sleep. I managed to get the windows closed, and it was still raining hard when we woke up.

Maria's flight was early that morning, and we waited as long as we could to allow the weather to clear  enough to take her over to the dock in the dinghy. While waiting, we were listening to the weather station on the radio. Since we were so close to Puerto Rico they give the weather report in spanish and english, so Maria was translating for us. The forecast didn't sound good, but the weather cleared and we were able to get Maria dropped off and return to the boat. More heavy rains came, and we continued to listen to the weather report. We needed to cover about 4 nautical miles today to get the boat back to Nanny Cay by noon. The original plan was for me to sail the boat as the helmsman the whole way, but with all of the rain that was out of the question.

The rain ahead and Beef Island on the right

Not only was the forecast for more rain with a small craft advisory, but also winds of 18-20 knots and 4-6 foot waves with a northern swell. The boat had to be turned in by noon. We waited as long as we could and even made ourselves some more bacon, egg, and cheese english muffins.

Driving in the pouring rain

At 8:30 AM it sounded like the last of the rain had cleared. We decided it was time to make the trip. We head out, and starting out it's not bad at all. Not as rough as the day before, but it feels like it takes us about 2 hours to get around Beef Island and into the channel. Our fuel gauge hasn't worked this entire trip, and we have no idea if we have enough fuel to motor all the way back. Half way around Beef Island, we see the rain, heading straight for us. Of course we didn't pack any wet weather gear, so I made Adam wear his hoodie because it was chilly and would keep him a little dry. I rode on the steps heading into the cabin protected from the rain. I figured it didn't make sense for both of us to get hypothermia. The boating was rough in the rain, but not too bad. We finally made it into the channel and the rain clears. That's when the swells and the waves showed up. Our 35' monohull is all over the place, right rail in the water, then the left, then the right, and so on. The waves were moving faster than us and we were pseudo surfing them. I was never so glad to have a 10,000lb keel on a boat in my life. I headed down below and got life jackets, not because I thought we would capsize, but we were rolling so much, that I was concerned one of us could go overboard. It wouldn't be easy to tread water in those 6' waves. Meanwhile not one, but two Catamarans blow past us. One of them is under sail! Yes, sailing in the rain and rough waves like it's nothing! The other catamaran motored past us, and looked like they were barely moved by the rough seas, meanwhile I'm thinking if we die today, at least we will die on the last day of our vacation and not the first. 

Nanny Cay Marina

Then we see it, a harbor full of masts, Nanny Cay! Hallelujah! We just might make it. We have settled into a nice groove with the waves, and they aren't as high as they were. We were heading down wind and decided to let out the jib and try to get there a little faster. I was able to set up the furler and jib sheet so I could reach both from the same spot an let out the jib myself. As we approached Nanny Cay I set out to getting the lines and fenders ready for docking the boat at the fuel dock on the starboard (right) side. We pulled in the jib, and motored up to that dock like pros! Then they wanted us to dock on the port (left) side. Adam had to turn around in the narrow marina while I am quickly untying and moving all of our lines and fenders. Good thing I was a pro at bowline knots by then! We refilled the water and fuel on the boat, and we still had over half a tank left which would've been nice to know... We called Horizon Yacht Charter and an employee came and drove the boat over to the Horizon docks which are extremely narrow. Of course he spun the boat around and backed it into the narrow space like it was nothing.
It felt good to be on solid ground. It was like a totally different environment inside the marina. The sun was now out, and the winds were lighter. You couldn't tell the water was rough at all. It was almost like that trip had never happened.
We checked into the hotel, and headed to the beach where we did a little swimming, and mostly spent the afternoon relaxing under a palm tree. We saw a large group of people that were dressed very nicely headed our way. It was a church and they were there for a baptism. It was pretty neat to watch, but we felt a little underdressed.

On the beach at Nanny Cay