Virgin Islands Sunshine Cruise
Videos: Coming up the beach at Soggy Dollar and (The Soggy Dollar Bar)
Book now for 2012 Jan 20-28 .... places still available!
Fantastic photos - 2010 Sail Cork Cruise - British Virgin Islands
Enjoy a fantastic holiday in paradise and learn and improve your sailing with you skipper Eddie English. Eddie is a Yachtmaster Instructor and Examiner and has been teaching aboard cruisers for 30 years, he is a real fan of the Caribbean and knows every inch of the BVI's. He has been cruising and racing in the Caribbean for nearly 20 years and competes in Caribbean regattas annually - sailing as navigator in several victorious campaigns.
Besides his navigational skills he has an in depth knowledge of many of the islands and understands how the people there tick!
Visit the best places to eat and drink and see the best views with Eddie - he has left no stone unturned to help to make your holiday the best ever.
The SailCork cruise around the British Virgin Islands (BVIs) departs London Gatwick Jan 20 2012 (Irish crew depart Ireland 19 Jan and overnight Gatwick) - with 7 leisurely fun filled days until arriving back to Gatwick on Jan 28th.
From our base at Tortola we will cruise many of the islands, rocks, cays, reefs and islets that make up the Virgin Islands. The island chain spans about 50 miles east to west in length and offers a superb cruising area. Sail aboard our superb boat and visit up to 3 different destinations each day.
Visit Virgin Gorda, Joost Van Dyke, Peter's Island, Norman Island and other smaller islands. Swim ashore for a beer at the Soggy Dollar and swim with the fish at Norman Island.
These islands are full of local bird life, flora and fauna and the crystal clear waters offer views of an amazing variety of fish. Enjoy snorkelling with Parrotfish, Spotted Drums, Cleaner Ship, Angels, Sergeant Majors, slow gliding Rays and many, many others.
The islands are famous for their watering holes - the "Willie T" is an old sailing ship on Norman Island, "Foxy's" and the "Soggy Dollar" on Jost Van Dyke, and "Pussers" in Roadtown in Tortola.
Price incl transatlantic and interisland flights, accommodation and tuition aboard Eur 2,500. Book now: Call Jo English +353 21 4811237 or (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Sail in the waters where the skull and crossbones flew! Dozens or wonderful islands to explore! Sail in the wake of the Pirates of yesteryear to enjoy warm waters, sunshine and excellent sailing with lots of exciting destinations!
With place names like Treasure Point and Devils's Bay you can hear the echoes from the islet of Dead Man's Chest... "Yo ho ho and a bottle of Rum!" This romantic group of islands provides the setting for a memorable sailing holiday.
Yachtmaster Instructor Eddie English will make you feel at home in these waters and work on your sailing and navigational skills aboard your luxury 52' latter day pirate ship! Jo English will help to organise your schedule and for the cruise she brings on board her professional culinary skills as hostess - and will even show you how to cater at sea!
British Virgin Islands 2012 - Provisional Programme
Thursday 19 Overnight Gatwick (Irish crew and UK crew not residing near Gatwick) – Hilton Hotel at airport.
Friday 20 0700: Check in. 0915: Dep Gatwick. 1430: Arrive Antigua – Transfer for BVIs flight 18:00 Arrive BVIs (Beef Island Airport)- 19:00 Arrive marina Roadtown Tortola. Briefing aboard. Drinks + dinner ashore at "Charlies".
Saturday 21 Briefing + planning, provisioning, boat prep, shake down sail to Norman Island (8 miles) – Drinks on the Willie T. and dinner aboard.
Sunday 22 Morning sail to “the Baths” Virgin Gorda via Peter Island, Salt Island, Cooper Island and Ginger Island (15M) 
Monday 23 Sail to North Sound and the Bitter End on Virgin Gorda. (10M)
Tuesday 24 Sail West (Early Start!) Island stop for breakfast!
Wednesday 25 Sail around the chill out island – Joost Van Dyke – swim ashore and relax at the Soggy Dollar in White Bay (15M)
Thursday 26 Sail to the relaxing Manchioneel Bay on Cooper Island – last night in Caribbean!
Friday 27 Sail to Marina at Roadtown and finish cruise- 1200 Check in Beef Island Airport 1910- Dep Antigua for transatlantic flight.
Saturday 28 0715 -arrive Gatwick- Reality sets in!!!!!
Your Skipper and Host for SailCork Caribbean - Eddie and Jo English
Eddie's family have a long association with the Caribbean - his cousin Joan Denvir sailed the Atlantic to Antigua and spent a lot of time sailing from Antigua back in the 1950's and 1960's. J.P. English, Eddie's brother, spent many seasons based in Antigua aboard "Sariyah" a 120' sloop on which he was mate - he is currently skipper of a 75' luxury yacht based in the Bahama Islands. The English brothers competed in a number of Caribbean Regattas including J.P, Eddie and Joe English. SailCork are the only Irish sailing school with many years experience in the Caribbean and have a very special relationship with Antigua and the British Virgin Islands.
Having cruised the waters of Antigua on SailCork holidays for a number of years Eddie and his crew have, for the last two years, moved on to the British Virgin Islands. This is a vastly
superior cruising ground offering a huge range of destinations to provide you with the sailing holiday of a lifetime!
Eddie will not be alone in his role of leading the crew - he will be joined by Jo English who is the cruise co-ordinator and is responsible for organising hotels, flights etc and will ensure that your booking will run seamlessly. Jo is a veteran of several Caribbean trips and will run the galley - with the help of the crew. Jo comes from a professional catering background and will help you with the tricks of the trade for cooking and catering on board.
SailCork Caribbean Sailing January 2012
Notes: You will need a valid passport. Luggage 20kg No hard cases! One item of hand luggage – max 5 kg On arrival– fill out landing card. No peishables (fresh food) will get through customs. There is a bit of a wait at Customs (to say the least) - Caribbean time!!
Food: We hope to eat ashore 3 of 7 evenings. Lunch aboard most days. Breakfast aboard. Ashore - 3 Course meal including ½ bottle of wine approx US$60 Bottle of beer $3-4. Basic shopping done in advance.
Currency US $ -usual currency Cash machines Roadtown Tortola
How much to bring?: Kitty for boat includes berthing, mooring, fuel and gas – combined with Food (+drink!) kitty - $200-250 per hd (includes breakfasts, lunches and meals aboard). + Drink? + other spend?
Temperature 25-30 degrees – that’s warm!! Light clothes – Shorts + tee shirts, collared summer shirt for dinner (some places) togs/towel, rain jacket, sun hat. sunscreen, anti-mosquito spray. Travel light – you will not need warm clothes. Wind average Jan NNE 15-20 knots Sunrise 0630 Sunset 1745. Early mornings to get the best of the day!
Must do: Look at BVIs on Google Earth! Google BVI’s and have a good look for yourself! See some great reviews here. If you have a chart have a look at the destinations, distances and obstacles!! Have a look at a video about the beach bars!
Read our blog about January 2010 Blog on the SailCork Caribbean Cruise 2011 My stamp album and the Caribbean - the best sailing waters in the world!
Our boat - a Beneteau 52' luxury yacht has 7 separate cabins and can accommodate up to 13 - we will have a maximum of 8 guests and 2 crew. The boat is really well appointed with every mod con. The galley is very well equipped with excellent fridges to keep everything cool!
We even have a cooler on deck to keep the thirst quenched in the sun - and of course a shower on deck to wash down after all the swimming in the wonderfully warm sea.
She sails really well and is perfect for cruising the Caribbean and visiting the sun soaked British Virgin Islands. The navigation station has everything needed and perfect for your opportunity to learn more about sailing and navigation on this voyage of a lifetime.
Go ahead and book your Caribbean Sunshine Sailing Holiday now!
We are limited to 8 places in total - places will book out soon!
Contact Jo English on +353 21 4811237
(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Eddie English Blog
Why did the Costa Concordia sink?
The town of Cobh has been a port of call for ocean liners for over 150 years - now about 60 liners visit Cork Harbour each year- we all love the liners! Everybody in the maritime community was shocked last Friday night with the news of the grounding of the massive Italian cruise liner the Costa Concordia. I spent the weekend trawling the web to try to find out what really happened - this blog is the tragic story of the last voyage of the Costa Concordia on Friday the 13th of January 2012.
