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Birthday Bash in the British Virgins! By Doug Owen

Beginning March 29th, thirty-two Corinthians and friends assembled in Tortola in the British Virgin Islands for the annual Commodore’s Cruise.

The brainchild of Commodore Cliff Donoho and Marlene, this event was in keeping with far distant “cruises” that previous years’ Commodores have initiated with very successful results. The way I heard it, Cliff decided that the perfect place for him to celebrate his __th birthday on April 2nd was at Marina Cay on Tortola…..and maybe a few days in other beautiful locations in the BVI’s both before and after.

And since he was going to enjoy this so much (no place else he would rather be, actually) why not invite those that wished to enjoy it with him?

We all met at the Village Cay Marina Hotel in Road Town on March 29th, and rumor has it that our group booked all but one room of the entire hotel for the night! That evening saw a wonderful group dinner in the balmy open air restaurant, with the one bartender on duty working up a sweat late into the evening, trying to keep up with us.

The following morning, we checked out our six boats from the Moorings base in Tortola, and around noon, most vessels were underway for a variety of coves on scattered islands. There was no plan for the entire group to cruise together, as some boats had different interests and ideas as to what they wanted to see, where to spend time, and what was important. There were so many different beautiful coves to choose from, on a number of different islands, and all easily within reach of a couple of hours’ sail from Road Harbour.

Although we experienced a couple of downpours the previous day, and a heavy rain shower during the time that we were checking out the boats, that was the only rain or poor weather we would experience for the entire length of the charter. The weather remained constant, with winds generally fifteen knots or less, blue skies, and daytime temperatures around ninety, with nighttime temperatures never lower than 70 degrees. Water temperatures remained in the mid to high eighties throughout.

The two important occasions were to assemble on April 2nd, at Marina Cay for Cliff’s birthday party, and at Great Harbour on Jost van Dyke on April 3rd, for Marlene’s birthday! And by noon on the 2nd, each boat of the six vessel flotilla had arrived, and was moored in the cove at Marina Cay.

"A highlight of the visit to Marina Cay was the arrival of Jan and Barbro Borjeson, who flew in the day prior to Cliff's party and surprised.....no, actually they shocked him with their attendance. It made for a great surprise for both Cliff and Marlene."

The resort at this location is very nice, with a Pusser’s mercantile store (hey, where else do you get a shot of Pusser’s rum at checkout?), very nice restaurant and bar where Cliff and Marlene hosted a luncheon for the entire group, and evening entertainment at another bar atop a small hill overlooking the bay. It was a wonderful day, enjoyed by all that attended.

The following day saw the flotilla assembled at Jost van Dyke, where a luncheon in honor of Marlene’s birthday was held at Foxy’s Tamarind Bar on the beach at Great Harbour. Foxy’s is known by sailors worldwide as “the” place to party in the BVI’s, and is written up in sailing periodicals and books repeatedly. Started about twenty years ago as a thatch hut bar on the beach, the popularity of Foxy’s has grown through the years, just as the location itself has expanded to include a beach bar restaurant and mercantile store with all sorts of logowear.

As the day progressed, Foxy entertained the patrons with his band and has own special style, and it became known that he would appear at Sail Expo in Oakland ten days later! An invitation was extended by the group for a Sunday night dinner at CYC (since we were at his “house”, he should come to ours!), which was accepted.


As was the case at many locations that your CYC emissaries visited, the partying at Foxy’s, the music and dancing, lasted well into the night, and the following morning, CYC commanded vessels began weighing anchor with individual thoughts of what they would enjoy next.

Three of the six boats chartered decided that seven days would be just right, and the remaining three thought that since they were in the neighborhood, why not make it ten?

No matter if it was seven or ten days, this was a bareboat cruise that was thoroughly enjoyed by all that attended; the camaraderie and deepening friendships among boatmates added to the pleasure, and I’m sure that the memories and the stories will continue around the Clubhouse for some time to come.

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