The
British Virgin Islands are a charterer's paradise. Consistent 10-15
knots of breeze, calm seas and 60 plus islands to explore all within
an hour or so sail from each other. To aid all and sundry, the
entrances to anchorages are marked and there is tons of information
on hiking, fishing, diving, restaurants available everywhere. 21 of
the 60+ islands are inhabited leaving plenty of deserted islands to
explore...if you can get away from the sunsail, moorings and
footloose fleets!
As well as the great sailing, these islands are home to fantastic sea life. Almost every snorkelling trip we went on we were amazed at what we saw. Better than the other windward and leeward islands we had seen on our trip up.
With all good things in life, this paradise comes at a cost. Most places are no anchor zones with a mooring ball a must for $25 /night. With our budget at a £1000 a month which breaks down to around £30 a day (covers boat running costs and living expenses for 2), this makes a substantial dent in our living costs, so we anchor whenever we can!
We loved the BVIs so much we stayed longer than planned. With over 2 weeks of exploring we got to see many places. I shall try and cover all the anchorages we went to along with the highlights in this post (may be a rather long one...).
Virgin Gorda
Sailing in from the East, Virgin Gorda is the first collection of islands you come to and it is here where we checked in. Gun Creek is a new port of entry within the BVIs, located in Gorda Sound. There is no anchoring or mooring near the customs building so we dropped the pick off Prickly Pear Island and dinghied about a mile to Gun Creek. Officials here are friendly, didn't even look at our paperwork and instead gave me 5 forms to fill out, all with similar information. As usual, Dylan found a particularly interesting magazine to read whilst I dealt with the admin. For a 2 week stay on a private vessel measuring 37 ft it cost us $14.25, barg!
Prickly Pear Island where we first anchored in Gorda Sound is a lovely spot as there are no mooring balls in sight therefore puts off most people from staying around here. A windy spot but movement free so we had loads of electricity and ventilation with only minimal roll at night. We went for a snorkel on Cactus Reef and saw a huge hermit crab hugging a wine bottle, sussing it out to be its next home upgrade. We rested here for a night to catch up on sleep after our night passage and then left. No more than 30 min into our trip out of here did the reel start buzzing. Dylan insisted it was my turn to fight with the fish so I took the rod and reeled in a 2 ft long cuda. As we did not want to eat it for fear of ciguatera we took the hook out of its mouth and threw it back. Aw shucks, what greenies we have become!
Saba
Rock is also located in Gorda Sound and we stayed on a mooring ball
here for one night to get free wifi. Another busy place with all
mooring balls taken by later afternoon. The process for paying a
mooring ball here seems to be a boat boy coming to the boat either
during happy hour (5-8pm) or breakfast time the next morning
(8-10am). We thought that we got away without paying but alas, the
guy showed up just as we were about to up anchor and we waved goodbye
to $25. At least here they give you free internet and up to 250
galloons of water if you pay for a mooring ball, unlike many other
locations. Dylan made lentil and bacon soup that night which I
proceeded to spill down myself whilst eating in the dark in the
cockpit and burnt my leg – tasted like shite anyway!! Usual Dylan
concoction of shoving every herb and spice from the cupboard into it
resulting in every dish of his tasting the same. (Dylan's addition –
I liked it, so was more for me)
To
start our sight seeing tour we wanted to check out The Baths. A
natural granite boulder formation on the shore that looks like
something straight out of Disney World. It can only be visited in the
day so we anchored in St Thomas Bay (Spanish Harbour) for the night
with the plan to visit The Baths first thing the next morning. We
would not recommend St Thomas Bay - the tide / wind must have changed
in the wee hours of the morning and it became a very rolly anchorage
and not pleasant at all. The constant inter-island ferries created a
lovely wake for us to surf while at anchor. There is nothing to see
here anyway, it was just convenient due to its close proximity to The
Baths.
 |
| The Baths |
The
Baths are part of a marine park. As such the visiting hours are
limited to daylight hours only, there is an entrance fee as well as a
mooring ball fee. As no-one came to get any money from us, we didn't
pay either of these charges and visited for free. An extremely
popular place and as we rocked up late morning, we managed to nab the
last mooring ball which was very near a huge catamaran on the mooring
ball in front – as in, we could see the filling in their
sandwiches! After a few suggestions from the people on the cat to
move on (ignored of course), I picked up the ball and attached a very
long rope to the eye to ensure we were well away from them. Happy
with our positioning we jumped in and swam to the boulders. This
place was fantastic, a great walk through interesting caves of strewn
boulders all over the place. The snorkelling was good as the
submerged boulders made for an interesting landscape. Whilst we ate
lunch back in the cockpit we watched the vulture yachts circling
looking for a vacant mooring. We have heard stories of boats crashing
into each other here as they both speed to pick up the final mooring
ball in the area, crazy!
Tortola
Tortola
is the biggest collection of islands in the BVIs and home to the
capital, Road Harbour. It is also where the charter fleets are
located so plenty of traffic during our passages keeping us on our
toes.
 |
| View from Marina Cay |
Marina
Cay is located in Eastern Tortola and one of my favourite places
ever. It is just beautiful, pristine water, oodles of sea life and
fantastic views over to Virgin Gorda as well as the rest of Tortola.
Its a very small 8 acre island with a real exclusive feel to it. Home
to a Pusser's store (local rum brand), a boutique hotel and an
amazing beach. We managed to find an
anchoring spot at the back of the mooring field in 30 ft of water.
Many an hour was spent looking over the side at the huge fish
circling the boat. They seem to like our black hull, maybe it
provides them with some much needed shade but thanks to that
aesthetic we saw baby black tip sharks and big ass barracuda and
tarpon. Needless to say during those times I was put off snorkelling
and much preferred to read a book in the cockpit!
 |
| Another view from Marina Cay |
Trellis Bay is a mile
dinghy ride from Marina Cay and this is where we went to provision
and check out the happy hour. Trellis Bay is home to an arty
community, the buildings along the beach front are craft shops and
the local potter. It is also the worst place for mozzies and
no-see-ums, despite putting almost 100% deet over me, we both got
eaten alive. Bug problem aside, we went back here a second time for a
full moon party. A popular event that sees the mooring balls and any
possible anchoring spots full of local, cruiser and charter boats.
The shore line was buzzing with people having a good time, all the
shops opened later, there were stilt walkers, a steel band and a huge
buffet. Large metal balls stuffed with wood were ablaze all over
casting interesting shadows and heating the night air making it even
warmer than it already was. Watched the lighting of the guy at 9pm, a
metal sculpture was set ablaze as the coup de gras and people
gathered around to watch the spectacle. I found it even more
entertaining counting the amount of hawaiian shirts being worn out in
public!!
Provisioning in Trellis
Bay is possibly the easiest place to do it in the BVIs. Ring up
Bobby's Supermarket located in Road Harbour and they offer a free
service to pick you up, wait for you to do your shopping and then
take you back...for free and there appears to be no minimum spend in
the shop!
We did anchor for a couple
of hours in Road Harbour. Although it is possible to anchor here, the
amount of ferry traffic makes it loud and rolly so we didn't stick
around for long. Just to drop off our first visitor that had stayed
with us for a long weekend and then we were out of there.
Cane
Garden Bay is located in Western Tortola and our friends off Frolic
insisted we check out this place to visit the Callwood Rum
Distillery. Dylan being a rum drinker decided it was a must on our
itinerary. Cane Garden Bay is a huge protected bay with...yep a big
mooring field covering most of the area but we did manage to anchor
at the back near a reef. Comes in handy being a shallow draft! The
Callwood Rum Distillery is a rundown
ramshackle place in the middle of a sugar plantation built in the
late 1800s and still in use today. I was expecting rumpelstiltskin to
greet us but instead we got a teenage local girl who took us on a
tour. At the end we got to taste what was on offer and Dylan bought a
10 yr bottle.
Having lived off dried
beans and tins for the past week we went to Bobby's supermarket to
stock up on essentials. Surprise surprise none of the items had
prices on (a common theme the further North we go in the Caribbean)
so it was a surprise at the checkout when it cost us $70. Dylan is
still seething at paying $8.45 for some shitty processed cheese.
Cooper Island
Cooper
Island anchorage (Machioneel Bay) is deep at around 50ft+ and so we
had no choice but to pick up a mooring ball. Luckily for us, for the
3 days we were there, no one approached us for any money! I think the
trick is to pick up the moorings balls that don't belong to moor
sea-cure. These are private and a gentleman that lives in a house
overlooking the bay apparently comes to collect the fee...he was away
when we were there.
Cooper
Island Beach Club owns the dinghy dock so we went there to plan our
RMS Rhone dive as well as check out happy hour with our friends from
Frolic. We were introduced to 'Painkillers' which are a mix of dark
rum, pineapple juice and cream of coconut...mmmm they are yummy.
We took our visitor 'Miami Alex' here too and snorkelled on the Cistern where we saw turtles, file fish and loads of trunk fish (one of my fav only second to puffa fish). In the middle of the bay are some big rocks on the water edge which are home to a nursery for fish. Loads of nu nu reef fish splashing about, having a lovely time.
Whilst
us girls read in the cockpit, Dylan went on another salvaging
missions and came back with a breeze catcher, 3 towels, t shirt,
bowl, cup and board shorts. I look and think 'great more things to
put in the washing pile' whilst Dylan treats them like absolute
treasures of the deep!
Norman Island
The
Indians are a group of 3 rocks on the way to Norman Island that have
excellent snorkelling. Being part of the marine park we picked up a
mooring ball and swam in. We saw tons of angelfish and barracuda
under our hull. There was an underwater
tunnel that Dylan found and we both swam through to the other side
whilst an audience of pasty flailing American snorkellers that don't
get their hair wet looked down. This location is home to great bright
corals and a good selection of sponges and fans. Unlike other reefs
we have snorkelled /dived on, this place is very much alive and
buzzing with sea life. Friends that have been coming here for 8 years
now tell us that the sea life is just getting better and better!
The Indians is only a day
anchorage so after snorkelling we sailed to The Bight, Norman Island,
anchored at the back of the mooring field (again) and took the dinghy
to Treasure Point. This place has 3 great deep caves. One
cave was so dark we had to turn back as our vision completely went
and we don't have an underwater flashlight. For the evening
entertainment we had to go to the infamous Willy T's (William
Thornton) which is an old schooner turned into a bar /restaurant and
renowned for its party nights. Dylan had beers and I had pina coladas
whilst we sat watching people arrive in their dinghies, some people
in pirate fancy dress. Downstairs was a dance floor and 2 tv screens
showing pictures of girls with their tops off, we watched the locals
shaking their thang before feeling slightly nauseous and calling it a
night!
Peter Island
This
is a private island with very few inhabitants and one big resort on
the North side. We opted to check out Little Harbour on the south
side where only one other boat was anchored. A small bay that has
nothing ashore, no restaurants, no dinghy docks and gin clear water.
We anchored in the bright blue waters with
our cockpit facing out to the other islands. The bay was very well
protected with no wind or swell and the
boobies and gulls were having a lovely time feeding and sitting on
our dinghy whilst we enjoyed happy hour. It was here that I saw the
biggest tarpon ever, typically I was by myself, thought I was going
to get eaten and swam my best, most speedy front crawl back to the
boat. Much to Dylan's delight who unknown to me was snapping away
with the camera from the boat!
 |
| Me spotting the beast |
 |
| Me swimming away...quickly! |
Anegada
- See
blog post 'Mopeds and Flamingos'
Great Camanoe Island
We
loved this place. But you must remember what we look for in a 'good
spot'. No mooring balls, no charterer's, ideally no boats at all,
clear water and no swell. Well this was all of the above and more!
We anchored in Lee Bay
which is nothing remarkable in terms of what's ashore (nothing) or
the beach (there isn't one) but it has a pretty impressive view
looking out to Virgin Gorda and a passage that is rarely frequented
by boats. It was a very hot day when we arrived so as soon as the
anchor was bedded we went for a snorkel and came across a huge bait
ball with mackerel feasting and the birds overhead going nuts. At
around 5pm we were still the only boat in the bay, totally alone with
no other house, person or boat in sight for the rest of the evening.
Making the most of this opportunity Dylan gets out his......spear gun
(sorry couldn't resist) and jumps in. Not wanting to be anywhere near
him when he attempts to spear a fish, I stay well clear and busy
myself in the galley. Around half an hour later I get summoned to go
and get a bucket, looking over the side I see Dylan has managed to
capture a cero mackerel, big cheshire cat grin on his face. To top it
off, he is so pleased with himself HE even guts it! That night we
dine on baked mackerel, garlic butter and rice. Mmmmm.
With the bay being really
well protected it meant no wind but SWARMS of mozzies. We put the
nets up for the first time since Grenada, I bathed myself in bug
spray and even went to bed in full length pjs...yet the next day I
still woke up with what looked like chicken pox and I was probably a
stone lighter with the amount of sweat that came off me wearing pjs
as well as a sheet over me to doubly make sure there was no skin on
show! Dylan had enough of the heat exuding from me and unknown to me
(deep sleeper) he went and lay in the cockpit for most of the night
to get a little cooler!
The
next day Dylan successfully caught another cero mackerel so this time
we had it Japanese style – although still cooked as I can't quite
bring myself to make my own sushi yet despite how much I miss our
local Kulu Kulu back home. BTW, the BVIs frown on speargun use; Dylan
accidentally caught the mackerels whilst trying to rid the reef of
Lionfish but the mackerel swam in front of the speargun...twice...in
a row...
Jost Van Dyke
A
very busy island when we were there and as such it may have tainted
our views a little when every bay was bursting with boats.
Both
Machioneel Bay and Diamond Cay anchorages (nearest to Sandy Cay)
looked very rolly so we laughed them off and headed into Little
Harbour in Jost Van Dyke. We dropped anchor twice amongst 2 big
mooring fields (refusing to pay the $25), greeted with a hard coral
bottom and poor holding and decided against it as an overnighter.
Still not wanting to pick up a mooring ball and with plenty of
daylight left, we sailed around the corner to Great Harbour instead
and dropped anchor...again amongst a load of mooring balls but this
time the holding was good (see a pattern emerging here?!). We worked
out that if we had forked out for mooring balls for all the nights we
stayed in the BVIs we would be $300 poorer.
Great
Harbour is the main town in Jost Van Dyke and as such a very busy bay
with constant ferry traffic. Wanting to get to White Bay but not
feeling like upping anchor again to sail only a mile, we went ashore
in the dinghy and walked up and down a couple of steep hills to the
next bay along – White Bay. It certainly got the heart going in the
midday sun and we were ecstatic when the infamous
Soggy Dollar Bar was in sight. Downing a water and following that
with a diet coke, we cooled down in the shade of a palm tree on the
beach and then commenced our trek back. Great Harbour reminds us of a
more rural Bequia. The coastline is lined with huts selling drinks, a
church and one dive shop. We went for another drink at the infamous
Foxy's where thousands of people flock to each New Year's Eve from
all over the world. Quite a place with every surface and roof space
lined with business cards, flags and t shirts. Back to the boat where
Dylan went for a swim and got chatting to a Californian couple who
had read our blog. Wow we are famous!
So
taken with these islands, we have decided to visit the US Virgin
Islands just across the way, a mere 8 mile sail between the 2
countries gets us from Great Harbour to St John. British people need
a visa to enter but luckily we had applied for b2 visas before we
left the UK so I can stay there for 6 months if I wish...o the
opportunities!!
No comments:
Post a Comment