BVI's
( British Virgin Islands).
Looking at the weather it didn't look overall great as a front was
coming off the US east coast and causing a lot of odd weather -
lots
of rain, odd wind directions etc.. So we sat tight, in St Martin
( French side) for a bit waiting for things to sort them selves out.
Sure enough the weather clamed down and we made a run for it. Most
people do the trip at night. Leaving St Martin early evening and
arriving in the early morning. We on the other hand made it a day
sail - Why not, the weather was now good and we would have the
opportunity to catch fish, fill up the freezer and enjoy a nice
trade wind down wind run to the BVI's.
Well part was ok, the wind was fine, weather great. But no fish,
not even a stinky barracuda, zippo!.
We arrived into Spanish Town on the Island of Virgin Gorda at about
5pm. Right on beer o'clock for land fall cocktails! We dropped the
hook set up the BBQ and we were set for the night. In the morning we
would clear in ( customs and immigration).
It was really strange being back in the BVI's as this is where we
started the trip in 2003!!!, HOLLY COW! One thing we noticed it was
not nearly as busy as it was then. There seemed to be more cruising
boats around and not the mass of charter boats rushing from one spot
to the next.
While in Virgin Gorda we sailed up to Gorda Sound, a great bay that
is very protected from all winds. At one end of the bay is the
Bitter End Yacht Club resort and at the other is the Limerick end
Marina. Both places are filled with restaurants, bars and lots of
things to do.
We spent a few days there, snorkeling around, checking out the
resorts etc. From there we moved around to a few of the other
islands in the BVI. There is a bunch of them, all in a very
protected cluster and all within a few hours sail from each other.
Perfect for low stress sailing, and if you don't like anchoring,
there are mooring balls everywhere. $25 and one is yours for the
night.
Now it was time to head into the main town in the BVI's "Roadtown"
we had a few things to do. One was to pick up a MOB (Man Over Board)
system sent to us from Australia - Mobi-Alert. The other main one
was to catch a ferry to the US Virgin Islands to get our passports
stamped
with a US Visa stamp ( so we could sail in on Reverie).
The US Virgin Islands is part of the "geographical" structure of the
BVI's, but this lot belongs to the USA.
What a difference, if it wasn't for the rhythm of the steel drums
playing, you would think you are anywhere in the US ( take away the
blue Caribbean water as well) It's a massive contrast to the BVI's I
think better anchorages are in the USVI but the BVI's have more
"Caribbean character".
While also in the BVI's we were planning to meet up with an
old work colleague from Melbourne, now Canada. Andrew M.
Gosh what liver punishment that was. Three days and we were ready
for a detox. We took a sail over to Great Harbour on Peter Island,
then back to Roadtown, then the following day off to Nanny Cay
Marina where Andrew was taking off on some Caribbean Sailing. We
were keen to get back to Nanny Cay Marina as it is where we picked
up the first "Reverie" it was great being back and we FOUND a
spinnaker pole!!! Finally!!
Good one too, nice and thick with good ends on it and extendable.
Quite long though when extended ( about 35ft!) but it was a great
price and will do a perfect job.
Two days after leaving Andrew we were off from the BVI's to the
Spanish Virgin Islands, quite close ( 20 miles). The Spanish Virgin
Islands are part of Puerto Rico.
Cheers for now
J&J
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