Photo: Anegada
We had the anchor up and were away from Marigot Bay at 05:00 for the 80nm sail to Virgin Gouda, British Virgin Islands. As it turned out we had to motor sail the whole way as the predicted forecast did not eventuate. Not long after we left the cross bar on the davits broke, it appears the bolt connecting it has sheared. Brian braced the davits with rope and we continued. We finally dropped the anchor off Prickly Pear Island, Virgin Gouda at 16:15.
The following morning we fixed the davits and cleared into the BVI’s, where our immigration status allows us to stay a maximum of 30 days. From Customs we took the dingy around to Leverick Bay, a small bay with a resort that has a couple of cafes, beach bar, laundromat, grocery store and a Pussers clothing store. Pussers is a BVI brand of clothing and rum which no doubt Brian will sample whilst we are here. Having cleared our emails and checked the price of diesel we went back to the Dol for a relaxing afternoon and swim. Saba Rock and Bitter End are a couple of bays within Gorda Sound that have cafes, shops, water sports and fuel. We went for an exploratory walk around, had lunch at the Crawl Pub and stopped to let what looked like an Iguana walk across the path in front of us. The afternoon entertainment was watching a boat doing anchoring practice, they must have anchored about 6 or 7 times before leaving the bay.
Wednesday 29th, we woke up, looked at the weather and decided if we were going to visit Anegada, a coral island 11nms away, today was the day. So it was breakfast and we were off, motor sailing, arriving in time for morning tea. It’s nice to be cruising again. With Gail on the bow, we followed the markers through the coral and anchored with 0.4m under the keel at Settling Point to the sound of a steel band. The anchorage was definitely a catamaran anchorage, we counted 38 catamarans and only 4 monohulls, talk about being outnumbered. It was a beautiful and peaceful spot.
Anegada is a coral island that has extensive reefs around it, one of the reefs extends 10 miles out. The local water taxi guys will take you on a tour of snorkelling and fishing spots. Talking to one of the girls in the Anegada Reef Hotel complex she thought there were about 2-300 permanent residents on the island, “we all know and look out for each other”. The people we met were all very helpful and friendly. The following day we went ashore for a walk to the Flamingo Ponds, and have to say we could see a cluster of pink in the distance but would have needed the Hubble telescope to see them. Still we enjoyed the walk. That evening we went ashore for dinner at the resort and had the specialty of the house, lobster cooked on the bbq, (the bbq’s were steel drums cut in half) sitting at a table on the beach, very nice.
Friday we had casually arranged to meet Lurata in Trellis Bay, Tortola. We made our way out through the markers and had a very pleasant 20nm sail arriving and picking up a mooring buoy in Trellis Bay at midday, just behind Lurata. Trellis Bay is a bay crowded with mooring buoys, and at the end of Tortola’s airport runway, which is very busy with small jets, prop planes and private jets. They are known to have a good full moon party which is a couple of weeks away. The bay is very yachtie friendly with cafes, small market and laundromat. In the evening we went ashore with John, Kerry and Davin for dinner at the Loose Mongoose, a very pleasant evening sharing tales of our adventures since we last saw them in Barbados.
Saturday we put the headsail out and tootled, looking at various bays on the way before anchoring in 13m at Green Cay, Little Joost Van Dyke. This feels like the cruising we do at home around the Bay of Islands and Great Barrier, although here the water is the true Caribbean turquoise. Unfortunately a ground swell developed overnight making the anchorage a little too rolly for us, so we never got to snorkel the cay or take the walk to the Bubble Pool, will have to save that for another day. We left the bay and motored around various anchorages for 2 hours, including through the Tortola Race Week fleet, before dropping the anchor in Benures Bay, Norman Island. A delightful, quiet bay with no swell and no facilities. We took the dinghy around to The Bight, the main anchorage on Norman Island. It has a small resort and a couple of restaurants, there is also a restored steel schooner that is now a restaurant and party venue. From there we went around the corner to Treasure Point and the caves for a snorkel, there were plenty of small colourful fish but the coral was bland. We decided not to go out to Pelican Island and the Indians, about 1nm away, which again were meant to have good snorkelling.
Wednesday we took the dinghy ashore and walked across to the Bight for lunch. The track was well marked across the ridge line, it probably took us 25 -30 minutes to reach the Bight or the Pirates Bight as it is known. Whilst having lunch we noticed Lurata leaving the bay and when we walked back to Benures Bay they were anchored in the bay. We had drinks on board the Dol and decided to head for the US Virgin Islands the following day.
Thursday 6th April we upped anchor just before 08:30 and motored across to Sopers Hole, Tortola to clear out of the BVI’s. Sopers Hole is the closest point to the US Virgin Islands and was very busy, we managed to find a mooring and Brian went ashore to clear out.