After Amy, Heather, and Misti left us, Karrie and I had some time to ourselves. We decided it was a good time to relax and to explore some new locations in the British Virgin Islands for the next three weeks. Our first destination was a small cove Amy and I spotted while cruising along the north coast of Tortola. The cove, named White Bay for its white beach, was actually on Guana Island north of Tortola. Guana is a private island originally inhabited by Quakers. Only a few other boats were moored or anchored there and it was a good place to relax for a few days and catch up on boat chores.
We next decided to explore Gorda (or North) Sound at the northern end of Virgin Gorda. We had never been there before. On the way we were going to stop at the Pusser’s on Marina Cay, but as we approached Marina Cay it looked somewhat desolate. I quickly pulled up the Pusser’s website and they stated that the restaurant had been destroyed in Hurricane Irma and they would not be reopening it. As a back up for lunch, we secured one of the mooring balls off Marina Cay and took our dinghy to the Scrub Island Resort. The resort was very upscale with a nice marina (mostly devoted to a charter boat operation), beautiful pool, and nice outdoor restaurant.
After lunch we continued on to Gorda Sound. The large sound is at the north end of Virgin Gorda and enclosed by Mosquito Island, Prickly Pear Island and a shallow reef between Mosquito and Prickly Pear. There is a shallow entrance from the west between Mosquito and Virgin Gorda that is not recommended by the charter companies, but was good for us and saved going all the way around Mosquito to the northern deeper and well marked entrance between the reef system. There are several good anchorages in Gorda Sound, but the guide book recommend the anchorage off Prickly Pear Island, and that is the one we chose. We found a sandy spot in 30 feet and dropped anchor.
Prickly Pear Island is a National Preserve and is uninhabited, with the exception of a small beach bar at the south end of the island still undergoing renovation from Hurricane Irma. Mosquito Island (and Necker Island further north off Gorda Sound) is owned by multi-millionaire Sir Richard Branson of Virgin Record, Virgin Airlines, etc fame. Some of Richard’s friends are building $30M homes there. Incredible!
The only functioning facilities are at Leverick Bay on Virgin Gorda. There is a marina, restaurant, Pusser’s store, grocery, laundromat (with one working washing machine out of four), etc. The little grocery actually has a small deli where we can get sliced lunch meat and good cheese.
For the next two weeks we stayed generally in the Virgin Gorda area. We had to extend our immigration paperwork prior to Christmas and also obtain a temporary import license for the boat in order to stay for longer than one month. We had to go back to Road Town, Tortola for the import license, but were able to get the immigration extension in Spanish Town, Virgin Gorda. This time, all the paperwork generally went smoothly, except no one really seemed to understand the process and we did have to chase down some incorrect leads in Road Town before ending up back at the ferry dock for the customs paperwork. Luckily, no ferries arrived while we were there so we were not held up.
While in Spanish Town, we had lunch one day at a restaurant that Kelly recommended, CocoMayo. It is in a beautiful setting right on the beach north of the Baths. They serve an Asian Caribbean fusion menu that is really delicious. We will probably return with visitors!
Before leaving for Anegada we stayed at another new spot, Long Bay for the weekend. Long Bay is also a nice quiet anchorage with a beautiful white beach just south of the west entrance to Gorda Sound.
Anegada Island is 15 nautical miles due north of Long Bay. We left mid-morning Dec 23 and arrived in the early afternoon. Anegada is different than all the other Virgin Islands. It is a low island formed from coral reefs, like the Bahamas. And it is surrounded by a large reef system. The two main items of commerce are lobster and conch. Anegada is know for its large lobsters, and we intended to have some for Christmas Eve dinner!
Several restaurants line the harbor, and they all serve lobster. We selected Neptune’s Treasure, one of the older more established restaurants with a good reputation. After arriving in the harbor, I took the dinghy into their dock and talked to the owner, Mark, about reservations. As expected they would not be open for Christmas or the next day which the British Territory celebrates as Boxing Day. So we opted for lobster dinner on Christmas Eve, made our reservation and ordered two dinners of two pound lobsters.
Neptune’s Treasure Restaurant and Resort
Anegada lobster are typical split in half with a machete and roasted over an open fire in an repurposed 55 gallon drum. When we arrived for dinner, the owner recognized us showed us to our table outside along the waterfront, and took only our drink orders. Starters were home made bread, buttered and pressed and a small salad. The main course was a nice size two pound lobster with melted butter, caribbean style rice and peas, and stewed vegetables. It was fabulous!
Lobster Dinner for Christmas Eve
Since all the business were shut down for Christmas, we spent a quiet day on the boat in Anegada Harbour. The harbor is large, but very shallow and it was crowded with catamarans which have shallow draft. Deeper draft boats (like mono-hulls) were anchored just outside the harbor. We anchored at the west end (back end) of the mooring field. Our anchorage was conveniently close to Neptune’s Treasure.
Crowded Anchorage at Anegada
For Christmas, Karrie decorated the table for the occasion and we had a nice dinner of grilled steak and baked potato, complimented with Cabernet wine.
Christmas Dinner Table Setting
On Boxing Day, the day after Christmas, we wanted to explore the island, but a front moved in and it rained all day. So not a good day to be out. Probably all for the best because we were not sure any place would be open on this British holiday and we delayed our excursion for the next day.
Friday the 27th started out overcast, but the persistent rain had stopped. So we took a chance and went into town to rent a scooter from Stephanie to explore the island. After a refresher on the controls (don’t use the front brake!) and rules of the road (stay on the LEFT!) we were off.
Karrie and Doug on our flashy red scooter
First stop was the Flamingo pond. Flamingos were reintroduced to Anegada in the 1980s from Bermuda after being hunted to extinction. The population is now in the hundreds and expected to be 1000 in another ten years. The flamingoes live in several large salt ponds in the interior of the island. Access is restricted so as to not disturb their mating, so you view them from a distance on an elevated observation platform. This day we saw multiple hundreds of bright pink flamingoes!
Our next stop was for lunch at the Big Bamboo on Loblolly Bay on the north coast of the island. Loblolly Bay has a beautiful large beach protected by an offshore reef that offers good diving.
After lunch we drove our scooter through the Settlement (which is the name of the main town on the island). The Settlement is a small village and in general disrepair from the hurricanes. Some new construction and renovation is underway, but it is obvious that this is a poor island.
As we explored the island, we had to be careful to avoid the frequent goats, occasional donkeys, and a few cows roaming wild along the roadside. However we did not see any iguanas that are reported to live here.
From the Settlement we went back toward the harbor and continued on to the west end of the island. On the north west corner is Cow Wreck Beach, obviously named for a cattle transport that hit the reef off of this beach. This is another beautiful white sand beach with a small offshore reef and the obligatory beach bar.
Cow Wreck Beach
We met a young couple from Atlanta whose dream was to buy a catamaran and sail the Mediterranean. When we told them we were living on our cat, they had lots of detailed questions for us. They were staying at a nearby luxury resort, Anegada Beach Club.
Cow Wreck Bar
Some friends of Misti’s, Walker and Nancy, live near the beach and we stopped in to see them, chatted for a while and asked about life on Anegada. We wanted to buy some lobster to cook ourselves and Walker recommend Silvia at the gas station near where we rented the scooter.
When we left Walker and Nancy we scootered over to the Anegada Beach Club to check it out. The resort has normal motel style rooms and individual “tents” that are right on the beach. The tents are large cottage size raised structures with canvas walls. Very unusual. There was a nice gift shop and Karrie found a cute shirt that she just had to have!
By this time it was getting late, so we headed back to the harbor. We stopped to fill the scooter gas tank and asked Silva about lobster, but unfortunately she only had smaller lobster. She suggested we check with Stephanie at the scooter rental. So we came full circle and Stephie’s lobster guy took us out to the dock, pulled a large cage up out of the water that was chock full of lobster. We picked two nice sized bugs for dinner.
Lobster for dinner, again!
Prior to leaving Anegada on Saturday morning the 28th we went into Neptune’s Treasure for breakfast. Mark’s wife, Pam has a bakery and serves a nice breakfast. As we were leaving we asked Mark if he sold lobster which he did, even cheaper than we payed before. So we got two more lobster from Mark’s son Matt. Once again we walked out on their dock, Matt winched up the large cage breaming with large lobsters. We picked two to take with us.
While we were in Anegada we received a phone call from Patti that she and daughter Tasha could get airplane tickets to St Thomas on Dec 31st, if it was okay with us. Of course we said, come on down! So we needed to get back to Tortola to stock up on groceries before Patti and Tasha arrived on New Years Eve.