The Fat Virgin

We have been making our way through the BVI’s over the last few days.  I must admit that since getting up to this area the trip has taken on more of a holiday feel.  Typically at the moment it involves days of swimming, snorkeling and sailing punctuated by the odd meal and drink.  Only thing that brings us back to reality is the school work which has to get done.  There are also plenty of interesting shoreside diversions along the way which provides breaks especially for Pete and Claire while we are doing school.

The BVI’s is a magical area and it is extremely hard to find anything bad to say about the place.  It is certainly a Mecca for sailing enthusiasts and this is the off season.  By now most of the megayachts have left and are on their way either up to Newport or across to the Mediterranean for the Northern summer so we do not see too many of them.  Every now and then though one of the ones that remains in the area sails past and they are extremely impressive.  That leaves the cruisers and the charter market.  The charter market is huge here and given the climate and geography you can see why; there are numerous islands with hundreds of safe anchorages around them which provides plenty of interesting destinations both onshore and off, the navigation between the islands is straightforward and the charts are pretty reliable, the wind is generally around the 15kts mark and almost consistently from the east, the water is a dozen shades of beautiful clear blue, and finally the days are warm and sunny and a perfect temperature for swimming and the nights cool off enough to sleep comfortably.  There is even a fairly regular rain shower in the early hrs of the morning to wash give the boat a cleanse from any salt gathered during the day.  

Anchorage at Great Harbour (Jost Van Dyke)

Nic and Kids playing around

The BVI’s are certainly a wealthy area with lots of magnificent homes built into the hillsides and tranquil resorts lining many beaches.  The tourist market means that there are plenty of places to go ashore for a wander around and its easy to find places to eat.  There are also plenty of marina’s to resupply in if required. 

So if anyone out there wants to find a charter destination we can highly recommend the BVI’s.  Just make sure that you have brushed up on your anchoring techniques!  Even staying ashore here would be great.

Over the last 10 days or so we have zig zagged our way across from Jost Van Dyke stopping at various locations on Jost Van Dyke (Great Harbour and Diamond Cay), Tortola (Cane Garden Bay and Trellis Bay ) and a couple of the offlying islands (Norman Island and Peter Island).   We crossed to Virgin Gorda a couple of days ago (2nd May) and the first stop was at a place called the “The Baths”.  This is a short stretch of the southern coast of the island which is littered with massive boulders some of which are two or three stories high.  They are kind of just jumbled up on the shore and the haphazard nature of the formation has left numerous caves which the sunlight penetrates through openings between the boulders.  The cave floors are sand and there are numerous still pools from the sea washing in and out.  There is a trail through them which is just magical.  You thread your way through short caves scrambling over boulders and splashing through the shallow pools.  Sunlight reflects off the rocks and dances over the water surfaces.  Its very hard to capture the scale and beauty of the scenery with a camera.  At the end of the trail is another glorious beach.  The place is accessible from the land also and so is a very popular tourist spot.  Luckily we had arrived early and managed to see the caves before the masses arrived.  We hung around the Baths for the day and then moved up to an overnight anchorage off a place called Spanish Town.

Claire at The Baths

After a mornings school we shifted a few miles further up the coast to a place called Savannah Bay.  There was a tricky entrance into the bay with a dog leg around a very shallow reef where the depth got down to 4m.  Once in however there was sufficient water.  We had read about an Italian Restaurant being here and were looking to go ashore for a meal but once ashore we were told that it had moved due to mud slides a year or so ago.  This is why it pays to always have the latest guide book!  Our guide to the Virgin Islands is a 2011 publication.  We tried out a few snorkeling spots in the bay and generally relaxed for the day and had some spaghetti cooked by Pete onboard instead of the restaurant meal.

Sunset at Savannah Bay

Generally the snorkeling has been mediocre.  Much of the reefs we are seeing has been damaged either by boat action, global warming or natural phenomena such as hurricanes.  There is plenty of fish life around the coral but not so many big fish.  We do however see lots of turtles and can get quite close to them.  A few days ago Sam was snorkeling and he followed one around on the surface getting to within a couple of feet of it.

Do not know how we will get these kids back into school

The next day we continued north heading for North Sound or Gorda Sound at the northern end of the island.  We motored out of Savannah Bay and saw a catamaran almost come to grief trying to take a short cut over the reef.  Once clear we had the sails up and were racing along.  The day before Pete had removed and cleaned the little paddlewheel which sits under the boat and acts as a speedometer.  With the marine growth removed the boat seemed to be going at least a knot faster.

Off the North end of Virgin Gorda is Necker Island.  This is the one owned by Richard Branson.  We sailed around it and then anchored off the southern side for a few hours.  It is a small island and there had been a fire in the main building and so repair works were ongoing ashore.  We were at anchor with a huge catamaran called Necker Belle which had all sorts of water toys aboard including an open submersible vehicle which drove three people around underwater. 

Dulcinea anchored off Necker Island

After lunch we headed into Gorda Sound and picked up a mooring in Leverick Bay for the night.  Gorda sound is a protected body of water with easy access to lots of surrounding reefs, beaches and islands.  Around the shore of the sound are three marinas and various restaurants, bars and a couple of resorts.  You could comfortably spend some time here just exploring.  We on the other hand are pushing on into the Leeward Islands.

In the next couple of days we will cross to the island of St Martin which is the start of the Leeward Islands for us.  Its about 80NM away and the direction is just about due east so will be going into the weather again.  The weather is good for a crossing at the moment and hopefully will remain so for the next few days.

Oh, the title of the post refers to the name Columbus gave the island of Virgin Gorda due to its resemblance to a fat lady lying on her back.  One must remember that these guys had been at sea for a while at this stage.

PS  Happy mothers day to all you mothers out there.  Nic got a cup of coffee and some croisants and then its back into school.

Mothers Day on Dulcinea