17 February 2009
On Sunday January 25th we motorsailed from Culebra over to the town and harbour of Charlotte Amalie on the island of St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands. We anchored just in front of the main town - right where we had seen boats anchored a few years ago when we arrived by cruise ship - what a diffrent feeling arriving on our own boat!
Our friends on Charlotte were in Charlotte Amalie as well, and one evening Peter mentioned a movie night at Honeymoon Beach. Kirsten and Alden had flown home for appointments, so we joined Peter for the trip over in his dinghy, as our dinghy just isn't up for the distance. Upon arriving at the beach we found a sheet strung between two palm trees and rows of chairs set up. Behind the chairs was a row of golf carts belonging to local islanders. Next to all the chairs was a small concession stand selling beer, popcorn, and other snacks. We thought this was quite the event - and it kept getting better. Along with a countdown to the main movie and notices to turn off cell phones (believe it or not, they're prolific here, too, even on more remote beaches!), they showed a short pre-movie 'loony toons' cartoon. The movie itself was 'Vantage Point', which we all enjoyed. Movies on the beach - just what you might think of in the Caribbean.
From Charlotte Amalie we headed over to Great Cruz Bay on St John. Great Cruz Bay is not large, but it is quite deep and filled with boats on moorings, leaving little room for a boat to anchor. Luckily, as we were motoring around looking for a spot, someone on another boat pointed out a not-so-obvious spot sometimes used by catamarans, and it worked out well for us.
Great Cruz Bay was the first - but definitely not the last - of deep, crowded anchorages. In fact, the British Virgin Islands (BVIs), where boats full of inexpericenced charterers are let loose, are thought to be a very easy cruising ground. Ironically, right from day one this is where we encountered difficulties we had not had to deal with before. After a brief stay at Great Cruz Bay we wanted to head over to do some snorkelling at Trunk Bay which is supposed to be wonderful. As we approached Trunk Bay we realized that this was out of the question as a large northerly swell had set in. Huge waves were crashing onto the rugged shoreline making snorkelling impossible.
We went to Jost van Dyke to check into the BVIs and found it to be a poor anchorage - we tried three times to anchor before our anchor set, but we didn't trust it enough to be comfortable staying overnight, which we had originally planned. We motored over to White Bay which is known for good holding, but, due to the east-south-east winds it had large waves rolling through the anchorage. So we now had to find a new place to anchor for the night that wasn't exposed to the northerly swell and was protected from the east-south-east winds - a tough challenge as it was getting late in the day. Soper's Hole on the island of Tortola looked like the only viable option we could reach before dark. Soper's Hole, however, is another deep and crowded anchorage with pay-per-night mooring balls. We ended up having to take a mooring, which we don't like to do as anchoring is free. To make up for the frustrating day, we found out that Idyll Island was just a couple of mooring balls away. We had last seen them in Salinas, Puerto Rico, and it was quite a nice surprise to see them again.
Ever since we left Ottawa, the BVIs had been one of our goals for the trip. However, our first full day of sailing the BVIs was not at all what we had expected. From Soper's Hole we motored (not sailed!) into the wind, waves and current up to Road Town. During this trip we had our first wave come not only over the bow of the boat, but roll up over the cabin top, drenching Ruth at the helm! What an introduction to the BVIs!
We spent a few days in Road Town, Tortola. The highlight of our time there was meeting Christine and John on Timentide, a Prout 34. They had spent considerable time in the BVIs and had a daughter living on Tortola. They took us on a tour of the island by car, and they not only showed us the sights but also gave us a very different view with insights into the politics and inner workings of the island.
After visting Norman Island, we had a wonderful sail up to Trellis Bay to go to the Full Moon Party (held, as the name implies, on each full moon). We arrived in a throng of boats, and the anchorage/mooring field was packed. There didn't seem to be any room between the boats already there, but it looked like it might be possible to anchor close to the beach in front of a line of catamarans. We were just able to anchor there - in four feet of water! Oh, how nice it is to have a shallow cat. As we sat at anchor, other catamarans would motor towards us and then suddenly hit reverse when they saw the depth as they usually draw four feet or more. Over the next few days we did touch bottom gently in some of the larger waves, but we were on soft sand so we weren't concerned.
The Full Moon Party at Trellis Bay was very well attended. It is put on by Aragorn's art studio, which is located right there. People sat at tables along the beach with torches providing a romantic light. The centerpieces to the party were the fireballs, which are metallic spheres with artistic cut-outs. The fireballs were sitting on supports in the shallow water at the edge of beach and filled with firewood. The fires set inside them illuminated the cut-out designs. They were a beautiful sight at night. The event brought out lots of cruisers and locals. We had a great time in the relaxed party atmosphere.
From Trellis Bay we motored over to the Baths on the south-western shore of Virgin Gorda for the afternoon. Other than having to deal with other boats pushing for the few mooring balls, the Baths were great. They are probably "the" tourist sight in the BVIs - and rightfully so. Huge bolders are perched on top of each other creating caverns and crawlspaces between them. Because they are right at the water's edge, you wade through water in some of the areas. We both loved wandering through the Baths.
That evening, we moved up to Savannah Bay, which was a wonderful anchorage. It is not only relatively shallow but also empty because charter boats aren't allowed to go there due to an outlying reef. We did end up having one neighbour in the large anchorage, a huge mega-sailing-yacht.
We left for Anegada the next day. We had a good sail over. Anegada is a low-lying sand and coral island which reminded us a lot of the Bahamas. We only spent one night at Anegada since we wanted to take the next weather window over to St. Martin later in the week. We did, however, take in one thing Anegada is known for - its lobsters. We had a great Valentine's Day dinner at the Potters by the Sea restaurant, right on the beach.
From Anegada we sailed over to Gorda Sound in order to pick up some fuel. Here we met up again with Charlotte, whom we hadn't seen since St. Thomas. We had to anchor three times in order for our anchor to catch - this should have been a sign to us as our anchor usually catches easily. In the morning, Geoff found it awfully hard to pull the anchor up. Eventually he saw why - we had snagged a thick underwater cable that wasn't marked on the charts! After a few attempts of lifting and quickly dropping the anchor while motoring away from the cable we were finally able to get ourselves free.
Because we enjoyed the Baths so much the first time, we spent the afternoon before our departure to St. Martin wandering through this natural marvel again.
Street in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, USVI
Anchored in shallow water in Trellis Bay, Tortola, BVI
(yes, that's Ruth standing behind the boat!)
Fireballs at the Full Moon Party, Trellis Bay
Anegada Valentine's Day Lobster Dinner
The Baths on Virgin Gorda, BVI
The Baths
