Exploring Norman Island and The Bight with Family

When we leave Nanny Cay, we usually head straight across Sir Francis Drake Channel to The Bight at Norman Island. It is a short sail and it gives us time to provision in the morning and be off the dock around noon. It is important to get to The Bight early as it is a popular mooring spot for overnight - especially with the week-long warriors on the charter boats. (Boy, it would be nice if they knew - or at least demonstrated that they knew - the rules of the water "road!" You can't count on them to miss you even if you are in the right!)

The Famous Willie T's

The Bight is the home of Willie T's Bar. It is a floating establishment of many years. In its heyday, those who jumped off the stern naked or nearly naked received a special tee shirt. It This is not the case today as I have not seen or hear any big splashes! And certainly no one is lining up to view any great happenings!

The last time we were there it was too rough with winds gusting over 25 knots. Joan and Larry weren't really interested in a dingy ride in rough water to get a drink. I think they were afraid of being "in the drink!" It was their first day on the boat and still getting adjusted to the swaying, etc. We are  there again with my sister Vicki and her husband Larry. This time we had a fun night aboard Willie T's: music, dancing and Painkillers!

Dennis was interested in the posted sign prohibiting jumping or diving off the bar boat. He even photographed it for someone who fondly recalls participating is such activities at a much younger and daring age. Probably the real story now is that someone go hurt and the authorities put an end to the jumping! We will have to pursue that angle. And today you just buy your Willie T's shirt!


Sunset at the Bight, Norman Island

We have moored at The Bight a couple of times and have enjoyed the sunsets over St. John, US VI. Out of curiosity, I googled "bight" to see the definition: a loop in a rope; a wide bay formed by a bend in the shoreline. I am satisfied with those two definitions. They seem nautical enough.

There is not a lot to do at the Bight. You can hike a trail up to the top. The Pirate's Bight Restaurant in onshore on a nice beach.And there are shallow areas for snorkeling. Around Treasure Point, you can visit the Caves. It is also a good overnight if you are planning to go to Pelican Island and the Indians which only allows daytime anchoring.

The wind really funnels down through the valley in the mountain of Norman Island and can make you feel like you are on the high seas. Thank goodness for mooring balls! Otherwise, you would be up all night checking your anchor hold. Usually the winds are less when you get back out into the channel in the morning.

Heading Out to Explore with Friends - Leg 3

One of the many rock formations at the Baths

Upon leaving Marina Cay, we motored over to the Baths on the south end of Virgin Gorda. Anchoring in the immediate area is no longer allowed due to the efforts to protect the coral reefs. Since we had not purchased a BVI National ParksTrust permit, we could not pick up a mooring ball. Actually, it is very difficult to find one available as boaters arrive very early in the morning to get one. Even though there is a 90 minute time limit on the mooring balls, it doesn't seem to be enforced.

We saw several large vessels anchored there. One of these is an unknown make to us. It was huge and looked like an office building on top of pontoons! Check out the photo of this strange looking vessel. On the port (left) side, it has a "garage door" that opens for a rather large tender (as in 25+ feet and two 250 hp engines! This is by far the most unusual looking vessel we have ever seen.

                                                                        

We also saw a Hobie Cat race coming from Peter Island to Virgin Gorda with colorful sails. They looked so tiny in the distance that we thought they were windsurfers. Even when they got up close, the 18' cats looked like little toys next to the other yachts. I couldn't imagine sailing in such big waters on an 18' boat!

We continued on to Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbour to dock for the night. A trip to the Baths was a must for Joan and Larry so we hopped an open air taxi. The taxi drops you off at the top of the Baths where there is a restaurant called The Top of the Baths! It is actually operated by a relative of one of Dennis' young associate lawyers. Unfortunately, the family wasn't there to say "hello." The view from their terrace was spectacular. Then comes the long walk down, a trip through The Devil's Bay Trail and then the long climb back to the top.




Larry & Skipperette at the Top of the Baths

 

All the way down, I was dreading the walk back up as I have done it before.

                                                                                         Dennis stayed behind at the marina to do some legal work as we had been to the Baths several years ago. He does try to get a few hours of work in each day, maintaining contact with clients and his office.

Heading Out to Explore with Friends - Leg 2

After leaving the beautiful beach of White Bay and the fun at Foxy's in Great Harbour, Jost Van Dyke, we sailed east in the waters of the Atlantic on the north side of Tortola. There are not many anchorages on this side due to the surf and the steep mountains dropping into the water. There is one beautiful bay we will visit later. Our purpose on this leg was to sail all day to get to Marina Cay in time to pick up a mooring ball. Since it is a 20 mile trip as the crow flies, we had a full day of sailing. In the end we covered 25 nautical miles as we had to tack into the easterly Trade Winds most of the way.

View from anchorage at Marina Cay

Marina Cay has changed a lot since we were there three years ago. There are fewer mooring balls and they are further off the island than before. This probably due to the new luxury development on Scrub Island and the access route to it. The balls were filled so we anchored between shore and the reef. It seemed like a good place since the reef would break the waves. What we didn't count on was the water hitting the mountain on the other side of us and going back out to sea! We had never experienced that at Marina Cay the several times we stayed overnight there in the past.

The result was a real rock and rolling night with little sleep! Both of us were up most of the night in shifts keeping watch on the anchor and to relieve our bodies from rolling back and forth across our queen berth. It was probably a better time to be sleeping forward in the V-berth. Who would ever think that leeclothes would come in handy while at anchor in so close to land!

Skipperette & the Captain at Pusser's Marina Cay

We had a good dinner at Pusser's Beach Terrace Restaurant and visited the Pusser's Company Store. There are facilites for showers, laundry and provisioning on the island. Marina Cay was island in Robb White's book, Our Virgin Island, which was made into a movie starring Sidney Poitier and John Cassevetes. The book was reissued in 1985 retitles to Two on the Isle.

It will be a long time before we go back to this anchorage, even though it used to be one of my favorites when you could snag a mooring ball.

Heading Out to Explore with Friends - Leg 1

Leaving Nanny Cay behind on the way to the Bight

We left Nanny Cay Marina after preparing the boat and provisioning. With friends, Joan and Larry, on board, our plan is to do the S/VTrillium BVI Circle Tour! That is, we will take our time to visit the "must see" places and find a few new ones as we circle Tortola, catching a number of islands surrounding it.

Our first overnight was at the Bight, Norman Island, where the famous Willie T's Bar floats at anchor - and has for years. The wind was 18-22 knots while sailing, but the gusts over the mountain and into the Bight reached well over 30 kt. at times. No one was eager to venture into the dingy to go ashore or have a drink at Willie T's. The Captain and I had gone ashore the week before to check out Pirates' Bight for a future dinner. Not needed this time. Too rough!

One night at the Bight was ENOUGH this time, anyway given the strong wind pushing us around. A sail out into and west through Sir Francis Drake Channel, passing Soper's Hole on the West End, led us to the north side of Tortola via Thatch Island Cut. Crossing the open water, we sailed to Great Harbour, Jost Van Dyke. We spent two nights on a mooring ball to give us time to explore this island and experience another evening at Foxy's.


Joan & Larry at Foxy's

 After dinner on board, we dingied into Foxy's for some entertainment. Not only music and dancing, but also people watching. If I told you what all we saw, my mother would flip in her grave. Let's leave it to a personal conversation if you really must know! As always, a good time was had a Foxy's!

During the day we visited Foxy's for tee shirts and a walk around the island village. Larry loves his cigar so he had a smoke while Joan and I listened to the jokes and songs Foxy himself was sharing with the visitors. He comes out during the day and holds "court" for a few hours. If you are lucky to be there at the right time, you are in for a real treat! He is quite a character and certainly a pillar of the island community. The music in the evening is provided by other bands with limbo, dancing and lots of fun people watching.

 

Foxy telling one of his stories in song!

We decided to take a trip up over the mountain to White Bay. It looks gorgeous from the sea, but is too shallow due to reefs for us to anchor Trillium there. Dennis and Joan actually walked from Great Harbour to Ivan's on White Bay. This is a real uphill climb! Larry and I took an open air cab to the Sandcastle to reserve a table at the Soggy Dollar Bar. White Bay was by far the BEST beach in the BVI-even with the invasion of the day tour boats with people leaping off with drink in hand. Absolutely beautiful! Good swimming and sunning, not to mention the home of the famous (or infamous) Painkiller drink. It does take care of all things!

Ivan's Stress Free Bar decorated with seashells

                                                                           To get back to the boat, we walked the beach and rocks back to Ivan's to pick up a taxi. Actually, I am glad we did so I could see this unique place called Ivan's Stress Free Bar. While there is not as much activity happening at Ivan's end of the beach, it is worth the visit to see the decor. This little beach bar and shop is decorated with seashells. Really decorated - as in "wallpapered" with them! You can see in the photos.

Disconnected! Not Always By Choice

Even when you think you are in the 21st Century, you can feel like you are still in the Dark Ages. When we left home, we had an understanding from others that finding Internet and cell phone connections in the US and British Virgin Islands was "no problem, mon." In some ways that is true:

• Yes, your cell phone works ... if you have a world phone that is capable of CMDA and GMS or T or something. Obviously my new Droid 2 does not. And of course, just a few months after purchasing it, they came out with the Droid Global phone! Dennis' Blackberry works most of the time. It just has trouble switching from the US to the British system and back again. For the most part, he is connected with his work world. At least he has a HELP line to call and they keep him in business.

Then there is the other connection: the Internet! Or not! In most marinas, there is access to the Internet once you get their visitor's code. However, the signal is never stellar. It may come on as 54 mbps, but usually functions at less than 3 mbps - often only 1 mbp.

• That means, Dennis cannot access his firm's Citrix system where all of his files are stored. Being creative, he has found some convoluted and complicated ways to get what he needs - not without a few frustrated signs of disgust!
• We even bought 200 hours of the local Internet service trying to get our "own" Internet access. It works -sort of! Still no access to Citrix.
• My whole blog about our week with our friends, Larry and Joan, got lost somewhere in Internet Never Never Land. It was a week's worth of adventures just waiting for a strong enough signal to add the photos. But it all disappeared! So this week we will be retracing many of our tracks with my sister, Vicki and her husband, Larry, so I will try again to take you on a tour of the the BVI! Maybe I will even get photos to upload!

Our friends on SV Smidge, another Hallberg-Rassy, told us about the addition of an antennae and booster to improve the Internet signal. We have not caught up with them yet to get the details. However, we received an email from a cell phone telling us they had "drowned" their computer so they could not get online. I am not sure how they drowned it. I know there have been times when I thought one of the three we have on board was going to be thrown overboard!

In the end, the idea of a virtual office sounds great. The reality is that you are at the mercy of the local service providers. I have chosen not to use my Droid 2 with its 3 G Hot Spot as they tell me it will cost me $20 per day for the data plan here -and they also tell me won't work! Go figure.

I am puzzled because it worked just fine in November and we were whizzing through our work on the Internet. And since it took forever to Verizon to figure our how to make the phone part work in the US VI and it is not capable in the BVI, I figure "why fight it?" See - those after the money are continually making changes to get more of it and add frustration to our lives.

So the answer is: enjoy vacation and don't stress over the office! Actually, one of my tee shirts from Davis Murray says: "The answer is RUM! What is the question?" Have another Painkiller and relax!