Moving on to Cane Garden Bay, Tortola

Just across the water from Little Jost Van Dyke lies another lovely beach at Cane Garden Bay. This is another good beach for swimming, walking, sunning and enjoying music and drinks.

In this bay, there are a number of restaurant bars where one has a happy hour with live music each night. Then another one has live music after dinner. To keep peace in the community, the entertainment rotates through the seven establishments. So there is always fun somewhere every night of the week!

The pelicans provide great entertainment here as they spend all light hours diving for fish. I mean flying high and diving straight down into the water! It is amazing how much energy they spend just catching food to provide them energy. Talk about being on a treadmill!

The Callwood rum distillery on Tortola, BVI

Dennis and I walked through the streets of the community and found the only surviving working rum distillery on the island. They are the only ones who produce their rum from sugar cane. It has been in the Callwood family for over 200 years.

I am not a rum expert, but my Captain claims the rum that has been aged for 10 years is the smoothest he has ever had. The distillers claim you don't get a headache from it since there are no additives! I think I could get one just by having too much to drink, but I did not test the my theory!

Exploring Jost Van Dyke

Jost Van Dyke is one of the first islands you see when you say "Land ahoy!" coming from the US East Coast. It was truly a welcome sight on our eighth day at sea! We passed by Jost Van Dyke about 45 minutes before crossing the finish line for the Caribbean 1500 Rally back in November. It has now become a favorite place for us.



JVD is a smaller island, but packed with fun! First of all it is the home of the 42 year establishment called Foxy's. Good food, good drink, good times! There is a barbecue with live music on Friday and Saturday nights. And music on Thursday nights, too. If you anchor too close you will hear it into the wee hours of the morning when the last customer goes home - or gets in their dingy to head to the boat! Great Harbour is also the customs and immigration for the island so many people come ashore here.

White Bay is the best beach in the BVI



Foxy's provides evening entertainment while at White Bay just west of Great Harbour lies the most beautiful beach in these islands. The sun, sand and surf keep you "entertained" during the day. There are hammocks and beach chairs and several restaurant bars. The most famous is the Soggy Dollar Bar. It got its name from people swimming ashore for the famous Painkiller rum drink invented here.



The bay is protected by a huge coral reef so many boats cannot go ashore. We can't because we need at least 8 feet of water with no waves to bounce us up and down. Instead we go by taxi and leave S/V Trillium in the Great Harbour bay around the point. The two days we have spent in White Bay reading and relaxing were the best!



Foxy's Taboo on the east end of Jost Van Dyke

After a second overnight in Great Harbour with Vicki and Larry, we pulled out early and went to the east end of the island. There is a place on the north shore called the Bubbly Pool, but it is too dangerous to anchor on the north side due to the northeast Trade Winds. Instead, you go ashore at Foxy's Taboo (no wonder the smart island businessman located his second establishment there), then walk along the beach, climbing over coral and tree limbs to a rocky path that takes you up and over the top to the north side. As you come down the path you can hear the water crashing on the rocks below.



Hiking up and over the mountain to the Bubbly Pool


The Bubbly Pool is a relatively small area of sandy beach tucked in behind some major rocks. When the waves hit the side of the island and rush into the pool area, it fills with bubbly water and spray. There is a strong surf and surge effect as the water crashes in and rushes out. It was well worth the climb. Many people have built little structures of coral "rocks" on the ledges of the pool "walls" as offerings to the spirits.

The water between Jost Van Dyke and Little Jost Van Dyke is one large bed of coral and you cannot even go through with a dingy. Some people were kayaking in that area. You may be familiar with the beautiful Caribbean blues of the water, but you definitely need to be aware of brown water: that is coral underneath. It will destroy your dingy and dingy motor not to mention potential - actually, probable - damage to your boat if you should get onto one of the coral reefs by mistake.





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.