11-15 February, 2014 – The British Virgin Islands

February 10 – 11 – Simpson Bay Marina, St Maarten to the BVIs

It was wonderful to spend a few days in port and to see our friends Jeff and Missy, but the overnight sail was necessary- we were excited to get to the BVIs! We set sail at 8pm on the dot, sailing wing-on-wing (the mainsail up and the genoa on the pole).

Winds were at 12 – 13 kts out of the east with our course set to Virgin Gorda. The moon was half full providing good light until 4:30am.  Around midnight the winds dropped to 7 – 8 kts as Kathie and Em started their shift. We dropped sails and motored for the next 5 hours so that the boys might have a more of a chance to sleep. But by the time Carl and Canaan came back on watch, the breeze freshened back to 12 – 13 kts, the sails were hoisted once more, and we were again under sail to Virgin Gorda.

Sailing wing-on-wing

Everyone was up on deck by 8am as we approached Gorda Sound. We had the binoculars out to ogle at Necker Island (owned entirely by  Sir Richard Bronson, of Virgin Records, Airlines, etc), but were soon focused on our destination.  Once in the protection of Gorda Sound, we dropped a successful anchor to check in at Customs near Gun Creek.  Soon enough, we were off to catch a mooring ball at The Bitter End Yacht Club – an old favorite of ours.

Em and Canaan treated us to a pancake breakfast, and we all treated ourselves to a well deserved nap.  Just another lazy day in paradise.

Sleepy pelican overlooking Gorda Sound

Hermit crabs running (crawling?) rampant

Later on we had an unexpected buffet at Bitter End’s restaurant – roasted suckling pig, yes please.
12 February– The Bitter End to Machioneel Bay, Cooper Island

The next few days in the BVIs were a sensational blur of salty snorkeling, bouncing between mooring balls, and brief but memorable voyages as we island hopped on our beloved Heart of Gold. To start it all, we had an early departure from the Bitter End toward George Dog – one of a handful of ‘Dog’ Islets that are found halfway between Virgin Gorda and Scrub Island off Tortola. Sadly we were only able to explore what ‘George’ had to offer for a few hours before moving on.

After gauging the wind angle and speed, Captain Carl gave his crew the word: It was time the fly the Queen! With much more surface area than the gennaker, our spinnaker is flown when we sail deep downwind  (as much as 165 degrees to the wind).

Bow down before the Queen… no pun intended

A light breeze of 8 kts of  carried us beautifully for the short trek to Manchioneel Bay at Cooper Island. The wind here is notorious for swinging 360 degrees all night long,  and we arrived just in time for our Buoy Crew to hook a mooring ball (with no hiccup).  On the contrary, a chartered Catamaran was not so fortunate. They were the subject of tonight’s Boat TV as they made multiple attempts to drop anchor- and what a show it was! As they dropped anchor just off our starboard stern and drifted back to set, it became clear that they were dangerously close and would swing into us if (when) winds shifted in the night. With that in mind, Kathie put every single bumper HoG bumper out in order to telepathically signal: please do not anchor so near to us!  Thankfully they got the message and moved on to make attempt elsewhere so that we could finally enjoy our dinner (Eggplant Marsala by Em and Canaan- yum!).  Though winds capriciously blew us around the bay  from various different angles all night, HoG’s new length of chain faithfully held.

Manchioneel Bay

Februay 13 – Cooper Island to The Bight, Norman Island

We rose to find that the charted catamaran was nowhere in the Bay to be seen. Whether it had drifted away or the green crew finally chose to move on, all that mattered was that HoG was left unscathed by the situation. Whew!

After detaching from our mooring, we headed NE to The Baths at the south tip of Virgin Gorda across the Sir Francis Drake Channel.

We reached our destination long before noon, only to get there and deal with a 3-hour struggle trying to obtain a national park permit. In order for us to moor or snorkel in a National park, our devoted Captain water-proofed all important documents (yes this means Ziploc was involved) and was dropped off via dinghy taxi to swim to shore for the permit. We later found out that there was a much easier way to do this… ah well, hindsight is always 20/20. While patiently waiting for Carl, Kathie was unexpectedly hailed by our friends Christopher and Molly (who we first met in A Coruna Spain, and then saw again in Puerto Calero). It was great to see them again, and to share in more friendly conversation aboard their Boreal Sila.

Canaan en route to explore

Meanwhile our younger crew members swam to shore and boulder-hopped for hours, only seeing a small portion of what the island has to offer. Though we’ve been to The Baths before, we couldn’t have sailed past without making a stop at this breathtaking geological anomaly.

Limestone boulders create this spectacle

It was a beautiful day to fly the gennaker ( you may know her as C-Bear), so Canaan practiced his sail takedowns on our way the northwest side of Norman Island. This island is Robert Louis Stevenson’s purported inspiration for writing Treasure Island, and tales of hidden Spanish doubloons hidden in half-submerged caves still draw curious cruisers to moor nearby to venture inside by way of flipper and snorkel. Once we were secure at a mooring at The Bight, we did just that!  Our loyal Miss Piggy taxied us up to The Caves to hunt for the the legendary treasure ourselves… alas, we returned with no booty.

It wouldn’t be a night at The Bight without dinner at the infamous William Thornton II, known colloquially as “Willy T’s”. Though the original sunk long ago, this floating galley has a crowded dinghy dock and is known for tossing the rib bones aside for the remoras. We had some hilarious entertainment, provided by a large party of fellow merrymaking Midwesterners.

(…Thank goodness we were moored upwind of the party.)

February 14 – The Bight, Norman Island to Saba Rock, Virgin Gorda

Another morning  had us up at 730 and out to grab a buoy at the Indians. The early bird gets the worm! In this case, the mooring ball… After smelling wafting bacon from a nearby boat, we fried some of our own to go along with oatmeal for a hearty breakfast. Then,  a surprise Valentine’s Day gift from Kathie featuring classic Brach’s Sweethearts- yes, this was planned far in advance.

Our mode of transport this morning

After that we hopped in the water! We circled the amazing snorkel spot for an hour, seeing some eerie barracuda and colorful coral hanging vertically on the rock formations. There was a group of half a dozen cuttlefish, and an underwater arch that Canaan and Em swam under. The Indians was worth SCUBA lessons and several more hours of exploration, but there remained too much more to detain any longer. Onward, crew.

Buoy, ho!

We took off for the wreck of the RMS Rhone in Lee Bay, heeling up past Peter Island and Carrot Rock. This British mail steamer was overwhelmed in a tremendous hurricane on October 29th, 1867, and water was clear enough we could dive down to see the prop and the fore part of the ship. Pretty amazing.

Carrot Rock

We then had a quick lunch on the go in an attempt to get a buoy for the night at our next destination: Marina Cay. However this morning spot off of Scrub Island was filled up, even by 3pm so we moved on to Trellis Bay. Same story! Not wanting to drop anchor in 20kt winds, our Captain concurred that we should hoist sails once more.

We passed this schooner on the way. Don’t worry, no cannons were fired.

Keeping in mind our plan for tomorrow, we made the trek back NE to far side of Virgin Gorda…. for a cozy mooring off of our old friend, the Bitter End. This time we chose a cozy spot near Saba Rock, and settled in. With steel drums from The Bitter End Bar within earshot (and the wild goats of Prickly Pear Island bleating faintly in the background), we enjoyed a romantic dinner of stir fried rice and spicy Mayan chocolate.

February 15 – Saba Rock to Great Bay, Jost van Dyke

We left Virgin Gorda amid a flurry of RC44s practicing maneuvers around buoys in matching attire and state-of-the-art sails. They were clearly training for a big international sailing event, though their chosen locale for training had them weaving in and out of cruisers (like ourselves). It was hot, and we had a full day of sailing in 15 kts – bimini up! Conditions were calm enough for some story telling assisted by dice (don’t ask) and some cruising music.

Tell us a story, Cap’n

After some time, we were treated by a surprise visit from friendly dolphins. “Porpoise!” blurted our Captain SAL, shattering the collective quiet. We took turns crouched on the bow admiring a family of over a half dozen dolphins. We were enjoying them as much as they were enjoying free-riding HoG’s bow.

Glimpses of our guests

The day’s treats were far from over…we had made a slight change in our bearing to align with the Southwestern slope of the island, and we had fishing lines out. It wasn’t long in that deep water before we hooked a big fish. No mahi this time! It took some effort to reel in the 40 incher, and even more so to identify just what kind of fish it was. We narrowed it down to being either a King Mackerel or Wahoo- later conferring with an expert: King Mackerel it is! Wary of the risk of ingesting Ciguatera, (a serious toxic microorganism that gets magnified as it moves up the food chain, particularly in bulkier fish) we reasoned that it was safe to eat. Dinner, anyone?

In late afternoon, we reached the Southern coast of Jost Van Dyke, in the West BVIs. The island gets its name from an ancient Dutch pirate, though today it is perhaps most known for its protected anchoring points and Foxy’s Bar.

Upon approach, we could tell it would be a race to catch a mooring ball. Sure enough there were two other boats vying for the one buoy in sight… yet for some reason, a catamaran that got there first passed it up. Our Buoy Crew saw that it was a case of ‘dangling painter’ : the line that attaches to the boat was hanging down, invisible in the water. But was this a problem for HoG? Not for the Buoy Crew! Carl held her steady as Kathie and Canaan took action in the dinghy, buzzing out to retrieve the sunken line to hand up to Em on the bow. Once secured, no one would have guessed that the dangling painter ever existed.

Then we set our sights back to that King Mackerel… we wanted to eat it, but we also wanted to eat at the infamous Foxy’s Bar, named for the legendary dreadlocked singer and guitarist who founded it. That being said, a compromise was in order. A quick call to the bar chef by Canaan (our resident fish chef) and the deal was made: since we caught it, they would cook it!

The meal turned out to be exquisite. Our catch was marinated for an hour before being grilled over an open flame, and there was plenty enough to share with the chef and waitress. A wonderful way to end our time in the BVIs.

Remnants of our meal, fit for a “King”