British Virgin Islands

We made a really quick trip through the British Virgin Islands this time. We had originally planned to spend a little more time here, but we got caught up in the US Virgin Islands while waiting for parts to repair the windlass and Troy's guitar. Since we got to spend 2 months here last year, we figured that we had hit most of the “must see” places. One anchorage that we never made it to last year though was Cane Garden Bay. So, we had a quick sail over from Francis Bay, St. John to Great Harbor, Jost Van Dyke where we checked into the BVIs, then headed right back out and sailed over to Cane Garden Bay and met up with Steve on Alternate Latitude. What a beautiful little place, the beach is picturesque and the sunsets are spectacular. We spent a day and a half there enjoying the scenery.

On Wednesday we decided to head on up to North Sound in Virgin Gorda where we met back up with our cruising buddies on Pipe Muh Bligh, Island Dream and Illusions. Steve had to head back to St. Thomas where he is getting his charter business started ---- Gotta make a plug for Steve here, remember if you book a cruise with him you will get 10% off by mentioning “Storyville”.  You can book a cruise by clicking HERE ---- and the other boats are now in North Sound waiting for a weather window to cross the Anegada Passage to St. Martin/Saint Maarten.  Looks like we are all set to leave tomorrow mid morning for the 18 hour (more or less) crossing. Be sure to watch our SPOT for location updates.

We've seen some beautiful sights here in the Virgin Islands. What a fantastic place to visit and sail. My photography doesn't do it justice, but here are a few photos for your enjoyment:

Luna on lookout!

Sunset at Cane Garden Bay

Storyville anchored in St. John

 

Deer on St. John

British Virgin Islands as seen from St. John

Another Favorite from the BVIs - Diamond Cay

One challenge of cruising in the British Virgin Islands is that most anchorages are filled with mooring balls that cost between $25.00 and $30.00 per night.  That might not be a bad thing if you are on a charter and plan on returning to work within the next few weeks, but for us, we would go broke pretty quick if we had to spend that kind of money every day just to "park" our boat somewhere.

We loved to find anchorages where you really could anchor, because, as of now, that is still free!  So that's just one of the many things that we loved about Diamond Cay.  There is good snorkeling there, we saw sea turtles, rays, fish and coral, all just a short swim from Storyville. And you are just minutes away from two of the most beautiful beaches in the BVI, Sandy Spit and Sandy Cay.  There is an awesome bubbly pool that is an easy hike away. There is a wonderful restaurant there, Foxy's Taboo.  I was fortunate enough to celebrate my birthday there this year.  In fact, as we sailed around the islands, we found ourselves returning to Diamond Cay several times.  Click the link above and get some information about Diamond Cay.  Check out the photos and videos below.

Storyville, Pipe Muh Bligh and unknown catamaran anchored at Diamond Cay

Wonderful birthday dinner at Foxy's Taboo (My birthday and Rene's)

View from the top of the Bubbly Pool

Twin boats Libery and Storyville (both Morgan OI)

Poison Trees!  Thanks for the warning about the Manchineel  Tree

Sandy Cay, British Virgin Islands

Today I want to tell you about one of the most beautiful islands that we've seen. It's so beautiful there that we've used pictures taken at Sandy Cay, of both us and Storyville, on our boat cards and as profile pictures on Facebook. The picture of Storyville at the top of this blog was taken there. It's just one of those places.

It is a small island close to Jost Van Dyke and it has no protected anchorage so the moorings there are for day use only. The island is uninhabited and the beach is spectacular! We spent the better part of a day there soaking up the sunshine with Pipe Muh Bligh while they still had Geoie and Sarah aboard. In fact Sarah's Facebook profile pic was taken that day too.

Enough already – I'll just post the pictures and let them speak for themselves, aren't they worth a thousand words?

Enjoy a little day dream while you look at these!

Sandy Cay

One of my favorites

Troy's FB profile pic

The guys are having fun

Sarah's FB profile pic.

Hard to leave, but here is Pipe Muh Bligh headed to Jost Van Dyke

Full Moon Party - Trellis Bay, BVI

Fire Sculpture by Aragorn

I really hope that our readers won't mind if I skip around a bit on the blog. I feel like we skipped over blogging about so much of our Virgin Islands experiences for various reasons (lack of a computer, lack of Internet, temporary lack of interest in blogging, etc.). I was looking back through some pictures and decided that I should blog about some of our wonderful adventures and experiences while we were sailing this spring. So I will be posting some about our Virgin Islands adventures and some about our current Luperon adventures as well as keeping up to date on our preparations to sail south once again. Check in often and try to keep up!

In March we spent a fun night at Trellis Bay on Beef Island in the British Virgin Islands. Lucky for us, there is an airport within walking distance and our friends Geoie and Sarah were due to fly in just in time to meet up with us in Trellis Bay. They would spend a week cruising the BVIs with us and staying on Pipe Muh Bligh with Stacy and Rene. The three boats (Storyville, Island Dream and Pipe Muh Bligh) had a great time showing Geoie and Sarah around the BVIs and making sure that we hit all the fun places, all in one weeks time.

It is almost impossible to anchor there as Trellis bay has one of the most dense mooring fields that we have seen so far. Picking up a mooring on a windy day can be a little tricky as the other boats are so closely packed together. Somehow Island Dream managed to anchor, but then Pat is braver than we are. LOL

ROTI = yummy

Locally born artist, Aragorn has a studio there. He has some beautiful pottery and other things, but he is mostly known for his fire sculptures. Every month on the full moon there is a Full Moon Party. Trellis Bay is a very cool place to visit, even if you are not lucky enough to be there for a Full Moon Party, there is a pretty beach with plenty of little shops, restaurants and bars.  Our favorite bar was Da Loose Mongoose and I don't remember the name of the little restaurant, but we had one of the best Rotis ever there. On the night of the full moon, everyone comes out to play. There is local music and crafts, mocko jumbie dancers (local dancers on stilts), fire dancers, a barbecue buffet and some awesome fire sculptures by Aragorn. Some of the fire sculptures are set out over the water. What a fun filled night. It really is a great party and a sight to behold. We are looking forward to another full moon party. I'm thinking January.

More Fire Sculptures

Gonna set it on fire!

Burning Man!

Pat and Darnell of Island Dream (Photobomb courtesy of Troy)

Rene and Stacy of Pipe Muh Bligh

Sarah and Geoie - future cruisers

Twirling

and Fire Dancing 

Mocko Jumbies

Pat

Troy and Rene - not sure why but I find this pic to be hilarious

It really was a full moon

Rasta Man

The most tangible of all visible mysteries - fire.  ~Leigh Hunt

The Baths

At long last we made our visit to The Baths.  This incredible place merits its own blog.  What a wonderful experience.  The Baths are located on the southwest tip of Virgin Gorda.  It is an unusual formation of large granite boulders.  The sea washes between these boulders creating pools with shafts of light shining down through the rocks.  It really creates a dramatic effect.  There is a trail guiding you through the boulders and pools.  Sometimes you climb, sometimes you crawl, but around each corner you are guaranteed another breathtaking view.  Once you make it to the end of the trail you are rewarded with the beach at Devil’s Bay.  This has to be one of the most beautiful beaches that we have ever seen.  White sand, incredibly blue water, palm trees and, adding something a little different, lots of large boulders.  It really is breathtaking.  We spent a whole morning there exploring the path through the boulders and swimming in Devil’s Bay. 

The boulders of The Baths were once embedded in volcanic lava, once the winds and sea wore the lava away and carved dishes and holes in the harder granite, we were left with the beautiful natural phenomenon. 

I had a hard time editing photos for this blog post.  There were so many beautiful shot of the boulders and the sea. 

Underwater view of The Baths

Sea Grapes

Stairway to Heaven or.... Devil's Bay?

Devil's Bay - I told you this beach was gorgeous

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