Suz had been with us for two wonderful weeks. During this time we had stopped working on the boat and felt like we were on holiday, enjoying the small things and relaxing without thinking about the growing list of boat jobs we needed to attend to. We had collected Suz in Antigua and were dropping her off in the BVI’s f weeks later. She had settled into the small forward cabin and was getting used to moving around the boat without knocking body parts. Even the very wet dinghy rides we subjected her to did not faze her or remove the smile from her face. It was now time to really test her resolve with her first overnight sail to St Maartin, 80NM to the west.
Everything started calmly with a gentle easterly wind and full moon which lit up the skies and seas like a street lamp. We knew the forecast was for more wind and had prepared with two reefs in the main to ensure we did not have to make too many sail changes during the night. At around 10pm the wind started getting up and we were soon speeding along at 7knots in building seas. We changed from the big jib to our small staysail as we were going too fast as, if we continued at this pace, would arrive in the dark, plus we wanted this night sail to be an enjoyable experience for Suz. We continued making good progress with Suz soon retreating to the saloon to get some much needed sleep. A couple of brown noddy birds joined us on the passage, sitting on the safety rail as they perched precariously, swaying as the waves built and hit the side of the boat. Once the island of St Barthelemy (St Barts) came into view, both birds flew off, leaving us with just some small reminders of their stay on board for a few hours!
Saint-Martin/Sint Maarten is split between France and The Netherlands. We headed for the Dutch side as our friends, Nicki and Mike on ZenAgain, had recommended the anchorage as it was less rolly than on the French side and less obstacles under the water. We anchored outside the bay and waited for the bridge to raise at 0930, calling the bridge controller to request permission to enter the lagoon. We joined a line of catamarans, superyachts and similar size boats to us, as we all jostled for space in the channel so we could charge into the shallow lagoon and claim the best anchorage, as soon as the bridge opened! We were the second in line and were asked to quicken the pace as we slowly progressed, keeping within the 5knots limit but apparently this was too slow! We saw Nicki and Mike waving at us from their boat, as we followed their instructions towards the anchorage. It took us several attempts before the anchor held and we felt confident we had a good grip in the sand in only 3m of water. Once we were happy we were secure, the three of us jumped in the dinghy and went ashore to check in. Fortunately no covid test was required and the process was quick as we had already completed all our details on-line through eSeaClear. When we returned to the dinghy, a very large iguana was guarding it and lazily strolled off when we attempted to pass it!
Nicki and Mike very kindly offered to spend the next day showing us around the island, guiding us on buses, exploring the French side with its fabulous bakeries and supermarkets, watching planes land and take-off from the runway that borders a beautiful beach, enjoying the wonderful food available in small cafes and explaining the best place to get the items we were keen to purchase to make the most of the duty-free shopping available on the island. The only thing you notice when moving between the French and Dutch sides is the cellphone coverage improves on the French side and the pace of recovery from the devastating Hurricane Dorian in 2019 was much slower on the French side. This is due to the French bureaucracy around proving ownership before providing money to rebuild or repair. As most of the residents of the island are descendants of slaves and made homes out of the land that was deserted by rich overseas owners, when the slave trade was abolished in the 1800’s, very few had official papers proving they owned the land that had been in their families for generations. This has held up progress and roads, houses, commercial buildings remain broken as a constant reminder of the destructive storm. Meanwhile on the Dutch side, they took the attitude that it needed to be tidied up and those affected needed to be helped, so they just got on with repairing the infrastructure and clearing up the mess that was left behind.
Before leaving we took advantage of the well-stocked supermarkets and replenished our dwindling supplies of non-perishables as well as filling our tank with duty free fuel. After five days we left St Martins in the early evening and set sail for the British Virgin Islands (BVI’s), about 95NM of beam reach sailing in a good 17-20knot breeze. Once again a squall hit us in the middle of the night so we reefed the Yankee and I hand steered for the last part of the passage, enjoying the speed under clear skies and a bright moon. We passed between Necker and Gorda Islands while it was still dark and then gybed to head down the western side of Gorda and into Sir Francis Drake Channel, just as the sun came up. It was a beautiful introduction to the BVI’s as the sun slowly revealed the many islands surrounding us.
We picked up a mooring buoy in Sopers Hole on Tortola and, after paying US$50 each for a covid test in addition to visiting various officials to complete checking in procedures. This involved making a payment at each step of the formalities but it was confusing what we were actually paying for, however at the end of it we were officially checked in and free to explore the BVI’s.
There are about 40 islands that make up the Virgin Islands with most of them clustered together with just a couple (at most) miles separating each of them. Several of the smaller islands are privately owned and landing on them without permission is not allowed. The US Virgin Isles are made up of just four main islands and are much more populated than the remaining islands of the BVI’s. This makes the BVI’s a much more appealing cruising ground and is hugely popular with American tourists who charter yachts for a week’s holiday. In turn, this has made the BVI’s a less attractive place to visit for longterm cruisers due to the many beautiful bays now festooned with mooring buoys to cater for the charter boats and making anchoring challenging. Fortunately, if you look hard enough, there are still quiet bays that charter boats seem to avoid and our mission was to seek these out!
Over the next few days we sailed to Jost Van Dyke where we were first introduced to the cocktail called “Painkiller” made from local rum and where we enjoyed the beautiful calm, blue waters of a quiet bay while relaxing in the beautiful isolated environment. We found a lovely anchorage on Peter Island which we enjoyed with just two other boats, listening to the birds in the nearby trees as we anchored close to the shore. Next we sailed to Virgin Gorda and, after a brief stop at “The Baths” – a natural swimming hole surrounded by large granite boulders, we anchored off Moskito Island behind a long reef and in front of a private white sandy beach. The Island is one of two islands owned by Sir Richard Branson and accommodates three luxury, and very exclusive, resorts. We people-watched as guests were delivered to the island by private water taxi and ushered to their accommodation. Necker Island was within sight of our anchorage with three new wind turbines dominating the islands skyline. We swam off the boat and felt smug that we were enjoying the same privileges as those paying over US$5000 a night just a few feet away!
After five weeks with us, Suz’s departure date was fast approaching and she wanted to treat us to a special night out. We had chosen Saba Rock as the perfect place to celebrate as we could pick up a mooring buoy just outside the restaurant, making our dinghy ride back to the boat much easier than the last time we returned from a night out in Barbuda when I got dumped in the sea by the crashing surf! We definitely made the right choice of restaurant as the location, atmosphere, service and food was first class. We had a memorable night filled with laughter, excellent food, a few painkillers and conversation that comes so easily with good friends. We will all remember that night for the rest of our days!
We sailed to Trellis Bay on Beef Island and picked up a mooring buoy in the small bay that was littered with neglected boats, once again evidence of the destructive hurricane. The main airport for the BVI’s was within sight, so when it came time to deliver Suz to the small international airport, we took the dinghy ashore and walked down a small dusty path to the departure lounge. We still had sand in our shoes as we said our farewells. It had been a wonderful few weeks, exploring new islands together, enjoying each other’s company and we loved sharing our adventures with a dear friend whom I have known and cherished for over 40 years.
We waved to Suz’s small plane as it flew over Cerulean, heading for Antigua to connect with a transatlantic flight back to London. We left Trellis Bay and had an exciting sail to Anegada, a low lying island in the north of the BVI’s, catching a yellow fin tuna along the way while dodging rain squalls bringing 25-30knots of wind in short bursts. About 3NM from the island, the sea shallows to below 10m and then gradually gets shallower until we were in about 4m of water off a beautiful deserted white sandy beach on the south west end of the island. We joined three French boats that were already anchored in the bay and sat out a few more rain showers which brought strong winds and tested the hold of our anchor. Steve dived on the anchor and found it firmly embedded in the sand so we slept peacefully after feasting on the fresh tuna.
We woke to clear skies – a perfect day to go ashore and explore. The Western part of Anegada is a huge fully enclosed salt lake with just a narrow strip of land separating the lake from the Caribbean Sea. It is a haven for birdlife and often flocks of pink Flamingos can be found in the ponds. Sadly there were none to be seen when we visited, although we were told we should return at sunset. We did, however, see lots of other interesting birdlife as we walked along the long, straight, empty concrete slab road in the blistering heat – The Mockingbird, Grey kingfisher, smooth-billed Ani, Elaenia and others we could not identify, darted between the trees chirping and squawking at us as we unintentionally disturbed their nest building.
We were anchored a short dinghy ride from a reef which broke the surface of the water in places, so went over to snorkel in the warm water. Visibility was not great and it was heartbreaking to see so much dead and bleached coral but a real highlight for me was swimming in a large school of large blue and yellow fish that appeared all around me. My initial fear of being surrounded by large fish, soon turned to total wonder as they darted around me, turning in synchronised harmony as they moved with the current. Every so often I poked my head above the water and squealed at Steve as he waited for me in the dinghy, confusing him as he couldn’t make out if I was in trouble or enjoying myself!!!
After a short stay anchored in the blue waters of Anegada we decided to return to Virgin Gorda before the anchorage was invaded by a large flotilla of charter boats we could see approaching the quiet bay. The weekend appears to be the best time to visit Anegada as it is generally the weekend that most charters start and finish. This means that mid-week is the busiest time in the bays around Virgin Gorda and Anegada so we tried to avoid being in the popular bays over that period.
We had a fast and glorious sail back to Spanish Town on Virgin Gorda where we visited customs and immigration to check out of the country, before continuing our sail up the coast to be as far north as possible for our sail back to the eastern islands. We anchored in a beautiful, shallow and quiet bay between Eustatia and Prickly Pear islands, just south of Necker. I wished we could have spent longer there but we had one final swim in the warm waters of the BVI’s before preparing for the 210NM sail SE to Guadeloupe. We knew it would be a difficult passage as the wind and current was against us, but if we had known about the many problems we would encounter along the way, I wonder if our smiles would have been as wide and our hearts as full, as we bade the BVI’s a fond farewell.