BVIs Weeks 1 & 2

Hi everyone,

We're now approaching two weeks in the BVIs so it's time to post!  So far we've spent about half our time at anchor and half on moorings.  The anchorages have been mostly quiet and peaceful.  The moorings have offered benefits such as good WiFi or free water.  The moorings are all US$30/night.

Enjoying another short sail between islands

Our overall plan is to circumnavigate Tortola.  From Road Town we headed south to Norman Island, east to Peter Island, east again to Cooper Island, north to Marina Cay and then north-west to Lee Bay.  Here are (most of) the tracks...

BVI tracks to date

Most of the passages were very short and we either motored or sailed under yankee alone.  The sailing passage east from Peter Island to Cooper Island was outside the islands in an 18 knot E wind with a lumpy sea.  Our tacking angle wasn't quite as bad as it looks since we overstood and then could close reach NNE to Cooper Island.  It was fun to have a brief sail to windward.

Our night on a mooring in The Bight on Norman Island was interesting.  Seeing the many charter boats picking up their moorings was amusing.  Watching them pass close by less so.  The next morning we motored around to Benures Bay on the north coast of Norman Island.  We anchored in 12m over sand in the centre of the bay, clear of the moorings all around the periphery.

Benures Bay on Norman Island

Hurricane Irma devastated many parts of the islands, and not just the built infrastructure.  Many wonderful reefs were destroyed too.  They are slowly coming back to life.  The snorkelling in Benures Bay was good.  We watched a 1m Barracuda 'lurking' in the remains of a small tree blown into the water.  And there were many colourful fish and small corals.

After two nights in Benures Bay we sailed under yankee to White Bay on Peter Island.  We anchored in 8m over sand after finding poor holding over a rocky bottom in 6m.  There were a few other boats in the bay with us, including the 160m ketch sv Ethereal.

sv Ethereal in White Bay, Peter Island

We snorkelled around the northern side of White Bay.  There were few fish but some nice corals, including beautiful blue fan corals.

Anchored in White Bay

The superyacht mv Titania spent a day at White Bay with us.  They arrived, disgorged a substantial 'shore party' which setup beach umbrellas, seats, and small snack/drinks bar.  They were not far from a big sign saying 'No Landing'.  Perhaps they own the place.  The logistical operation was quite impressive.  With the picnic done they returned to the mothership and headed off.

mv Titania in White Bay, Peter Island

White Bay was nice but the gusts coming over the hill were vicious.  Calms interrupted by frequent bullets for the whole two days.  And the wind swung all over the place, appearing to 'roll' over the hills at times.  The anchor watch app on our phones was used!

From White Bay we reached south to the southern point of Peter Island then hardened up onto the wind under single reefed main and triple furled yankee.  Zen Again loved it and we held on.  I hand steered for the first time in ages.  We weren't entirely sure of the current which would only be against us so we deliberately overstood 'just in case'.  On tacking we found we could crack off a little and Zen Again romped away towards the passage W of Cooper Island.

We motored through the short passage in the lee of Cooper Island and picked up a mooring off the Beach Club.  We'd been here in 2016 and it was great to find it still operating and still brewing its own beers.

Cooper Island Beach Club attractions

We stayed for two nights and the US$30/night was well worthwhile for the Coffee Shop's WiFi.  Our WiFi extender could connect to it from our inshore mooring and we spent two mornings ashore enjoying coffee and high bandwidth.  A WiFi extender is a good investment for cruising the BVIs since mobile bandwidth is expensive (US$50 for 6GB).

Enjoying Cooper Island Brewery products!

We spent our afternoons at the bar.  Happy Hour runs from 1500-1700 when their beers are US3.30.  They include lager, Suppin IPA, Carib IPA, Turtle IPA and more,  Turtle was our favourite. 

Zen Again at Cooper Island (again!)

Departing Cooper Island

From Cooper Island we motor-sailed across to Bluff Bay on Beef Island.  We didn't find a good sandy spot and it is a very shallow bay.  So after a lunch stop we motored around to Marina Cay where we picked up a mooring.  When the fee collector visited we discovered the moorings are run by Scrub Island Marina.  We learned that we could buy water at the marina - good news.

Moored off Marina Cay with Scrub Island Marina in background

The next day we dinghied ashore and were offered free water and showers.  Very nice indeed and a very nice gesture.  We dinghied 120 litres of water aboard to give us at least 200 litres aboard.

Scrub Island Marina

That evening we were entertained aboard neighbouring OCC sv Busco Viento II.  They have sailed from the US east coast.  It was interesting learning about some of the places we hope to visit.

Zen Again at Marina Cay from sv Busco Viento II

Yesterday we motored from Marina Cay to Trellis Bay.  It's a very popular bay but is shallow and much of it is filled with moorings.  We moved on.  We were initially thinking to go to White Bay on Guana Island but diverted to Lee Bay on Great Camanoe Island since it looked good as we passed.  And so it turned out to be.  We anchored in 12m over sand with two other boats in the bay.

Anchored in Lee Bay, Great Camanoe Island

The two other boats left later yesterday leaving us alone in the bay.  The wind comes over the low neck on the island and isn't particularly gusty.  We've enjoyed watching the local wildlife including various birds and goats ashore.  The island is privately owned with only a few buildings visible from the anchorage and none close to it.

We've learned to anchor in deepish water here.  The chances of a sandy bottom appear much higher.  Snorkelling around the shallows it's clear that the bottom is rocky debris with a little sand but that gives way to sand in deeper water.  Or so we've found so far!  Many moorings are over sand of course!

Sunset from Lee Bay

Trust all's well where you are!