Three weeks in Paradise

We’ve been here several weeks now and we are doing things differently from when we were here a few years ago.  Looking back at our entries in our 2007 blog, we realize we were experiencing the Virgins similarly to the charter folks – a different harbor every night.  We rarely stayed two nights in one spot.  This time around we are staying several nights at each stop.

When we last updated you, we were still anchored in Jost Van Dyke.  It was so much fun to hang out in Jost and watch the daily changeover of boats.  It is a big stop in the charter circuit, and folks make a point in getting there early to fight over the moorings.  By the end of each evening, the moorings and anchorage were packed, there was a large yacht or two anchored outside of the harbor, and often there was a Windjammer or another cruise ship.  The last couple of days in Great Harbour started getting a little “sloppy” with swells making their way in and opposing winds picking up.  It was time to leave and we decided to make a short trip over to the north side of Tortola.

Surfer in Cane Garden Bay

We arrived in Cane Garden Bay on Tortola and anchored just outside of the mooring field.  This location ended up being the spot to pick up floating items blown off other boats.  We returned a sneaker to the beach, a fin to a tall ship, and a fender to a charter boat.  This was the second place we anchored in the BVI, and once again we didn’t seem to be able to pick up a wifi signal at the boat; it turns out this will be the norm for the trip.  Cane Garden Bay has a cute town with a pretty beach and an old Rum distillery where they let you try all of their products for a grand total of $1.   There were large groups of tourists brought in daily from the cruise ships in Road Town, and a lot of activities were set up to entertain them.  Our biggest entertainment; however, were the large breaking waves on the rocks nearby making a perfect surfing spot for the locals.   Almost all of the boats we see are charter boats, but there are some cruisers (like us) as well.  A cruising couple from New Bern on their Island Packet, “Charbonnneau”, anchored nearby.  We dinghied over and it was great catching up with some folks from NC.  A bigger blow was in the forecast and we decided to head to the west side of the island for better protection.

Norman Island Bight (Willy T & Rockhopper in foreground)

Everything is so close in the BVI, so it was wonderful to have a 2-3 knot sail over to Soper’s Hole on the West End of Tortola and not be worried about coming in late.  We know from experience that Soper’s Hole is deep, so we knew we’d be picking up a mooring.  What we didn’t expect was to get a mooring on the front row so late in the afternoon.  Alas, no wifi at the boat.  We could barely pick up Pusser’s wifi signal when we were sitting in their restaurant. Soper’s Hole is always a fun stop with the range of boats and lots of land activities.  This was the first stop where we didn’t want to swim near the boat, so we walked up the street into the neighborhood nearby and eyed some of the beautiful properties.  We decided to spend a second windy night on the mooring and late in the evening, we were thrilled to see “Charmed Life” sailing in.  It was great to catch up with Mike and Sharon while we were there and hopefully we’ll be able to meet up with them again when we all have time.  The winds were back down the next day and we were ready to be on our own hook again.  

We decided to head over to The Bight on nearby Norman Island.  We weren’t planning on picking up a mooring, good for us since there were barely any available at 3pm on a Sunday.  We anchored along with the big yachts just outside of the mooring field.  It turns out that Sunday is the big night at the local bar,  “Willy T” with lots of new charters and the locals coming over from Tortola.  We had a great time watching the local speedboats come in and listening to the crowd at Willy T.   The next day we re-anchored right next to the bar – it is a very protected spot although the bar is a little rowdy to call it a quiet anchorage.  It is another “must stop” in the charter circuit and the anchorage emptied out every morning and filled up in the afternoons.  It was fun to watch the customers leaping from the bar roof into the water at all hours.  There is a gorgeous snorkeling spot right around the corner from The Bight, so we snorkeled and swam every afternoon. Norman Island also has several trails that afford wonderful views of the BVIs.   The Bight is a great anchorage, but every night the wind funneled over the hills and was bothersome.  We checked the old blog, and we complained of gusty winds at that time as well. We decided to head somewhere even quieter.

Med moor in Little Harbour, Peter Island

We pulled into Little Harbour on Peter Island and anchored in the middle of the peaceful bay.  It was more beautiful than I remembered.  There were three of us anchored in deep water in the middle of the bay, but several boats had their sterns tied to shore in the shallow water (med moor).  That night we experienced a “first”.  We were awoken by a disturbing crash that sent us scrambling onto deck.  Some kind of large sea creature flew headlong into one of our dorades and tore it off of the boat.  There was a lot of blood on deck, but we never saw what actually happened.  The next day we decided to med moor as well.  We left the anchor where it was and used two long lines to tie to rocks on the shore before shortening up our anchor rode to keep us perfectly balanced over the bright shallow area. The snorkeling right off the boat was wonderful and we still enjoyed the turnover of charter boats and yachts on a daily basis, although several boats were staying in this idyllic anchorage for a longer time.  We were moored beside a catamaran named “40 Below”, and we ended up spending 3 nights enjoying Ron and Barbara’s charming company with sundowners or dinner.  Little Harbour is the prettiest anchorage we’ve ever been in and is the type of place we could stay for weeks; however, it had been 10 days since we had wifi access and I was about ready to find a good grocery store with some freshies. 

South side of Norman Island

We finally headed out and made our way to the east end of Tortola.  Ron and Barbara had suggested an anchorage near a town with a great grocery store and an American style coin laundry.  We are currently anchored with one other sailboat in the lee of Buck Island.  It is a big dinghy ride for us to get into town, but they weren’t kidding about the grocery store – it has its own dinghy dock!  The laundry is a really nice place, and we’ll keep it in mind, but we’ve been doing all of our laundry in our “wonderwash” on board and will probably wait until St. Martin to bother with the larger stuff.  We still don’t have wifi on the boat, but there was a good signal at a great restaurant in town and we are going to head over there tonight with all of our electronics and get all caught up and finally publish this blog!

Rockhopper Anchorages:

18°26.462N 064°45.060W; Great Harbour, Jost Van Dyke; BVI; 09-14Feb16

18°25.693N 064°39.670W; Cane Garden Bay, Tortola; BVI; 15-18Feb16

18°23.143N 064°42.113W; Soper’s Hole (mooring), Tortola; BVI; 19-20Feb16

18°18.849N 064°37.158W; The Bight, Norman Island; BVI; 21-24Feb16

18°21.329N 064°36.030W; Little Harbour, Peter Island; BVI; 25-29Feb16

18°21.329N 064°36.030W; Buck Island, Tortola; BVI; 01Mar16