We left SXM around 1630, about 30 minutes after SV Rhiannon Marie and crew, Debbie and Gary. We headed due west as the wind was forecasted to move north of east during the night giving us a better wind angle. We were off to the Virgin Islands!
While the skies were blue with a few clouds and the seas were relatively calm with 2-4 feet swells, we only had 12 knots of wind from the stern. In addition, the wind never moved north of east as forecasted. Thus, we could only make 5-6 knots with the main and screecher. We were not too worried about the speed though, as we did not want to arrive in Virgin islands before daylight.
However, the screecher became so blanketed by the main it was just flailing around. Thus, we decided to furl it, but pull as we might, it would only come in about half way. UG! Of course it was pitch black now with no moon.
Ben wore his PFD, clipped himself in and went forward. Yikes, I hated it when we had to do this at night. It appeared the furling line had an overwrap, probably from all the flailing around it had been doing. Well, there was nothing we could do now, but change course a little to try to fly the sail as best we could. It would need to be daylight before we could fix it.
Having this sail issue, the wind not clocking as it should, and not knowing when or if we would be able to alter course, made for a restless night. We both tried to sleep, but Ben never settled, which was unusual for him. I finally got about 1.5 hours of sleep around 0230.
We were fortunate that no squalls presented themselves while the screecher was stuck as this would have been a bigger problem. The night was nice, and the stars were glorious! We had to dodge a few boats, but that was par for the course in this part of the island chain. There were various cruise ships, tankers, and pleasure boaters.
We were so thankful that when we entered the cut into the British Virgin Island waters the sun had begun to rise. Now we could deal with the pesky screecher. We located a bay to anchor so that Ben could shimmy onto the bow sprint and hand turn the furler. I think we woke everyone up in the anchorage with our loud flapping sail at 0630, but it couldn’t be helped. Gary and Debbie anchored closed by, and Gary rowed over to help. Whew! I was so relieved when that awful noise was silenced, and the sail was furled!
To add to the drama, the chain kept slipping off the windless and letting itself out. I held by breath that the bridle would hold the chain in check while we addressed the sail situation. One problem at the time! After dealing with the sail, we determined the windless problem and safely raised the anchor to head on to Spanish Town where customs and immigration were located Wow, we were both so tired.
We anchored in the bay at Spanish Town where Gary picked Ben up in his dinghy to go to Customs. Except for the expense, which was more than any other island we’ve been to, the process went smoothly. We were now free to move about the British Virgin Islands!!! Yay!
After a catnap to shake out the cobwebs, we raised the anchor again and motored up to the North Sound at the top of Virgin Gorda where SV Torchlight and crew, Rick and Cindy awaited. We were looking forward to hanging out together and exploring the islands without the rush of being on a 10-day charter. We had been to the Virgin Islands many times before but never had the time to savor it. Now, we could to rest, explore and just hang out!
The North Sound was a protected expanse of water surrounded by the large island of Virgin Gorda and several other small islands. There were lots of coves, bays and marinas with mooring balls, anchorages, and boats galore. Nevertheless, it did not feel overly crowded. We found a lovely anchorage next to a beautiful beach.
Leverick Bay Resort and Marina
Since we were all too tired to cook dinner, we decided that pool time, happy hour and dinner at Leverick Bay Resort and Marina was the ideal place to catch up with friends and relax. We all jumped in our dinghies and made the bumpy ride across the sound to Leverick. The pool was a great place to work out the kinks after sitting on the boat for so long; the painkillers were the perfect drink to welcome us to the BVIs; and the fish and chips revived us from our passage fasting!
Now we would all sleep like logs, because we were ready for some fun in the sun!
The next day, the group decided to explore the Bitter End Yacht Club and Saba Rock Resort. Both had made a remarkable comeback from the decimation of Hurricanes Irma and Maria.
Everything was expensive at the Bitter End, but we enjoyed strolling around and snooping through the shops. I ended up buying a new hat catcher, as my old one was rusted, and a new koozie. There was so much water activity that it was fun sitting and watching the boats come and go, the small Hobie cats sail between the bigger boats, and the wing foilers skirt across the water with ease.
This resort completely covered a small rock island in the sound. How they managed to fit so much on the small rock was an architectural feat in my view. After tying up at the dingy dock of Saba Rock Resort, we perused the gift shop and then settled at the bar for an afternoon cocktail. Lenonx was a great server as he delivered the drinks with a smile and got all the separate checks correct!
Potluck Dinner
As we had bought our new grill in SXM, we invited our cruisers friends over for a potluck dinner. We were joined by SV Rhiannon Marie, SV Torchlight, and some new friends from Texas, Suzanne and Shawn on SV Texas Moon. Everyone brought something to grill and a side to share. Wow we had a great feast! There were some extremely talented cooks on sailing vessels who could whipped up amazing dishes using limited boat resources. It was a fun and yummy night!
Snorkel Exploration
Today we dinghied around the Sound to check out places we had never been before and to find some snorkel spots. We entered the cove just off the Bitter End Yacht Club to find a resort being built with a huge dock for super yachts. One of the workers told us they expected it to be open by November with 10 houses on the cliffs, a restaurant and a marina. It seemed like an ambitious plan to us as we could only see two houses and a skeleton of a marina. While we saw a turtle or two in the bay, the water was too silted for snorkeling.
Next, we went behind Saba Rock Resort to check out the reefs. The first location was a little disappointing as we only saw one or two small coral reefs among the sand, grass and conch shells.
However, as we went further out towards the outer reef, we discovered some better coral with fish swimming among it. We also saw the biggest barracuda we had ever seen. The picture is lacking as it was deep, and I didn’t want to get too close☹
For our last night in the North Sound of Virgin Gorda we returned to Leverick’s for happy hour and dinner only to find that the happy hour changed daily, and today it was not two for one—bawawa! Nevertheless, Ben and I shared a pizza and even took some home for breakfast.
Long Bay
For the next couple of nights, we stayed in Long Bay which was recommended by Rick and Cindy. It turned out to be a beautiful bay with some excellent snorkeling. I was surprised though by how cool the water was in this location. I ended up wearing a shorty wet suit the second day to snorkel.
Besides snorkeling the reef along the shore, the guys also snorkeled the wreck in the middle of the bay and took the dinghy over to the Seal Dogs, but they said, the snorkeling was better near the shore. We also had at least 10-12 large tarpon under our boat the entire time.
Coral
Fans
Fish
We scheduled a dinghy drift the last night in Long Bay. We dinghied across the bay, tied up together and drifted back devouring some scrumptious snacks and drinks. It was a nice way to finish out our time at lovely Long Bay.
The Baths of Virgin Gorda
The three sailing vessels got underway early in the morning at 0630! We wanted to arrive at the Baths, A National Trust, in time to locate available mooring balls. There was no anchoring in the area and as this was an extremely popular location, the balls quickly filled. We arrived around 0730 and located three balls, with several others to spare.
The Baths were made up of enormous boulders which looked like at some point they had toppled into the sea, allowing walkways and pools among the boulders. We had climbed through the pathways many times. So while our friends dinghied in to experience the wonder inside, we decided to experience the wonder below. Devil’s Bay had always been one of our favorite places to snorkel.
However, we were so saddened to find that the boulders underwater were basically wiped clean of coral by the storms. There was even less coral than we had seen in 2022 when we were here. Check out the pictures in the blog Sailing the BVIs continued for comparison. Once we left Devil’s Bay and swam outside the bay, we finally saw a little growth where coral was trying to come back, but it would take years. There were more fish on the outside, and we even saw a large barracuda, but over all the snorkeling experience was underwhelming.
Nevertheless, the boulder formations were fascinating to see as part of nature’s artwork. We enjoyed looking at the beautiful water, the white sand beaches, and the waves crashing on the boulders. The popularity of the Baths was not misplaced despite the lackluster snorkeling experience.
At this point we said goodbye to Virgin Gorda, one of the larger of the British Virgin Islands. It was time to explore some of the smaller islands of this country.
What’s next you ask…sorry you will have to wait and see. Sign up for email notifications if you would like to be one of the first to know about our next stops in this gorgeous island chain.
