Log 43R Exploring the US Virgin Islands and BVIs

Marigot Bay, St. Martin, June 12, 2007

Before we returned to Red Hook Bay to get our roller furling repaired we motored the five miles from Muller Bay over to Hawksnest Bay (18 21.01N, 064 46.79W) on St. John, the next of the U.S. Virgin Islands. Two thirds of the island and most of its coastline are part of a National Park, with mooring buoys that have to be used rather than anchoring in order to protect the coral and shoreline ecology. We dinghied the couple of miles down to Cruz Bay, a pleasant little town that has the park headquarters and an excellent display area for the park system. We paid the $15.00 overnight mooring fee there, and wandered through the town before returning to Veleda.

Next day we enjoyed snorkeling the bay and found an exquisite stretch of sandy beach walled in on three sides by large rock formations, an idyllic isolated bit of coast! We then motored further up the coast to the wide sandy Francis Bay where we picked up another mooring buoy (18 21.96N, 064 44.88W). We dinghied over to three beach locations trying to find a payment stand, unsuccessfully. The following morning we dinghied ashore to go on one of the many trails through the park, this one across the peninsula to the remains of a sugar plantation. It was a pleasant walk along beach strips, paved roads and groomed trails up into the hills to see the stone tower of a windmill, furnace buildings, and warehouses, all overlooking the emerald green and azure blue waters of the shallows of the bay below. A beautiful flamboyant tree was in vivid red bloom providing a great photo op at the ruins. Along the trail we met a British couple who were also cruisers, and enjoyed their company on the walk. In addition to the panoramic views across the waters, we saw gigantic termite nests amongst the trees.

We then returned to anchor in Muller Bay, then next day went alongside at American Yacht Harbour to get our roller furling repaired. American Yacht Harbour is a good economical marina with water and electricity at the finger docks, showers and laundromat, and a pleasant reception staff. The following day after our roller furling was repaired we refuelled, then motorsailed out of Red Hook and Muller Bay as the anchorage was too rolly for comfort, and went the seven miles over to anchor in the north section of Christmas Cove (18 18.61N, 064 49.91W) on the west (leeward) side of Great St. James Island. This location was better than Muller Bay, but still was made a bit rolly when the occasional ferry went by. It is a nice bay with good snorkeling, as was made evident when many dive boats came over next day from various resorts to allow their guests a morning or afternoon swim. There were only a few other boats anchored there overnight.

April 16, we were going to go west around St. Thomas to check other anchorages, but after being exposed to the winds and waves off the east end of the island we changed course for St. John, allowing us a more sheltered passage the six and a half miles up to Caneel Bay, to pick up a park mooring buoy (18 20.89N, 064 47.35W) in order to check out of the U.S.V.I., only to find out such a check-out from U.S. territory was not necessary.

So, on we went next day the 6.5 miles to Great Harbour in Jost Van Dyke, B.V. I. (18 26.57N, 064 45.05W), where we checked in, and out as we were staying only a few days, and paid only $21.00 for the formalities. It is a pleasant community with a few beach bars, the most prominent being Foxy's, a rustic bar/restaurant with T-shirts, flags and pennants hanging beneath the thatched roof, and business cards of cruisers tacked all over the pillars. My favourite drink there is the Pain Killer, an island specialty of 2 oz. of dark (Pussers) rum, 4 oz. of pineapple juice, 1 oz. of orange juice, 2 oz. of Coco Lopez (a coconut syrup) and a sprinkling of grated nutmeg mixed in crushed ice - Mmmmm! There are no mega resort developments on Jost Van Dyke yet, and the few guest houses and the many charter boats provide a laid back clientele to keep the restaurants and bars along the beach strip alive. The anchorage is secure and placid as long as the many charter boats don't ram you.

We left next day to have a chance to check out under sail both our refurbished fully battened mainsail and our genoa on its repaired roller furling - all were OK. We went 12 miles over to Cane Garden Bay on Tortola, a busy village with a few grocery stores, resorts, bars and restaurants along a sandy beach strip. We are getting jaundiced; a beach is a beach is a beach, and we have seen so many beautiful ones that the only thing that attracts us is an isolated beach with minimal developments around it. So on we went back over to the east end of Jost Van Dyke to Green Cay, an uninhabited island off the end of Little Jost Van Dyke, the anchorage (18 27.05N, 064 42.64W) protected by Sandy Spit, an idyllic isolated "sandy spit" with vegetation and palm trees fringed all around with a sandy beach, and good snorkeling on the offlying reefs. The snorkeling was most enjoyable with many multicoloured fish inhabiting the coral. This is our number one location in the B.V.I.

Most of the charter boats went over to Diamond Cay off Little Jost Van Dyke to spend the night on the mooring buoys there and eat at the restaurant, another Foxy's bar. We went over next day to see what the anchorage was like and found it was not good holding. We secured to a mooring buoy for a few minutes while we hoisted Wave Dancer onto the Dinghy Tow, then promptly left to sail and motorsail the 13 miles around the north end of Tortola to anchor in Lee Bay (18 28.25N, 064 31.87W) on the west (leeward) side of Great Camanoe Island, another isolated anchorage with a bit of a beach strip and some trails we explored, going across the isthmus past a shallow salt pond with much bird life, over to the opposite side. This is a very comfortable quiet anchorage which we enjoyed greatly, sharing it with only two other boats, and no resorts, bars or restaurants.

Next day we went 8 miles down Sir Francis Drake Channel southeast of Tortola where we anchored, after a couple of tries, for a lunch stop at Salt Island Bay (18 22.42N, 064 31.87W), another uninhabited sandy shored island, privately owned with only an abandoned homestead which was active when the island was producing salt from the back ponds. On we went another three miles down to Peter Island to anchor in Deadman's Bay (18 21.38N, 064 34.15W), notorious for its pirate days. However its sandy beaches were ringed with large resort developments, and we just dinghied around the rocky headlands to explore the coast.

As we needed to get back to St, Thomas to rendezvous with Michael and Sarah, we headed back 14 miles to St. John next day to pick up a mooring at Lind Point and dinghy into Cruz Bay to check in with U.S. Customs before continuing another three miles to anchor back in Muller Bay, where we arranged for a Jeep to go to the airport next day (April 22) to pick up Michael and Sarah for a week's holiday with us.
 

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