Cassini blog #90 The start of the BVI cruise
Cassini's blog
Simon and Sally, Nigel and Catherine
Wed 24 Jan 2024 15:41
| The start of the BVI cruise… On Friday we set off for the overnight passage to the BVIs, heading for Virgin Gorda first. A beautiful starry night and pleasant sail. Checking in at Spanish Town proved to be just as irksome as previous places, but something we, or rather Simon as skipper, must endure. Once completed we moved to the more picturesque bay of North Sound. The Bitter End Yacht Club is here, and we had fond memories from our previous visits. Sadly, it was destroyed in Hurricane Irma, has been rebuilt, but lost some of its original charm. The cocktails were still delicious although expensive! Limited to one each. After checking the weather forecast and hearing from friends in the area, it was agreed we needed to move to a more sheltered area to protect ourselves from the 30+ knots of wind due over the next week. Sunday morning, Simon’s 60th birthday we sailed 23 miles to Little Harbour in Jost Van Dyke. Orange buoys can be prebooked via BoatyBall at 07.00, white buoys are first come basis, slightly cheaper. We booked an orange buoy to be certain of a mooring but there were several free. This is a small harbour with one restaurant on the east side and two on the west. Sunday evening we visited Abe's for Simon’s birthday dinner. His one request, lobster was lifted from the basket in the sea and promptly dispatched to the kitchen. A delicious local meal washed down with more rum cocktails but again a hefty bill. Monday, we moved to the west side of the bay and moored close to our friends on Adventurer. We hiked up, over and down the steep hill to the other side of the island to visit the Bubbly Pool. The waves come crashing through a gap in the rocks into the pool to create a jacuzzi effect. Very refreshing after the walk. We walked through mangroves which were thriving 10 years ago on our last visit, but now many of them are dead, quite a desolate scene. Back at the boat for reading time, then drinks with Jean-Marc and Vanessa on Adventurer with tasty snacks. Thank you! The forecast strong winds arrived; whilst the boat remained steady, the howling wind meant not a lot of sleep was had. But Tuesday, another day, another walk, this time to the next bay, Great Harbour. Another steep hill, my legs are complaining a little today! Great Harbour has more bars, a few shops, lots of boats moored and a large number of feeding pelicans. They are fascinating to watch, swooping down to the sea with a loud plop as they hunt for fish, or just sitting gracefully on a pole, watching and waiting. A visit to Foxy's bar is a must, apart from it being a famous bar in the area, it had Wi-Fi! Simon needed to send photos ready for the next magazine article he has written due to be published in the May edition of Yachting Monthly. Last night we hosted our neighbours, a cosy somewhat breezy evening, but we managed to eat our dinner on deck and enjoyed another fun evening. As I write the wind is about 24 knots ENE, gusting quite a lot more, so we shall be staying moored for today. No doubt the charts and books will be out later to plan our next stop. Catherine   We are anchored in Little Harbour, bottom right  Birthday dinner    And the view out the from of the boat this morning as wind and rain lash down!  |
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