Sunday 1 May 2016

British Virgin Islands - Day Seven

Hi everyone,
We've now been in the BVIs for a week.  Many cruisers aren't keen on the BVIs, saying it's full of charter boats.  They're right about the charter boats but they don't spoil it.  We're really enjoying our time here.  We've been at a different location every night until tonight.

Zen Again anchored at Norman Island

Where we've stayed:
  • Saturday - Gun Creek - anchored here on arrival and overnight prior to clearing in
  • Sunday - Biras Creek - on a free mooring since the resort isn't operating - nice bay
  • Monday - Bitter End Yacht Club - on a US$30/night mooring - famous place with good facilities
  • Tuesday - Prickly Pear Island - anchored in bay on N side - good anchorage
  • Wednesday - Manchioneel Bay, Cooper Island - on a US$30/night mooring - great place
  • Thursday - Benures Bay, Norman Island - anchored in a very pleasant bay
  • Friday and tonight - Little Harbour, Peter Island - anchored in another pleasant bay

Bitter End Yacht Club is a resort which seems to cater equally for visiting yachts and conventional guests.  Originally the visiting yachts were a side-line.  We gave a Fremantle Sailing Club Cruising Section flag to The Crawl Pub which has a large array of yacht club burgees and flags.  They had good beer and good WiFi there too.

Bitter End Yacht Club

First English beer at The Crawl Pub

FSC Cruising Section Flag at the BEYC

We spent Tuesday afternoon with the crews of Vulcan Spirit and Mahi Mahi who we hadn't seen since South Africa.  They are heading for Europe too, but via the NE US and "the northern route".

We visited Spanish Town for a couple of hours on Wednesday.  We went ashore to a few provisions but found the supermarket there pretty good so ended up having a major reprovision.  From there we went to The Baths but sadly the red flags were out and we couldn't swim ashore.

We really enjoyed Cooper Island.  The resort is small but very nice.  They have their own brewery and grow their own coffee.  We highly recommend their beer!  Their WiFi was OK too.  There is good snorkelling nearby.

On Thursday we visited The Indians near Pelican Island - a spectacular snorkelling spot with great corals and fish. From there we went to The Caves, where one can swim into caves once used to hide treasure.  Both of these locations have a set of moorings for visiting boats and trots closer in where one leaves one's dinghy.  Very well organised.

On a mooring at The Indians

The Caves

We're spending two nights here at Peter Island since it has been rainy all day today.  The inclement weather allowed us to attack our pre-departure to-do list.  Here's what we got done…

  • Engine service (replaced oil, oil filter, both fuel filters and the V-belt, plus general check-over)
  • Provisions repack (checking stock and arranging for ease of access)
  • Fitted electrical connector for our new Pelagic Autopilot ram
  • Collected about 100 litres of rainwater

Tomorrow we expect to head over to Soper's Hole where we'll continue our preparations for departure.  There's a possible weather window developing but every new GRIB file shows a different outlook!

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