Snorkeling the Conch Farm, The Baths, & Spanish Town, Virgin Gorda

Saturday, December 1

Saturday morning was a beautiful day and everyone was anxious to get in the water. Gene took the group on a dingy ride to a recommended snorkeling spot where there was a beautiful coral reef with tons of fish and a conch farm.

Later that afternoon, we sailed to The Baths which are the giant granite rock formations on Virgin Gorda. The group had a great time hiking through the “caves” to Devil's Bay. The Caves trail is ~ 20 minute trek through tidal pools and the huge granite boulders with lots of narrow passageways and awesome view points through the granite boulders.

After an exhilarating swim back to the dingy (amidst some huge waves that were crashing onto the beach) and enjoying watching some of the other tourists trying to get back into their dingy with some serious trouble, we sailed to Spanish Town where we anchored for the evening. This was the second time Gene and Kat had anchored in this particular anchorage, and this time was much more enjoyable than the first! The first time was in early 2011 when we chartered a catamaran for a week in the BVI. The anchor wasn't very trustworthy on that charter boat, so we had a very sleepless night.

Dinner & Tunes at Saba Rock

Friday evening, November 30

Friday evening, the group took a water taxi to the Saba Rock Resort for dinner. Saba Rock is a tiny piece of land about a half mile north of Bitter End Yacht Club's northern point. We enjoyed eating dinner on the floating dock and watching the huge tarpin swarm around the underwater lights.

We made friends with a group of guys from New York that were staying at the Bitter End Yacht Club and docked in the slip next door to ours. They were a very lively group who do this BVI catamaran charter trip annually (purely a “guys” trip – no wives allowed). After running into them at Saba Rock and sharing some drinks, we returned to the dock at Bitter End and continued the party with some live music courtesy of one of the NY guys who had brought his guitar on the trip! Everyone had a blast requesting songs and singing along with his guitar playing. I'm sure the entire marina loved our dock by the end of the night (which was pretty late)!

Flying the Kite Down to Bitter End Yacht Club, Virgin Gorda

Friday, November 30

Friday morning we left the beautiful turquoise waters of Anegada and sailed to the Virgin Gorda Bitter End Yacht Club. The wind was at the perfect angle for flying our new Spinnaker which we had just purchased and were anxious to test. This new spinnaker is probably a little more welcoming in foreign territories. The last one was an imprint of the American flag, and it ironically was damaged during Memorial Day weekend.

Gene, Chris, and Kat were able to launch the spinnaker sail successfully, and we were cruising towards Virgin Gorda at 8 – 10 knots, passing a few sailboats and other catamarans along the way. When we were about ¾ of the way to Virgin Gorda, the wind had picked up to ~18 – 20 knots, so we figured it was time to take the spinnaker down (we learned our lesson from the Memorial Day trip with the first spinnaker). 

We arrived at the Bitter End Yacht club that afternoon and explored the marina. The marina is just a small part of the resort which includes hiking trails, pool, beach, and snorkeling area. Kat, Chris, Christina, and Tom hiked the trail around the property while Betty and Gene relaxed on the beach.

Crossing to Anegada - Lobster & Flamingos

Thursday, November 29

We woke up after a great night at the Trellis Bay Full Moon party, and set sail for Anegada. The highest point on Anegada is 28 feet, so you don't see the island until you're about 7 miles from shore (Anegada is 15 miles north of Virgin Gorda). The entire island is formed from coral and limestone, so it's supposed to be a challenging entry into the southern harbor. Luckily for us, we arrived at high tide and around the full moon, so no issues with running aground which happens frequently.

We took a taxi to Loblolly Bay on the northern side of the island for some lunch at the Big Bamboo and snorkeling the reef on Loblolly bay, stopping along the way to view the flamingos that inhabit the island. The beach on Loblolly Bay resumbles the perfect Corona commerical! Everyone had a great time snorkeling and swimming in the bay, Chris spotted a sea turtle and Gene caught a massive queen conch.

Flamingos

 Loblolly Bay Beach

Later that evening, we went to Potters by the Sea for the famous Anegada Lobster (which was cooked by “Sam with a capital S" - how he introduces himself). Everyone agreed that this was easily the best lobster we've ever had – and the biggest! Gene put it perfectly after finishing his lobster when he commented that he had the “lobster sweats.”

Our Anchorage

Trellis Bay & Our First Full Moon Party

Tuesday, November 27 & Wednesday, November 28

It took about 4 hours to sail to Trellis Bay from Soper's Hole. We planned to spend two nights in Trellis Bay, Tortola (Beef Island) where the traditional Full Moon party was scheduled for Wednesday evening. We were able to find a great spot to anchor in about 4 – 5 feet of water where we were close enough to swim directly to the beach and snorkel around the reef.

Kat's rice paper lanterns in action.

On Tuesday evening, we went to The Last Resort for drinks. Last Resort is a restaurant on the tiny island in the middle of Trellis Bay that is really just big enough for a small restaurant. During the few hours we were there, the electricity went out twice due to some issues they were having with their generator.

Kat's mom (Betty), dad (Tom), brother (Chris) and brother's girlfriend (Christina) were scheduled to meet up with us in Trellis bay on Wednesday late afternoon. Once they arrived in the bay, we picked them up and brought them back to the boat for some dinner before heading out to the Full Moon party in Trellis Bay hosted by Aragon Studios, an art studio owned by a local artist. The studio puts on a big show each night of the scheduled full moon with big beach fires, art work, music, and stilt walkers. Everyone had a blast at the Full Moon party dancing around the fire and meeting the stilt walkers.

Short video of the festivities!

Checking into BVI - West End, Soper's Hole, Tortola

Monday, November 26

We took the dingy into Caneel Bay in St. John to walk around the shops, connect to Wifi and say our good byes to the US territories as we won't be back in the US for many months. We then headed over to Soper's Hole on the West End of Tortola to check int o BVI customs and spent the night on a mooring.

Cruising in USVI

Cinnamon Bay; St. John

Sunday, November 25

After spending a couple of nights at the marina in St. Thomas doing laundry, provisioning, and cleaning the boat, Gene and Kat were ready to sail again and check out more of the US Virgin Islands. We sailed around Jost Van Dyke and made our way over to Cinnamon Bay in St. John which was a very quite anchorage beneath the celebrity mansions on the cliffs of Cinnamon Bay. We had a great time snorkeling in the bay and relaxing on the boat that evening.