Caribbean Islands

Caribbean Islands

BVIs

After clearing through Immigration via a very auspicious and serious Immigration Official in at Spanish Town in Virgin Gorda, we settled into the laid back Island way of life.

There wasn’t a lot in Spanish Town with a small Grocery Shop, small and very expensive Chandlery and not much else besides a couple of Bars/Restaurants, but that was OK by us.

We caught a Taxi over to ‘The Baths’ where we were told you had to go and see as it was a highlight of the area. We both didn’t think it would be much at all, but when we got there it was Fantastic. It is a series of giant Granit Boulders that have been forced out of the earth at some stage down at the waterfront and there was a track you followed through them, under them and over them which had pools of crystal clear water in them. It lead you to a beautiful beach where we all had swims and then back through the Caves/ Boulders to the Restaurant at the top where you had a fresh water swim in the pool there to wash off the salt. It was a great day out and would fully recommend it.

We set sail and headed for Nanny Cay marina spending some time at ‘Deadmans Bay’ and the resort on the exclusive Peter island.

At Nanny Cay Marina, we dropped off our torn Gennaker and the Genoa that had begun to delaminate for repairs and headed back out over to Norman Island which is where Robert Louis Stevenson based the novel ‘Treasure Island’ on.

Norman Island has various bays we spent nights in including Little Harbour, Great Harbour and ‘The Bight’. We spent Xmas day at the Bight, got introduced to the game ‘Ginga’ (where its debatable , but I think I was the champion) and had several swims, including one with a local Turtle. It was a popular place going by the number other boats anchored there.

                                Christmas Breakie on the Boat, well done Shells!

Went back to Nanny Cay marina for one night, filled up with Diesel and picked up our sails. Nanny Cay marina is great and has a lot going for it with everything there and a great atmosphere at the Beach Bar/Pool.

It was then down to the eastern end of Tortala (Pussers Landing) where we dropped Alex off. He had been onboard since the canaries but was time to say good bye as he was heading up to Florida for Christmas.

We then went over to Joost Van Dyke, which is your epitome of the Caribbean Islands. It has little Islands like Sandy Spit, where the whole island takes 3 minutes to walk around and has clear water and white sand, a tiny amount of vegetation, one Palm tree  and that’s it! Beautiful!

We spent several days here and frequented the great spots including ‘Foxys Bar’ and The Soggy Dollar ‘ Bar in White Bay.  In White Bay lagoon we had around 250-300 mm under the Keel whilst at Anchor but felt very secure in there.

We left The BVIs via the ‘Bitter End’ at the top of Tortala and after clearing Customs headed out going past Richard Bransons’ Island where he is rebuilding his ‘holiday home’ after the fire. What a fantastic looking set up he’s got there.

It was hard on to get to St Maarten and we arrived at night and anchored in Simpson Bay there. After immigration,  we went through the Lift Up bridge and into the lagoon which didn’t have a lot of room for anchoring and was pretty shallow in parts.

We spent New Years eve going out for Dinner with friends David and Barbara from Boston USA, whom we meet in the Yacht Club there. After dinner it was down to the beach at Simpsons Bay to the various Beach Bars and to watch the Fireworks going off at Midnight.

We hired some scooters to explore the Island and one of the highlights was going to the Beach by the airport to watch the planes coming in low over the beach and landing just meters away.  Crazy place with people everywhere.

We met some other Kiwis there including the Henry Family from Mangatangi, who farm just down the road from where we lived in Ararimu. They were in the process of taking their Boat back to New Zealand as well, after buying it in the Med. Unfortunately they had come a cropper after running over a Cray Pot and smashing the Gearbox in their boat resulting in having to sit at Anchor for days waiting for Parts. They knew two lots of friends of ours from back in NZ and it  just goes to show how small our World is.

After St Maarten we headed over to St Barths where the real rich and famous hang out. The boats there made ‘Falshator’ look like a matchbox toy. I for one couldn’t see why the place is so popular but it is definitely the place to be seen, especially around New Years Eve.

We are at present in Antigua after another challenging sail to wind and into 25-30 knots, but it is another beautiful Island and we have explored a lot of it via a Four Wheel Dive buggy we hired for the day. We are in at the Nelson Dockyard marina which is a Historical park and has some great well kept buildings there from a by gone era and makes for an interesting contrast from your usual Marinas. 

                        Tori on the Island transport system!

                    Dinner at the Antigua Yacht Club