Major lifetime trip – renting this catamaran with Grandpa and Joan for a week in the British Virgin Islands. Summary of stops, overnight moorings at the bottom of this post.
December 8: flight from Toronto to Charlotte, and then on to Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas, US Virgin Islands.
Stayed overnight at the Bunker Hill Hotel in Charlotte Amalie, then took a 7:30am ferry from Red Hook across to Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin Islands.
At the marina, we received some pre-ordered food and did some grocery shopping while Joan and Grandpa hung out with the kids. We were lucky enough to bump into the free customer shuttle for OneMart, a local grocery with better prices than the one we could have walked to.
Lara took me on a tour of our home for the next 7 days.
The starboard pontoon could be closed off with a sliding door for privacy (and a different level of air conditioning).
Food storage in floor holds. There was a fridge and a freezer as well. We started out the trip mixed up about which was the fridge vs freezer and froze all our veggies. Oh well.
After stowing our sundries away, we sailed off for our mooring in Kelly’s Cove, Norman Island. Kelly’s Cove is a nice quiet alternative to The Bight.
After breakfast the next morning, we set sail with different drivers.
Short stop at Cooper Island and moored at Manchineel Bay to snorkel off the beach.
Sailing was a bit rough for the the non-sailors. Joan and Lii Ling were wearing accu-pressure bands for sea sickness. Nolan and Lara were not feeling well but once we put the bands on them, they perked up.
Next stop was the Baths.
This was an amazing place for snorkelling, swimming, climbing, exploring among the rocks and caves!
Trellis Bay where we could see the effects of the hurricanes.
Overnight at Marina Cay. This mooring had nursing sharks, and that night, the kids shone flashlights in the water and watched the large, slow-moving nursing sharks swim around and under the boat.
Next morning, we set off for Jost Van Dyke, mooring in Long Bay (by Diamond Cay). We had a long stop at Monkey Point and this was the best snorkelling of the trip. Many shoals of different types of fish and sea urchins of varying sizes. The only picture is coming in to anchor.
Took the dinghy out to Sandy Spit – completely deserted island with very white fine sand. We were the only people there. All its vegetation had been destroyed by the hurricane, though there were small coconut trees coming up and coral gardens that other visitors had “planted”. It was small enough for us to circumvent it in about 2 minutes jogging.
After that, we explored Green Cay.
Next was over to Great Harbour for a stop at North Latitude Marina to refill the water tank. Finally back to Little Harbour to pick up a mooring, get some directions at Sidney’s, and go for a hike up the road to the top of the hill.
First we tried to dock at Little Harbour Marina, which turns out to still be closed. Grandpa hurt his knee (tibia plateau fracture, which healed on its own after several weeks in a velcro splint) jumping down to the dock. We learned that the freeboard on these catamarans is much higher than it looks when you’re standing on the deck.
We inquired at Sidney’s restaurant about lobster dinner. They had fresh lobster in the bay. Starting at USD$50 a lobster and up – we decided to forgo a dinner out.
Back to Long Bay, dinghy in to tie up at Foxy’s, which was being rebuilt. There we got directions to the Bubbly Pool.
Next morning, a quick sail South from Jost Van Dyke in 25+ knot winds, through the Thatch Island Cut, and a bumpy ride under a double-reefed main up the coast of Tortola to Road Town. We got a slip at the Moorings base so Grandpa could visit the hospital and get his knee checked out. We hung out at the Moorings and made use of their facilities.
Next day, we went snorkelling and explored the caves at Treasure Point, Norman Island.
After the caves, we sailed back to the Moorings and overnighted there.
December 16: flight back to Toronto at the end of an amazing adventure.
Dec 9 Kelly’s Cove, Norman Island
Dec 10 Manchineel Bay, Cooper Island
Dec 11 Baths, Trellis Bay, Marina Cay
Dec 12 Monkey Point, Diamond Cay (Long Bay) Jost Van Dyke, Sandy Spit, Green Cay.
Dec 13 Hiking from Little Harbour JVD, Bubbly Pool at Jost Van Dyke, Diamond Cay at Jost Van Dyke
Dec 14 Hospital, The Moorings, Road Town
Dec 15 Snorkelling at Treasure Point, Norman Island, back to The Moorings
Great adventure! I enjoyed seeing and reading about it. Whatever will be next!
Thank you both, excelent memories.