We pulled into White Bay around 3:30p, which is late for picking up a mooring ball.  There are only a half a dozen balls in the anchorage.  So, we were planning to anchor out a way from shore.  However, as we were pulling in, a yacht left and we were able to grab their ball.  It was perfect timing. 

1/18/24 White Bay is absolutely stunning with clear azure water and a long white sand beach to look at.  The island is private but we are able to go onto shore to walk the beach.  We were very glad to have picked up a mooring ball, as our boat floated all around.  Those who anchored were quite concerned about loosing their holding.  We spent the day doing boat chores and snorkeling.  It was a terrific day.

Every day a local motors to boats that are connected to mooring balls to collect the usage fee. Today this gentleman happened to visit us just as a double-rainbow was visible over Guana Island in the BVIs.

This morning we were working on boat chores and saw a beautiful clipper ship sail past. Tortola is in the background.

On 1/15/24 we decided to take the dinghy into the 07 restaurant in Great Harbour.  Even though it is on Peter Island, it is open to yachters.  In fact, we can’t find a road to the restaurant so we think that it exists only for the patronage of the yachters.  The dinghy dock was in great shape, which was truly appreciated.  The restaurant wasn’t crowded, but we were there around 4:30p for sundowners, before dinnertime.  The other reason we went into the restaurant was that we wanted to pay for our mooring ball with a credit card.  Otherwise, a gentleman will call on the boats around 6p to collect the fee in cash.  Finding ATMs on the islands is often difficult so we try to charge items to our credit cards as much as possible.

Today, 1/15/24, the wind changed direction and the swells grew to two feet with strong wind gusts.  So, we pulled up the anchor and headed to Great Harbour on the other side of Peter Island.  We again had issues with our bridle.  This time, the bridle pin was completely gone and the bridle was wrapped around the chain.  I have no idea how that could have happened, as we were fairly consistently faced directly into the wind.  The count is now two lost bridle pins. 

Steve decided to pick up a mooring ball in Great Harbour.  It is very calm and protected in this anchorage.  Right now, anyways, it is quiet in the bay.  There are two industrial-looking boats anchored in the bay and one large ship that we saw in Benures’s Bay one day.  There is one superyacht tucked in this bay and a handful of boats our size.  We are a little nervous about the monohull right next to us.  The mooring balls are positioned closer that we feel comfortable with and if we spin around the ball, we will most likely bump into this boat.  However, Steve thinks that the reason the balls are positioned so closely together is that the wind is funneling through a low part of the surrounding mountains and will hopefully keep our boats positioned in relatively the same direction.  We’ve been tied up to the mooring ball for about an hour now and so far, so good.

Unfortunately, we are not able to walk around this part of Peter Island. It is a private island so we are only able to walk on the beach, which isn’t very large.

Early in the morning two boats bumped into each other because the wind spun them around their anchors and they were parked to close to each other. It isn’t good when yachts bump into each other like that.

Today, 1/13/24, we picked up our anchor to move a couple of bays down to Key Bay, still on Peter Island.  Because our boat swung around the anchor so much, it bent the pin in our bridle.  This meant that I had a difficult time disconnecting it from the anchor chain.  Steve had to come forward to pry it off with tools.  Luckily Steve had the foresight to purchase several pins, so we have spares. 

Key Bay is a quiet bay with only a couple of boats in it.  We are anchored on a sandy bottom and the water is clear.  There is one other boat in the anchorage.  The anchorage itself is like a horseshoe and we are tucked in the corner of one side.  The water here is very clear and we can see to the bottom in about 15 feet of water.  Steve went snorkeling off of the boat to check the anchor’s holding and swam to shore.  He saw a variety of fish and found a well-preserved conch shell. 

On 1/14/24 we took the dinghy out and motored all along the shore.  There were some coral heads in the water as well as some rocks.  The beaches are mostly shells and rocks and are very rugged.  We managed to pull the dinghy up on two different sides of the beach and walked around.  We were the only ones exploring, which was amazing.  We saw lots of different coral and shells washed up on shore.  I picked up a sea shell that had a lot of orange on it.  The shell itself isn’t great but I hadn’t seen one that color before.  We also picked up a well-preserved, round, white tire-like sea urchin shell with five sets of bumps on it. 

On one beach there was a small opening in the rocks where water bashed up against the sides.  Luckily, this barrier protected us in the anchorage.  Again, Steve went snorkeling off of the boat and saw many different schools of fish, including Blue Tangs, which have such a vibrant color.

On 1/12/24, we decided to go across the channel to Peter Island’s White Bay.  Peter Island is a private island so we are not able to explore the island.  We can, however, walk on the beach if we desire.  This anchorage is a little troubling, as the wind spins the boats all around.  Many superyachts anchor here because the water is deep enough for them.  There are also a couple of boats our size in the anchorage. It is a little disconcerting when the boat swings 180 degrees from the way the anchor is dug into the sea floor.  Steve swam over the anchor twice to check on it and set his anchor alarm, which tells us if the anchor is moving.  While the alarm went off a couple of times, we were still securely anchored throughout the evening.  It is quite calm here this morning.  So far, at least, no superyachts have set up a party on the beach (which they did yesterday for a private party). 

Once we reached the top of the hill from Benures Bay, we turned left and headed towards Money Bay.  Apparently, treasure was actually found here and the bay became the inspiration for the book, Treasure Island.  We were the only people walking in the area and had the bay all to ourselves.  It was a beautiful, crescent-shaped bay with smoothed rocks for a beach.  There was also a rock jetty that protected the bay.  It was a beautiful area and a great reward for making the effort to hike through the overgrown trail. 

When we walk in the Caribbean islands, I am always amazed to see hermit crabs well away from the sea. Often, they are high up mountainsides. I finally looked hermit crabs up and it turns out that this is a Land Hermit Crab. They are often found in forested areas in the Caribbean. However, they lay their eggs in the sea. They are scavengers and eat fruit, nuts, vegetables, grains, and meat.

On our first full day in Benures Bay we took our dinghy to shore and pulled it up on the rocky beach.  The rocks were smoothed out by the sun and the water, so it wasn’t hard to walk on.  We had put our tennis shoes in the dry bag so that we could hike on the island.  As we started up the hill, we found that the path had overgrown a lot from last year.  Steve walked ahead of me and as he did so, he stirred up hundreds of pale-yellow butterflies that fluttered all around.  Luckily, I was behind him and was able to snap some pictures of this magical path. 

Once we got to the top of the hill, the path was more cleared, at least in some places.

Finally, we were under way.  We put the jib up and motor-sailed to Benures Bay, which is a quiet bay on Norman Island in the BVI’s.  We stayed in this bay last spring, so we were familiar with it.  The sail over was perfect and we thoroughly enjoyed being out on the water again.  This season we picked up a mooring ball close to shore, which was fabulous.  The water was a beautiful turquoise color and very clear.  When snorkeling we could easily see the sandy bottom.  Unfortunately, there were not many fish in the bay, but it was nice to get into the warm water.  We did have schools of goatfish swimming under our boat.  And, when looking through the escape hatch under our stairs, I saw something big swim past – most likely a tarpon but I couldn’t see it clearly enough.

1/6/24

We were successfully launched in the water yesterday (January 5, 2024) and are now in a slip in the Nanny Cay marina on Tortola. We continue to put the boat back together. The anchor is now attached and the jib is installed. (We still need to install the sail.) While in the marina, we have access to power and electricity so I’ve been working on cleaning the stainless steel (which requires water). Starlink is installed and working, which we definitely appreciate because we can use the internet. We’ll stay in the marina a couple of more days as we continue to reassemble the boat.