On 4.19.23, we headed to the other side of Tortola to Nanny Cay marina.  This is where our adventure started three years ago.  So, we are familiar with the property.  We pulled into the marina and were placed on the T-head, which we always like.  It makes it easy for us to tie up the boat. 

Cleaning started in earnest and Steve has been working on things like taking the sails down.  We had the boat surveyed because our insurance required it.  We have had to replenish some of our safety gear, like flares.  Other than that, the boat is in good shape and everything works as expected.  The surveyor will return to the boat once we haul it out, so that he can check the part of the boat that lies underwater. 

As I was walking around, I noticed a boat called “Cadence.”  It turns out that the owners were the ones who were quarantined next to us in 2020.  They have been enjoying their time on their new boat as well.  In the boatyard I also met a couple from Moultonboro, NH, the town next to Meredith.  Their boat’s name is “Three Quarter’s Time.”  It is fun to meet people in the marina.

It has been hot in the afternoons here in the BVI’s.   Most afternoons we have resorted to turning the air conditioning on. Unfortunately, last night a bunch of sargassum floated under our boat.  It stinks.  Unfortunately, Steve doesn’t think that we should turn the air conditioning on with it being so thick under the boat.  So, instead, we are sitting in the Nanny Cay lobby, using their internet.  For some reason, the internet throughout the property is not very strong and we can’t get a signal on our boat, unfortunately.

After a good night’s sleep, we headed towards Yost Van Dyke.  We looked at Diamond Bay, which was a little crowded, and then pulled into another bay, slightly west, called Garner Bay.  Unfortunately the wind was coming from the south and was blowing waves straight into the bay.  So, we moved on to White Bay where the famous Foxy’s and Soggy Dollar Beach Bars are located.  The water here was beautiful, but the wind was also heading straight into the bay.  So, we decided to return to Cane Garden Bay on Tortola, where we knew we would be protected from the wind.  This time we anchored on the other side of the bay, in front of the beach, but out a ways.  It was a great anchorage.  The water was calm and we were far enough away from shore that we didn’t really hear the traffic or radios blasting.  Our view was of very pretty houses and the horizon.  We were also protected by a small reef.  So, we enjoyed our last night at anchor.

We headed back to Tortola to Cane Garden Bay on the north western side of the island.  This was described in our book as the perfect Caribbean getaway, with a nice sand beach and beach bars. 

It was even mentioned in a Jimmy Buffet song.  There were plenty of mooring balls when we arrived so we picked one up.  It is cloudy today, but we could determine that the water was clear enough that we could see the bottom.  Unfortunately, this is a town bay and not as tranquil as is written in the book. 

We took the dinghy to the dilapidated dock and walked around. 

There is a small hotel on the beach, along with several beach bars.  This bay sustained quite a bit of damage in the last hurricane.  Many of the buildings were rebuilt – too many. 

Town is a one lane street with beach bars lining one side. 

There is a laundromat and a small grocery store in town.  And, we were finally able to throw our three bags of garbage away.  We ate on the boat tonight instead of going ashore.  As I’m typing, there is a smooth jazz band playing at one of the beach bars.  It is nice to hear the music from our boat.

Well, it rained around 3a this morning and I woke up to shut the hatch in my bathroom.  Then I wasn’t able to fall back to sleep.  So, I knew that I would have to take a nap later today. 

We awoke to calm winds this morning.  As I went on deck, I looked at the water.  It was gorgeously clear.  I could clearly see Sargent Majors, Blue Tangs, Grunts, and other fish swimming in the water. I tried to take a picture of them with my Nikon, so we’ll see if they turned out.  I sort of wanted to stay in the White Bay anchorage on Guana because of the beautiful, clear water.  But, it was time for us to try another bay. 

We decided to go past the airport to White Bay on Guana Island.  The water here is a gorgeous shade of turquoise.  There are coral heads and reefs here and there.  Snorkeling was OK.  While the island of Guana is private, we can go on the beautiful, white sand beach.  When we snorkeled from the boat yesterday, we ended up swimming to shore and walked along the beach.  The fine sand felt so soft on my feet.  There is good snorkeling at Monkey Point, which is at the end of this bay.  We haven’t gone snorkeling there yet, but hope to before moving on to the next anchorage.

Today, 4.16.23, I finished polishing the stainless steel on the inside of the boat.  There are still some spots that I need to work on, but I only have so much time and they will have to wait.  I started in earnest preparing the boat for sitting on the hard for 7.5 months by washing out the insides of some of the closets/cabinets and spraying them down with a mixture of vinegar and water.  Since these places all are closed, I’m hoping that not much sea air seeps into these areas before we put the boat up.  I just have to start somewhere so that we are prepared to leave on the 28^th.

We pulled into Marina Cay, a place where we have stayed before, and picked up a mooring ball.  The water here was gorgeous and we could see varying colors of turquoise in front of us around a reef.  Unfortunately, this mooring field was very busy because of shuttles running back and forth from the high-end, Scrub Island Marina and Resort.  Many of the balls were taken, though there were some extras.  The water was so pretty that I had to jump in and sit in the float behind the boat for a while.  The snorkeling in the reef in front of us was not that great (Steve swam out to it).  There is another area in this bay where the snorkeling is better (this is where we lost the boat key several years ago), but we didn’t go there.  Because of the boat wakes, we left first thing on 4/15/23.

Yesterday we took a walk along a road behind the anchorage that seemed to head towards Mosquito Island (owned by Richard Branson). 

It was a short walk, as the road ended abruptly.   

The road was in great shape (looked new) and a drip irrigation system was in place for the plantings along the side. 

We did find a nice view of the bay along this walk.

Today we decided to explore a different anchorage on the back side of Prickly Pear island.  It was not crowded at all and appeared to have a nice beach.  I was perched in the princess seat to look for coral heads.  Hopefully I can spot the coral heads prior to us hitting them.  While up there, I saw a trumpet fish skirting the surface of the water. 

Now, we have the jib up and are enjoying a slow, calm, downwind ride back towards Tortola.

This area of North Sound was a little quieter than off of Prickly Pear Island by the Bitter End Yacht Club.

We thought there would be good snorkeling here. 

While it was a little better than our first anchorage, the water still wasn’t that clear. 

We did see a large Chub fish, however.

On Tuesday night, 4.11.23, we had an encounter with Turquoise Turtle Charters.  The pulled in front of us and parked on top of our anchor.  When Steve asked them to move up, they refused.  There are a couple of reasons why his behavior was wrong.  First, when you park on top of someone else’s anchor, you risk tangling or damaging anchor chains.  Since boats are only secured by their anchors and corresponding chains, this is a potentially dangerous issue.  We were anchored in sand, so we were probably OK, but the risk shouldn’t be there in the first place.  Second, why is it necessary to park that close to another boat in such a wide, open bay?  And third, the boat who is there first can ask the other boat to move and it is the sailor’s code to comply.  This captain outright refused to move. 

Anyways, the next morning we left and got within inches of his boat.  I couldn’t tell if he was moving it forward or not, as I was looking at the anchor chain and trying to pull the anchor up.  We moved over to the southern side of the bay by the Leverett Bay Marina.  We had reservations to attend a pirate show at the marina that Wednesday evening.  This show was put on by a guy who is raising money to support a floating school for Haitian children.  He was a talented, entertaining musician who sang, played the guitar, harmonica, and the accordion.  The audience had maracas to shake to the beat.  There were plenty of Arrrr… jokes.  And, there was a conch blowing contest.  It was an enjoyable evening and we were able to dinghy back to our boat before it got dark.

On Saturday we got up early and headed up to North Sound on Virgin Gorda.  We anchored off of Prickly Pear Island, just around the corner from Saba Rock and the Bitter End Yacht Club.  The water in this anchorage is a beautiful turquoise color.  When we first arrived, it was a little churned up, as many boats were coming and going through the bay.  By today, 4.11.23, the water was fairly clear and we can see the sandy bottom.  We’ve spotted the occasional turtle around our boat, but not many fish. 

Yesterday, 4.11.23, we decided to dinghy in to Saba Rock to get a drink and use their wifi, which was very fast.  I was able to get a few things accomplished before the sun hit our table and we decided to leave.  Saba Rock was really pretty and had a spa atmosphere.  Families were around the island participating in various watersports.  We walked around the back of Saba Rock to see where the snorkeling was.  We read about the spot in the book but didn’t see anyone snorkeling while we were there. 

Next, we dinghied over to the Bitter End Yacht Club.  We have stayed in their marina once before and were anxious to see the property after it was rebuilt.  It was demolished by Hurricane Irma a couple of years ago.  Apparently, the kids of the owners are now in charge of the property.  The property itself looks nice and the renovations make it look like a hipster resort.  However, to us, it has lost is charm of a classic, Caribbean hideaway.  It is just like any other hipster resort.  Again, it was pretty and well done, just not what we are looking for.  As mentioned before, there were so many boats in and around the Yacht Club and Saba Rock.  It was too much activity for me.  I much prefer where we are anchored because it is quieter.

Today was another day that we spent on the boat.  I started polishing the inside stainless for the last time this season.  It is slow work but I made great progress this morning.  After spending a couple of hours doing this, I decided to sit in a plastic float behind the boat so that I could cool off.  The water temperature is a little cooler than in other places, but once in, it is relaxing.  We can now see the sandy bottom, which makes me feel comfortable.  The charter boat in front of us, named “Starfish” is playing Kenny Chesney music, which was perfect to listen to while floating up and down on the water’s surface.