KIM IN THE CARIBBEAN – PART 3 BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS AND SOUTH AGAIN
- Paul Weston
- Jul 10
- 4 min read
The British Virgin Islands is a group of islands in the extreme north of the Lesser Antilles. The many sheltered anchorages and sounds, coupled with the benign weather and constant trade winds make it a wonderful place for sailing, and this is reflected in the number of charter boats which operate there, as well as upmarket resorts and hotels. An offshore finance industry operates from offices in the capital, Road Town, and this means that there is a significant expatriate population.
Kim moved from the windy government moorings at Road Harbour to the sheltered Hodges Creek Marina on February 7th, which was conveniently close to where my nephew George lives with his wife Martha and son Jack. George kindly lent us a car which we used to travel round Tortola. Apart from one night in Brandywine Bay, we spent the next three weeks at Hodges Marina. Brandywine Bay, which is even closer to George’s house, has several moorings owned by the restaurant ashore. It is rather shallow, so we half retracted Kim’s lifting keel. This was the first time we had spent any time with the keel retracted, and it led to a rather disturbed night as there was a slight swell in the bay, and the keel banged noisily when the boat rolled. Modifications are in hand to rectify this, but it led to us to return to Hodges Creek.
We were joined by our son Martin and his partner, Larissa, who stayed with George. We did several day trips to outlying islands which were very enjoyable, the short distances involved combined with the sparkling blue water making sailing enjoyable even for those not accustomed to boating.
One interesting aspect of our stay at Hodges Creek was the repairs to the main road running behind the marina. Work proceeded very slowly, but when a local landowner claimed that the road was being built on his property, and erected a fence to emphasise the point, it came to a complete halt. While frustrating for motorists, the road closure allowed us to walk to George’s house unhindered by traffic.
On Tortola, the immigration office is in the ferry terminal in Road Town, and clearing in is simple and quick. However, when we decided to extend our stay we had to apply for the extension at offices in the town, and this was very protracted. I suggest that visiting yachtspeople apply for the maximum stay (which I believe is 30 days) when first clearing in, to avoid having to extend their visa.
Our next destination, Anguilla, is generally to windward, and we took the boat to Virgin Gorda, anchoring in Robins Bay in the Sound to await a favourable weather window. This was an interesting experience as there was a procession of large superyachts, including Burrasca, a 54 metre long Perini Navi ketch which we had met several times since we first saw her in Puerto Calero, Lanzarote. As well as the superyachts, the number of charter catamarans visiting Bitter End marina and nearby moorings has to be seen to be believed. Virgin Gorda Sound is generally crowded, but we had the anchorage in Robins Bay to ourselves.
We had a very enjoyable stay in the BVI, and it was with fond memories that we departed Virgin Gorda on 6th March. We had a good overnight trip, made interesting by the number of cruise ships and the slightly anxious approach to Anguilla in the dark, past unseen Dog Island and the offlying rocks. We spent a day in Crocus Bay in Anguilla, anchored next to Burrasca, where we had a wonderful meal ashore, and were the first visitors to a new museum at the old jail house.
An easy crossing to St Martin followed, where we anchored in Anse Marcel for a night, before sailing the 20 miles or so to St Barths. We managed to find a spot to anchor in the crowded roadstead of Gustavia, and went ashore to clear in, the harbour and roadstead filled with superyachts of every description. We moved to Anse Colombier where we picked up a mooring for a couple of nights. A pretty bay with clear water and turtles.
From St Barths we sailed to St Kitts (described in the ‘An Extraordinary Day’ blog above), arriving in the dark, and then to Pinneys Beach, Nevis. A period of unsettled weather was forecast, and so we went from Nevis into the Grand Cul de Sac Marin on the north coast of Guadeloupe. This is a huge sheltered natural harbour protected from the sea by reefs. A narrow twisting channel took us to a completely sheltered anchorage near Baie Mahault. We walked to a huge shopping centre, that would not have seemed out of place in the suburbs of Paris, where we bought yet another SIM card. The anchorage was utterly quiet, and completely sheltered. The Grand Cul de Sac Marin is connected to Pointe a Pitre and the Petit Grand Cul de Sac Marin by a channel through the mangroves. However, the channel is closed to yachts with masts as the opening bridge has been closed for several years. While inconvenient, this does mean that there are almost no cruising yachts in the Grand Cul de Sac Marin.
We took the dinghy for several miles up the Grande Riviere Goyaves, an interesting trip, probably the only such river in the Lesser Antilles. From the Grand Cul de Sac Marin we went around the coast of Guadeloupe to Deshaies, picking up a mooring in the crowded and uncomfortable rolly roadstead, and landing on a dinghy dock which was sometimes awash in the surf.
We spent a night in Anse a la Barque, half way down the coast of Guadeloupe, which, though small, seems to be the best anchorage on the island’s west coast. From Anse a la Barque we had a went to Dominca for the PAYS festival.