Our next stop, Peter Island, is one of the largest privately owned islands in the BVI. The island was hit hard during Hurricane Irma and Maria, and the resort and spa are still closed. The island is large and the first time we stopped at Peter Island we anchored in Great Harbour which is a massive, deep bay. There were a few mooring balls in one corner and apparently a restricted fishing zone in the other although we didn't see any fishermen or nets. We decided to anchor at the entrance of the bay, but ended up near the shore while trying to anchor in shallower water. This is not ideal as one is never sure what the wind is going to do and whether the anchor will hold fast in the ground, or not.
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| A bit close to shore |
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| Massive bay |
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| Bully behind us |
After a restless night, we upped anchor and headed round the corner to Norman Island.
Norman Island is another privately owned, uninhabited island, however, unlike Peter Island, people are allowed to walk on the many paths on the island.
When we arrived, we drove around the very busy bay looking for a good place to drop anchor. This is a very sheltered bay so once again, there were mooring balls all over the place. We went just outside the bay and dropped our anchor in Kelly's Cove. We were very happy as we weren’t too close to shore and the anchor was well set. There were a few mooring balls near us and some boats picked them up for a day stop, a couple of boats stayed the night. There were a few idiots who zoomed in on their motor boats and zoomed off again. So silly as this is a place where people snorkel, SUP, and swim.
Laura took the SUP out and went around the bay. She is getting so good on it. Jim followed her and made sure she was able to get back on the board.
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| Laura and Jim |
Sea Dancer caught up with us and anchored in the same bay.
We dropped the dinghy and went off for a drink on the William Thornton, aka Willy T, a ship in the Bight off Norman Island. It was a Baltic trading vessel that was bought and made into a floating restaurant. Rumour has it that if you jump off the back naked, you get a free beer! All the people we saw jumping had cozzies on.
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| The Willy T |
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| Caught Bev and Andre in selfie mode |
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| Mutilating the ice with a baseball bat |
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| Upstairs where people leap off the platform |
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| Bucket list - tick |
The following day we went ashore for a walk, which turned out to be more of a hike. The sand on the beach is pure white, to impress the tourists, I am sure. Then you head round the corner and find the sand pile and the digger. We wondered where they imported the sand from.
Yes, Laura is in her slops again. Why wasn't she wearing proper shoes? Well, her takkies have been giving her blisters, so it was a case of blisters or tough it in slops? The slops won!
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| Spectacular views from the top |
The grass started getting a bit tall and the hills a bit steep so Andrew and Laura turned back. Claire, Jim, and I went on and walked to the other side of the island.
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| Beautiful clear water |
Over the other side there was a beautiful bay with a weird quay like rock formation and dried seaweed hanging in the tree. Jim spotted at four turtles in the water.
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| A rare picture with Claire |
Well done, Laura! That was quite a hike. She was glad to get back to the boat and swap her slip slops for fins.
After a quick breakfast, we headed out on the dinghy, round the corner to dive the caves. And yes, the water was that clear! We did see some fish, although Andrew didn't seem to capture any with the Go-Pro.
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| Jim, Claire, Bev and Andre |
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Tying up to the buoy so the dinghy won't float away
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One of the caves was extremely dark. Andrew and Laura ventured quite far in, I wasn't that brave and hustled out into the light as fast as I could.
After the caves we went across the water to The Indians and had another dive.
We left the busy bay off Norman Island and headed towards Buck Island near Tortola. We anchored off the Aerial resort in calm waters with only one other boat. Claire and Jim decided that they didn't want to anchor there and went further on to another secluded bay, which was probably the right decision as we had a few more boats anchor around us as the day wore on. We were a little worried as one chap struggled to anchor and looked like he was coming a bit close to us, but he managed eventually to set his anchor and was far enough away.
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| Aerial Resort |
Buck Island is yet another private island owned by 35-year old, Britnie Faith Turner, a real estate developer, who built Aerial Resort, where you can go to "elevate yourself and find your purpose". The whole island can be booked for family gatherings, starting price is a mere $50,000 per night, minimum four night stay. You can pet the rescued horses and zebra as well as battle the flies and the horsey smell - if that's your thing.
We obviously couldn't go ashore there but I did SUP closer to it and I am not sure I would want to pay that much money for that smell. We also noticed an influx of flies on the boat while we were there.
We spent a few nights here watching the comings and goings on the island. The most fascinating thing was the powerboat that was used to ferry guests to and from the island. The boat was kept out the water on a trailer with caterpillar wheels, which backed into the water depositing the powerboat into the water when needed. No hauling the boat out by hand for the staff.
After waiting for a bad spate of weather to pass we headed to Road Town, Tortola. This is a big bay with a huge cruise liner terminal, ferry dock, and Sunsail and Moorings bases. The cruise ships arrive in the early hours of the morning, after spending the night not going too fast and usually going around in circles for a while (see previous posts). They stay for the day and leave again at sunset blasting their music as they depart.
Andrew's cousin, Graeme MacCullum, owns a restaurant called The Watering Hole in Road Town. Bev and Andre joined us as we walked miles to find it, only to discover that Graeme wasn't in town, but we did have a very delicious beer.
We walked back the way we came to look for the supermarket. We were very impressed with the size of the shop and the variety of goods to choose from. There were quite a few specials to be had as well, which we took advantage of. Sadly, cauliflower was still too pricey to even consider at $10 per cauli. We will have to stick to cabbages!
We noticed a Bali cat moored next to us which was flying a South African flag. On one of our trips to shore we stopped and introduced ourselves to Belinda and Rob. They invited us and our buddy boats to drinks later that day. We had a lovely evening getting to know them and chatting about their charters and what it entails. There are a lot of South Africans working on charter boats in the BVI.
After a few days in busy Road Town Harbour we set off for Jost van Dyke. The weather turned nasty during our trip, with squalls passing through and the wind picking up. We were planning to stop in Sopa's Hole, but it was pouring with rain, visibility was shocking, and it looked really full, so we decided to skip it and go on to Sandy Spit.
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| Leaving Road Town |
On the way there we got a call from Bev on the radio, saying that Andre had gone up the mast to release his main which was stuck. While he was up there some idiot went past too close and too fast in his speed boat, which caused a huge wake, rocking Sea Dancer from side to side. Andre lost his grip on the mast and started to swing dangerously around the mast. He managed to get one hand caught, which caused a long surface cut on the top of his hand, and cut his thumb quite badly on the other. Bev managed to get him down, but she was badly shaken and he was bleeding.
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| Going past Sopa's Hole |
Sandy Spit is a lovely remote, tiny island which was quite exposed to the elements. We were worried about Andre and so decided to try and find a calmer spot to anchor. The trouble is all these bays are quite small, very popular, and littered with mooring balls.
We eventually stopped at Great Harbour and managed to anchor, although we weren't really happy as we were sure we were on rocks and there were so many boats already anchored there, not to mention the hoards that were arriving trying to find a space to anchor. Bev and Andre weren't happy either, so we all upped anchor and went back to Sandy Spit. Sea Dancer and Calypso managed to find a sandy spot to drop anchor. I dived on both anchors which were well set on the sandy bottom. Bully struggled to find a spot and they decided to go across the bay for the night where it was less rolly and more protected.
Later Andrew and I went across to Sea Dancer to give Bev some moral support as well as check out the injured sailor. Andre was very lucky not to have broken anything, but both his hands were very bruised and swollen. A steristrip plaster, some ice and a glass of wine later, we left them and went back to Calypso for supper.
Sandy Spit is recommended as a day stop in the guide book, which always works in our favour. The charter boats left before sunset, leaving us alone with Sea Dancer for the night. We woke early the next morning to watch a beautiful sunrise over the water before heading off to find Bully and a new bay to anchor in.
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| Charter boats arriving just after sunrise |
We ended up not in a new bay, but back at Monkey Point on Guana Island. We spent a couple of days there snorkelling and enjoying the quiet. Laura had some practice on the SUP and Andrew and I went and snorkeled at the point.
Stay tuned for the last installment on our stay in BVI.
