Chapter 104: Hurry up and go!

We continued our time in the BVI’s this week exploring a few new anchorages. After a great time exploring the The Baths at Virgin Gorda we headed back over to Tortola to visit Marina Cay and Scrub Island.  We are so grateful for our Totem Raft Up  friends, especially Vicki who shared so many good suggestions about BVI and anchorages!  She recommended visiting Marina Cay and we are so glad we did! We had heard that Diamond Reef was a great snorkel site but we didn’t realize the anchorage at Marina Cay was right next to it.  We were able to snorkel right off the boat and the sea life and reef were amazing.  We ended up staying two nights and truly saw so many fish and as well as the requisite barracuda under our boat! We went over to the Marina Cay restaurant and had a fabulous meal, definitely the best in BVI. We started with the spring rolls and followed with two of the chef’s specials, Trinidadian Vegetable Roti, and the Caribbean Beef and Plantain Lasagna.  Dessert was flourless chocolate cake – it was a great early anniversary celebration of our 31st anniversary on 5/30!

We left Marina Cay on Wednesday to head back over to Virgin Gorda and the Bitter End Yacht Club.  This area of Virgin Gorda is famous for Richard Branson as he owns two islands, Necker Island and more recently Moskito Island. You can actually book the whole island or reserve a room on it – I am sure the prices, which are not listed on the website, are how it remains exclusive!  As we motored past one of the villas on the island I could see people on the balcony but definitely could not tell if Sir Richard was at home!  We continued on to the Gorda Sound anchorage and settled in for the night.  On Thursday, 5/30, we celebrated our anniversary with a visit to the Bitter End Yacht Club.  The BEYC is sort of famous among cruisers and after visiting now we know why!  It is a great spot to enjoy the beach, water sports, a variety of dining options, and some boutique stores.  We visited the Reef Sampler for lunch.  Hurricane Irma struck the BEYC very hard including the Reef Sampler. Originally the vessel that serves as the Reef Sampler helped build Bitter End back in the ’70s.  The Reef Sampler sunk with Hurricane Irma but has now been raised from the seabed for its second act as local watering hole and village focal point. I had the Sailor’s Punch and we had some great pizzas and salad. We hung out for a while in the afternoon and then I finished our visit with an affogato in the Buoy Room while Bob ran back to the boat in an unexpected rainstorm to shut the hatches and portlights.  The tropical weather is consistently unpredictable! But we definitely would love to return to the BEYC if we get the opportunity to visit Virgin Gorda again!

On Friday, we headed back to Spanish Town to prepare to leave the BVI’s for Saint Martin.  Our plan was to have Friday to prepare and then to leave on Saturday afternoon for an overnight trip to Saint Martin.  But the best-laid plans of mice and men (and sailors!) often go awry.  After reviewing the weather and listening to our weather service, we knew we needed to move our departure up to Friday. So hurry up and go was the new mantra!  We arrived at Spanish Town, got the anchor set, and headed to town to visit customs and immigrations to clear out, get fuel, refill our propane tank, and do some last minute provisioning.  It actually went surprisingly smoothly and we were back on board Meraviglia by 1:45pm! Once back on board, we needed to prep the boat for our departure.  We were concerned that the conditions were going to be a bit spicy so we needed to make sure everything was secured well including the dinghy on deck as well as everything below.  By 3:30pm we were weighing the anchor and saying goodbye to BVI.  As predicted, the trip was not particularly fun.  We were heading directly into the wind with a very lumpy sea state.  It was especially challenging in the passage Virgin Gorda and Fallen Jerusalem to get out to the Anegada passage.  I went below to quickly shut all the portlights as we realized the conditions were worse than expected.  The boat was rocking and I looked out the portlight to see a huge wall of rocks and very large waves.  Bob managed it like a pro but it was definitely a bit more of a challenging start than we anticipated.  While things did improve some the whole night was truly a slog.  18 hours later we made it to Saint Martin and were glad to be anchored.  We are looking forward to exploring more tomorrow after a good night’s sleep and some rest!