This episode is being written while I am bobbing on our yacht on another beautiful day in a gorgeous little bay. The others have all gone to do their own thing (Chris is walking on the beach, Ashley is taking photos of the bay and Keith and Kathryn are snorkeling). I am just chilling in the heat feeling the breeze blow over the deck while looking at the islands across the channel.
We have been sailing for a few days now and each day has been fantastic. Generally speaking, the days have been about 26 degrees with an east/southeast wind around 15 knots and flat seas enabling us to get the sails up every day. Perfect. The skies have had a few clouds in them now and again but last night was the only time we scored any rain. Just about every place we go seems to be better than the previous and all are worthy of postcard status. Yesterday afternoon we did a fly-by of Necker island (owned by Richard Branson) and it is a slice of paradise. There is a little sandy cay in front of it with two fake palm trees on it, and from a distance it looks like the stereotypical deserted island. Keith had a go at getting his kiteboarding happening the but there wasn't enough wind.
This morning we sailed out of our anchorage and put the sails up for a couple of hours or so. The wind was a bit stronger (around 20 knots) and the seas had come up a bit (probably a couple of metres) so we had a nice fast, if not bumpy, ride. At one stage we were doing about 8.5 knots consistently with only two thirds of the jib out and the mainsail on the first reef. Fantastic! There are some magnificent watercraft to behold here ranging from the normal things you would see in the Whitsundays to gorgeous ketches, sloops and catamarans, some up to 120 feet long. And the power launches would make James Bond envious.
The other night we tried to moor at White Bay on Jost Van Dyke in order to go to the Soggy Dollar bar to drink some Painkillers. Unfortunately there were no moorings left so we had to choof off to a different spot. If I have any criticism of the BVI from a sailing perspective it is that there are not enough anchorages for the amount of vessels that want them. The popular spots fill up early in the day so you have to keep going until your find somewhere else. A lot of the cays/bays have moorings but they cost about $30 a night and anchoring is not permitted. So far we have done a 50/50 mix of mooring and anchoring.
Sometime today we have to try and find a cafe/restaurant/pub with power so we can recharge our phones, cameras, computers and iPads. The yacht doesn't have an inverter, and that has caught us out. At the moment, only the iPads have power remaining and they are running low. Consequently, I am writing this report ready for a quick transmission when we find some wifi hotspot.
And this be what a pirate may have seen in days of yore when he sailed passed Sandy Cay!
Location:Cooper Bay, British Virgin Isalnds
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