Caribbean Christmas
After arriving, we spent a few days chilling in Jost Van Dyke and doing odd jobs on board before heading around the south coast of Tortola to meet Hazel’s sister and nephew. The anchorage in Trellis Bay literally adjoins the airport, and since it only caters to smaller inter-island planes, isn’t too noisy. The airport is a 5-minute walk from the beach – no taxis necessary!
The British Virgin Isles consist of three main islands – the biggest, Tortola, in the middle with Jost Van Dyke and Virgin Gorda on either side, then there are a dozen or so smaller islands dotted around. All the islands are within a 30-mile area, so perfect for short day-sails without making the crew seasick.
We spent the first day in Trellis Bay, exploring a couple of nearby beaches by dinghy – both deserted – and in the evening went to a ‘new moon party’ on the beach. This turned out to be a bit of a disappointment, as there weren’t many people there, no sign of the moon in the sky and the advertised ‘jumbie walkers’ (on stilts) didn’t show up. However, the food was good (if overpriced), Michael got the chance to have a go at spinning a pot and the owner did put on a fire juggling display afterwards to make up for the lack of jumbies.
From there we went to Virgin Gorda, 7 miles away.
First stop The Baths, which turned out to be one of our favourite places – lovely white beaches dotted with enormous boulders, and one of the best snorkelling spots we’ve been to (saw squid for the first time). This was only slightly marred by Karen getting stung between her toes by an unidentified object (possibly fire coral) and Michael losing a tooth while snorkelling. We had fun following the trail under and over the boulders and through ankle-deep water to Devil’s Bay, at the tip of the island, where we had a picnic on top of the rocks.
We spent a rolly night anchored off Spanishtown, which turned out to be just a marina with a strip of shops alongside. Best bit there was watching the pelicans dive-bombing at great speed for fish.
Then to Gorda Sound, a big sheltered bay at the top of the island, with views to Richard Branson’s privately-owned Necker Island. Here we found exclusive but low-key resorts, gorgeous palm-lined beaches, delicious if expensive fresh pineapple, and an ideal spot for Karen’s first windsurfing lessons.
This was our most easterly point, and from here we had a great sail downwind (max speed 7.2 knots) past Tortola to Jost Van Dyke, where we spent Christmas.
On Xmas Eve, we had a few drinks in the world-famous Foxy’s Bar and looked around the adjoining expensive gift shop (Foxy’s bikinis just $70!!).
After opening presents on Xmas day, we walked over the hill to the gorgeous White Bay and The Stress Free Bar – both of which lived up to their names, and spent a relaxing day on the beach. Burgers and flying fish sandwiches were on the menu for lunch but we did cook the whole turkey and sprouts thing in the evening once it had cooled down a little.
Boxing Day saw us motor-sailing around Soper’s Hole at the west tip of Tortola, along the unspoilt coast of St John (one of the US Virgin Isles) and to Norman Island, named after an unlikely-sounding pirate. Here there really was buried treasure at one time, not all of which has apparently been recovered. Despite our best efforts, we couldn’t find any!
However, there were underwater pirate caves to explore by snorkel, full of amazing coloured fish and various types of coral. We climbed another hill in the evening, returning to the beach in time to watch the sun go down as we sipped drinks with the sea lapping under our sunloungers. It’s a hard life!
The next morning, Dave took Michael snorkelling off ‘The Indians’, a group of granite rocks just offshore, while Karen had another go at windsurfing – she nearly mastered it! Then just time for lunch ashore in ‘Billy Bones Beach Bar’ – with complimentary pirate tattoos, before we had to head back to Trellis Bay where we’d started. Our last supper was eaten at ‘The Last Resort’ restaurant on a tiny island in the middle of the bay with a singing chef for entertainment, not a bad way to end the holiday.
The next day, we waved our visitors off on their first of three flights home (via St Maarten and Paris) then returned to swinging in the hammocks to recover from an action-packed ten days. We are planning to stay here for New Year then head across to St Maarten, an overnight hop of about 100 nautical miles.
Happy New Year everybody!
The British Virgin Isles consist of three main islands – the biggest, Tortola, in the middle with Jost Van Dyke and Virgin Gorda on either side, then there are a dozen or so smaller islands dotted around. All the islands are within a 30-mile area, so perfect for short day-sails without making the crew seasick.
We spent the first day in Trellis Bay, exploring a couple of nearby beaches by dinghy – both deserted – and in the evening went to a ‘new moon party’ on the beach. This turned out to be a bit of a disappointment, as there weren’t many people there, no sign of the moon in the sky and the advertised ‘jumbie walkers’ (on stilts) didn’t show up. However, the food was good (if overpriced), Michael got the chance to have a go at spinning a pot and the owner did put on a fire juggling display afterwards to make up for the lack of jumbies.
From there we went to Virgin Gorda, 7 miles away.
First stop The Baths, which turned out to be one of our favourite places – lovely white beaches dotted with enormous boulders, and one of the best snorkelling spots we’ve been to (saw squid for the first time). This was only slightly marred by Karen getting stung between her toes by an unidentified object (possibly fire coral) and Michael losing a tooth while snorkelling. We had fun following the trail under and over the boulders and through ankle-deep water to Devil’s Bay, at the tip of the island, where we had a picnic on top of the rocks.
We spent a rolly night anchored off Spanishtown, which turned out to be just a marina with a strip of shops alongside. Best bit there was watching the pelicans dive-bombing at great speed for fish.
Then to Gorda Sound, a big sheltered bay at the top of the island, with views to Richard Branson’s privately-owned Necker Island. Here we found exclusive but low-key resorts, gorgeous palm-lined beaches, delicious if expensive fresh pineapple, and an ideal spot for Karen’s first windsurfing lessons.
This was our most easterly point, and from here we had a great sail downwind (max speed 7.2 knots) past Tortola to Jost Van Dyke, where we spent Christmas.
On Xmas Eve, we had a few drinks in the world-famous Foxy’s Bar and looked around the adjoining expensive gift shop (Foxy’s bikinis just $70!!).
After opening presents on Xmas day, we walked over the hill to the gorgeous White Bay and The Stress Free Bar – both of which lived up to their names, and spent a relaxing day on the beach. Burgers and flying fish sandwiches were on the menu for lunch but we did cook the whole turkey and sprouts thing in the evening once it had cooled down a little.
Boxing Day saw us motor-sailing around Soper’s Hole at the west tip of Tortola, along the unspoilt coast of St John (one of the US Virgin Isles) and to Norman Island, named after an unlikely-sounding pirate. Here there really was buried treasure at one time, not all of which has apparently been recovered. Despite our best efforts, we couldn’t find any!
However, there were underwater pirate caves to explore by snorkel, full of amazing coloured fish and various types of coral. We climbed another hill in the evening, returning to the beach in time to watch the sun go down as we sipped drinks with the sea lapping under our sunloungers. It’s a hard life!
The next morning, Dave took Michael snorkelling off ‘The Indians’, a group of granite rocks just offshore, while Karen had another go at windsurfing – she nearly mastered it! Then just time for lunch ashore in ‘Billy Bones Beach Bar’ – with complimentary pirate tattoos, before we had to head back to Trellis Bay where we’d started. Our last supper was eaten at ‘The Last Resort’ restaurant on a tiny island in the middle of the bay with a singing chef for entertainment, not a bad way to end the holiday.
The next day, we waved our visitors off on their first of three flights home (via St Maarten and Paris) then returned to swinging in the hammocks to recover from an action-packed ten days. We are planning to stay here for New Year then head across to St Maarten, an overnight hop of about 100 nautical miles.
Happy New Year everybody!
posted by Katie at 6:11 PM
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