Sailing the BVI

Lynne and I just returned from 10 days sailing the BVI with our good friends Pete Butler, Bethany Smith and Doron and Sandra Paz.  We learned a number of important things about the BVI.  1.  Get to the key snorkeling locations early (before 9 am) if you hope to get a park mooring.  2.  After a short afternoon sail you will end up at your next bar (the kind that serves alcohol, not the one made of sand, unless of course you are a poor navigator).  3.  Everyone sailing the BVI is in a party mood and the partying goes on until the wee hours. 

 

Really - sailing the BVI is like a progressive dinner party, without the dinner, where you sail from bar to bar - and each bar is only about, on average, an hour or two away from each other.  Very little sailing and a lot of cocktails. 

 

Our longest two sailing days were from Virgin Gorda to Anegada (12 miles) and from Anegada to Jost Van Dyke (23 miles).  Neither was very taxing.  Our biggest problem is that we were on a 42 ft Lagoon Hybrid and the power to the electric engines was not very reliable.  As a result, we had to sail a lot more than most other boats.  When we returned to the charter company and told them how poorly the power system worked they asked why we did not give them a call.  We noted that the boat, after all, was a sail boat so we simply put up the sails and eventually got to were we wanted to go. They seemed surprised by that answer.  I guess most people sailing the BVI rely more heavily on the iron sail. 

 

I will be posting pictures of the trip shortly.