BVI’s

Another nice overnight downwind sail from St Maartin to the BVI’s. A little over 80M door to door. We left at sunset and arrived a bit before sunrise and wanted to slow down so we dropped the parasailor and drifted with the current as the sun rose before making our way along the Virgin Sound Channel before dropping the anchor off the small island of Eustatia. Richard Bransons Island ‘Necker’ is in sight and we manage to share his WiFi signal. A nice anchorage but still the trade winds are blowing through at 20K or so, so we up anchor and head into Gorda sound which is slightly better.
The British Virgin Islands (BVI’s) are a group of 10 or so larger islands, and a lot of smaller islands. All have good anchorages, some better than others.
Here’s our tracks around some of the Islands.

We really enjoyed the BVI’s and ended up staying 5 weeks there. Sailing between anchorages was easy and conditions always good. Sunny every day and warm water for snorkelling and diving. We did a few land trips, hired a scooter for a day to explore Virgin Gorda, Dived on the wreck of the Rhone with Stefan and Anne (friends we met during the Atlantic Odyssey) Snorkelled the Indians (a great rock formation with deep drop offs, clear water and lots of sealife), Spent a couple of days around the main town of Tortolla, picked up a buoy at Cooper island for a couple of nights and had some tasty meals at the restaurant there.
Our favourite anchorage was Little Harbour on Peter island. It was really the only one we found that was out of the consistent trade winds so swimming every day was great. We had a pet Barracuda living under Sephina named ‘Jack’
Little Harbour is the kind of place you can stay a week and just relax. Tortola is just a 45 minute sail away for supplies when you need to restock.
So while exploring the other places around the BVI’s we found ourselves continually returning to Little Harbour. We met some old friends there, made some new friends and had a great time in general.
To be honest, a large part of the reason for staying in the BVI’s for so long was because we had no idea where we would go to from there. We felt like we were at a crossroad with four or more choices and unsure which route to take.
Option A
Our original plan was to head to the Bahamas from the BVIs and make our way to the US mainland where we would haul out Sephina and do a US road trip for four or five months over hurricane season. The hurricane season runs between July and November and our insurance means if we want to be covered for damage from named storms (we do! ) we need to be out of the region which covers most of the Caribbean, from Grenada to Carolina. As we headed North we have noticed the weather and water being a bit cooler and looking at the Bahamas, the weather doesn’t warm up for another month, and then you need to leave before the stormy season (before June) and returning to the Caribbean next year is a bit of a mission as well. You need to leave the US mainland after hurricane season finishes (Nov) but before its getting too cold (Oct). Aside from that we would also need to apply for visas. All doable but we decided against the USA this year. We can do a road trip there anytime and now didn’t feel like the right time.
Option B
Head to Panama and cross the Pacific this year with friends we have made along the way. This was a nice thought, but again we felt like we can do that at anytime and once we leave the Caribbean its virtually impossible to come back without continuing around the world first. Unsure if we were ready to leave and also undertake the 8000M passage from Panama to Australia this year, we decided on option C
Option C
Spend the hurricane season in Grenada or Martinique. If in Martinique Sephina would have to be hauled out to comply with our insurance. In Grenada was can change insurance from Pantaenius to Topsail and keep Sephina in the water. Either way we have decided to head back toward Martinique and make up the rest along the way. Jens back has been hurting her lately as well and a visit to the doctor here has confirmed she needs an MRI to investigate closer. Her health care on the French islands is a better option so another good reason to head South.
We will probably take the opportunity to fly home for a quick visit during the hurricane season as well as we are missing our family a lot.
We will also have time to make plans for next year, which will possibly be the ABCs in December, Columbia in January, San Blas in Feb and Panama in March to prepare for the Pacific, or possibly another year in the Caribbean and a sail to the USA as we had planned for this year.