The Virgin Islands, pearls of the Caribbean

5th – 16th January 2013

We arrived into North Sound, Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands just before 5pm and we were glad to put the anchor down.The 75 mile sail from St Marrten had been a good one. With a boisterous ENE wind of 17-20 kts, two reefs in the mainsail and a full jib, our top boat speed of the day was 16.8 knts. Wooshka!

Finally we were back in the Virgin Islands, our favourite stomping ground. We love it here. The girls now only had 11 days left before they flew out of St Thomas so we had to get moving to show them the sights. First up was The Baths, a group of giant boulders with tunnels and caves to walk through and a gorgeous beach at either end to take a dip.

 

From here we popped into Cooper Island to enjoy the hospitality at the beach club for sundowners and to spend the night. The following morning we moved over to Peter Island for a drift snorkel in Great Bay and then on to Norman Island.

Sadly the weather was a bit unsettled so the girls didn’t get the full  BVI experience that we had planned. The clock was also ticking and everything was a bit rushed as their departure date loomed.

Over the next three days we took in the island of Jost Van Dyke, stopping in Great Harbour to Visit Foxy’s bar / restaurant  where the girls actually met the man himself. Not many people get that chance.

 

 

         

Next up was White bay and the world famous, well maybe in the BVI’s, Soggy Dollar Bar. Here, most people swim ashore from their boats and spend the day on the beach sipping “painkillers”, a very popular and very drinkable rum based beverage, and soak up the sun with their soggy dollars in their pockets. My sis and niece rated this beach as the best they’d been to since leaving Trinidad.

 

  

       

We only had two more stops before they left the BVI’s and that was Monkey Point for a snorkel and Trellis Bay to have dinner at the Last Resort Restaurant. It’s a fun place with excellent food and entertainment by Al the resident one-man band. We stayed late into the night and ended up sipping free champagne courtesy of Al, but I think a lot of that had to do with my very good looking young niece.

 

 

The USVI’s now beckoned. There are three main Islands but we only had time to do two, St John and St Thomas. After checking in with homeland security in Cruz Bay on St John we spent a couple of days on the island and from there it was over to St Thomas.

Magens Bay was the last pretty beach that we took the girls and they spent their second last day chilling out on the white sand in the shade of a palm tree. What a great way to end a holiday.

After a brief shopping stop in Charlotte Amalie, the capital of St Thomas, which by the way is cruise ship central and full of duty free jewellery shops, our last night with our rels was in Emerald Bay near the airport. The girls had bought so many souvenirs over their 2 month stay with us that they had to borrow our large bag to get all  their gear back home.

 

Their flight left early the next morning and it was very sad to see them go.

Hopefully they have lots of happy memories of their time sailing the700 miles of the Caribbean from Trinidad to St Thomas. For sure they most definitely have lots a great photos to boost their spirits on a rainy day back in Sydney.

 

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