April 27 - May 5, 2007

British Virgin Islands

Jost Van Dyke

Back in Texas when we dreamed of cruising, we hoped we could make it to the Caribbean before it was too late to hear Foxy Callwood sing at his popular bar in Jost Van Dyke. Today is Friday and we're heading for Jost Van Dyke to check into the British Virgin Islands. We're looking forward to visiting the legendary cruiser bar even though we've read that Foxy now sings at his new restaurant, Taboo in Diamond Cay.

The anchorage in Great Harbour has notoriously poor holding and most of it is too deep for our all-chain anchor rode. We finally find a suitable spot and after much effort seem to set the anchor. We rush into Customs before they close at 4:30 and quickly take care of the formalities. Before heading to Foxy's Bar, we return to the boat so Nick can dive on the anchor. He finds our anchor laying on its side on a rocky bottom. The only thing holding it is a small rock. We could cross our fingers and hope there aren't any wind shifts, but after our George Town experience and with squally weather still in the forecast, this isn't acceptable. It's late Friday afternoon and the anchorage is full of boats.

Disappointed, we weigh anchor and head for Diamond Cay a few miles away on the east side of Jost Van Dyke. We arrive to find all the moorings full, but we get a good anchor set in front of Foxy's Taboo. We expect the new Foxy's to be a little upscale, but we're surprised to find only a few pricey entrees written on a chalkboard. The host also informs us that Foxy is under doctor's orders to rest his voice and is now spending his days fishing. Furthermore, the boutique is not open so we won't be able to purchase a Foxy's hat or t-shirt. On the positive side, the restaurant has great ambiance, the food is well-presented and delicious, and the staff is friendly.

Diamond Cay is a pleasant anchorage, so we stay through Saturday and snorkel on the reef.

Cane Garden Bay

Cane Garden Bay is another one of those places immortalized in song by Jimmy Buffett, so that is our destination on Sunday. We watch the sun set while sipping rum punch in hammock-style swings at the Elm Beach bar. On Monday, we walk to the rustic Callwood Rum Distillery. The sole employee is preparing for a cruise ship crowd and is too busy to give us an official tour, so we wander around on our own. I don't think the place has changed much in the last century.

Norman Island

We leave Cane Garden Bay around noon and motorsail 12 miles upwind (of course) to The Bight at Norman Island. While underway, we talk again to Jim and Amanda on Adventure Bound and make plans to meet at the famous Willie T's floating bar and restaurant. We're joined by Canadians Ken and Dorothy on Blue Star. We're amazed to learn that in past years they've cruised with our Texas friends on Kosrae and Sassy Cat. The cruising world is indeed a small one.

There's no denying that Willie T's has a reputation for being quite raunchy. In past years, they gave commemorative t-shirts to female customers who jumped naked off their top deck. A friend of ours earned her T-shirt just last year (name withheld to protect the guilty and the naked). Other even more lewd activities are depicted in their photo album. Recently, however, Willie T's doesn't encourage their patrons to disrobe by giving free t-shirts. Much to Nick's disappointment, there's no nudity tonight (and Jim and Amanda admit there's been none on their two previous visits). The rowdiest customer is a bald gentlemen in his 70s who boogies down with a dinghy light suctioned on his head. To his credit, the light never falls off even when he lays over the bar to do an upside-down margarita. I'm not sure if Willie T can maintain its naughty reputation with this kind of entertainment.

Peter Island

We need to do another checkout dive and finish off the air in our tanks, so on Tuesday morning we leave The Bight for the reef at The Indians, just a short distance away. As we motor away in the company of Adventure Bound, a squall appears over the hill. All the moorings at The Indians are already taken and anchoring isn't allowed, so we continue on in 30+ knot winds and rain to Peter Island and take a mooring in Great Harbour.

Cooper Island

Wednesday's destination is nearby Cooper Island. Here we do our checkout dive on a reef called The Cistern. Everything is working great now, so we get our tanks refilled in preparation for the big dive tomorrow.

With Adventure Bound, we dinghy over to Salt Island on Thursday morning and dive the wreck of the RMS Rhone. This is our first real dive in nearly five years, so we're pretty thrilled to be blowing bubbles again.

Here's the story of the Rhone. On October 29, 1867, the Royal Mail Steamer Rhone was anchored in Great Harbour, Peter Island when the barometer started falling. The captain mistakenly assumed a norther was causing the howling northerly winds, but in fact it was a late-season hurricane. During what he believed to be a lull in the storm, he decided to move the ship to Road Town, Tortola, for better protection from north winds. However, a mishap occurred and the anchor and all its chain fell to the sea floor. Without a main anchor, the captain decided to ride the weather out at sea since conditions seemed to be improving. As the ship negotiated the reefy passage to sea, the second wave of the hurricane slammed the ship with south/southeast winds and drove her onto the rocks of Salt Island where she broke apart. When the sea water hit her hot boilers, they exploded. Most of the crew were lost.

That evening, a couple on the last night of their charter gave us and Adventure Bound all of their unused provisions. We all got together on Adventure Bound for happy hour.

Virgin Gorda

We arrive at The Baths in Virgin Gorda by 7:15 on Friday morning and half the mooring balls are already taken. This is another famous destination for boaters. During a prehistoric volcano, enormous granite boulders spewed out of the earth and landed atop each other in unusual formations. Caves were created in the gaps beneath the precariously positioned boulders, where water flows in from the sea to form tranquil pools. The water throughout the Virgin Islands has been clear and beautiful, but Virgin Gorda takes it up a notch with an intense bluish green. With Adventure Bound, we first do the walking tour of the caves and then snorkel the clear waters around the boulders. This is one of the few places that has exceeded our expectations.

Our plan is to stage at Gorda Sound tonight and leave for St. Martin tomorrow. From The Baths, Nick and Jim dinghy over to customs in nearby Spanish Town where they encounter a surly official at the dock. He asks when they're leaving and they say tomorrow. He curtly informs them that they must depart in 12 hours or risk a $5,000 fine and impoundment. Now everyone we know has staged in Gorda Sound, where there isn't a customs office. We're not sure how other boaters have done this legally, but we're not willing to risk our boats. So we stay at Spanish Town for the night and check out from there on Saturday. We're quite disappointed that we won't see Gorda Sound.

At 2:00 on Saturday afternoon, we're motoring out the Round Rock Cut toward St. Martin. And where is the wind? Our frequent readers know the answer to that question. Heck, we can't even raise the main sail. Things aren't so bad though. The wind is light, the waves are gentle, and the sky is clear. It's a gorgeous afternoon at sea. We plug in the Ipod and listen to my mother and stepfather singing old-time country songs like Faded Love and Walking the Floor Over You. The rhythm of the music seems to fit the ocean swell. We wish our folks could share this moment with us as the gentle peaks of the Virgin Islands fade into the sunset.