Cruising the BVI: Day 5 - To Jost Van Dyke

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In the previous installment of the series of blog posts "Cruising the BVI: Day 4 - To Anegada" we described our fourth day in the BVI.  We left the anchorage at Bitter End, plowed through a couple of rain storms, arrived at Anegada and thoroughly enjoyed the island.

Thursday March 3, 2011 - Since this day was to be our longest leg of the trip, we awoke early in hopes of arriving at Jost Van Dyke soon enough to get a mooring ball.  The sky was clear and the winds light as we powered up the diesel and released the mooring ball.  We bid Anegada farewell and headed out the channel.

Anegada to Jost Van Dyke

Our course was predominently west-southwest which is conveniently the exit direction of the Anegada channel.  After clearing the shallows we saw the true wind was about 3 knots.  Conversing with Eight is Enough over the VHF we decided not to raise sail until we saw more than 5 knots.  In another half hour or so (island time) the wind picked up.  We let Eight is Enough know, raised sail and turned off the noise maker, er.., engine.

Again, Eight is Enough motored far upwind while they raised sail.  Of course they had much more sail to raise than we did.  This time we were able to keep track of them.  In what seemed like no time, however, they were far into the distance.  No matter.  The seas were smooth and the wind fresh as we kept on a broad reach towards the passage between Tortola and Jost Van Dyke.  This leg of the trip Liz was at the helm.

After a couple hours, we could see Eight is Enough getting larger as Liz had gradually reeled them in!  It turns out for the first hour or so they had been motor sailing.  We then sailed with them in formation for a while and took photos and video of each other.

Below are two videos taken as we sailed in formation when approaching the east end of Jost Van Dyke.

Along the way we decided to get more water and ice if available.  The cruising guide indicated that Little Harbour had a good facility to use.  Little Harbour is the cove just to the east of Great Harbour and represented only a small detour.

We powered up the engine and lowered sail.  As we entered Little Harbour, it became shallow so I kept us centered in the cove heading for a similar sized sailboat near the alleged location of the facility.  We crept in then rounded the western point inside.  It was unclear if we had sufficient water to approach the dock so we attempted to raise them on the VHF.  In a strong oriental accent we were told in no uncertain terms to leave, which we did.  It felt like we had violated sovereign territory.

So we continued on to Great Harbour which was not much further.  As per the cruising guide we split the entrance points and headed directly for the center of the mooring field.  Most of the balls were occupied but we found one pretty close to Foxy's.  Eight is Enough went to the marked channel on the far side of the harbor and entered properly.  They found a mooring ball a little further out.

By then it was about 2pm and we were getting hungry.  We took the dinghy to Foxy's for lunch.  Foxy's is a quite eclectic place.  All the dining is outdoors but covered.  The ceilings and tenting has license plates and burgees from all over the world.  The gift shop took up a large part of the west side of the building and was a big hit.  Further on down a dirt road there were a few other shops.  Back at Foxy's we found the service to be prompt in an "island time" way.  For our lunch the place was mostly empty but we had a very nice meal.

On our way into the harbor we could see there was a fuel dock on the west side just to the south of a small ferry terminal.  While at Foxy's we asked around and confirmed it would be open for another couple of hours.  After exploring the grounds a while we headed back to the dinghy intending to motor over to the fuel dock.  As we prepared to get underway we met Foxy himself.  He asked where we were from and then recited a poem using Allentown in the verse.  We thanked him and went back to Fours Company.

The chart indicated the channel hugged the west and north side of the harbor starting at the south-west corner and going almost to Foxy's.  We were probably 100 yards from the north-most channel marker and the chart, as it was, indicated we could proceed to the channel marker then to the fuel dock.  We were moored where it was already pretty shallow.  So after tying the dinghy to the mooring ball, we motored slowly toward the nearest channel marker.

After no more than 20 yards we hit a hard bottom.  I spun Fours Company left and quickly got us off.  At this point I'd had enough of running aground so we set course out of Great Harbour the way we came.  This was a lot longer route but more assured.  We rounded a large yacht outside the channel entrance and made for the first channel marker buoy.  Another 15 minutes down the channel is the fuel dock.  It was along the west shore (our port side) and we tucked in behind a fueling fishing boat.

While we got our fuel, water and ice, we inquired about the best route back to our mooring ball.  We were informed that passing the channel marker just off the fuel dock into the mooring field would leave us enough water.  We did this and made our way back to the mooring ball without further incident.

After returning we relaxed and the ladies took a swim.  We also watched as the young pelicans dive bombed the shallows hunting for their supper.

Later we met the crew of Eight is Enough at Foxy's for dinner.  We reviewed the days voyage and discussed the next day's plans as we ate yet another fine meal.  This was to be their last full day in the BVI since several had early flights back on Saturday.  Their plan was to hit the Indians and do some snorkeling before re-entering Road Town harbor and the Sunsail base to sleep there Friday night.  Some were planning to meet Eric and Kathy Heck who were to begin their BVI cruise on Saturday.

After returning to Fours Company, Dorothy and I grabbed a few bottles of wine and made our way over to Eight is Enough.  We had an informal wine and cheese party in the expansive Eight is Enough cockpit as we celebrated a terrific week and wished them a safe trip back.

Summary

This was yet another great day in paradise.  We made our way from Anegada to Jost Van Dyke while narrowly avoiding an international incident.  We had 2 good meals at the famous Foxy's then bid our travel partners adieu.

Next up: Peter Island.

Glenn