Sea Child is currently on a mooring at Bitter End Yacht Club, British Virgin Islands. In the 2 ½ weeks we have been sailing her east, we have visited some of the most beautiful Caribbean island locations that we have ever seen. Our journey so far has taken us to the islands of Culebra, Culebrita and Luis Pena, all in Puerto Rico. The sailing between these islands was smooth, with the biggest winds gusts we had at 25 knots and almost no seas to speak of.
We had intended to join a race around the island of Culebra as part of the Heineken International Regatta, on Sunday March 22. However, there were no winds at all on Sunday, so instead, we headed to Luis Pena with our friends, Kiko & Francoise, and their daughter Monica and some college friends from Dartmouth, aboard their Lagoon 41, Aquatic. We spent the day at Luis Pena enjoying the water and the anchorage in general, as we were the only two boats there. Eric & Kiko even went lobster hunting and Kiko came back with two bugs that Francoise made into a delicious lobster salad. Our barbeque lunch aboard Aquatic was a spectacular farewell meal with our good friends, who sailed back to Fajardo that afternoon.
We decided to stay overnight at Luis Pena, since the waters were so very calm. This is the first deserted anchorage we came upon on our voyage, and decided to take advantage it!! Dinner on Sea Child consisted of steamed salmon, ship salad, and garlic bread. Topped off with a delicious wine and we were good for the night!
We made the decision on Monday to continue sailing Sea Child east, and headed for the island of St. John. The crossing was approximately 30 miles, and the sea conditions had picked up. The winds were 15 knots and the seas were 3-5’. Sea Child made the passage in good time, with boat speeds of around 10-11 knots. We pulled into Cruz Bay, St. John, at around 2:00pm and headed to the micro-brewery for some free wifi and cold beers. We continue to find that the wireless access in the Virgin Islands is spotty at best, so the free wifi where we can find it sometimes involves a purchase of something. Beer is better than other things we could think of!
From Cruz Bay, we headed to Rendezvous Bay in St. John, along the southern coast. As a national park, the entire island of St. John is serene and just beautiful. We were surprised at how crystal clear the waters were, and decided to just hang around St. John for a few days. During our stay there, we snorkeled Lameshure Bay extensively, covering the entire bay in two days. The coral and rock formations were outstanding; and since St. John has a no-anchoring law, the preservation of the sea life creates an underwater wonderland for us to enjoy.
Heading into the British Virgin Islands is a different story. Sea Child sailed from St. John to Tortola, BVI on a crystal clear day, winds to 12 knots and seas flat. We close reached up to Norman Islands and tacked close to shore to check out the anchorage. As is usually the case in the BVI, charter cats are everywhere. It was a fun day of sailing, as we would tack, reach across the Sir Francis Drake Channel, and sail fast past motorsailing catamarans. Sea Child averaged 9 knots on this crossing, and as Eric likes to say, “who says cat’s can’t go to weather?” We arrived in Road Harbour, Tortola to check into the country and enjoy a short overnight visit.
The next morning, Sea Child sailed up to Maya Cove where we met up with Phil Berman, of the Multihull Company. And he in turn introduced us to some wonderful friends, Hank & Seale George, who are cruising their Tayana 52’, North Star, from Virginia to Trinidad & back. We found their sea stories amusing and helpful, and they found Sea Child to be the beautiful ship we know her to be!
From Maya we sailed on to Marina Cay, a favorite little anchorage just west of Beef Island. We lunched at the Pussers Company Restaurant, and watched the boats sail as we made our next plans. We decided to sail up towards Bitter End, Virgin Gorda. We set sail after lunch and saw winds increasing a bit, up to 20 knots and again with flat seas. We sailed across the sound to check out the Baths, then across to the Dog Islands, sailing at 10 knots across the sound. Our final tack had us heading straight toward Mountain Point, and we spotted Long Bay, a deserted anchorage just inside the lee of the point. There was one other catamaran there, so we decided to drop anchor and hang there for the night. The sunset over the Dog Islands was spectacular, and we continue to remind ourselves of our good fortune to be able to travel on Sea Child like this.
Today, we sail north to Anegada Island, the “drowned island”. This coral & limestone island at its highest point is 28’ above sea level. The island is 11 miles long, flat, and has some of the best snorkeling in all of the Caribbean. The sail there will take us on a course of 5 degrees, due to the 1-2 knot westerly set. We expect to be at Anegada for a late lunch, and possibly a few more days.
This really is the good life, the life of traveling by sea.
Aboard Sea Child, 18 degrees 30 minutes north, 64 degrees 22 minutes west
