To recap the adventure John and I boarded our 51 ft yacht, The Phaedrus www.yachtphaedrus.com Sunday afternoon from Coral Bay in St. John, USVI. We essentially did a loop around the British Virgin Islands sailing out to the furthest point and then working our way back. The sheer number of places we got to see, some only accessible by boat, made the trip worth while. Not to mention our captain was trained in french cooking = amazing 3 course dinners and divine b'fast and lunches.
Day 1: From Coral bay we skirted along Tortola and anchored at Jost Van Dyke, a small island of the BVI's. We went onto the island for dinner at Foxy's. Fun restaurant with t-shirts of past visitors all over the place. Of course we spotted several NC themed shirts including NCSU (yay) and UNC (boooo), and even one for Cartert County.
This is unofficially the "Corona Island" because well....it looks like a Corona commercial waiting to happen.
"foxy"
Island time, Mon.
'Lil bit of home
Cape Carteret....this one's for you Becky & Fitz!Day 2. We sailed upwind from Jost along Tortola up to another small island called Great Camanoe. It was a tucked away anchorage. We snorkeled and did a small hike. while hiking we saw lots of hermit crabs, a snake, and two goats. Neeeeaaahhhh.
Sailing Upwind = lots of waves and spray.
John reading up on all the fish he just spotted while snorkeling.
Rigging at sunset
One of our many yummy courses, Thai inspired coconut shrimp soup....sooooo yummy!Day 3. Oh Boy. Woke up to some rain showers and en route from Camanoe to Virgin Gorda we hit a torrential downpour. Couldn't see more than about 20 feet off the boat. Made for quite an adventure. Luckily, it cleared up enough after lunch that John and I went on to Virgin Gorda and explored the very scenic, Baths.
Video of the downpour to Virgin Gorda
At the Baths
Pretty sweet....I must say!
This cave was UN-real. I wish the sun was out more b/c I can only imagine how gorgeous it would in the sunlight.Had so much fun on Virgin Gorda we decided to stay another day. Before sunset, we sailed North East to the tip of Virgin Gorda called the "Bitter End".
Happy hour! Cocktails served up from the galley.Day 4: Known for the resorts and accessible only by boat, The Bitter End is another protected cove. En route we passed private islands owned by Richard Branson, owner of Virgin Atlantic airlines....must be nice to own an island. Also spotted several "mega yachts" at anchor and our captain told us that those weren't even the big ones - whoa! We did a short hike first thing in the a.m. and then explored the rest of the island via taxi...stopping at Little Dix resort for a pre-noon beer, the coppermine ruins...also had to dodge a few rain showers.
Cool plant we spotted while on our hike
View on the trail. That little island on the bottom left is called Saba Rock and it actually has a small resort on it. Honestly the island is no bigger than a football field. Real Estate at a premium!
M, M, M, Mega Yacht!
Gorda Peak, highest elevation in the BVI's great view looking North.Cabbin' it Virgin Gorda style
Beach at Little Dix resort. Not sure if it was the weather, or economy, but this place was empty.
Stingray in the shallows
Coppermine Ruins...you can see the green copper in the rocks.
Posing next to the chimney
We had lunch at this locals place to the left of the pier. We ordered Turtle Soup, thinking it was a local favorite....it is a favorite, but the turtles are also endangered. Whoopsies!Day 5: Left Virgin Gorda started making our way back towards the USVI. We spent our second to last night at Peter Island. Had some iffy weather, but despite the rain, I got in for some late afternoon snorkeling.
Day 6: Woke up to some clouds but it cleared to a great calm late afternoon. We sailed along the Sir Francis Drake Channel along the south side of Tortola and then skirted along the north shore of St. John (hi st. john!!!!). We anchored at Waterlemon Cay for lunch and John and I got to snorkel the spectacular cay that so many of our guests raved about. Despite the rain, it was great snorkeling...saw big parrot fish, lots of stingray and huge starfish! We anchored at Caneel Bay just in time for some rough water.
Arrrggghhh...Sweet pirate ship we saw several times throughout or cruising.Perspective from Sir Francis Drake Passage.
Day 7: Up early b/c of the rough water we sailed into Red Hook and got dropped off. Solid ground at last, but the equilibrium didn't kick in for days later!!! We spent our last night on St. Thomas with our good friends Will & Laurel who were also flying out that Saturday. Lounged at our B&B and played cards and then went out to a good dinner.
View from our B&B: Island View Guesthouse
Pic while we were out and about in the St. Thomas markets
Old Stairs...I like it.
