Charter Sailing in the British Virgin Islands… Like a Week in My Screen Saver
Water so blue it hurts your eyes. I had heard this expression but never experienced it until my family and I chartered for a sailing week with Sunsail in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) last June. The islands were a stunning backdrop for our week of fun and relaxation, and we all agreed when my son said, “I feel as if I’m living in my screen saver.”
They say there is travel, and there is vacation. We were in full vacation mode. With a hired captain aboard, we were free to soak up a week’s worth of pleasure, with just the right mix of outdoor exploration and quiet hours spent reading, napping, and enjoying family time.
Our crew consisted of me, my husband, our daughter, two of our four sons, and one son’s girlfriend. Stargate, our charter boat, was a roomy 45-foot catamaran that comfortably accommodated us and all our rented gear: two standup paddle boards, a two-person kayak, snorkel apparatus, and two foam floats. With a cat of this size, there are plenty of spaces in which to gather as a group or sneak off for some alone time.
Every day was its own glorious adventure, and the trip was dubbed, “Our Best Vacation Ever.” I could go on for pages describing all our memorable experiences, but here I will focus on our time at Virgin Gorda and Anegada.
Sailing into paradise
We departed the charter base in a steady, delightful 20 knots of breeze and crossed the Sir Francis Drake channel from Road Town to Manchioneel Bay on the northwest shore of Cooper Island. We picked up a white, first-come-first-served mooring ball, and, as fast as we could, jumped into our dinghy and headed out to snorkel. It was our first snorkel in more than a dozen years, and we spent the afternoon playfully splashing around in the beautiful turquoise water, getting re-acquainted with snorkel technique, acclimating ourselves to the water’s high salinity content, and getting our first views of the amazing underwater coral and fascinating, colorful Caribbean fish.
Although we had provisioned our boat for some suppers aboard, for our first night we dined at Cooper Island Beach Club, right on the shoreline. The adjacent Rum Bar has an extensive rum collection on full display, and the only question was whether to order a rum punch, Painkiller, or a Dark ‘n’ Stormy to go with that gorgeous pink and orange sunset.
Was that one day, or three?
Having shown some self-restraint at the Rum Bar, the following morning we were up bright and early, headed for the southwest tip of Virgin Gorda and The Baths, part of Devil’s Bay National Park, where a natural obstacle course of giant granite boulders and charming hidden tidal pools is one of the most popular visitor sites. Our captain suggested getting there early, due to the crowds.
We caught a mooring ball, swam to shore, and had the most amazing time following the sandy, winding, watery trail. We climbed on boulders, took about a million photos, grabbed hold of the rope handrails to maneuver the manmade wooden stairwell, and, at times, waded through waist-deep water, eventually reaching the sandy expanse at the other end of the trail. We explored a bit there before swimming out to the dinghy line to meet our captain, who ferried us back to Stargate, which was already starting to feel like our home-away-from-home.
While the morning’s adventure would have satisfied us, we were not nearly done with the day’s fun. We next made our way to Mountain Point on the northwest side of the island, where a roomy and sheltered bay was ideal for a Med mooring. Call us silly, but as first-timers, we found it fun, exciting, and satisfying to swim our stern lines to shore and lasso two large granite boulders. Once the boat was secure, we divided up and spent several hours paddling, snorkeling, swimming, exploring the shoreline, napping, and reading—each at their own pace. We could have stayed there forever, but there was still more to enjoy before the day’s end.
We sailed off and around the northern end of Virgin Gorda, bound for North Sound Harbor and a mooring ball within striking distance of the Bitter End Yacht Club (BEYC) and Saba Rock. It was late afternoon when we arrived, and many boats were already there. Fortunately, our captain had reserved a mooring ball.
We hopped in our dinghy and were off to BEYC to explore the beautifully renovated (post Hurricane Irma, 2017) grounds and buildings. At the bar’s ample open-air seating area, we relaxed and reviewed all we’d done in just one day. In a good way, it felt like it had been three days! As the sun slipped lower in the sky, we dinghied back to Stargate for a little siesta and cooked dinner on Stargate’s grill. We dined around the big outdoor table, a tired, happy, and hungry crew.
When nighttime fell and the stars began to glimmer, some headed to the top deck to stargaze, but nature wasn’t the only one putting on a show. The colorful flashing lights at Saba Rock were twinkling too. Although the nightlife looked tempting, especially since the televised NBA finals would likely draw a crowd of fans, we opted for a quiet night aboard, catching the start of the game on the TV in our main salon. Tomorrow would be another early day, beginning with a 7 a.m. departure to Anegada.
Anegada Adventure
The 15-mile trip from the top of Virgin Gorda to the BVI’s northernmost island, Anegada, was the one and only leg of the journey that was not line-of-sight sailing. I had anticipated that this would mean we would be out of sight of land, but, in fact, we could still see Virgin Gorda off our stern for the entirety of the passage. We were fortunate to have enough wind to sail almost the entire way. After finding our mooring ball and packing our lunch for a picnic on the beach, we headed to shore, rented a small SUV, and set off for a day of exploration.
At the Anegada Beach Club on the north shore, we passed the club’s hotel-type accommodations, inviting pool, outdoor bar, and beachfront palapas (glamping at its best) and headed directly to the lounge chairs under a thatch-covered pavilion on a magnificent white sand beach. Unfortunately for us, sargassum covered the shoreline and thwarted our swimming plans. I’d heard that Anegada could be hot, with little shade, and so it was, but the expansive water views were stunning as we strolled along the beach.
Our next stop was Flamingo Pond, where from a raised viewing platform we spied a couple of groups of these graceful pink birds in the distance. A tower viewer is affixed to the platform, but we were glad we’d brought our own binoculars for a clearer view.
Dinner on Anegada was at the Lobster Trap, where the lobster was fresh-caught, and the dress code ranged from bare feet, T-shirt, and shorts to colorful floral sundresses and strappy sandals. Afterwards some fun was had at the nearby sandy, waters-edge Wonky Dog beach bar.
Unlike the other volcanic islands of the archipelago, Anegada is low and flat, formed by coral and limestone. The island’s name translates to English as “flooded land,” appropriate because the highest point is a mere 28 feet above sea level. Hence, the joggers in our group had pre-determined that Anegada would be the one place that they would take a morning run, and it turned out to be a good choice, though they noted the lack of shade. Good thing they got up and out early. The rest of us watched the anchorage slowly come to life. Soon enough, they were back onboard, and we were bound for more adventures—fantastic experiences we had yet to discover at Diamond Reef, Brewer’s Bay, The Caves on Norman, The Bight and Willy T’s, as well as Little Harbor and Deadman’s Bay and Beach on Peter Island, all of which we visited before week’s end.
Best vacation ever!
We loved this trip and hope to return one day. There is so much more to explore! Discover more about sailing in the BVI and Sunsail charters at sunsail.com.
~By Beth Crabtree
