First Stop BVI’s – 29th Jan to 4th Feb 2010
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My first proper trip on Ibis was a private charter with Thierry & Claudine from Paris who wanted to visit the southern part of the British Virgin Islands for some snorkelling and kicking back. I had Marco along as crew (although no-one seemed to have told Marco he wasn’t skipper!) and to be fair, I don’t know what I would have done without him as it was well and truly a test of Ibis and a baptism of fire for me in my new career!
[pullquote_left]”Maundy Bay on Anguilla, one of the most picture perfect bays I’ve ever seen”[/pullquote_left]We sailed from St Martin with a stop for dinner and a swim at Cap Jaluca, Maundy Bay on Anguilla – one of the most picture perfect white sand bays I’ve ever seen. Leaving early the next morning we had a boisterous down wind sail with the odd squall passing over and sailing under just the genoa we made fast progress, even if the motion was somewhat uncomfortable! However dusk was coming as we closed the coast of Virgin Gorda, an area pickled with reefs, which made for tricky night-time navigation using the chartplotter and depth guage.
We anchored safely and woke up to clear blue skies and turquoise seas. It was a short sail down the coast to Spanish Town to check in and grab some provisions, then off to ‘the Baths’ for the afternoon; a stunning collection of boulders and rock formations leading to a gorgeous swimming lagoon.
The following day we sailed over to Marina Cay, a tiny island close to Tortola, sheltered behind a reef and owned by the Pussers Rum empire. [frame_right][/frame_right] Happy hour was well underway when we went ashore, and the place was jumping to the sound of Micheal Beans’ “Happy Aaaaargh” music extravaganza. A few rum punches and we were ready to join in, but no-one had the bottle to try the conch blowing competition however…..the prize, you guessed it, a bottle of rum!
Next day we had a blustery sail to Cooper Island and were headed on to Peter Island in the afternoon when one of the lazyjacks snapped & got caught up in the mainsail so we had to head back. A quick trip up the mast soon sorted it out.
Norman Island is famous for a couple of things – fantastic snorkelling, and the WillyT Bar, on a decrepit looking old steam boat anchored in the bay where women take their tops off. We didn’t go to the bar on this occasion, but the snorkelling spots including, Pelican Island, really are fantastic.
Our final day we stopped for lunch at George Dog island and then headed back to Spanish Town to make our clearance. The barracuda & tuna were caught on the way back to St Maarten….we threw the barracuda back!
To see when we’re next sailing in the BVI’s, click on our Caribbean Sailing Calendar, or the main menu links at the top of this page, or contact us if you’d like to find out about a private sailing charter on Yacht Ibis.
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