Moorings is located in Road Harbour on Tortola. After traveling for about 14 hours Saturday, Sunday was sleep in and bum around Roadtown. Dolphin Discovery for a swim with the Dolphins was first on the agenda. After the swim it was lunch at the Village Cay for the real CIP and then to Moorings to get the boat at 4PM, since Moorings doesn't allow sailing after dark we stayed in port Sunday night and started raising our liquor level to a truly appropriate state. Monday morning we headed out and sailed to Trellis Bay on the North side of Beef Island. From there we crossed the Sir Francis Drake Channel to Spanish Town, Virgin Gorda. Spanish Town is were the local Reverend decided I was the Chosen One.
The next day we headed a bit south and took in the sights and did some snorkeling at The Baths. From there we headed southwest to Peter Island for a quick ice stop and then on to The Bight at Norman Island. Norman Island served as the setting for Robert Louis Stevenson's novel Treasure Island. We spent the night moored at the The Bight and dined at Willy T's, a 1890's vintage lumber schooner that's now a bar and restaurant. Joining the crowd on Willy T's was the immensely arrogant owner and his guests from the Darth Vader yacht, and a wedding party getting an early start on the celebration. The couple were getting married the following Saturday on the beach at the Bitter End Yacht Club on Virgin Gorda. Mom and Dad were expecting the socialite wedding of the year in Boston and got a barefoot wedding in the Caribbean instead. In the bride's words, "Mom isn't happy"....
From The Bight it was on to The Indians, a rock formation with some great snorkeling, and then over to the Soper's Hole on the extreme western end of Tortola. Lunch, ice, and a few other supplies and then it was on to White Bay at Jost Van Dyke.
White Bay really isn't much of bay and more of a shoreline. It's calm and well protected and ideal for overnighting since there are plenty of moorings. Getting in and out does take a little planning and careful eye since there are large reefs running the length of the bay with only a small opening to enter and exit thru. We dinghy'd over to Great Harbour to visit Foxy's and see the sights. After Foxy's it was back to White Bay and the home of the Soggy Dollar Bar, where the Painkiller was invented. We had dinner there, the restaurant only serves about 20 people per night and reservations are really needed. Without them, they probably won't have enough food on hand. So without reservations we got the last 4 dinners to divvy up among us. (it's a 4 course Prix Fixe menu) Turns out the food was some of the finest I've had in any restaurant anywhere.... Next time, reservations will definitely be made.
The next day it was back to Tortola and Cane Garden Bay. Walked the beach, stopped at a few beach side bars, and checked out the oldest rum distillery left in the Caribbean. Originally built by the Dutch family Arundel in 1600, it was sold to the Callwood Family over 200 years ago. Its been in continuous operation for over 400 years in the SAME building from day 1. The stuff is moonshine, plain and simple....
That night we checked out Quito's bar. Quito is the local reggae singer and does his solo act Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights. Great voice and he performs his own songs. He did do 4 covers of JB tunes and I suspect Jimmy has jammed with him when he's in the islands. If anybody from RM reads this, here's hoping you can find some of his CDs and give him some air time. He'd be a great addition to the artist list...
Next, it was up the northern coast of Tortola to Marina Cay. If you've ever read Robb White's book Our Virgin Island, or seen the 1958 movie Virgin Island starring John Cassavetes, Virginia Maskell, and Sidney Poitier, that's Marina Cay. From Marina Cay it was back down the Sir Francis Drake Channel and RoadTown.....
We're already planning a return trip. There's still the northern end of Virgin Gorda , Mosquito Island, Prickly Pear Island, Leverick Bay, and Anegada to explore.
Frenching it up with Electra at Dolphin Discovery
The Baths
All the underwater photos were taken with a $13 Kodak disposable underwater camera. Some shots are better than others, as long as the sun is behind you shining on the subject they turned out pretty well. All things considered I got my money worth with the camera.
Norman Island and The Bight
The Schooner Willy T's
A couple of luxo barges anchored at The Bight, both were well over 200 feet long. The owner and his guests from the Darth Vader yacht on the right showed up at Willy T's. They were refueling at Peter Island when we stopped for ice. I counted a professional crew of at least 6, a gal serving champagne on the aft deck and the Captain and 4 other crew members were supervising the refueling.
The Indians
Josh Van Dyke
That's St. Thomas in the distance. St. John would be to the left, out of the frame. The darker band in the water is the reef. As we came into the harbour we saw a bunch of good sized sea turtles, about the size of garbage can lids. Unfortunately I never came across one again while snorkeling.
Cane Garden Bay
This is the Callwood Distillery, not much has changed in 400 years.
The sugar cane is piled up ready to be crushed. The juice runs down a sluice behind the little white wall into the building and is collected in a giant copper bowl for boiling.
the fireplace under the boiling bowl.
an old used up boiling bowl. it's about 6 ft in diameter and 2 to 3 ft deep.
The still where the boiled juice is distilled
the distilled rum flows into the building where its bottled in the large glass bottles up top. then it's either bottled as white rum or aged in the oak barrels for 4 years where it mellows and picks up an amber color. I've had genuine Tennessee moonshine and the aged amber rum is just as potent. (My boss at Honeywell grew up in deliverance country in Tennessee and used to bring back real moonshine whenever he went home to visit)
Marina Cay
The webcam from the top of Marina Cay....