Just Cruises Plus

Continued from last week….

You get up early the next morning, drop your mooring and motor over to “The Indians”, a series of rock outcroppings that, from a distance, resemble Native American headdress.  You pick up a day mooring, don your snorkel and fins and jump in for one of the Caribbean’s best natural water shows, starring many species of fish.  After a great snorkel, you hoist the sail and point your little boat towards Great Harbor on Jost van Dyke.  Foxy’s Tamerind beach bar is on Jost van Dyke and its performing proprietor, Foxy, was the subject of our photo contest last week.  Foxy is the host to, what might be, the greatest New Year’s sailboat party in the world.   Jost van Dyke has other great watering holes.  The “painkiller” was invented at the Soggy Dollar bar at White Bay (named because sailors swam from their boats to the bar…hence wet money).

You move from Great Harbor to Little Harbor so you can have dinner at Harris’ Place.  Here you will get a great meal and find a wonderful free (secret) snorkeling spot.  Just ask Cynthia Harris, the delightful owner, cook and snorkel consultant.

From Jost van Dyke, you could sail to St John with its beautiful beaches.  July 4^th is their big holiday and we have helped them to celebrate our nation’s birth on more than one occasion.  A big negative to sailing to St. John is that you must go through U.S. customs when you get to St. John and you must go through British Virgin Islands’ customs when you return to the BVIs. On this sailing trip, you decide to skip the US Virgin Islands and sail to Cooper Island, one of the less inhabited British Virgin Islands.  It has a nice bay with a number of moorings and some great snorkeling.  You share a terrific meal on board but there are also some very nice restaurants ashore.

The next adventure is snorkeling over the Rhone.  The Rhone is a British steamship that sank near Salt Island in the late 19th century.  Her remains are clearly visible to snorkelers and divers alike.  After picking up the mooring at Salt Island, you jump  in your dinghy for a very sort run to the Rhone where there are moorings for dinghies.  You might even get to see “Barry”, a huge Barracuda who seems to be the official “greeter” for the Rhone.  Don’t worry, we have come into contact with many Barracuda and none have shown the least interest in us.  They certainly have fearful faces but they are far more dangerous to eat than to swim with.

The second most populated Island is Virgin Gorda, home to some of the world’s most unique bolder formations (the Baths).  You’ve heard that this should not be missed during your visit to the British Virgin Islands and you worked this into your itinerary.  Here you walk among huge boulders that form cathedral-like spaces. You also snorkel among the boulders.  NOTE:  There are some cruise ships that visit Tortola in the BVIs so you do not have to be on a sailboat to experience The Baths.  The cruise ships will offer excursions.  (By the way, if you’re feeling flush, there is Necker Island which is very close to Virgin Gorda.  The rates start at $20,000 per night.)~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A sailing vacation is not for everyone.  Black and blue marks are as common on board the boat as spectacular fish are under the boat.  You might get drenched by a passing squall and this could be your only fresh water shower for that day.  On the other hand,  enjoying a fine meal and a glass of fine wine, while rocking gently at anchor, awaiting the inevitable glorious sunset, can only be experienced on a small boat in an isolated bay.  Moreover, you will get to places that are inaccessible to most tourists.

Small boats (2 to 10 people) can be chartered all over the world.  We have chartered boats in the Virgin Islands, Guadeloupe and the Grenadines.  They were all amazing but the Virgin Islands are the best for first time sailors since the distances between places of interest are quite short.