British Virgin Islands to St. Martin

Prior to clearing out of BVI we had spent a few nights anchored near Saba Rock in the North Sound.  With good Internet access we were able to catch up on things including the weather predictions, email, bills and our previous post.  Saturday evening we dingied across the sound and had a nice dinner at the Fat Virgin Cafe.  Remember Virgin Gorda translates to fat virgin.

Sunday morning we raised the anchor and motored over to Leverick Bay Marina, got some fuel, dumped our trash, had lunch, and headed over to Gun Creek to clear out with customs, hopefully for the last time.   Once cleared out you must leave the country within 12 hours.  We motored out of the sound and dropped anchor again to waste a few hours before heading out to the passage.  Since our plan was to arrive St. Martin in daylight, we did not want to leave the BVI until around 4:30pm.

While having lunch in Leverick we watched a video crew filming for advertising rental of jet skis in the area.  Up until the past few days we have not seen jet skis anywhere and were sad to think their population may grow but we really enjoyed watching the guys operating a remote control helicopter with video camera to film the action.  What cool thing!  We could really have some fun with one of those.

The afternoon was spent anchored in a bay between Eustacia Island and Prickley Pear, overlooking Necker Island which belongs to Richard Branson.  It is a beautiful spot and seems very well protected in all conditions except possibly a northerly swell.  We would certainly spend some time there if back in the BVIs.  We swam in the crystal clear water then dingied out to the reef just off Bitter End Yacht club for some great snorkeling. We have truly enjoyed the snorkeling in the past several weeks with beautiful sites and great conditions. Still haven’t done any diving but hope to soon.

We raised anchor about 4:30 and headed out in very calm conditions.  We did drag a lure in the water until dark but once again, no luck.  A few hours into the trip we realized a hose had become disconnected from the water heater and was pumping water into the bilge.   It was not dangerous because we were only pumping the fresh water from our drinking water tanks, but it does waste our water and makes a big mess.  Jeff had one of those “living the dream” moments repairing the situation while underway in the Anegada Passage.   Good thing conditions were calm and we caught it early.  We also took the opportunity to respectfully dispose of a tattered American flag and gave it a proper burial at sea.  Other than that we had a very quiet night motoring along at 5 knots with several other boats taking advantage of the weather conditions. We did have a bird catching a ride with us for a bit and saw a fair amount of bio-luminescent creatures in our wake through the night.

We arrived near St. Martin about 7:00 am and dropped anchor to await the first bridge opening at 9:30.  We opted to enter on the Dutch side of the island.  Once inside the anchorage we encountered several friends we had met in Luperon DR:  Simple Life, Xanadu, and Mezaluna.  It will be nice to catch up on everyone’s adventures.

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6 Responses to British Virgin Islands to St. Martin

  1. Kurt says:

    Hello Capt’s Jeff & Mary. Another great post, with great pics. Thanks. Say, does the dingy have a name? Or is it not appropriate to name one’s dingy? What’s the protocol on this sort of thing?

    • Jeff says:

      Hi Kurt…no name on the dinghy. Many dinghies are named TT Boatname. TT stands for “tender to” so ours would be TT Echo. Many advise not the do this because seeing a dinghy ashore with the ship’s name on the side indicates that no one is home out on the boat. I think our dinghy will remain nameless.

  2. Dave says:

    Hi Jeff

    I was just in Virgin Gorda last week sailing the Lori Piana regatta on a swan 80…wish I had known you were there. I would definitely have tried to swing by and say hi. It is so beautiful there. Cant wait to get back there with my family and our 473.

    Dave Armitage
    sv Nemetona

  3. Denise King says:

    Mary Ellen…the pic of you with hat and in the dinghy of our trips past. Love and miss you so much! Gosh the scenery is stunning!

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