Torries

HANDS-ON SAILOR

99

january/february 2017

cruisingworld.com

racing, Scott is usually on the

pointy end, but he is also a

good helmsman, as he showed

by sailing Ariel from Mountain

Point to Jost Van Dyke with-

out having to jibe.

Jost Van Dyke’s Great

Harbour was jammed, as

expected, but it was a neces-

sary stop. Iolaire was the fi rst

foreign yacht to clear into the

British Virgin Islands through

Jost Van Dyke. That was in

1960, when 18-year-old Albert

Chinnery performed his dual

roles as customs offi cer and

immigration offi cer in a build-

ing about the size of two

telephone booths. He later

become famous and was aff ec-

tionately known as Fat Albert.

As a result of my discovering

that you could clear into

the BVI via Jost rather than

Tortola’s West End, Jack and

Ruth Carstarphen, who ran

the charter boat Maverick,

started to clear in there too,

and convinced Foxy’s father to

set up a bar to entertain the 12

guests Maverick usually carried.

Jack taught the locals how to

weave palm fronds into a mat

for a roof, and in its shade,

Foxy’s was born: four 2-by-10

planks across sawhorses, and

beer cooled in a secondhand

kerosene fridge that Ruth

found in St. Thomas.

We went ashore for dinner

at Foxy’s present, rather fancier

establishment. It made Dylan’s

vacation, as my old friend Foxy

joined us for a full half-hour,

entertaining us with stories

of his life: how he was given a

Mickey Finn, shanghaied by

Bill Bodle, sailed the world, and

met and married Tessa.

The next day, we sailed the

short distance to Soper’s Hole

Marina, on Tortola’s West End,

as the Vogels had to pack and

prepare for departure to the

cold, cruel north.

IN AND OUT OF THE

CROWDS

So ended a wonderful 16-day

cruise. We hit the high spots

of Christiansted, The Caves at

Norman Island, The Baths at

Virgin Gorda, and Foxy’s. We

also had quiet anchorages at

Salt Pond Bay, St. John; Buck

Island, St. Croix; and Inner

Bluff Bay, Beef Island. Given

more time, we would have

spent a few days in Tague Bay,

St. Croix; Statia Sound, Virgin

Gorda; and another of Ross

Norgrove’s favorite anchorages,

South Sound, on Virgin Gorda.

Cruisers who are not limited

to a one- or two-week vacation

could spend an entire season in

quiet anchorages in the Virgin

Islands, joining the crowds only

when they felt the need for

company. Ariel’s owner, Geoff ,

and I, cruising around St. John

before and after our Christmas

cruise, noted very few boats in

Round Bay, Great and Little

Lameshur bays, Reef Bay, or

Francis Bay. We saw no boats

in Haulover or Newfound bays

on the north coast. Add to that

list the numerous underused

harbors we didn’t sail past. In

Anegada, for example, even

when the main anchorage is

packed, you’ll seldom see a

boat anchored in the cove west

of Pomato Point. In normal

conditions, and as long as no

groundswell is present, you

can anchor off the mile-long

open beach. Because of the

tidal current, I recommend

anchoring bow and stern or on

a Bahamian moor, especially at

spring tides.

Those who linger into early

summer will fi nd even more

anchorages available to them.

I’ve been saying for 60 years

that June and July are the best

months of the year to sail the

eastern Caribbean. The trades

blow a steady 10 to 15 knots,

no more and seldom less. The

groundswell season is over, so

Virgin Gorda’s Savannah Bay,

and the bays and coves with

their fantastic beaches on the

north sides of Tortola and St.

Thomas, can be used.

I rest my case. Those who

contend the Virgin Islands are

so crowded that it is impossible

to fi nd a quiet anchorage are

not looking in the right places.

Don Street has been exploring

and writing about the Virgin

Islands for 60 years. His home

and survey vessel for most of that

time was his instantly recogniz-

able red yawl, Iolaire, whose

fame is perpetuated in the Imray-

Iolaire series of nautical charts

that cover the Atlantic islands

SCOTT VOGEL; ZACH STOVALL (TOP LEFT) and the eastern Caribbean.

Clockwise from above left: The Baths on Virgin Gorda are

a must-see stop as you sail up Sir Francis Drake Channel.

The author stocks up on necessities before heading for

remote anchorages like the one found at Buck Island.

CRW0217_HOS3_Off the Beaten Track (street).indd 99 11/21/16 11:00 AM