From Marina Cay to Lee Bay to Spanish Town

Sailing to Marina Cay

     Over the weekend we rested in two anchorages. The first was Marina Cay, where we've stayed several times. Here we snorkeled two separate reefs. On Saturday we moved to windy, secluded Lee Bay off Great Camanoe Island. This is a private island with residences built high on the large rocky cliffs. Yesterday the wind was howling so we made one long tack to Spanish Town on Virgin Gorda. Most of the shops here are located along the waterfront at the Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbour.

Lee Bay, Great Camanoe

     Last night was especially windy and not at all restful. This morning we woke to people shouting as an anchored powerboat broke loose and drifted towards them. It turns out that no one was on the powerboat, so with the help of several other cruisers, they tied it off on a free mooring ball. The wind continues to buffet us this morning as we rock back and forth continuously. This definitely isn't a comfortable, sheltered anchorage. We keep wondering why anyone would even stay overnight here without a reason. Our reason is to check out of BVI customs to begin a passage to St. Kitt's and Nevis tomorrow. The passage should take under 24 hours and we hope to arrive in Nevis on Wednesday morning to check into customs. At the moment Dad is researching how to check in and we've decided to make for Nevis instead of St. Kitt's because the customs procedures on St. Kitt's appear to be needlessly complex. It will be strange to sail away from the many islands of the BVI after so long here. But, we all feel that we've seen and done everything that we wanted to here and are ready to move on and explore new places.

Childs Play in Lee Bay

     A while back I read through our cruising guide on the Leeward Islands and took notes on each island to figure out which ones I wanted to visit most and for what reasons. For St. Kitt's I wrote, "rainforest, monkeys, hiking." For Nevis, "quiet and peaceful." On the way we'll pass by the islands of Saba and Statia, which are quite small and remote. St. Kitt's itself (or St. Christopher in its long form) was named by Columbus for his patron saint and became the first British plantation colony in the Caribbean in 1623. After French colonists arrived, the two groups ganged up to decimate the Carib population before turning on one another. The Treaty of Versailles later put an end to 150 years of fighting and the island became British. Today St. Kitt's and Nevis are independent, but still have a links to their British heritage, including many hotels created from old sugar plantations. It is likely that we'll spend a week in this area before moving on to Guadeloupe or Dominica.

All the best,
Nicole.