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Updated February 18, 2011 |
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The next few pictures are not of the BVI at all, but pictures Barbara took that were not available when
I set the last page up.
St. George's Harbor is very enclosed, almost like a lake, and the entrance is a cut through the rock that is really quite narrow. There is actually plenty of room for us, but the bigger new cruise ships don't fit and must go to the new cruise ship piers off Dockyard. |
Town Cut - The Entrance to St. George's Harbor (BNP photo) |
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One day Barbara went to Hamilton (the capital, "town") for a little sightseeing and a little shopping, and toook in the "skirling ceremony"
(a fancy name for a pipe band concert) at Fort Hamilton. She found it quite impressive.
It really would be possible to spend a long time in Bermuda and still not see everything, small place though it is.
We spent most of the first few days in the BVI relaxing. Barbara spoke to the assembled elementary school about the ancient Near East and I puttered about the boat. We met old friends again and made some new ones. Barbara also went to the local (Methodist) church and met everyone in town, or so it seems. |
The "Skirling Ceremony" Pipe Band (BNP photo) |
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One night the water was full of "fire" (phosphorescence) and we saw a group of jellyfish drifting by; their tentacles made a green haze below them,
but they also gave off an intermittent bright green light from their bodies -- perhaps to attract fish.
Other years we have traveled around the BVI more, checking on several favorite harbors, but this year we are content to just settle in. The day came, however, when we had to shop for food, so we ran over to Road Harbour ("Town" as it is called) and provisioned at Bobby's, a supermarket that has come up in the world. It also has the advantage of being very close to a dinghy dock. |
Clearing Up the Deck After Leaving Bermuda (BNP photo) |
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There were two giant cruise ships at the pier and one more anchored in the harbor, and Road Town was very crowded, we thought.
In the past we have enjoyed spending time in Road Town, but the changes are not, in our estimation, for the good. Evidently the
city is trying to emulate a mid-western small town and most of its charm has been lost.
For this reason, and also because our anchorage was a little exposed and rolly, we decided to go to Peter Island, where we can anchor in a well-protected spot just off a reef. the pelicans fish next to the boat and sleep in the trees on the bank, and we can snorkel right from the stern of the boat. We were anxious to try the barbecue at Ivan's "Stress-Free Bar", the more so since our old friend Reuben Chinnery would be playing in the late afternoon and then all evening, so we returned to Jost after only one night at Peter Island. |
Tire Swing as Horse |
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| The barbecue was excellent and we met a group of Danes, charter guests of an enterprising Danish couple who themselve charter boats for the winter, then take successive parties for a week's cruise each, concentrating on areas (like St. Croix) where there is some Danish history. |
Cay Seal With a Load of Palm Trees for a New Development |
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Barbara in Great Harbour as Shown by MarineTraffic.com | |||
| The protagonist of a novel I enjoy, The Moviegoer by Walker Percy, has a central conceit that a place he knows becomes "certified" if he has seen it in a film. While browsing the web, I was quite excited to find Barbara showing up on the AIS site MarineTraffic . We must be really here! Of course we are shown off in the pucker-brush instead of in the harbor, but that is a limitation of Google Maps. The charts are also less accurate in our plotter, but that is not really a problem since there is no fog here and dangers are readily visible before one hits them. |
The Jost van Dyke Elementary School With Children in Their Uniforms (BNP photo) | ||
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We had a lot of company in Great Harbour. Aside from the myriad bareboat charter boats, on rental moorings or anchored more- (or usually less-) well,
there were several boats of distinction. The 200' Dutch Schooner Eendracht anchored near us -- at first a little too close, and a large,
elegant sloop called Bolero (not, we think, the original Sparkman & Stephens yawl) anchored for a couple of nights just in front of us.
There were sometimes boats from home, too. We were anchored near the schooner Spirit of Massachusetts several times, and the schooner Harvey Gamage anchored next to us in Road Harbour. |
The Dutch Schooner Eendracht Anchored Quite Close to Us | ||
| At our Peter Island anchorage we saw a huge ketch from Saudi Arabia and had a visit from a South African who had brought his good-looking ketch across the Atlantic, but who was quite taken with Barbara. We also saw our friend Mark in his little sloop Opal, whom we had last seen in Boqueron. |
A Huge Flock of Pelicans Between Us and Bolero | ||
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The Back Road, Great Harbour | |||
| We made several excursions by dinghy to White Bay (just around the corner, about 3/4 of a mile away) to hear our old friend Reuben Chinnery play in beach bars -- he no longer plays the Tortola bars in the evenings, preferring these afternoon gigs. We did go to the barbecue dinner at Ivan's where the food was delicious and Reuben played all evening. |
The Little Schooner Tabor Boy and the BVI Trying to Look Like Scotland | ||
| One event was not so happy; a Moorings chartered power catamaran with a paid captain on board anchored near us after her group had been partying on the White Bay beach all afternoon and played VERY loud music. When asked to turn it down the young captain replied: "They on vacation. They can do whatever the f--- they want." The fact that we were also on vacation did not seem to him relevant. I do hope the Moorings company is usually more selective and trains its captains better. |
Cruise Ships in Road Harbour | ||
| The day came again when we had to shop, as we were running out of both food and drink, so we again took the boat to Road Town. We actually stayed overnight and shopped twice, once to get some bits at a hardware store and to buy cases of soda, and the next day to buy food. From Road Town we went again to our favorite Peter Island anchorage, staying there three nights this time. |
Ship Graveyard Near the Commercial Wharves | ||
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It is really a beautiful place, and
this time late in the afternoon there was a patch, about five yards square, of little fish jumping straight up, for all the world like a patch of
glowing flowers.
The cove is enclosed on the western side, so we do not actually see the sunsets, but it is very pleasant to sit on the after deck and
see the clouds glowing, the colors changing from rosy to purple and finally to gray, with the sky a washed-out pale yellow and a planet (Jupiter?) shining
through.
Barbara snorkled on the reef and one time was joined by a sea-turtle whom she followed for a considerable distance., a very special experience. |
Main Street, Road Town | By superbowl Sunday we were back in Great Harbour, where Barbara rowed ashore for church and we had an excellent dinner and watched the game at Corsairs. Barbara, in particular, was geting more and more in touch with the community, and we decided to stay in Great Harbour until our time in the BVI was up. We could always clear out, go to St. John and clear in to the US, then come back to Jost and clear in again, but that seemed somehow more complicated than necessary. We also had friends coming from the US to stay in the US Virgins, and we wanted to connect with them. |
The Square at the Center of the Older Part of Road Town |
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Staying in one place would also give me a chance to do some radical work on the boat, without the necessity of keeping her in running trim, so we
moved to a more sheltered location as the harbor emptied out one morning, and settled down to stay.
Barbara continued her work at the school, telling them stories at the morning assembly and after school, and I worked on the forward cabin, in the hope that it will be ready by the time our grand-daughter arrives for her spring break. Just before we left, we brought several of the school children, principally those who had some interest in a marine profession, out to the boat for a "field trip." |
The Shore From Our Anchorage at Peter Island | ||
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Although there are lots of local boats in the BVI, most of the children never get a chance to see the workings of a real
off-shore vessel.
Without our realizing it, really, our time at Jost was running out, and we walked over to White Bay for one more evening of Reuben's music, said good-bye to him and to our other friends, Barbara sang "Till We Meet Again" at the school morning assembly, and we got the boat in shape to move. Tomorrow morning we will go ashore to clear out, hoist the dinghy, and head for the US Virgin Islands, where we wlll again enter the US at Cruz Bay. |
Peter Island Sunset | ||