Day 3 – Diamond Reef, lots of sailing and a visit to the Bitter End Yacht Club

The Bitter End

After waiting for some vessel repairs, we made our way over to Diamond Reef on Great Camanoe near Scrub Island.  We found all sorts of interesting things including an old outboard motor.  Following our dive, we decided that some sailing was needed and took the long way home to the Bitter End Yacht Club in the North Sound on Virgin Gorda.  The Lobster Pizza was quite delightful!

Day 2 – The Caves, The Indians, and Cooper Island

Nudibranch at the Caves on Norman Island

We started the day a bit later than expected, motoring over to the Caves on Norman Island around 10:30.. After an extended snorkel, we did a drive by at the Willy T, but didn’t stop for drinks as we had plans for a SCUBA dive at the Indians. Following the dive we wandered over to Cooper Island for a fantastic meal and a visit you the Rum Bar. They were a little short in their selections this week with only ~325 options. Good times were had followed by some much needed sleep!

Day 1 – Departing the dock and Norman Island.

Elkhorn Coral at the Sandy Ledges in Privateer Cove, Norman Island

Finally, after provisioning the vessel and attending to some minor issues, we left the dock at Road Town around 14:00. We got some wonderful sailing in, arriving at Privateer Bay on Norman Island around 16:30. There was a turtle hanging around at the mooring ball when we arrived! We grabbed some snacks then hit the water for a fantastic, shallow SCUBA dive at the Sandy Ledges. Lots of interesting critters including lobster, brittle starfish, and beautiful coral! We finished the evening off watching Captain Ron on deck and watching the tarpon feed in the light off of the back of the boat!

Travel day

The Atlantic from the air

Whew, that was a long exhausting day. In order to catch my 05:00 flight, I had to leave Ripple before 02:00. 17 hours later, we were finally aboard Windfall, the 45′ Beneteau that will be our home for the next 10 days. The water down here is so beautiful, I’m in my happy place!

Fair Weather!

Good news, the current forecast show no problems in the Atlantic, Caribbean, or Gulf of Mexico through June 28!

We’ll keep a sharp eye out for any changes, looking forward to another wonderful adventure!

Preparations are under way!

After much discussion, we have booked a vessel for our next BVI adventure. We are currently scheduled for 11 days on a 45′ Beneteau monohull in late June. We will be keeping a close eye on the weather as hurricane season starts at the beginning of June in this area.
At this point everything except the charter and airline reservations are entirely flexible. Here’s the TENTATIVE itinerary:

  • Day 1 Board and provision vessel
  • Day 2 Captains briefing > Boat checkout > Indians > Norman Island > Snorkel the Caves > Willy T
  • Day 3 Snorkel the Caves > Dive/snorkel the Rainbow Canyons > Kay Bay, Cooper Island > Dive/snorkel the Willy T > Cooper Island
  • Day 4 Refill Tanks > Dive/snorkel the Rhone > Dive/Snorkel the Baths > Top off water > Bitter End Yacht Club
  • Day 5 Refill Tanks > Kodiak Queen > Great Dog > Leverick Bay > provision food
  • Day 6 Refill Tanks > Necker Island > Anegada
  • Day 7 Visit the Flamingo Pond > Wander Anegada
  • Day 8 Playground > Explore Sandy Spit > Jost Van Dyke – Foxy’s
  • Day 9 Refill Tanks > Soggy Dollar
  • Day 10 Indians > Spanish Town, Virgin Gorda
  • Day 11 Covid Tests > Kodiak Queen > Baths again > Norman > Snorkel the Caves > Willy T again
  • Day 12 Snorkel Caves > Road Town and disembark

Ready for another adventure?

It’s time to start planning the next SailRipple adventure. If you are interested in a sailing or sailing/diving trip in 2021 or 2022 please send me a note via the contact form and we can begin to get things rolling!

I’m currently thinking June of 2022 for the BVI or Jan-Feb of 2022 for Tahiti, that’s the off season, when the prices are lower!

PS – If you’re not vaccinated, don’t bother. It’s hard enough travelling internationally when vaccinated, I can’t imagine that other countries will be letting unvaccinated US citizens into their countries anytime in the near future.