Bareboat sailing day 6: British Virgin Islands, BVI, White Bay, JVD

I love waking up to a beautiful island morning! Today the plan is to just make a quick run over to White Bay, home of Ivan's and Soggy Dollar Bar, so we have more time for snorkeling and relaxing. Plus, this is a popular destination for ferries full of tourists from cruise ships and other Virgin Islands. We head over first thing in the morning, and there was only one mooring ball open. Awesome! We head out for more snorkeling, and my underwater camera quit working… The snorkeling was the most amazing snorkeling of the entire trip. We saw stingrays, beautiful coral, and a rainbow of fish.




We had our wraps for lunch on the boat then we rode the dinghy to Foxy's at Great Harbor. We saw a real pirate ship on the way, and spent some time relaxing in the hammocks. Next was a dinghy ride to the beach (there is no dinghy dock) at White Bay to spend some time at Ivan's and Soggy Dollar Bar. Ivan's has expanded some since we were there last. They just added a building that they serve some pretty amazing barbecue out of. We headed over to Soggy Dollar Bar, and it was packed! The only place in the Islands where we had to wait in line. It's become quite the tourist attraction.

Ivan's

We went back to the boat and spent some time in our floaties before we cleaned up and headed back to Ivan's for the barbecue dinner. It's not easy to take off on a dinghy from the beach, but we managed to make it work. (Refer to my previous warning about the dinghy)

Mic at Soggy Dollar Bar

Trail from Soggy Dollar Bar to Ivan's

Soggy Dollar Bar is where the famous Painkiller drink was created. It's named Soggy Dollar Bar because of the soggy state of dollars used to pay for drinks after patrons swim ashore from an anchored vessel. Ivan's Stress Free Bar is Kenny Chesney's favorite, and it is not uncommon to spot him there. The Virgin Islands have inspired a few of his songs.




You'll need your  Eating and Drinking Guide  at all three of these stops.

Bareboat sailing day 5: British Virgin Islands, BVI, Soper's hole, Diamond Cay JVD

The morning of day 5, we wake up, reorganize, and straighten up the boat. After our breakfast of bacon, egg, and cheese english muffins made on the stove, we sailed from The Bight to Soper's hole on Tortola. It's a fun place to do some shopping and eat lunch at the famous Pusser's. It's very good, but on the pricey side. We restocked at the grocery store, and then set off for Diamond Cay and the Bubbly Pool on Jost Van Dyke!

Pusser's at Soper's Hole

Outside of Foxy's Taboo

After a smooth sail, we motor in to Diamond Cay only to discover that there are no mooring balls open (binoculars help when you are looking for an open mooring ball). We don't trust our anchoring skills enough to do it without our instructor… So, we decide to head over to White Bay. As we are motoring out of the bay, I take one more look at the mooring field and I see a boat coming out. After a quick check with the binos, I see an open mooring ball! Yay. We were able to turn around and grab it. Lesson learned… get to Diamond Cay early, or hang around to see if someone leaves. There are only 10 mooring balls in this bay, and it's a popular stop because of the Bubbly Pool. It's also a challenging bay to anchor in.

Dinghy rescue

While we were settling in, and getting ready for our trip to the bubbly pool, Adam noticed a dinghy with about 8 people paddling towards their catamaran. He and Maria jumped in the dinghy to go help them out. They were relieved to see them, and appreciated the help.





A sea turtle came up next to our boat to say Hi. I just love them. We headed off to the bubbly pool! When the trail makes it's first left turn, if you go straight, and then up you will see some very pretty views. We made it to the bubbly pool past the poisonous trees. It was much more bubbly this time! We found another trail to the right of the bubbly pool that provided some of the best views so far. On the way back we stopped in at Foxy's Taboo for our Eating and Drinking Guide Drinks.

Mangrove tree on the way to the Bubbly Pool

above the Bubbly Pool

The Bubbly Pool!

Next we headed out to do some snorkeling. It was a bit far of a swim for me, so when Adam took off from the boat, Maria and I headed towards the shore in the dinghy. When I hit the bottom with the motor (oops) I decided we should probably just anchor it :-) We met up with Adam who had just seen a nurse shark and we all did some snorkeling. Another one of my favorite things to do, then we spent some more time in our floaties.

Dinner was hamburgers on the grill. It almost fell off and we had to deal with a grill full of hot coals that was barely hanging on and threatening to dump it's dangerous contents down the side of the boat and into the water. After searching, we finally found where the toolkit was. Next time, I'll be sure to bring a multitool or two. By this time the sun was long gone. Time to break out the flashlight, and check out who is swimming under our boat. There were a ton of Tarpon under there, which is a little creepy because their eyes glow orange when you shine the light on them. Then the nurse shark swam by. That was really cool, and made for some interesting home videos.

"Fishing"