VIRGIN ISLAND SAILING
After settling in with a welcoming rum punch, you will be whisked away to your first stop at (B) St. John's Rockefeller,
Caneel Bay Resort. Here you will take your tender ashore to enjoy a leisurely lunch enjoying the view from the
converted Rum Mill Restaurant with a breathtaking view. You'll head back out to your mother ship to head on
over to (C) Jost Van Dyke














Many of the Virgin Islands are luxurious and pristine, Jost is down Island Funky. Once ashore, you won't want to miss Foxy's
side restaurant. Foxy's Caribbean lilt accompanied by his ever-present guitar can be heard clear down the
beach as you approach his somewhat thrown together restaurant. The roof is peppered with shirts, underwear and
hats from visiting crews (kind of gets you in the right frame of mind for what clothes are essential or not!). His
home-made songs about all of his favorite places in America will delight you. (I'll bet he'll even have one about your
hometown if you ask.)

Shaking the sand out of your shoes, you head back to your anchored Yacht in the harbor
where eat a sumptuous meal aboard, or where you barbecue under the stars.  




                           And then, after sunset, you drift off to your favorite area of the boat, perhaps up on the
                           forward deck, to relax and watch the stars as you sip your evening cocktail. Your
senses never so keen. The tree frogs sing you to sleep as you give in to the gentle rocking of the boat.

The next morning, you take a quick dip and enjoy a hearty breakfast as you head off to your
next adventure. A short 35 min.  trip over to Sandy Cay (C). Here, you'll ride the tender in
to an exciting (hopefully not to exciting) shore landing. Then it's off through the scrub to the
backside of the Island where you'll overlook the cliffs and breaking waves arriving from Africa.


The adventurous will climb down the cliff to venture into the foaming surf below.
Exploring is the order of the day, and I usually find some fan coral to cart home -- I'm running
out of places where to put it though. But some others have their own idea of what to do on a glorious morning
in the tropic sun on their own private beach...And then it is back to virgin island sailing.

From here we ricochet off the North Coast of Tortola (D). Anchor for a quick dip in any of the numerous bays, or off
                             one of the Islands just as we turn South again at the cut between the islands headed
                                     for the anchorage  at Marina Cay. This famous resort is now run by Pussers.
                              Just across the stretch of water to the West, you can go into the harbor at Beef Island.
                              From the dinghy dock, you're about a 10 minute walk from the airport where you can
                             pick up or drop off guests if needed. You can also get supplies at the
                              (fairly well supplied) beach store here.                                                                   


Meanwhile, back at Marina Cay, the rest of the crew can take on water and visit the boutique. There's
a fine restaurant on the sand with an interesting picture story on the walls of the history of the Island.
Find your way up the path to the spectacular view offered at the hilltop bar. Enjoy views of Virgin Gorda
to the South, and the highest peak in the BVI, on Tortola to the West. There's plenty of room to just
kick back and relax, or get engaged in a raucous discussion about the adventures of the day with
voyagers coming back from other islands, world travelers and whomever  has found this groovy, fun hideout.



Maybe this should really be called land to sea to                                               land again -- because now we're off to the
famous baths--about a 2 hour sail (G). These                                                  massive granite boulders have created
quiet pools to wade in. You'll experience suburb                                                  views as you climb among, over and
around the boulders which seem to have spewed                                                  from the bowels of the Earth and
settled into a haphazard, whimsical pattern leaning                                                    against each other as if for support
against the wind and waves. Their surfaces  have been weathered smooth and the constant water assault has carved
intricate swirls and paths on their exterior. Later, when you wade into the water with your snorkel gear --  the sea side
the shear rock  host a variety

Tropical fish and beautiful coral at their base, just steps into the water. The tiny beach bar will
take care of your thirst problems while you're ashore so you can travel light as you explore the
beautiful baths and relax in the swirling sparkling clean iridescent pools scattered throughout
the boulders. The faint of heart should take caution as occasionally, in one outcropping or
another,you may come across a topless European who has a different view of sunning than
most shy Americans. After a while, this too just seems a part of the local scene.

After lunch, we will head upwind to Gorda Sound. As soon as we round the next point of land we call ahead for dinner
at the luxurious Biras Creek resort. This beautiful resort is perched on the rise separating the East and West hills of
Gorda Sound. (Playboy Magazine once rated this restaurant one of the 10 best and romantic in the world.)

On the way in, you'll pass pristine beaches as you slide down the side of the entry reef
admiring every color coral imaginable.

We'll pick up one of the dancing  moorings in the cut off to the side of Saba rock and
adjacent to the famous Bitter End Yacht Club resort. After freshening up with a cool
shower on deck, we head in for evening cocktails. If you have children or grandchildren
aboard, you can arrange for them to stay and watch the family movie playing at the
open beach hut movie screen tonight. After cocktails, take the gentle hike up the stone
path among the Orchids and Hibiscus to reach the deck where we overlook the bay
and the last fading light of sunset.




                    Superb views. Superb cuisine. Fine wine. Dancing on the Veranda. Biras Creek has been
                    listed as one of the top 10 resorts around the world by many reviewers. You'll come           
                   away enchanted. Don' t miss a walk down to the lighted pool which cantilevers out over the
                   each on the lower Caribbean side of the Island. Contemplate the "string of pearl Islands" that              stretch
out before you all the way to South America. St Martin, St. Barts, Antigua, St. Vincent, Mustique, Bequia,
the Tobago Cays--a lifetime of Islands to explore on future trips.
                                 

Tonight, you'll not want the A/C as the gentle trade winds push between the hill at Bitter
End and Saba Rock flooding your cabin with fragrant, tropical breezes that make you
pull the sheets up tight around your chin.

In the morning, a refreshing swim, or maybe you go up to the club at Biras Creek to jog
around their manicured running/exercise path and have a light breakfast. Meanwhile,
others in your crew might rent a couple of Hobie cats and have an impromptu race
around the moored boats in the harbor. Whatever you decide to do, everyone meets
back at the boat for the two hour sail across to the fearsome, dreaded ANEGADA.

We always post a quarter on the cabin top in the cockpit to be won by the first person to spot Anegada. You see, where the
other Islands are relatively high, and volcanic, Anegada is a reef Island (Like the Bahamas). Maximum height above
sea-level is 15'. The surrounding reefs extend out in all directions and have captured over 300 ships over the years. These
wrecks make Anegada a divers paradise. In the old days (just 10 years or so ago) before GPS and navigation markers it
was tricky approaching. You had to line up certain trees with certain red roofs and read the colors of the water. (You still
need a special exception, or to hire a guide if you don't have a professional captain aboard.)

As you sail out from Gorda Sound, you'll be looking back at the mountainous Islands you've just left and it will seem like you
could throw a stone and hit the closest Island. At about this time, after an hour or so of sailing, the winner of the quarter will
see the first Palm tree growing up out of the Atlantic. This will soon be joined by more and a house--all with no apparent
land which is still under the curvature of the earth (below the sea!) Gradually the dots will connect. Land will appear right
where the GPS says it should and you'll see one of the new welcoming buoys bouncing merrily in the channel.

You'll zig and zag. Sail over coral. You'll swear you could reach down and touch the coral which appears to be within reach,
but you'll still be in 8-10' of water. Eventually you'll round into the small inner harbor and pick up your mooring. You've
arrived!

Everyone will want to rush ashore. Don't forget the snorkel and sun gear. If any of your party wants to do serious diving,
they should have made arrangements ahead of time with Lowell, the congenial owner of the resort you're visiting--or with
the concierge at the Bitter End.  

Make reservations for grilled lobster on the beach tonight. Grab a rum punch
at the Honor bar and then pile into a beach cab for a jolting overland ride
past Flamingos and cows. Flowers and cactus. Passing ponds and scrub cactus,
bouncing over ruts and dodging serious pits. Dirt roads turn into a paved
stretch which stars and then inexplicably ends dumping you unceremoniously
back onto a dirt road again as you head for Loblolly bay at the far end of the
Island.

There's no way to describe it. The cab parks and you hear the surf from the distance off behind the dunes. You ascend
the first dune and it's breathtaking. The beach stretches out as far as the eye can see in both directions backed by
sand dunes. You would think you were on Nantucket Island in New England except for the colors and the warmth, and the
strong sea breeze cooling your skin.








                                                 No pictures could do this beach justice, so I won't even try. Now the day
is full of choices. Walk barefoot down the beach in either direction. After the first 3 minutes you're not likely to see a
soul for the next hour or so until you return. The coral twists in to the sand at spots forming warm "Jacuzzi" pools.
Hot tubs, where you can skinny dip with confidence. Rediscover your soul mate. Find a ship wreck on the shore, or
the flotsam and jetsam that naturally accumulates on a leeward beach 1,000's of miles from the next land--Africa to
the East. This is the place in the Ocean where, for a few months in the summer,  Hurricanes brew. But not now. Now
you luxuriate in the tropic breezes. Inhale the pure, fragrant air. Listen to the waves crashing on the reef that
surrounds your own private world of beach and pink coral sand.

Swim out from the powder fine sandy beach of pink and white ground shells. Slip into the depths with your snorkel
gear to see a new breathtaking world. With each stroke a new marvel of coral and reef fish. Some larger than you've
seen anywhere else--but friendly--all. You can swim down between mountainous coral and between elkhorn coral
branches, or just circumvent the edge.

When you return everyone will be giddy and regaling about the big fish and bigger coral; about the colors and the
currents that gently swayed the fan coral making them appear to be gently fanning the sea.

As you lay on the Beach, you'll find yourself contemplating the big issues--love, adventure, what's really important?
Wander up for a Heineken at the beach bar behind the main part of the beach (a 100 yard or so stretch).

In the middle of your reverie, and long before you're ready, your cab will arrive to take you back. Some will visit the
gift shop while others continue their story telling at the beach bar, or lounge in the beach chairs watching the sun
drop into the Sea to the West. Everyone usually gathers just before sunset to watch for the famous Green Flash,
said to be a phenomenon caused by the sun-light refraction through the emerald green water at the meeting with the
sun's top most crest. Walk down the rickety dock to see the lobster pens and the lobsters being prepared for dinner.
As soon as the chance to see the Green Flash is over, everyone heads back to the boat for a shower and the gals
always try on their new tropical sarongs for dinner...

            As each person finishes showering and comes up to the cockpit sipping their drink, they'll be greeted                        
                by roaring beach fires of drift wood on the beach. These are the fires under the home built                                     
             barbecue drums, cut up oil drums actually, which serve as beach barbecues to barbecue the tasty                            
             lobsters yet to come.


                                                                                         You'll arrive back at the beach bar to see final
                                                                                         preparations as the hostesses set up the beach                              
                                                                                                 tables  with linen and candles.


If you haven't had barbecue lobster with Lowell's special sauce, well, as they say, you haven't had lobster! For many
of us, this alone makes the whole trip worth it. Dinner is accompanied by home made family style vegetables and dessert.

After dinner and wine, we always get into a challenge match of Bochie Ball with a crew of another boat. You draw a line
in the sand, put a life ring about 15' away, and toss lobster floats which you hold onto by their buoy rings. Some people
seem to be naturals. One ball knocks another away. Losers buy winners drinks. Everyone knows everyone and no one
wants to leave. The bar is left open and you help yourself (The Honor Bar, remember?) Finally. Reluctantly, you wobble
back down the dock to the tender and back to the boat. You probably won't remember the rest of this night well.

The captain will get underway shortly after dawn while everyone's still sleeping. As you poke your head out into the
dawn, you're at sea with the big islands looming in the foreground, and Anegada fading off the stern. This is often a
rollicking, fun, downwind, fast sail back past all of the Islands you've missed. Interesting sounding Islands like  Prickly
Pear, and Necker. Cooper and Ginger. You'll swoop past Tortola heading down Drake's passage for St. Johns.

If you've left early enough, there may be time for a quick stop at Norman Island to visit the Caves. Norman is the Island
that Cooper used as the model for the famous story of Treasure Island. It's said that Pirates really did bury gold in the
caves there. And in the bars around Tortola, late at night I've heard scruffy looking wharf folks talk about this or that
tourist finding a Gold Doubloon -- totally by accident. "It just washed away from the mountain side after all these years
and dumb luck brought him to the cave floor just at the right time." Be sure to keep your eyes peeled if you're diving there.

Soon, you'll be slipping past one beautiful beach after another as you slide down the coast of St. Johns heading back
for St. Thomas. As you look wistfully back, you'll be planning your next trip. Maybe longer next time?















The Virgin Islands, the most popular sailing destination in the world and still mostly untouched because you can only
get to most of these marvelous spots by private yacht charter. Great family sailing vacations, Cruise ships can't make it
here. Enjoy...Endless Reach.

Experienced sailors can charter Endless Reach  bareboat, or we can match you with one of our suitable captains,
who will act as your tour guide. You can get bareboat qualified with our ASA courses during a summer or over a
couple of bareboat weekly charters with a certified instructor. Ask for details.

Contact Let's Go Cruising!  and ask for the best Yacht in the fleet - Endless Reach.

Or call  1-888-995-BOAT (410-263-1818)for more information on this Virgin Island Sailboat.

ENDLESS REACH

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