Cane Garden Bay (Tortola) Diamond Cay (Jost Van Dyke)

Sailing to Cane Garden Bay, on the East end of Tortola, was a real treat! We were able to do some sailing in higher wind that exceeded 20 kts. We were "running" downwind some of the time and we saw 7.5kts of SOG (speed over the ground)  Most of the time we averaged about 6 kts. Arriving in Cane Garden Bay was a easy transition, as it is sheltered from the winds and the bottom of the bay held the anchor well. We took our dinghy to shore and walked around looking at some of the buildings and sites. Cane Garden Bay hosts the BVI Music Festival each year in May. The village there is very laid back and appears it would be a wonderful place to spend some time.

Our next stop was to the East end of Jost Van Dyke, to Diamond Cay and check out "Foxy's Taboo" restaurant. We had heard that "Foxy's", in Great Harbor/Jost Van Dyke was a nice dining experience. The sail over there was a little less windy, but we still made good time. Arriving in the main area to anchor the boat, we discovered that most of the area was already taken by permanent moorings... all of the minor and major harbors in the BVI and USVI have been covered in these things, that are either privately owned or you have to pay ($25/night) . They are great for the people that put them in, but it squeezes out most of the opportunities for folks like us that would rather use their anchor and save a few bucks. Anyway, we ended up motoring around the corner of Diamond Cay and found that we could anchor in a secluded small bay all by ourselves...we actually were a little worried to be there, though, because we wondered why the other 15 boats didn't do that. Just to be a little cautious, Karen suggested we try out using 2 anchors instead of the 1 we normally use. So...out into the dinghy I went, motored around to the front of our boat and  Karen slowly lowered the 35# anchor, 20' of 3/8" chain and then fed out the 150' of 5/8" line....SHE-GIRL!! Later, we ate a great meal at Foxy's. While there, we learned there was a natural pool formed in a crevice open to the ocean waves. What fun!!! We laid in the pool and a wave would come crashing through the gap and fill the pool about a foot more or so. It sure made the water bubbly...like champagne. It did take us a while to get there because of the poor directions on a map we saw at the restaurant. We joined other dinner guests and discovered two of them were liveaboards like us. They had recently brought their catamaran sailboat to the area in a rally called the "Caribbean 1500". There were about 80 boats participating. Our boat broker, Todd Duff, happened to have his boat in it.