We left St Maarten around 7:30 pm for an overnight passage to the BVI. By this time it was just Jeremy and myself on board so we traded watches and didn’t get much sleep; however conditions were fairly easy and we didn’t get a squall until just before sunrise. We came into Spanish Town on Virgin Gorda around 8am and Jeremy went in to clear immigration and customs. We made a quick trip ashore for provisions and to finally refill the propane tank we use for cooking. We had hoped to top up our tanks with diesel as well but decided that the entrance to the marina looked too sketchy to be worth trying, so we moved on to Gorda Sound. At Leverick Bay we found easy access to the fuel dock, and then picked up a mooring and caught up on some sleep!

A cautionary tale: By this point we had discovered that we were having trouble charging iPhones and iPads. We think we have diagnosed the problem: My phone must have got salt or sand in the charging port. When I tried first one and then another cable to try to plug it in, I must have contaminated most of our charging cables, since they were all scratched in the same place. We were ultimately able to clean the charging cables with denatured alcohol, but couldn’t bring my phone back to life. Thus photos for the next couple of posts will be a bit hit and miss, and I don’t seem to have any at all from Virgin Gorda. Jeremy is flying back to the States next week and can hopefully get me a new phone.

The next day we had Jeremy’s sister and brother-in-law arriving from the UK in the evening, and still needed to clean the boat and get more provisions. We sailed down through The Dogs and picked up a mooring in Trellis Bay. Trellis Bay is much changed from when we were last there 6 years ago: Hurricane Irma wiped out the tired-looking live-aboard boats that had been there forever, and destroyed all the bars around the bay. We found it clean and quiet, and an easy spot to take a taxi into town for our various errands; as well as to pick up guests from the airport, which is only a 5 minute walk away – so long as your guests don’t arrive with too many heavy bags!

The following morning we sailed back up to Gorda Sound and picked up a mooring off Saba Rock. The resort there has been beautifully restored and it was a nice spot to go for an evening drink. The Bitter End Yacht Club is also being rebuilt: The waterfront is in good shape but there are only a couple of cottages so far, making it look oddly naked. They plan to build out the cottages over the next year or two.

I will try not to make this blog post a list of what has or hasn’t been rebuilt since Irma, but if anyone has any questions about what we found in any location please post them in the comments below. So far we have been trying to be out of phase with the charter boats, which are predictably in certain spots on each day of their Saturday-to-Saturday charters. We haven’t had any trouble finding moorings so far.

On Thursday morning we headed up to Anegada, which is one of our favorite places to visit. With Persephone able to sail (or motor) much more quickly than typical charter boats, we were surprised how quickly we got there. The island is low-lying and you can’t see it at all until about 10 miles out when you realize you can see trees on the shore. With our deep draft we can’t get into the main anchorage, so anchored off Pomato Point. Even then we had to be quite a long way off the beach, giving us some wet rides in. The water was wonderfully clear, and when we arrived in light winds, was pleasant for swimming. Unfortunately while we were there the wind built and went more south, making it quite rolly and exposed. We wouldn’t recommend this anchorage unless the wind is settled and has some north in it.

We had dinner at Sid’s Restaurant at Pomato Point – delicious and a nice vibe. We didn’t sleep much as the wind seemed to be howling and we were getting swells on the beam. The next day we rented a car to explore the island a little. Many things have been built back better than they were previously and the island seems to be doing well. We saw flamingoes in the same spot we saw them 6 years ago – the locals say they are lazy and seldom move around. We drove up to Loblolly Bay which was beautiful but felt rather exposed. Then over to Cow Wreck Beach, which has our all-time favorite beach bar and wonderful turquoise water. We left the keys in the car at Sid’s and sailed back over to Virgin Gorda for a gentler night!