BVI's # 3 Jost Van Dyke

Jost Van Dyke
After an evening of celebration, we awoke to another breezy but sunny day in paradise. With a couple of cups of coffee to clear the cobwebs, we upped anchor and headed to White Bay with its magnificent white sand beaches, turquoise waters and the famous "Soggy Dollar" bar, birth place of the famous "painkiller" cocktail.

The Soggy Dollar supposedly got it's name years ago when sailors would anchor in the bay and swim ashore to enjoy the magnificent beach and a painkiller. As a result of their short swim, the money in their pockets was usually soggy.

We enjoyed lunch at Soggy Dollar, washed down with painkillers.
The first time we tasted a painkiller was at our marina, Boundary Creek Yacht Club, Winnipeg Beach, Manitoba Canada. Dean, the marina manager visits the BVI's often and introduced painkillers at the club bar. I must say, Dean could teach some of these establishments in the BVI's how to make a great painkiller.

White Bay, and especially the Soggy Dollar,  is a funky place, well known to cruisers from all over the world. We had heard many stories about the Soggy Dollar, especially from years gone by before bars cropped up all over the beach. As cruisers, we wanted a photo  with our AGLCA  (America's Great Loop Cruisers Association) burgee. 

Here the crews of Lamb Chop and Kaos pose outside the Soggy Dollar with their well travelled AGLCA burgees.

The bay offers a few mooring balls, which are always occupied, meaning the rest of the boats must anchor in this busy and frequently rolly destination. The cruise guides suggest that most overnights spent here will be uncomfortable, depending on wind and swell direction.

We elected to anchor for a few hours, enjoy the beach and move back to the anchorage in Cane Garden Bay, a short jaunt back to Tortola.

Over the years, many funky beach bars have sprung up along the waterfront, and White Bay is accessible by both water and road.

We enjoyed a pub crawl as we walked along the beach. Today was Alison & John's last full day aboard so we maximized our day last day. 

February 9, today,  is Alan’s birthday. We departed Cane Garden Bay, hoping to get our beach day at Sandy or Green Cay, just three miles away, enroute to Manchioneel Bay on Jost Van Dyke. Once again, the seas were to active for a comfortable day at anchor off the beach, so we continued on to the calm of  Diamond Cay anchorage in Manchioneel Bay and dropped anchor.

Foxy’s Taboo restaurant, a more upscale and newer version of the famous Foxy's Tamarind at Great Harbour on Jost. Mooring balls are available and there is a new dock at Foxy's for dinghys and those wishing to be on terre firma, but no services appeared available. There is some skinny water on the approach to the dock so a exercise caution.
Moorings were all occupied upon our arrival, so we dropped anchor and took the dingy ashore for a walk to the bubbly pool, about a mile trek from the dock.

As the tide rises, sea water is forced through the opening in the rocks and creates a bubbly whirlpool effect. When we arrived, the tide was still quite low, but we enjoyed the effect inspite of a cloudy, cooler day. The floor of the pool is quite rocky so water shoes are a good idea.

The trail has been marked and so have the few poisonous trees along the route. I believe that these are manchioneel trees, but not certain  Apparently the bark can cause significant skin irritation.

Diamond Cay and the anchorage are clearly visible from parts of the trail.

After a dip in the bubbly pool and the walk back, we stopped at Foxy's for lunch. It was busy, but the service was good and friendly, albeit a little slow, but since we weren't in a hurry, we relaxed and enjoyed Alan's birthday lunch in the gentle breeze, overlooking Manchioneel Bay.

A rib feast was enjoyed aboard Kaos  by all later that evening, complete with Jan's birthday cake. Tim's birthday is the 13th and since we will not all be together on that date, tonight's celebration was for both Alan and Tim.

Cane Garden Bay, Tortola
After visiting the Baths on Virgin Gorda, our next planned stop was an afternoon on the magnificent sand beaches at Sandy or Green Cay. Once again, seas were to rough to leave the boat and the swell made beaching the dinghy ashore to dangerous. As a result, we crossed over to Cane Garden Bay, in the lee of Tortola. It seems that many others had the same thought; all the moorings were all taken when we arrived, but there was room to anchor at the south east end of the bay.
From the boat, Cane Garden Bay looked like a happening kind of place, with numerous beach side bars and restaurants.
Following a refreshing shower, we dinghied ashore to the public dinghy dock, below Quitos (the bright yellow building toward the north end of the beach). We walked the white sand beach in search of a happy hour cocktail or two. As we explored the beach front, we came across Stanley's restaurant, advertising a lobster special that evening. We didn't need much coaxing, enjoying sunset on the beach followed by lobster dinner.
The next morning we had breakfast ashore at Rymer's. Not the greatest, some orders were incorrect, some were cold, and the waitress had a lousy attitude. No warm and fuzzy's here.
Cane Garden Bay can get very busy with bus loads of cruise ship passengers arriving from Road Town for a day at the beach. Every waterfront establishment adorns the beach with lounge chairs and umbrellas, all available for a fee. If you like tranquil, remote beaches, Cane Garden is not the spot for you on cruise ship days.
A good grocery store is just a short walk from the waterfront and there are two laundromats in town.
Breakfast ashore in Cane Garden Bay. Attempted a beach day at Sandy Cay, but conditions were to rough.