Jost Van Dyke

Osprey
John Bowering
Fri 20 Feb 2009 10:52
19th February - Weather was improving his morning so we tried for and early start only to find that there was already a boat called Flying Teapot sitting on the fuel dock in Sopers Hole at 0800. By 0900 John was getting frustrated and getting no answers on the radio so we left the mooring buoy and moved in to hover near the dock. However there seemed nothing we could do to intimidate the Flying Teapot into hurrying and we had to pick up another buoy and hang around until she left at about 1000 when we finally got alongside. Anita went up to the local store, which was only 100yds away whilst John refuelled and topped off with water. By 1100 we were finally on our way and after rounding the northern point of Sopers Hole butted our way through 10ft swells for the 5 mile trip across to Jost Van Dyke. After our chats with Bill and Susan we followed their advice and headed for Great Harbour which seemed to offer the greater protection from the wind. This turned out to be an easy bay to enter with little of no reefs at the mouth and a good sandy anchorage. We were securely moored by 1300 in a very pretty horseshoe bay with a bright white sandy beach. There were several yachts already there but we had no difficulty in finding a good spot. We put the dinghy down and when the sun cooled somewhat, headed for the beach and a pleasant walk in the surf. We tied the dingy to a little wharf that belongs to Foxy's Bar - famous in this part of the Caribbean for its food and parties. The bar is really only a simple but pretty large hut on the beach under the palm trees equipped with booze, fridges and very large speakers for the music. There is one other wharf halfway around the bay which services the local administration - Police, Customs, Water and Electricity etc, all in one building. Few houses - perhaps six visible - one with a driveway up the hill which is so steep we had difficulty seeing how even a 4WD could make it to the house. The locals seem to have no concept of zig zagging a road up a hill, they simply go as near straight up as the bulldozer can manage when building the road. Any heavy rainfall and they become rivers/torrents in their own right. Back on Board as it got dark, John cooked a superb pasta meal with a spicy sauce (out of a jar) and a very pleasant evening was had. Our plan is now to head north exploring the smaller island until we get to Virgin Gorda. After talking to other Yachts we have decided to avoid the US Virgins - the rules and regulations are just too much hassle - It says something of this that the US yachts are all over in the British Virgin Islands. Shame really - the locals on the US side must really loose out on the tourist revenue. Anita has also decreed that we have to stop in St Kitts on the way south so we need to make a bit of space in the program for this. She has set her heart on doing a train ride around the Island - its probably the only island with a train service! St Kitts is one of the Cloud Islands - very steep and with the anchorages consequently very deep. We are going to have to do some research on how we anchor the boat once we get there.

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