Road Town, Tortola

Seaduced
John & Jane Craven
Tue 17 Jan 2012 23:51
Having left Trellis Bay we set off 'down island'.  On the way we stopped of at Penn's Landing, a small marina, to stock up on fish.  From where we  anchored to the marina we had to go by dinghy across a small sand bar which meant we had to lift the engine, drag the dinghy across, and relaunch on the other side - although that might sound like a bit of a chore, it is still much easier than the trip out to sea and around the island to avoid the sandbar.  

 Isn't this the most gorgeous beach side house?  Even better it has it's own boat slip and is for sale for the bargain price of about $6million!!

 The sandbar can be clearly seen in this photo - on the way back we saw a huge stingray while waiting for the dinghy to drift across with the tide

 Dragging the dinghy across on the way there - I had the important responsibility of taking photos - no heavy work for me!!

We are now on the main island in the BVI chain, Tortola, and in the main town of Road Bay.  We have taken a berth in Village Cay for a few nights to clean the boat, do some dock jobs and have a look around.  Much as John and I love to be out at anchor, it is sometimes a treat to be able to get ready to out for dinner knowing that you don't have to get in the dinghy, cross the bay in the dark and inevitably arrive, if not wet all over, but with a almost certainly soggy bottom!!  Strangely enough, bearing in mind that there are probably less then 40 Discovery 55's in the world, and we have just spent the last week with Glenn on 'Sylvia' (another Discovery 55), imagine our surprise to find that we are sharing a berth with another one - this one is named Calla - her owners aren't here at present and not scheduled to return any time soon so we won't meet them, but what a coincidence!
Road Town was almost a culture shock - when we left the marina there were roads full of cars and noise, also as there are shops in the town, being here is expensive! The town itself is quite nice as, although it is a big part of lots of cruise liner itineraries, the cruise dock here is very small, not like the huge duty free malls on other islands which are basically fairly awful and only to be visited if necessary. There is a waterfront street which is all new buildings and shops, but the old charm of the town can be seen just by walking one street back, onto Main Street, where you can see the old style buildings with their multi-coloured paintwork.  There is also a quaint little museum showing the history of the island but unfortunately it suffers from the same problem as a lot os the museums here - far too much writing!  Although the subject is interesting and life here can be traced back many centuries, Christopher Columbus certainly was not the first to discover the islands, the information could be presented in a more user friendly format.   

 Typical architecture on the back street of Road Town.