The BVI’s had always been well up our target list of Caribbean islands, so we left Anguilla on Wednesday afternoon to make an overnight passage to Tortola. One factor was that the forecast was for reasonable winds on Wednesday night, easing on Thursday and going very light over the weekend. To get something of a sail, we had to leave earlier than anticipated.

As it was, the winds were at the bottom end of the forecast range (10-15 knots) and we were straight downwind, so it was not a fast run, with the big genoa and the larger staysail poled out. The wind died as we approached Round Rock passage to approach Tortola, so we ended by motoring the last bit, and suddenly there were motor boats and sailing yachts everywhere – either motoring or ghosting glacially.

We anchored off the government buildings in Road Bay and went ashore to clear in around midday, feeling a bit weary. Then we took our flat cut furling No 2 foresail to the sail maker in Road Reef marina, to get it cut down a little in the luff. Finally we headed out of Road Bay, which was lumpy with ferry wash and noisy with cruiser bands, and went round to a quiet anchorage to sleep the overnight passage off – luxury!

First Impressions

It is amazing how critical your first contact is, in shaping your opinions and feelings about people and places. For example, we found Martinique to be an excellent island, fine anchorages, friendly people, and we felt welcome for the weeks we were there. A couple we have come to know quite well were there a little before us, and were snubbed by some restaurant staff, came back to discover lads drinking in their dinghy, who were difficult when they had to get out and troublesome when they cast off to go back to their boat. As a result, the couple simply decided to move on the next day. They missed seeing a beautiful island, and Martinique missed their tourist expenditure.

We have spoken about clearing in and out of islands before, and the customs and immigration officers are some of the first people you meet. The way that they deal with you has a huge impact on your feelings about the place. Their attitudes and approach ranges from the delightful to the diffident, the sublime to the surly.

Anguilla had a single office on the beach, with sand on the floor where two women handled the paperwork, smiling happily, sharing a joke (and their screensaver photo of Prince Edward in front of the office on his recent visit) and being generally fantastic: we left with deep regret and a really warm feeling about this small island.

The BVI equivalent officers were in the same building on different floors, and the process required visiting immigration, filling in forms and then being sent next to customs, then to treasury (pay up) and back to immigration to get the papers finalised. A clumsy process, but not any more so than Antigua and Barbuda. What made it unpleasant was that the immigration lady and her colleague (the one with her bare feet on the chair in front of the desk) were plain rude. They were listening to the radio and chatting about it, scowling and grunting, and were pretty unhelpful. If you wanted to make a good first impression, this is not the way to do it. It was not all bad – I left my mobile in their office, and we had to return the next day to collect it. The woman who was manning the immigration office (a different lady) was much more approachable and pleasant, so did something to redeem the islands’ reputation.

Watergaw