We departed North Sound on Sunday, January 8 to relocate to Savannah Bay on the west side of Virgin Gorda. The reef in this bay is a reputed snorkeling attraction and the north swell we had been experiencing over the recent days was subsiding. We had initially eyeballed this location on our route to North Sound, seeing a few boats anchored inside its reef, so we decided we would attempt to explore it. We were making that choice as an alternative to going to the Dogs Islands (also reputed for snorkeling) because on this date Savannah Bay would be less exposed than the Dogs. We wanted to delay the Dogs at least another day while we waited for the north swell to subside into oblivion (along with some wind strength).

We took the shortcut out of North Sound via the cut between Mosquito Island and Virgin Gorda at the far west end of the Sound, sailing downwind with the genoa alone. Note to cruisers: this cut is reliable and the shallowest we've seen in it is 7 feet. The shallowest portion is on the Sound side as shown on the charts. Favor a bit south of center. (Use Google Earth "Fly to" to find 18 30'22"N 064 23'49"W)

Upon arriving at Savannah Bay we determined the swell to be too high on this occasion and immediately departed (18 27'56"N 064 25'12"W). Since the Dogs are very close nearby with National Parks Trust mooring balls, we decided to sail over to them to scout the area. By that time of day, however, all the mooring balls at both Great Dog and George Dog were occupied, so we decided to sail back to our favored (no mosquitoes) Drake’s Anchorage for one more night and would head straight to the Dogs early the next morning. Dave thought this was a grand idea as this gave him another chance to sail upwind back into North Sound – and a grand sail it was in perfect conditions with wind ENE at 14-18 kts.

We left North Sound for the final time on Monday, January 9 and sailed out the shortcut again for the short sail straight to Great Dog to arrive at 0930 (18 28'47"N 064 27'22"W). We were the early birds this day and picked up one of the two available balls for non-commercial vessels. There is an extensive reef area at the south shore of this island. Some of it is extremely shallow and you would not be comfortable attempting to snorkel above those sections. As a result, it was an enjoyable challenge to swim from the boat amongst this extensive labyrinth-like area where you sensed you were almost in a maze, having to analyze always the best “path” to take. There is a great deal of structure to this reef in an almost “other worldly” way. No wonder why in the BVI a reef area can be named “Alice in Wonderland”. This area could have vied for that title.

After snorkeling, it was almost lunchtime, but we decided to move first the short distance to the west end of Great Dog (same island) at an area called The Chimneys where we managed to get another ball of the six available at that popular location. We swam from the boat to snorkel an area with dramatic sheer walls that made you feel like you were swimming amongst mountain peaks, cleaved off with separations of only several feet that allowed you to pass through these canyons and peer dozens of feet below into the depths (18 28'59"N 064 27'40"W).   







In mid afternoon we departed the Dogs and sailed the short distance to Valley Trunk Bay (18 26'17"N 064 26'38"W) on the west side of Virgin Gorda, just a very short distance north of The Baths. This anchorage had been recommended by another Catana owner we had met in North Sound and it turned out to be a winner. We found good sand close in to shore and the shoreline view was fabulous with lovely palm trees and a pristine sand beach that could be one of the loveliest beaches in the BVI. This is a great spot to anchor to visit The Baths instead of using the day balls there, and is much less crowded. In addition, you can overnight at anchor here (unless the swell is high and thus imprudent), whereas the balls at The Baths are for day use only. We enjoyed our third snorkel of the day and were rewarded by swimming with a turtle.

Note to cruisers: To anchor at Valley Trunk Bay be sure to get in close enough to the beach to drop in sand. The line between sand and rock/marl is obvious if you have good light to see and good depth carries very close to shore. Despite being as close to shore as we were, there were no mosquitoes to bother us, and we enjoyed a late evening in the cockpit under the stars.