Jost Van Dyke, British Virgin Islands
The Sea Cloud II spent the entire day within the Virgin Islands archipelago. Right after breakfast we unfurled the sails and proceeded to sail westward through the scenic Sir Francis Drake Passage, giving us views of many of the nearly 100 islands and islets that compose the archipelago. Christopher Columbus was the first European visitor to this group of islands, during his second voyage to the Indies, and he named many of them. Today, ownership of the islands is divided between Britain and the United States. It’s interesting as to how this came about. In 1666, the British occupied the eastern islands in the group and today the British Virgin Islands remain an overseas territory of the United Kingdom. Also in 1666, Denmark occupied Saint Thomas and 18 years later occupied Saint John. The Danes later acquired Saint Croix from the French in 1733. In 1917, because of the islands' strategic position in relation to the Panama Canal, the United States bought Saint Croix, Saint John, and Saint Thomas from Denmark. Many of the larger islands were developed as sugar cane plantations, so it is not surprising that most Virgin Islanders are the descendants of slaves who worked here.
Midway through our passage, Lennox Honychurch gave us a talk on the geology and geography of the Lesser Antilles and the origins of the islands. He did this out on the Lido Deck, so we could enjoy the surrounding scenery over the rails. By late morning, we reached the western end of the passage, and found ourselves just south of Jost Van Dyke, one of the four main islands that make up the British Virgin Islands. We could see White Bay in the lee on the south side of the island, and it was beckoning us. White Bay provided us with a good anchorage, and we decided to spend the rest of the day here. Jost Van Dyke Island is named after a 17th Century Dutch freebooter who is said to have used the island as an occasional base of operations. It is a small island composed of three hills joined by a transverse ridge rising to about 1,070 feet elevation. As a result, little rain is caught by the island and it is quite arid, characterized by lots of cactus, succulent plants, and a low scrubby forest.
White Bay proved a perfect choice. We had access to a very long beautiful white strand beach, divided in the middle by a small promontory with a pathway that connected the two beach parts. The left hand end had a couple very laid-back, quintessential Caribbean bars nestled in the coconut palms. The swimming was delightful and the snorkeling was very productive with vast shoals of tiny whitesides, large tarpons, jacks, damsels, goatfishes, and various other typical reef denizens around the submerged rocks. The local pelicans were busy plunge-diving and paddling around among our snorkelers as they gorged on the schooling whitesides.
The Sea Cloud II spent the entire day within the Virgin Islands archipelago. Right after breakfast we unfurled the sails and proceeded to sail westward through the scenic Sir Francis Drake Passage, giving us views of many of the nearly 100 islands and islets that compose the archipelago. Christopher Columbus was the first European visitor to this group of islands, during his second voyage to the Indies, and he named many of them. Today, ownership of the islands is divided between Britain and the United States. It’s interesting as to how this came about. In 1666, the British occupied the eastern islands in the group and today the British Virgin Islands remain an overseas territory of the United Kingdom. Also in 1666, Denmark occupied Saint Thomas and 18 years later occupied Saint John. The Danes later acquired Saint Croix from the French in 1733. In 1917, because of the islands' strategic position in relation to the Panama Canal, the United States bought Saint Croix, Saint John, and Saint Thomas from Denmark. Many of the larger islands were developed as sugar cane plantations, so it is not surprising that most Virgin Islanders are the descendants of slaves who worked here.
Midway through our passage, Lennox Honychurch gave us a talk on the geology and geography of the Lesser Antilles and the origins of the islands. He did this out on the Lido Deck, so we could enjoy the surrounding scenery over the rails. By late morning, we reached the western end of the passage, and found ourselves just south of Jost Van Dyke, one of the four main islands that make up the British Virgin Islands. We could see White Bay in the lee on the south side of the island, and it was beckoning us. White Bay provided us with a good anchorage, and we decided to spend the rest of the day here. Jost Van Dyke Island is named after a 17th Century Dutch freebooter who is said to have used the island as an occasional base of operations. It is a small island composed of three hills joined by a transverse ridge rising to about 1,070 feet elevation. As a result, little rain is caught by the island and it is quite arid, characterized by lots of cactus, succulent plants, and a low scrubby forest.
White Bay proved a perfect choice. We had access to a very long beautiful white strand beach, divided in the middle by a small promontory with a pathway that connected the two beach parts. The left hand end had a couple very laid-back, quintessential Caribbean bars nestled in the coconut palms. The swimming was delightful and the snorkeling was very productive with vast shoals of tiny whitesides, large tarpons, jacks, damsels, goatfishes, and various other typical reef denizens around the submerged rocks. The local pelicans were busy plunge-diving and paddling around among our snorkelers as they gorged on the schooling whitesides.
