TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands Favorite easy-anchor spots?

More and more, mooring balls have taken over. We'll be on a 38 mono and am going to try to balance saving $$ (i.e. spend at least a few nights on the hook instead of a ball) vs. keeping the drama down and sleeping well at night.

What are some of the more dependable places these days to drop the hook for the evening? I'm thinking Benure, Key Pt, Prickly Pear, Moskito I, maybe Savannah?

I would hesitate on the Savannah anchor plan with a monohull.

Yeah, probably a good call... was sort of thinking that way myself. Thanks.

Any anchoring details to know about the spots I've mentioned? Any others I've missed? I understand some people anchor up off of Guana for a night, never tried that...

I like Key Cay a bunch. I've anchored at Benures too. Both have great sunsets. I've done Little Harbor on Peter too, but was the last one in and didn't wind up with a good spot.

Cane Garden Bay has good holding

We anchor the east side of Great Harbor, Cane Garden Bay, Little Harbor in Peter Island (stern to and tied up), Trellis Bay, Cam Bay, Lee Bay, Prickly Pear, Moskito and the Anegada Harbor (between the channel and Setting Point).

Cheers, RickG

Trellis holds like mud, but we are not comfortable swimming there, kinda yucky.

There was a time when we would anchor almost everywhere. Those days are gone.
All of the above are good suggestions, plus White Bay on Guana, Prickley Pear in North Sound or Drake's Anchorage off of Mosquito.
As always, it has more to do with sea conditions. Savannah Bay can be a wonderful ancorage under good conditions.

we just got back from charter on a 38ft mono and had excellent holding at anegada (east of the inner green marker) and at key bay on peter island (a bit rolly but beautiful and secluded). in the past we have done savannah bay in a mono no issues but was a little tight between the shore and reef. I remember I used to anchor off prickly pear near the sandbox but on my way by this time it looked like the area is now full of moorings?

Sean

You can still anchor off Prickly Pear but it will be more toward the North Sound entrance channel than off the sandbox if you want to be near there.

Alternatively you can proceed toward Saba Rock and anchor to the north away from the mooring field. Just watch out for the unmarked sailboat wreck that extends out from shore, clearly visible if you look for it.

I liked Key Point anchorage a lot. Trellis was not fun - had to put two hooks and it was really crowded on full moon party night. With the smaller draft it is possible to anchor closer to Neptunes Treasure on Anegada or, if charter company permits - even at Pomato Point. Really surprised that nobody mentioned Great Camanoe few little bays - very quite and peaceful and you might end up with the whole bay for yourself.

Great Camanoe - Cam and Lee Bays. Pomato Point is the option if you draw more than about six and a half feet, but its a long wet dinghy ride to the main anchorage. I would not take a monohull over to Neptunes, or a cat that draws more than about three and half feet. The anchorage is getting pretty silted up. We took the dinghy through the channel towards Neptune's in November and it was looking very shallow.

Cheers, RickG

We always like anchoring in Deadman's Bay, Peter Island. Sand and eel grass bottom, great holding. Beautiful location and beach. Always head ashore for lunch at the resort. Excellent service and food.

We draw 5 feet (mono) and anchor off Neptune's regularly, a little offshore from Argus 3. Sometimes only 6 inches to spare at very low tides, but it's a soft bottom. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" /> But beware, we watched a Sunsail mono ground itself in the 4 foot patch a little further out. Best to get Walker's chart at BVIPirate.

Rick, have wondered about Cam but never tried in there. Is it reasonable in a mono? We'll be on a 38 that draws 5.5ft so not a lot, but still... would love to drop the hook there for the night if we could. Otherwise, maybe Lee, which I've also never done. Thanks.

enter and exit favoring the reef side of the channel in good light-- large coral heads toward shore would easily kiss the keel --I think Savanna Bay entrance much easier -- a snorkel after anchoring was sobering.

I would not head into Cam Bay with a 5'5 draft. The general depth will support it however there are a lot of rocks and coral heads that come uo to 4 or 5 feet. It's also off limits to many charter companies.
G

What if the anchor slips at night in Cam Bay? You have not much time till you run ashore.

Does anybody of this forum anchor in bights upwind/windward to any island?

I do all the time. I make sure however my anchor is properly set with the correct amount of scope. I have ended up adrift twice at night in the BVI in 25 years. In both cases I was on a mooring ball. In fact I still had the mooring balls. They were no longer attached to the bottom. I also make sure I have a solid weather forecast each night.
G

Yes, sometimes you have too anchor upwind of hard things and even if you don't the wind can shift and then you are. I've anchored in Cam Bay a few times. First time we scoped it out with perfect conditions, dove on the anchor and knew the weather outlook. Once in Cam Bay, with a perfect tradewind from the east, I favored the reef side a little bit. We awoke the next morning with the stern about 15' from the reef (wind from the west). That's when I really learned about being back winded and in a place I really didn't expect it to happen.

One thing I like about sailing is it gives you a lifetime of learning - no matter your experience you will keep learning things you didn't know if you continue. Lately I've been watching the "Anchor Test Compilation" (SV Panope) on Youtube. One thing I've learned is that many of the popular anchors are not good at resetting if the wind/tide shifts 180 degrees abruptly. Even some of the new "third generation" anchors have difficulty resetting.

The nice thing about being back winded is it mostly occurs in settled weather and is rarely a issue if allowed for or a preventer set. My bane is pop up convective activity. I once spent a very interesting hour at 2am in white bay and another interesting hour at Cooper. If you don't think you can't have 4 foot breaking surf on the beach at Cooper you would be mistaken!
G

Consider an anchor alarm on your phone or ipad

"beerMe", the most changing wind condition we had in the BVIs so far was on Cooper Island by a 90° shift from east to north and some time later a 90° shift from east to south. But we never had 180° shifts in trade wind conditions like you described for Cam Bay. Sounds really strange especially because you anchored upwind to the Island. Do you remember how strong the wind came from west? And do you have any explanations for the wind shift?

sunbvi,

As I recall the wind was light, maybe 5-10 knots from the west. I have no explanation for the wind shift, maybe the wind was funneling to the west off of Scrub then hitting Great Camino and becoming westerly but I would have thought the "low spot" between Lee and Cam Bay would have allowed the wind to continue thru.

My lesson learned was not to trust the wind to keep us safe from shore or other boats, even in the BVI's with the steady tradewinds. We've anchored in too many crowded places where you could tell many were not counting on a wind shift, a squall or other boats laying at anchor differently in light winds over night.

"beerMe",
I agree with you completely. Do you use because of your experience always a second anchor? My "strategy" is beside your points never (except very rare situations) to anchor upwind to reefs and Islands in trade winds to have enough time if the anchor alarm of my smartphone wakes me up.

In extreme conditions you simply have to stand an anchor watch.

We once anchored in the lee of Petit St. Vincent in a 2-knot NW current about 200 yards down-current of the reef. As we enjoyed the evening the tide began to switch and suddenly the though crossed my mind that if the current reversed it would pull our anchor out and it would probably not reset before we hit the reef. So we stood on deck with a beer in hand watching the tide from 9pm until almost midnight. Interestingly, the wind and tide balanced exactly and our boat rested contently about twenty feet directly above the anchor which we could see in the moonlight, the water being that clear. It soon became apparent that the tide would never in-fact completely flip and we retired for a good night sleep.