TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands Cooper Island- Lunch Stop Anchor/Mooring?

When we sail in February our first stop after casting off from Road Harbor will be Cooper Island for Cocktails, Limin and Lunch. We are planning to leave Cooper after lunch. I’ve read the concerns of being able to get an available mooring ball for lunch there. I’ve never anchored there but need to be prepared to anchor if we can’t get on a ball.

I would appreciate any tips on anchorages at Cooper.

Thank you,

Tony

There really are no good spots to anchor at Cooper. You could go around the point to Carvel bay and dinghy back around. Stopping to swap tanks and have lunch at the Cooper Island Beach club was something we used to do all the time. Sadly with the advent of Boaty Ball it’s much more difficult so we skip it. Cooper tends to be most crowded Saturday-Monday. I think you will be able to find a FCFS ball on other days of the week for lunch until more balls get converted to boatyball.
G

Anchoring beyond Cistern Pt in Carvel Bay is not a bad dinghy ride, allow room for backwinding.
The next bay down that side of Cooper is Haulover Bay, I have spent a number of nights anchored there over the decades, usually for rendezvous dives -- bit of a ride back to Cooper but depends on the dinghy and # of passengers.
The many discussions on BoatBalling will continue to impact one mooring field after another.

Boaty Ball has kind of screwed up using Cooper as a lunch stop. Sad but personally I don't see it as a good lunch option any more.

I have to agree. In the past, we liked to stop at Cooper for lunch on our way to drop off our boat on our last day. Last time, we arrived around 10:30 and luckily got the last non bb. And yes all the bb’s were empty. Other boats came in and left because there were no empty balls. Not worth the effort anymore. Hopefully Cooper will realize their loss of lunch revenue and do away with bb

I anchored at Manchoineel Bay the night of January 1st. I chose to anchor behind the mooring field to the west of the field in 60 feet of water. If I had to do it again I would choose to tuck in to the northwest of Cistern point, as some rollers came through at 4 AM, likely wrapping around Quart-a-Nancy Point. However, if you are just stopping for lunch, a quick anchor really should not be a problem. The bottom is grass and sand. I had no problem setting my plow anchor.

How much chain did you deploy.

Warren,

If you are talking to me, 180 ft, which is everything I had to deploy and still ride on the bridle.

C

I would have thought you might need a little more.

3 to 1 is fine for a lunch stop in settled weather.

And it would help if a skilled person stays on board,

It’s all the chain the boat had. That was overnight. I backed down on it with both engines to 2000 RPm and it held solid. It was set.

It’s not like it was blowing 20 or anything.

Definitely not a wise thing to do, sometimes a strong squall might go by and you could be aground on a reef or out to sea.

@sail445: Do tell what part isn’t wise? 3:1 scope on an all chain rode? Setting the anchor with both engines at near 80% fuel stop power? Setting the anchor alarm on the gps? Knowing the bottom is proper for my anchor because I have dove it?

Please. Teach me.

You could have been hooked on a rock or coral and if the tide changes or a squall you’d drift.
I’m not here to teach anyone you should know.

Like I said, I knew what the bottom was personally. I had seen it with my own eyes.

Go bloviate elsewhere.

You’re the one running your mouth greenhorn.

So much added value in posts by sail445. Do a search for his posts via his username. Lots of the same kind of condescending content.

Greenhorn? You don’t even know me. How many charters in these waters I have, how many in other waters in the Caribbean, what I do for a living, the boats I own, my sea time, etc. oh, maybe I don’t live on this forum like you do. That must be the nature of your comment.

Have fun trying to convince people how smart you are. Guess your ego needs that.

Personally I could care less about your boring history.

I gave my opinion and for some reason it irritated you so much that you spent a whole day investigating my previous comments.
Chill out and relax.