A Cruising Guide to the Lesser Antilles
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A Cruising Guide to the Lesser Antilles Volume I: THE VIRGIN ISLANDS by Frank Virgintino A CRUISING GUIDE TO THE LESSER ANTILLES IN THREE VOLUMES Book 1 ~ Virgin Islands Book II ~ Leeward Islands Book III ~ Windward Islands Edition 1.0 July 2012 A CRUISING GUIDE TO THE LESSER ANTILLES. Volume I ~ The Virgin Islands. Ed. 1.0 Copyright © July 2012 by Frank Virgintino. All rights reserved. www.freecruisingguides.com A Cruising Guide to the Lesser Antilles: Vol. I – The Virgin Islands www.freecruisingguides.com Dedicated to: All the cruising sailors who have a desire to sail far and wide. May this guide provide you with insights that will make your trip through the Virgin Islands, both British and US, an unforgettable experience. Figure 1. LESSER ANTILLES ii Table of Contents PART I: OVERVIEW OF THE LESSER ANTILLES ..................................................... 1 ORIENTATION ...................................................................................................... 2 “THE BEATEN TRACK” .................................................................................. 12 CRIME ............................................................................................................ 12 OTHER DANGERS .......................................................................................... 13 CULTURE ............................................................................................................ 19 LESSER ANTILLES (Leeward & Windward) ......................................................... 23 LEEWARD ISLANDS OF THE LESSER ANTILLES .......................................... 24 THE WINDWARD ISLANDS OF THE LESSER ANTILLES ....................................... 41 PART II. CRUISING ~ ISLAND TO ISLAND,PORT TO PORT ..................................... 1 CRUISING THE VIRGIN ISLANDS ....................................................................... 3 US VIRGIN ISLANDS ......................................................................................... 5 ST. THOMAS ..................................................................................................... 9 ISLANDS ~ SOUTH SIDE ST. THOMAS ........................................................... 16 WEST COAST ISLANDS .................................................................................. 20 NORTH COAST ............................................................................................... 20 EAST SIDE ST. THOMAS ................................................................................. 21 ST. JOHN USVI ................................................................................................ 23 NORTH COAST ............................................................................................... 26 ST. JOHN ~ South Shore WEST ........................................................... 35 ST. CROIX ....................................................................................................... 38 NORTH COAST ............................................................................................... 39 WEST COAST .................................................................................................. 45 SOUTH COAST ................................................................................................ 46 BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS ................................................................................. 47 TORTOLA ....................................................................................................... 49 SOUTH SHORE TORTOLA~West of Road Town ............................................... 55 WEST END ...................................................................................................... 55 A Cruising Guide to the Lesser Antilles: Vol. I – The Virgin Islands www.freecruisingguides.com iii NORTH COAST ............................................................................................... 58 EAST COAST ................................................................................................... 59 MARINA CAY .................................................................................................. 62 SOUTHEAST COAST ....................................................................................... 64 ISLANDS TO THE SOUTH OF TORTOLA ....................................................... 69 SALT ISLAND, COOPER ISLAND AND GINGER ISLAND ............................... 75 NORTHWEST OF TORTOLA .......................................................................... 77 VIRGIN GORDA and offlying small islands ........................................................ 83 NORTH SOUND ............................................................................................... 88 SABA ROCK .................................................................................................... 99 PRICKLY PEAR ISLAND ............................................................................... 101 PRICKLY PEAR ANCHORAGES ................................................................... 103 NECKER ISLAND .......................................................................................... 104 ANEGADA ..................................................................................................... 106 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................... 110 ABOUT THE AUTHOR ........................................................................................... 111 Also by Frank Virgintino ............................................................................................ 112 A Cruising Guide to the Lesser Antilles: Vol. I – The Virgin Islands www.freecruisingguides.com iv TABLE OF FIGURES Figure 1. LESSER ANTILLES ........................................................................................................ i Figure 2. Percentage of time the Trade Wind “DOES NOT BLOW” ............................................. 5 Figure 3. Path of tropical “cyclogenesis” or development of tropical cyclones ............................ 10 Figure 4. HURRICANES SINCE 1960 in the CARIBBEAN ....................................................... 10 Figure 5. Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale ..................................................................................... 11 Figure 6. Virgin Islands to Grenada .............................................................................................. 23 Figure 7. The Leewards ................................................................................................................. 24 Figure 8. US Virgin Islands ........................................................................................................... 25 Figure 9. British Virgin Islands ..................................................................................................... 27 Figure 10. Anguilla ........................................................................................................................ 28 Figure 11. Saint-Martin/Sint Maarten ........................................................................................... 29 Figure 12. St Barts ......................................................................................................................... 31 Figure 13. Saba .............................................................................................................................. 32 Figure 14. Statia ............................................................................................................................ 33 Figure 15. St Kitts & Nevis ........................................................................................................... 34 Figure 16. Montserrat .................................................................................................................... 36 Figure 17. Barbuda ........................................................................................................................ 37 Figure 18. Antigua ......................................................................................................................... 38 Figure 19. Guadeloupe with Marie-Galante and Les Saintes ........................................................ 39 Figure 20. Dominica ...................................................................................................................... 40 Figure 21. The Windwards ............................................................................................................ 41 Figure 22. Martinique .................................................................................................................... 42 Figure 23. St Lucia ....................................................................................................................... 43 Figure 24. St Vincent… ................................................................................................................. 44 Figure 25. … and the Grenadines ................................................................................................. 45 Figure 26. Barbados ...................................................................................................................... 47 Figure 27. The Virgin Islands .......................................................................................................... 2 Figure 28. Eyeball navigation works well in the Virgin Islands ..................................................... 3 Figure 29. US Virgins ....................................................................................................................