Journal
Not a locked itinerary. A loop the weather is allowed to edit.
Most seven-night charters in these islands still start at Nanny Cay, on the south shore of Tortola. Saturday is the usual turnaround. You fly Beef Island (EIS) or come by ferry from St. Thomas. The yacht is yours that afternoon. The week ends the following Friday night or Saturday morning, back on the same dock.
What follows is how a good week actually runs — not a brochure list of every beach in the book.
Clear in, walk the boat, eat on board or a short ride into town. A late flight is a reason to stay on the dock, not a reason to punch for Norman Island in the dark. Provisioning is done before you arrive on an all-inclusive week. On a captain-only week you shop Friday or Saturday morning, or you send a list.
Norman Island for the caves and The Indians if the swell is kind. Peter, Salt, Cooper when you want a quieter night. This is short-hop water. You are not proving anything. You are getting the group used to the boat, the snorkel, and lunch in the cockpit.
If The Baths is on the week, we like it early — often Sunday or Monday morning — before the day boats stack the moorings. There is a separate note on that hour.
Spanish Town, Savannah Bay, then the North Sound when the group wants a restaurant night and settled water. Leverick, Saba Rock, Bitter End: those names are the evening, not the whole week. A family that wants quiet will take a mooring off a beach instead and cook on board.
Anegada is the flat island to the north. The beaches are the reason people ask. The crossing is the reason we sometimes say no. You want a settled window and a kind north-easterly, not a leftover swell from a front. Two nights is the usual shape: one to arrive and swim, one to eat lobster if the season and the kitchen allow, then south again before the breeze builds.
If the window is not there, you keep the week inside the Drake Channel and the North Sound. That is not a lesser week. It is the week the sea offered.
White Bay, Sandy Cay, a late afternoon at White Bay when the day boats have left. We do not build a week around a bar. We will hold a table if you want one. Tell the desk before you fly.
A last quiet anchorage on the west or south of Tortola beats a Friday-night marina. Saturday morning you are on the dock with time for the airport. EIS is close. A 14:00 flight is comfortable. An 11:00 flight means an earlier pickup and less coffee on deck.
The captain sets the order once you are on the water. The desk sets the yacht, the crew, and the first night before you land.