Sailing to Trellis Bay Tortola

We left Great Harbour on Peter Island at 0705 on Friday 13 April under leaden grey skies and with heavy rain showers close by. It was another early start because we had to be at Trellis Bay on the north side of Beef Island for a 1300 appointment. Whilst the direct route between the two places is only 8nm, it is a journey to the northeast and therefore we knew we might have to beat into wind, at least doubling the distance we would have to travel. As it happened, the wind remained slightly south of east so, though we could not sail directly to the eastern end of Beef Island, we didn’t have to beat all the way.

With squally, rainy weather we made good time and arrived off Trellis Bay by about 0930. The entrance to the bay is relatively narrow, guarded by a number of reefs and inside there are some large shoal areas to avoid too [Ed: avoiding the shoals was not made easier by the poor light conditions] It was still grey and generally rather grim and the view inside the bay didn’t do much to lift the spirits (the photos were taken after weather got a lot better).

Despite the carnage we had seen at the Bitter End Yacht Club and the sunk yachts we had seen in Sint Maarten, we weren’t really prepared for the hurricane damage in Trellis Bay. But I guess that might have been because of the poor weather.  When the sun came out the next day, things seemed better, though probably not to the owners of the beached yachts. There were yachts scattered everywhere along the shoreline and some a surprisingly long distance inshore too. Trellis Bay had previously had a large liveaboard community, many of whom probably no insurance so the big problem is who will pay to clear up the wrecks. Some of the less damaged boats have been bought by people with an eye for a bargain and the time or funds to make the necessary repairs but many of the yachts are damaged way beyond that. The BVI government has given the owners until 2019 to try to resolve the problem, which in many respects is very understanding, but it does mean that there is no incentive for a fast tidy up, which in itself will have an effect on the tourist trade.

And, as well as so many of the yachts in the bay being damaged or destroyed, most of the restaurants that had been on the shoreline were also devastated, some by the storm surge, some by the wind and some by boats crashing through them.

Boats washed up on the full moon party area of the beach

In the past, Trellis Bay had been famous for its full moon parties. Though we wouldn’t be here for the next full moon, we wondered if the parties were still taking place. Certainly, the people who live and work around the bay need something to look forward to each month.

A 5-minute walk from the anchorage to the departure hall. Now that’s what I call a convenient airport!

Charlotte was due to fly out from Beef Island airport two days later, so we now had the perfect opportunity to pop ashore on a recce of the airport and to find out if there were any last minute changes to her flight. We didn’t have a lot of time, but Trellis Bay has to be the most convenient anchorage for an airport that we have ever seen, so it was highly unlikely that we would be late meeting Alex who was to take us on a stand-up paddle board and kayak tour that afternoon.

Trellis Bay, Tortola, BVIs