Soper’s Hole Tortola BVIs

Rounding the headland of Frenchmans Cay by Sopers Hole at the western end of Tortola

Having left Road Town at 1540hrs we still very comfortably had enough daylight left to sail the 7 miles to the western end of Tortola.  Attached to Tortola by a short bridge is the island of Frenchman’s Cay and the inlet that the northern side of this island makes with Tortola is Soper’s Hole.

Internet photos showing the paradise that was Soper’s Hole
 prior to Hurricane Irma and some of the devastation
 immediately afterwards - yes that is a catamaran on the roof!

Before Hurricane Irma hit, Soper’s Hole was a very neat village with brightly coloured buildings and a lovely waterfront boardwalk.  A few restaurants, including Pussers Landing, catered for food and drinks ashore whilst the Harbour Market allowed for victualling.  A café, diving centre plus a few souvenir shops, along with the beautiful setting made this a favourite haunt for visitors.  The 2 photos (left), sourced from the internet, give a feel for what a lovely corner of the Caribbean this was, whilst the third shows some of the devastation immediately after Hurricane Irma hit.

Turning into Soper’s Hole

Turning into Soper’s Hole we didn’t really know what to expect.  A few places we’d visited had been repaired quickly but, as we got closer in, we saw that the damage wrought by Hurricane Irma was still very much in evidence.  We did get one nice surprise though, and that was that Brian and Agnes were moored up in Brag.  The bay is quite deep and with lots of mooring buoys in the shallower part there wasn’t really room to anchor.  Instead, at 1730hrs, we picked up a mooring buoy close to Brag.

Plans to go ashore were shelved as Brian and Agnes shouted across that they were just popping the cork on a bottle of champagne and that we should come across.  Armed with a few goodies we joined them for an excellent evening on board Bragwhich extended into their cooking dinner for us as well.  Great fun all round.

In the morning we took our dinghy ashore to explore.  It was so saddening to see the damage.  The waterfront boardwalk had been ripped up and the palm trees blown down, or at best lost a lot of foliage.  The majority of buildings and roofs were still damaged although it was clear that a lot of repair work had already been started and that lots of people were still living in the village.  Voyages charter company operates from the boatyard at the western end of the village and we saw their staff hard at work repairing the damage to their fleet of yachts.

Pussers Landing’s upstairs bar still in business

The Harbour Market was just a shell of a building and totally empty, so there was no chance of purchasing any gourmet treats but D Best Cup Café was still working and seemed to be the busiest place in the village.  Pussers Landing, with its restaurant and upstairs bar, was once a main focal point for social activities but was now very quiet.  The downstairs area was out of action but the upstairs bar was still working and doling out Painkiller cocktails to the small clientele.

Looking out over the anchorage, despite a little Sargasso weed that had found its way into the bay, the sea still looked beautiful, the sun was still shining brightly and it was possible to imagine Soper’s Hole back as it once was.  It will take a lot of time, effort and money to get there but let’s hope that recovery happens soon.

Soper’s Hole,Tortola, BVIs