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LOCAL LORE
Articles by professional authors and other cruisers
Explore articles from the guidebook as well as more in-depth articles on the area, activities and the history of the Virgin Islands.
Each of the authors of the site has over twenty-five years of cruising experience in locations throughout the world. Check out the paths they have taken by clicking on the photos on the left.
We also offer you an opportunity to share your adventures with others. If you are interested, please submit your story via the Contact Us menu. If we determine that it would be of interest to our audience, we will contact you for photos.
In the meantime, we hope you'll check out Cruisers’ Chronicles and see how the islands inspire Diane Kirk who spends part of the year in the islands with Mike Kirk, one of the organizers for the West End Yachting Club Regattas.
Captain’s Log
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Going Ashore at The Baths
Getting ashore at The Baths can be a challenge. Maneuvering in the surf while unloading passengers can be dangerous,...
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Powering Through Paradise
The waters of the Virgin Islands encompass one of the world’s favorite cruising and sailing grounds. The region offers...
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Exploring The Virgin Islands
It’s January and every boater I know is ready for the sunshine and clear, warm blue water of the Caribbean and I think...
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Full Moon Night at the Bomba Shack
When planning your visit, you may want to look at the phases of the moon. Full-moon night is a special occasion in the BVI and...
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The Spirit of Anegada
For the sailing community, Lowell Wheatley is recognized as the man who made Anegada a destination. He was born in North Sound...
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A Great Mid-Point Break
My family looks forward to the Bitter End Yacht Club (BEYC) as their mid-point break on a charter in the BVI. While being on a...
Joe’s Journals
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Marina Cay — A Romantic History
When I first came to Marina Cay for Sunday brunch, in 1969, lobster was the only entrée and the critters were kept...
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Buried Treasure
Norman Island is the most intriguing of the Virgin Islands and was once also known as Norman’s Retreat, Normand’s...
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Snorkeling in Little Harbour
In October 1989, just two weeks after Hugo laid waste to the Virgin Islands on its way to flail Florida, I was aboard old...
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Dropping the Hook in Leinster Bay
In the days before the National Park Service supplied moorings, I dropped the hook, just before sundown, deep into the west...
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Cam Bay
After 20 years of cruising the VI, my late friend Fritz Seyfarth, a notable writer, humorist and sailor, offered to disclose...
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RMS RHONE
Scotsman James MacQueen had not yet seen his 20th birthday when he was already a sugar plantation manager on the island of...
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Anchor of the RHONE
In Great Harbour on Peter Island, there is a restricted anchoring zone directly over the site of the anchor of RMS RHONE. It...
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Salt
It is difficult to overstate the importance of salt to early European settlers and seamen who inhabited and sailed through the...
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Little Harbour
In the late eighties and early nineties I skippered HELEN R, an aged CSY 44, as a crewed charter in the VI. I had a kind of...
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Anchoring in White Bay
Over the years I have anchored in White Bay on Jost perhaps a dozen times. I have spent only four or five nights there, but...
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Peter Island
The caption of a period portrait of RMS RHONE—shown in the Salt Island section—mistakenly referenced “St....
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Buck Island
Buck Island Reef National Monument was established by presidential proclamation in 1961 and expanded in 2001 in order to...
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Rent a Car
If spending anymore than a day or two at Green Cay—or anywhere else on St. Croix for that matter—rent a car. The...
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Charlie
When I first arrived on St. Croix in the late ‘60s, I took a day job running tourists out to Buck Island in a little 32-...
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Cane, Sugar, Molasses & Rum
Sugarcane (Saccharum Officinarum) originated in the jungles of New Guinea and spread to southeast Asia and the Pacific islands...
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The Vicious Triangle
Before the spate of English, French and Spanish wars that flashed regularly between the 1700s and the 1800s, the British Navy...
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St. Croix Yacht Club
In 1969, the only yacht club on St. Croix was the St. Croix Yacht Club, a proper club with a proper clubhouse and properly...
Cruisers’ Chronicles
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Sun Allergy Didn't Stop Her
You might think it would be impossible to spend two weeks on a sailboat if you had an allergy to the sun, but Mark met a woman...
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Five Flamingos
Each year I sail to Anegada in the West End Yacht Club “Dark and Stormy Race” and no trip to this island is...
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Race for the Mark
Springtime is regatta season in the BVI and the Sir Francis Drake Channel is filled with sailboats. I spend this time on the...
