TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands UPDATE - Booked, Provisioned and ready to go!

But still looking for input on route. Captain Mark on Orion was kind enough to put together this float plan for me:

Day 1 - Peter (Great Harbour)
Day 2 - Marina Cay/Trellis (thoughts on which is better for us?)
Day 3 - morning stop at The Baths then on to North Sound
Day 4 - Long sail over to JVD. Stop by Foxy's Taboo, then overnight in Great Harbour
Day 5 - Possible morning in White Bay then sail to Norman/Willy T
Day 6 - back to base

My only thought is it would be nice to get 2 nights in North Sound or JVD OR split up day 4. We could skip Peter and move everything up a day and build in a flex day.

What does TTOL think?

We are booked and fully provisioned through Footloose. 8 people, 5 nights on a 4600 in mid June. Staying at the Mariner Inn the night before boarding.

Wheels up in 81 days!

I would opt for Cooper over Great Harbor for your first night. We always try to make it our first or last stop.

Allen

Cooper is good for first/last night, but to avoid being shut out of a mooring it's important to get there early. Before noon is best.

Marina Cay over Trellis..new management at the Pusser's there..

Agree with Twanger on Cooper - mooring balls fill up fast. If you can get off the dock quickly and hustle over there, you should be fine.

I'd opt for 2 nights in the North Sound. We're doing that for our upcoming April trip - one night on either end of our trip to Anegada. There's so much that we haven't seen there and I'm looking forward to exploring a little more.

Mal - nice to hear about Marina Cay - it's on our itinerary this trip. A first for us!

I thought I remember reading on here that Cooper can be a little bumpy at anchor as it's not as protected.

I cant wait to here about it when you get back. We are in the process of booking with Mark for 2017. His boat looks amazing. Let us know how it goes.

ALWAYS have a Plan B (or C) if Plan A is Cooper! Especially in high season. Nice Plan Bs if able/confident to anchor are Bluffs Bay south of Beef Is (need to thread the reef but not that hard, just limited room for 4-5 boats (was just 1 other small cat there in early Mar), or south of Buck Is. Haulover around Cistern Pt if winds/swells tolerable.
We were down 1st week in March and Marina Cay was full by 2pm! There were at least 3 balls with missing/broken pendants there too.

Never been to Peter, but we love Cooper. Great restaurant and sometimes you'll see sea turtles!

We are not sailing with Mark, he was just kind enough to answer some questions for me and put together this float plan.

So everyone seems to favor Cooper over Peter for first night?

Seriously, Cooper can be very rolly and effects can be felt even in a cataramaran. Not a good place for Newbies especially for a first night, but, of course it depends on the weather conditions on the day. No one can tell you those until the day in question - if then, as conditions notoriously change over night. You are sailing. Always be prepared to have to change your plans due to weather conditions. Flexibility is core.

Cooper is a great first stop, but we just had a really nice time at Peter - Great Harbour. I'm really glad we tried it rather than go to Cooper this time. We got a mooring right close to shore. Snorkeling, scuba diving, and swimming right at your stern ladder (okay the diving it in the center of Great Harbour) but I was very impressed with Peter Island and plan to go back. There are so many great places to go! You should *definitely not stress* about going to once specific stop. Stay flexible and enjoy!!!!!