marina cay, a very rolly anchorage

I have never seen Marina cay roll like this.

Wind guru describes the swell from the north.

Have others had this experience?

We had one rough night there when the waves came right in over the reef.

Warren, were you on a mooring ball or at anchor? I've anchored a couple of times just outside of the mooring field and got a bit of the swell rolling in between Marina Cay and Beef Island but usually the wakes of the passing boats was worse. I would have assumed that with a north swell you would be protected by Scrub and Guana Islands.

Hi Arnd.

We are at the back of the field. This roll is comparable to cooper. And it's all night long.

We are close to the back of the mooring field. We have the reef to the south. The swell is broadside.

Marina cay is normally very calm. The problem can be that the current can turn your boat facing NNE and if there is a swell you will as mentioned be broadside to the current. Not fun on a monohull.
G

Funny, we were there early December with the same swell forecasted, anchored just south of the mooring field and my wife kept commenting how she couldn't believe how calm it was.

We anchor as between the restaurant and the dock, you know the spot George. We are close enough in to not get the swell.

we argue about this a lot! You have to realize that there is a current as well as wave action (or inaction). We too were there in early December, and actually stayed two nights because the water was so quiet.

Interestingly, the worst we have seen the mooring field was once when it was dead calm, and then the current kicked in. Boats were swinging every which way, with sterns coming close and dinghies bumping. We left for Trellis.

There are two places where current is a issue. Marina Cay and Cooper. Every boat has different underwater and above water windage so when current kicks in boats will face in different directions.
G

Not to change the subject or anything, but to the OP: Could you hear our chain saw this morning?

We left at 9. I did not hear a thing

We were there in early December, too. Wind and swell from the north. Took the dink to Scrub for dinner and observed extreme rolling at the dock in Scrub Island marina, with the Marina Cay mooring field perfectly flat in the background.

We spent 2 nights in a slip at Scrub in late November because our friends wanted to. The surge was very bad then too.

I have spent many nights at marina cay. Previously Only once did we have a bad night due to 30 knots winds pushing waves straight into the mooring field. Never before did I experience swells there

We spent a VERY rocky night at Marina Cay on our first BVI trip, and my wife has refused to return there ever since, despite the TTOL consensus that it is usually calm. We had dinner at Donovan's Reef, located about where the Scrub Island Marina is now, and the water was absolutely flat in front of the restaurant. We were very jealous of the catamaran that was anchored there.

Since then we've spent a couple of nights at Scrub, and again it was dead flat each time. I'm a little disappointed to hear that it's not always so.

Dan <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Cheers.gif" alt="" />

since Scrub is now a dock, it better be calm <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />

We visited Scrub in March and spent the night on the dock. It was more hobby horse than we'd like and pretty shallow. The staff were great, but the guests were not mixing. It was not a cheap visit. Given all that, we really don't have a desire to return given the other nearby options.

Cheers, RickG

Rick, we are planning to attend the fmp at Trellis on July 1 but will not arrive until late afternoon when mooring balls may not be available. I'm wondering about reserving a slip for a 42" cat at Scrub as plan B. We'll have 8 in our party. Your thoughts?

Re: Scrubb, I checked their marina website and it showed $3.00 per foot for <50 ft yachts. $135 + electricity for the night for a 45' cat? Did I see get that right? Whew. Paid $1.25/ft at Voyage in Sopers Hole last year for one night.

Lay beam to beam in your bunk and the roll becomes a rock. It will rock you to sleep.

Tim/Rick - I was planning on going to the FMP at Trellis on July 1st or 2nd - I have read two different dates, I believe the new cruising guide says the 2nd but the full moon is on the 1st. Was there a typo in the cruising guide. I can always flip which day we head Trellis.

Matt

BVI Newbie (http://bvinewbie.com/full-moon-party-bvi/) lists the following as full moon dates for 2015. I don't think these are cast in stone because I don't know where BVI Newbie gets their information. There is occasionally confusion as to the exact date of a particular Full Moon party and sometimes the party is held on different nights at different places. I know many people like to plan far in advance but that does not always work well in the BVI.

Full Moon Party Dates – 2015
January 5th
February 3rd
March 5th
April 4th
May 4th
June 2nd
July 2nd
July 31st
August 29th
September 28th
October 27th
November 25th
December 25th

Thanks rm3 - things have not changed, we'll be there the which ever day.