How's the sailing on the south side of the islands

Never sailed south of the channel. Done the north side a few times, and it was a bit on the rough side, but manageable, almost every time.

How is it on the other side of the islands, to the south?

Statistically the greatest wind and waves in the Virgin Islands can be found coming from the ESE.

Sea conditions will always depend on the forecast and the weather many miles away from previous days. In most cases large waves have travelled from storms and winds hundreds if not thousands of miles away. Across the Caribbean the trades and winds generally have an easterly flow. While large waves can come from any direction any time of the year. Anything in the "south" side would be completely unprotected from any wind or wave from the East. The other issue is once outside to the South the line of sight navigation can be very confusing. Unless you truly know how to navigate(following a GPS and computer screen is not navigation) I would not venture in that direction.

The sailing draw of the BVI is the protection offered in Sir Francis Drake Channel and the ability to navigate purely by line of sight.

Here is what you could expect this week sailing offshore to the south of the BVI.

436 AM AST THU APR 7 2016

.SYNOPSIS FOR PUERTO RICO AND THE U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS WATERS...
HIGH PRESSURE AT THE SURFACE WELL NORTH OF THE LOCAL ISLANDS WILL CONTINUE TO SHIFT FARTHER NORTHEAST INTO THE NORTH CENTRAL ATLANTIC PUSHING A WEAK FRONT WITH IT. LOW PRESSURE WILL MOVE INTO
THE WESTERN ATLANTIC ON FRIDAY KEEPING THE GRADIENTS DRIVING THE TRADE WINDS OVER US WEAK SATURDAY AND SUNDAY.

$$



SEAS ARE PROVIDED AS A RANGE OF THE AVERAGE HEIGHT OF THE HIGHEST 1/3 OF THE SEAS...ALONG WITH THE OCCASIONAL HEIGHT OF THE AVERAGE HIGHEST
10 PERCENT OF THE SEAS.



AMZ722-072130-
ANEGADA PASSAGE SOUTHWARD TO 17N-
436 AM AST THU APR 7 2016


TODAY
SOUTHEAST WINDS 10 TO 15 KNOTS. SEAS 3 TO 5 FEET WITH
OCCASIONAL SEAS UP TO 6 FEET. DOMINANT PERIOD 9 SECONDS. ISOLATED SHOWERS.

TONIGHT
EAST WINDS 10 TO 15 KNOTS. SEAS 3 TO 5 FEET WITH
OCCASIONAL SEAS UP TO 6 FEET. DOMINANT PERIOD 9 SECONDS. ISOLATED SHOWERS.

FRIDAY
EAST WINDS 10 TO 15 KNOTS. SEAS 3 TO 5 FEET WITH
OCCASIONAL SEAS UP TO 6 FEET. DOMINANT PERIOD 10 SECONDS. NORTH SWELL 4 TO
5 FEET IN THE AFTERNOON. ISOLATED SHOWERS.

FRIDAY NIGHT
EAST WINDS 10 TO 15 KNOTS. SEAS 4 TO 6 FEET WITH
OCCASIONAL SEAS UP TO 8 FEET. DOMINANT PERIOD 11 SECONDS. NORTH SWELL 4 TO
5 FEET. ISOLATED SHOWERS.

SATURDAY
EAST WINDS 10 TO 15 KNOTS. SEAS 4 TO 6 FEET WITH
OCCASIONAL SEAS UP TO 8 FEET. DOMINANT PERIOD 10 SECONDS. NORTH SWELL 4 TO
5 FEET. SCATTERED SHOWERS.

SUNDAY
EAST WINDS 10 TO 15 KNOTS. SEAS 4 TO 6 FEET WITH
OCCASIONAL SEAS UP TO 8 FEET. DOMINANT PERIOD 10 SECONDS. NORTH SWELL 4 TO
5 FEET. ISOLATED SHOWERS.

MONDAY
EAST WINDS 10 TO 15 KNOTS. SEAS 3 TO 5 FEET WITH
OCCASIONAL SEAS UP TO 6 FEET. DOMINANT PERIOD 8 SECONDS. SCATTERED SHOWERS.

$$

Definitely rougher out there, but it's a great way to push the envelope and experience open water sailing. If it's too rough for you, head downwind and come back into SFD channel at an appropriate passage.

I have sailed the south side fishing the south drop. The day we fished there it was definitely more sporty than the channel but certainly wasn't bad. The forecast was about what StormJib showed. Waves were 4-6 with a few bigger ones mixed in. Just keep in mind that it is more the dominant period that makes it rough. 4-6 with a 10 second period is nothing like 4-6 with with less distance between the waves.

But did you catch any fish?

We've done the south side many times. Swell + chop is not fun, so we check the weather first and turn back if things are too frisky. But we've had days, including in January, where it was very calm and a relaxed sail. The sail from Coral Bay, St. John to North Sound, Virgin Gorda last January was particularly nice. We head out to the south drop and fish on the way and have gotten bonita, mackerel and barracuda.

Cheers, RickG

Unfortunately not that day. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Sad.gif" alt="" />

But later in the week when we were leaving Anegada, we went North for a while and caught two really nice 8-10lb yellow fin tuna. Those were absolutely FANTASTIC grill later that day at Diamond Cay!

Been sailing the BVI for more than 30 years. Every time I am there I usually try to get on the south side at least once for a short time. My wife knows what to expect and always limits the venture to just once per trip. I enjoy the challenge and looking at the expressions of the crew, especially newbies, as I explain the difference between sailing in protected and unprotected waters while the waves are several feet over their head while sitting in the cockpit.

As mentioned, you must know what you are doing and realize you are on a lee shore.

<img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Yikes.gif" alt="" />No thank you!

I have found it to be not that different than the run to Anegada. can be much more fun/much worse (depending on your idea of fun)

When its crowded in the channel, its a great place to get your bare boating in

Thanks everyone! Sounds not unlike the Mediterranean in some ways.

Sailing west while south of the islands would be much nicer than sailing east!

This is what we do when we fish. We head out between Ginger and Round Rock and fish to Norman zig zaging over the shelf.

We poked out between Peter and Salt on our last trip and came back in on the West side of Norman. Winds were 15-25 and the swell on the outside was 6-8' with the occasional 10 footer rolling through compared to 3-6' on the inside. It does get a little bigger once you get out past the South islands, but it seemed like the wind and swell were a bit cleaner too. In any case, I figured we could just tuck back into the lee of Peter if conditions were too much for our guests, but they were all troopers. The period was probably 10-12 seconds so it wasn't too bad. It was a fun change of perspective cruising into The Bight from the "wrong" direction with the sun settling into the horizon.