First Time Bareboater - Marine Forecast Advice

Currently moored in Leverick in a 43’ power cat deciding our next move. We will likely skip Anagada for more reasons than the forecast. We are traveling counter clockwise. Anything to be concerned about below or proceed as planned?


SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM SATURDAY EVENING THROUGH
MONDAY EVENING


SATURDAY NIGHT
Northeast winds 5 to 10 knots. Seas 8 to 10 feet
with occasional seas up to 11 feet. Dominant period 13 seconds.
North swell 4 to 8 feet. Scattered showers.

SUNDAY
Northeast winds 10 to 15 knots. Seas 8 to 10 feet with
occasional seas up to 11 feet. Dominant period 13 seconds. North
swell 4 to 9 feet. Scattered showers.

SUNDAY NIGHT
Southeast winds 10 to 15 knots. Seas 8 to 10 feet
with occasional seas up to 11 feet. Dominant period 13 seconds.
North swell 4 to 9 feet. Isolated showers.


Thanks in advance for your help!!!

Definitely don't plan to be in Cane Garden Bay while that north swell is happening. There are probably more locations that people can tell you about but CGB is the most important one to avoid.

White Bay JVD and Cooper Island Beach Club can also be uncomfortable in a north swell.

What about the 10 ft seas at 13 sec? It will be my first time in seas that big. How uncomfortable of a ride will that be in a 43’ Power cat? Would that alter your plans?

I'd hang out in North Sound for a couple days. Rent a car. Head to the Baths. Explore Virgin Gorda.

We did that yesterday. Today’s forecast doesn’t look too bad so I’m not to worried about leaving today. It’s more about Sun/Mon (we return to Road Town Tues morning).

I am heading down Monday or Tuesday. I have been watching the forecast and that is a strange one. It’s odd to have such high seas combined with a North swell but light winds. I am not sure what your plans were for the rest of the trip. I would probably head down to Jost tonight. You can easily spend two nights there. If you take the inland route by Marina Key it should be fine. It is easy from Jost to jump back into the SFD to go to Norman or Peter.
G

Would you totally discount Anegada? We are reconsidering and thinking about going to the Lobster Festival. Thoughts?

Anegada should be OK in the main anchorage. The wind out of the SE could be a issue. It depends on how far south. The further S the more lumpy the anchorage might be. Still I think it will be acceptable. Snorkeling on the N side of the island will be poor with the N swell.
G

What about return trip tomorrow? How uncomfortable is 8-10 at 13 sec? Trying to be considerate of my crew (11 yr old daughter)?

It’s a weird forecast. The N swell is a non issue out in the open water. I don’t understand the high sea state with relatively light winds. Still I think you will be OK heading to Jost since it should be quartering to abeam. Does your daughter get seasick?

She hasn’t ever been before, but then again we have never been in seas like that before. I guess we will find out.

Mon looks better than Sun so worst case we stay in Anegada two days and hit Jost on our last full day.

I looked at it again and checked WindGuru. I think your going to be fine. WindGuru has wave heights at 3 to 4 feet. I think they are adding wave height to swell which is not normally what they do. I would go for it.
G

Thanks!!! I appreciate you helping out a rookie!!!

I came down from Anegada in Feb with 8-10 ft waves and same period however with SSE winds on a 52 power cat. I dog legged my way down through the waves with 8 other guys. Before you leave I would stow everything and have everyone sit up with you on the flying bridge and a life jacket on your daughter. It wasn't fun but was great practice. My main issue is the other 8 had run up a huge bar bill at CowWreck and werent much help

Like George I cant figure out the inconsistency of wind guru wave heights with NOAA wave heights and "only" 10-15kt winds but I am sure many of those on this board that are way smarter than I can opine

Wind guru

https://www.windguru.cz/58

NOAA

https://marine.weather.gov/MapClick.php?zoneid=amz715#.XeKPk-hKh3j

I might plan to stay at Anegada another day as you can never have enough time up there. Also check with your base (e.g. Moorings) and get the latest weather from them

Have a great time

Pretty calm right now at MC. Winds are gusting to 2, maybe 3 mph - certainly not enough to deter the bugs! Haven’t looked at the airport windsock, but the planes are taking off as normal.

Going up and back you'll want to find an angle to the waves that's more comfortable and a speed (or lack thereof) to match, basically "tacking" or zig wagging, the two legs of the zig zig not neccesarily the same length. Should be fun and something to look back on, a sea story for your kids

Ps: the light winds mean those seas will be laid down, 13 sec is a long time for a swell, the horizon will be obscured in the troughs but it's really cool going to Anegada and seeing the trees pop up out of the sea on the horizon

8 to 10 feet in deep water is a whole lot different than 8 to 10 in low water. In low wind, there are no waves breaking at the surface, there is no random chop, so the motion is FAR more like a rocking chair than a mechanical bull. If it helps with the angle to the swell, it's perfectly doable to head to Anegada from Marina Cay or Scrub. I've done that sail to Anegada from Marina Cay in 8-10 foot swell, on a 50' monohull, and no one in the cockpit even had to grab their beverage.

A 8 to 10 foot swell in open water is a non issue as you mention. A 8 to 10 foot wave action generated by wind is miserable. The winds forecast don’t support the wave report.

The N swells become a problem when you have E to S winds going into the N swells,the swells then become steep waves and then you mix that with the wind generated waves produced by the E to S winds and then you have a washing machine

Swell still building --wind is light overall --

https://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/show_plot...uom=E&time_diff=0&time_label=GMT

Big rolling waves from the north this morning, which started last night. As I stand at my kitchen window, I can see them coming down the channel between Scrub and Camanoe. Winds are still light. A lot of cloud cover.

Shifted vantage points: there’s rain on VG and in the SFD channel.

Based on the current forecast, would Mooring at Marina Cay tonight be an issue???

Marina Cay should be fine. It’s well protected.

The sweet sound of the cistern refilling! Looks like rain pretty much everywhere.

Made it safely to Marina Cay. Timed it perfect so we avoided all the scattered rain in the area. Ride here wasn’t too bad, we cruised a little faster to lengthen the period between swells since they were coming from behind us. Bonus is know one aboard got sick!!!

Shout out to everyone for their help, especially George, thanks for helping this rookie out.

Did you go to Anegada, Five Faces?

Yes, we loved the island!!!

That said we would probably skip it in the future if we came back during
Lobsterfest. While I have never been there before it wasn’t as it has been described here on this forum. One of the bartenders at Cow Wreck sat there and stared at us and said nothing, when we finally gave him our drink order he rolled his eyes as if to say how dare you bother me. I gave him a $20 tip hoping it would cheer him up and hopefully get a better reception for my next order, nope. I’m blaming it on Lobsterfest, maybe extra help for the higher the demand.

Before everyone gets upset at me for trashing Anegada let me say we loved the island. Loved FOB and ABC. Kids got to see a nurse shark right by the Wonky Dog dock, my wife was even yelling at some woman swimming on their beach to get out of the water. I couldn’t help but laugh, the swimmer was laughing too. My wife was panicing. Bonus was the jerked mango lobster at the Wonky Dog was the best I ever had, if you like a little heat, try it!!!

We were initially quite turned off by our reception in Anegada, specifically Cow Wreck, but I’m chalkin it off as someone having a bad day. We can’t wait to go back to see what it’s like when Lobsterfest is NOT in full swing.

Glad you made the journey up to Anegada bc now you know you can do it...

As a general rule we skip all crowds in BVI whether Lobsterfest, Interline regatta, Full Moon party, poker Runs etc...

Glad it turned out ok. When I recommended that you go for it I hoped I would not read your next post about how miserable it was. I had a friend down there who ran from the N sound to Jost. Expected the worst based on the reports but said it was a great ride. Nice swell however! Looks like the swell will be gone by Thursday. Keeping my fingers crossed because I have a lot of diving planned!
G

Cow Wreck is an honor bar. Maybe the guy who ignored you was a drunk customer!

Last full day and today’s forecast looks similar to yesterday’s. We are headed from Marina Cay to Jost. We will take the SFD route in the hopes of being a little more protected for much of the ride.

It’s a honor bar now and then but usually it’s tended.

It depends on the crowd!

We were at Cow Wreck last Sunday (the 24th). It was laid back, and it was an honor bar. We went back the next day and it had gotten quite crowded, and It was staff only allowed behind the bar.

RW

Lots of lightning and some thunder tonight.