Mooring Question

I’m finally headed to BVI for 1 week of sailing aboard my vessel.

Personally I’d rather anchor as I trust my ground tackle however realize most anchorages are filled with BB & FCFS. I do not wish to reserve a mooring rather use FCFS or anchor if possible.

With that in mind and the following itinterary can this be accomplished? I simply do not know if the mooring fields I’m choosing have FCFS.

1. West End
2. Norman
3. Peter Island or Cooper Island
4. North Sound
5. Anegada
6. Diamond Cay

Thank you.

I will always anchor rather than moor, since I've seen too many of those break away in benign conditions.

1. West End - one can anchor outside in 50 feet and somewhat choppy water.
2. Norman - good holding to anchor, but 50+ feet depth
3. Peter Island - the anchoring spots are a bit deep, as the shallow shelf is full of mooring balls.
4. Cooper - Interdicted due to sea grass and turtles
5. North Sound - lots of good anchoring. Right off the mooring field at Leverick in 20 feet, off Sand Box in 10 feet, off Saba Rock in 30 feet
6. Anegada - good holding in shallow water towards the commercial dock
7. Diamond Cay - tough holding in 30-40 off the mooring field, towards B-Line Bar

Thank you for the detailed response! Much appreciated!

Do you happen to know if there are FCFS moorings in all the anchorages I listed? Really I’m inquiring about DC, as I believe all others do.

DC is one of our quiet favorites back in the day.

Thank you Zanshin!

Yes - there are still some FCFS balls near BLine in Diamond Cay. Cooper FCFS balls are typically taken very early - honestly it isn’t worth the hassle. We anchored at Guana this week.

Yes thank you MIDiver. I wish to avoid frustration. So will most likely avoid Cooper. IMO it’s over rated anyways.

We only have 8 nights / 7 full days with my daughter aboard so want to avoid unnecessary sailing. Want to hit the highlights of BVI, so much to see and very little time.

The area around the East End of JVD particularly south of Diamond Cay has the only significant sea grass meadows left on Jost Van Dyke.

Anchoring might be your standard practice but it comes at an environmental cost if you anchor on the sea grass.

Is there such a thing?

Thank you for making this point, gerroa. There are a number of areas in the BVI that have been ravaged by years of anchoring. IMO moorings should be used when available for this reason.