Why We Keep Coming Back to Sail the British Virgin Islands After 40 Years of Cruising | Ep 265
This time on Distant Shores we take you to one of the world's most popular sailing and bareboat charter destinations, the British Virgin Islands or BVI, where Paul and I have returned again and again throughout 40 years of international cruising. We'll show you why we love it, why some cruisers don't, why we think it's a great place to invite guests aboard who are new to sailing or to show your loved ones the joys of the sailing lifestyle especially if they're a bit skeptical about your dream to sail off into the sunset. Throughout, we'll highlight some of our favourite places and the many non-sailing activities to be enjoyed in these beautiful protected islands.
⛵️See Distant Shores IV at the Hiswa te Water Boat Show, September 3-7, 2025 😎
If you are going to be in the Netherlands during the week of September 3-7, 2025 we welcome you aboard Distant Shores IV at stand D38 at the Hiswa te Water Boat Show. This popular in-water boat show is held annually at Batavia Haven on the waterfront in Lelystad. Come and see what an Enksail Orion 49 aluminum sailboat looks like and visit the boat you see in Distant Shores videos.
00:00 Intro
01:14 BVI Sailing Map
01:38 Our first visit to the British Virgin Islands
02:13 Why come back to the BVI?
03:29 BVI sailing conditions year round
03:43 Underwater BVI highlights
04:44 Jost Van Dyke
05:13 The Baths BVI
05:30 Marina Cay Reef BVI underwater
06:47 Sailing Sir Francis Drake Channel
07:26 Anchor Snubber technique Rolling Hitches
09:18 Headsail change to Code Zero
10:04 Halyard System
11:09 How to Flake a Sail
13:42 Sailing Offshore to Anegada
15:21 Anegada Mooring Field
15:43 Reading a Pilot Chart for the British Virgin Islands
16:19 Dolphins at The Bight, Norman Island
17:09 Summarizing the BVI trip
#bvisailing #britishvirginislands #precisionsails
⛵️ Our Boat: Enksail Orion 49 aluminum sailboat with variable-draft swing-keel
https://distantshores.ca/about-us/the-boats/
Yacht Manufacturer: Enksail Yachts / Gebroeders van Enkhuizen Yachtbuilding https://enksail.gebrvanenkhuizen.nl/en/
♥️ Partners:
Celestaire Sextants: https://www.celestaire.com/
Combi Electric Propulsion Systems: https://combi-outboards.com/en
De Vries Sails: https://www.devriessails.nl/
ePropulsion: https://www.epropulsion.com/
Gill Marine: https://www.gillmarine.com/
GN Espace Ocean Chef: https://www.gn-espace.com/product/oceanchef-3-induction-cooker
Highfield Boats: https://www.highfieldboats.com/
Lewmar: https://www.lewmar.com/
Ocean Safety: https://www.oceansafety.com/
Precision Sails: https://www.precisionsailloft.com/
PredictWind: https://www.predictwind.com/
Raymarine: https://www.raymarine.com/
Seldén Mast: https://www.seldenmast.com/
Scanstrut: https://www.scanstrut.com/
Super B Lithium Batteries: https://www.super-b.com/en
🏝️ Sail Away Weeks - Join the Crew!
Get an introduction to the cruising lifestyle by joining Paul and Sheryl for a week or more of sailing adventure aboard their new Enksail Orion 49 on a leg of their current voyage. Experience life on the water sailing to distant shores, build new skills, get onboard consulting in a beautiful location to help plan and budget for your own long-distance voyage in the future. Learn more here:
https://distantshores.ca/sailaway-weeks/upcoming-passages/25-26-schedule/
🎁 Gifts for Sailors!
Own the Whole Distant Shores Collection: All 157 full half-hour episodes of the Distant Shores Sailing Adventure TV series are available as a collectors set as HD downloads (no longer available on DVD) through the Distant Shores website. This is perfect for binge-watching and makes a great gift for the sailor in your life! Info and order here:
https://www.distantshores.ca/sailingdvds/catalog/
⚓️ Join our Community!
Distant Shores videos are made possible by the support of Distant Shores Patrons. Join our community for early ad-free viewing of videos, invitations to meetups and other special events as well as member-only livestreams, tutorials and Q&A's. We'd love to welcome you aboard!
https://www.youtube.com/distantshorestv
You can also connect with us on:
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/distantshorestv
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/distantshorestv
SPONSORSHIP & BUSINESS INQUIRIES: [email protected]
Thank you for watching!
Sheryl and Paul
Distant Shores TV
The Distant Shores sailing adventure travel TV series follows the global sailing adventures of award-winning travel documentary filmmakers and sailing authors, Paul and Sheryl Shard. The TV series celebrates the sailing lifestyle and features the world's top nautical destinations as well as shore-side attractions. Sail off into the sunset with Paul and Sheryl and leave your cares behind... (130 x 30-minute episodes)
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This time on Distant Shores we take you to one of the world’s most popular sailing and bareboat charter destinations, the British Virgin Islands or BVI, where Paul and I have returned again and again throughout 40 years of international cruising. We’ll show you why we love it, why some cruisers don’t, why we think it’s a great place to invite guests aboard who are new to sailing or to show your loved ones the joys of the sailing lifestyle especially if they’re a bit skeptical about your dream to sail off into the sunset. Throughout, we’ll highlight some of our favourite places and the many non-sailing activities to be enjoyed in these beautiful protected islands.
⛵️See Distant Shores IV at the Hiswa te Water Boat Show, September 3-7, 2025 😎
If you are going to be in the Netherlands during the week of September 3-7, 2025 we welcome you aboard Distant Shores IV at stand D38 at the Hiswa te Water Boat Show. This popular in-water boat show is held annually at Batavia Haven on the waterfront in Lelystad. Come and see what an Enksail Orion 49 aluminum sailboat looks like and visit the boat you see in Distant Shores videos.
00:00 Intro
01:14 BVI Sailing Map
01:38 Our first visit to the British Virgin Islands
02:13 Why come back to the BVI?
03:29 BVI sailing conditions year round
03:43 Underwater BVI highlights
04:44 Jost Van Dyke
05:13 The Baths BVI
05:30 Marina Cay Reef BVI underwater
06:47 Sailing Sir Francis Drake Channel
07:26 Anchor Snubber technique Rolling Hitches
09:18 Headsail change to Code Zero
10:04 Halyard System
11:09 How to Flake a Sail
13:42 Sailing Offshore to Anegada
15:21 Anegada Mooring Field
15:43 Reading a Pilot Chart for the British Virgin Islands
16:19 Dolphins at The Bight, Norman Island
17:09 Summarizing the BVI trip
#bvisailing #britishvirginislands #precisionsails
⛵️ Our Boat: Enksail Orion 49 aluminum sailboat with variable-draft swing-keel
https://distantshores.ca/about-us/the-boats/
Yacht Manufacturer: Enksail Yachts / Gebroeders van Enkhuizen Yachtbuilding https://enksail.gebrvanenkhuizen.nl/en/
♥️ Partners:
Celestaire Sextants: https://www.celestaire.com/
Combi Electric Propulsion Systems: https://combi-outboards.com/en
De Vries Sails: https://www.devriessails.nl/
ePropulsion: https://www.epropulsion.com/
Gill Marine: https://www.gillmarine.com/
GN Espace Ocean Chef: https://www.gn-espace.com/product/oceanchef-3-induction-cooker
Highfield Boats: https://www.highfieldboats.com/
Lewmar: https://www.lewmar.com/
Ocean Safety: https://www.oceansafety.com/
Precision Sails: https://www.precisionsailloft.com/
PredictWind: https://www.predictwind.com/
Raymarine: https://www.raymarine.com/
Seldén Mast: https://www.seldenmast.com/
Scanstrut: https://www.scanstrut.com/
Super B Lithium Batteries: https://www.super-b.com/en
🏝️ Sail Away Weeks – Join the Crew!
Get an introduction to the cruising lifestyle by joining Paul and Sheryl for a week or more of sailing adventure aboard their new Enksail Orion 49 on a leg of their current voyage. Experience life on the water sailing to distant shores, build new skills, get onboard consulting in a beautiful location to help plan and budget for your own long-distance voyage in the future. Learn more here:
https://distantshores.ca/sailaway-weeks/upcoming-passages/25-26-schedule/
🎁 Gifts for Sailors!
Own the Whole Distant Shores Collection: All 157 full half-hour episodes of the Distant Shores Sailing Adventure TV series are available as a collectors set as HD downloads (no longer available on DVD) through the Distant Shores website. This is perfect for binge-watching and makes a great gift for the sailor in your life! Info and order here:
https://www.distantshores.ca/sailingdvds/catalog/
⚓️ Join our Community!
Distant Shores videos are made possible by the support of Distant Shores Patrons. Join our community for early ad-free viewing of videos, invitations to meetups and other special events as well as member-only livestreams, tutorials and Q&A’s. We’d love to welcome you aboard!
https://www.youtube.com/distantshorestv
You can also connect with us on:
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/distantshorestv
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/distantshorestv
SPONSORSHIP & BUSINESS INQUIRIES: [email protected]
Thank you for watching!
Sheryl and Paul
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