Our 4th port of call was Road Town in the British Virgin Islands. We had not been there before so we really didn’t know what to expect. The port looked very nice as we sailed in.
We passed through the port facilities and headed up the road towards the downtown. There is a familiar sign. Apparently the BVI is a big offshore banking center. Canadian banks have a presence there.
The skies looked ominous. Were we in for another drenching like yesterday?
The downtown was supposed to be close by the cruise terminal so we pressed on.
Suddenly the skies opened up and rain came down in buckets. Fortunately we found ourselves right in front of the Bamboushay pub so we ducked in.
It was a little early for serious drinking, so we shared a diet Coke and waited for the rain to subside.
The Bamboushay was a pleasant enough spot to wait out the rain. We got directions to downtown from the bartender.
There wasn’t a lot of commercial activity in Road Town that we could see though. It appears a bit undeveloped as a cruise port. There were business and government offices but not a lot for serious shoppers.
The rain showers were over so we spent a bit of time walking around Road Town.
Looks like you wouldn’t be thirsty if you lived here. Plenty of pubs to choose from.
We figured our best bet for souvenirs would be in the port complex, so after our tour of downtown we headed back. The giant Norwegian Encore was berthed beside us.
A nice lady was kind enough to take a photo for us.
Here’s the Encore – 170,000 tons, 5000 passengers. She sails from Miami.
We were about 40,000 tons smaller and 1000 less guests aboard.
Here are a few pictures taken from our deck 15. You can see the NCL ship is much larger.
They have all the bells and whistles to keep the kids happy.
Norwegian Encore must have 18 decks at least, She really towered over us.
This shows the port area with downtown in the background. The weather was much nicer in the afternoon but we were leaving early to sail to the Dominican.
We kicked back on our balcony and enjoyed the view. We were not obstructed by the big ship beside us.
Lots of ferries passed by. They had been taking folks to the beaches or other close by islands.
Road town has a commercial container port so there are lots of these local tramp frieghters around.
Heading out now from Road Town. We passed an oil or natural gas tanker as we sailed away.
The pilot boat was ready to pick up our pilot as we reached the open sea.
Lots of steep hills on land. I don’t think anyone would be driving fast on Tortola.
The pilot on his way back to Road Town harbor.
We had now reached the west end of Tortola island, on our way to Amber Cove, DR.
So long Tortola! We’ll pick up our narrative in the Dominican tomorrow.