We went over to the American Yacht Harbor at 4:20 pm, because Gary, the fuel attendant, likes it if we are there early enough for him to deal with us and do his paperwork before 5 o'clock. Gary's a great guy, so we like to keep him happy!
Jeff and Gail's flight was delayed by about an hour, so Carey and I went to Duffy's Love Shack (a dive bar) for a Painkiller while we waited. Three dollars for a drink during Happy Hour. Fabulous! (Dale Lane has fond memories about Duffy's, so we had to check it out. Yes, Dale, they still have the 64 oz. Shark's Tank served in a fish bowl.)
Once we were anchored, we did our orientation talk, had a barbecued pork chop dinner, showers, and went to bed. Everyone was tired out.
Monday, January 30, 2017
After a leisurely breakfast of homemade bread, we motored over to Cruz Bay. We dinghied to the dinghy dock and had lunch at the Ocean Grill and then walked to the Starfish Market for provisions. We wanted to catch a taxi back, but it was taking forever for the Customer Service lady to contact them. While I was waiting, a lady in line said, 'You can jump into the back of my truck, if you like.' After a quick discussion with Gail, Jeff, and Carey, we took her up on her offer. Apparently, the law is that you need a seatbelt if you're sitting inside the truck, but anyone can sit in the bed of the truck. Go figure. As it turns out, she catches wild donkeys and trains them to give people rides, so the truck had some smelly straw in it, but was otherwise perfect for our trip back to the dinghy (although we did have to clutch the sides as she careened around corners). Awesome, and so nice of her.
Once back at the boat, we quickly put away our provisions. Then, it was off to Soper's Hole to clear into the BVI Customs. They grilled me this time, because we've been in and out so many times lately. They were sure that we were running a charter company and charging people to sail with us. Haha. Nope, just family and friends. Luckily, they could see that Gail and I were sisters, so that satisfied them...this time.
We returned to the boat for a stir fry dinner. While we were sitting in the cockpit, enjoying the nice cool breeze, we saw 8-12 large fish (possibly tarpon, as long as Gail's arm) swimming very near our boat, visible in the blue light of the neighbouring catamaran's stern lights. Very cool.
It wasn't long before we all wandered off to bed.
Tuesday, January 31, 2017
Jeff started our morning right with his raisin bread French Toast. Delicious!
After breakfast, we sailed to Jost Van Dyke and hiked to the Bubbly Pool where we enjoyed the water cascading through the rocks. No crowds today, just us. We stopped at Foxy's Taboo, then dinghied over to the B-Line Beach Bar on Little Jost Van Dyke. (We are an equal opportunity boat, so we like to check out all of the nearby businesses.)
Wednesday, February 1, 2017
I wowed Gail with oatmeal for breakfast (but she says it wasn't as good as Mom's). Yes, she's very saucy. After breakfast, we all sat down to re-plan our route and stops for the week. The winds are high and the swells north of Tortola are uncomfortable, so we decided a less challenging (and less bumpy) route.
After Gail and I went snorkelling, we sailed to Soper's Hole on the west end of Tortola. At Soper's, we dropped our laundry off at the laundry service and went to Pussers for lunch. Gotta love the laundry ladies.
We had a relaxing afternoon back onboard, and then Carey barbecued steak and I made a salad for a late supper. Gail made rice pudding for dessert. It was very tasty (but not as good as Dad's rice pudding). (Yes, I can be saucy, too.). Haha.
Thursday, February 2, 2017
Gail decided to impress us with her cooking skills, too--blueberry pancakes. Delicious. (Can you tell that food is a huge focus on R C Wings this week?). Gail is our fussy eater, but she is enjoying every meal.
After breakfast, we cleared out of the BVIs at Customs and purchased a BVI Parks permit, which allows us to visit any of their park sites (The Baths, The Caves, The Indians, etc.). There's a lot of paperwork to do every time we clear in or out.
From December to March, the Virgin Islands usually has heavy sailing conditions with winds and seas reflecting the strong blustery trade winds. On our way from Soper's Hole to Benures Bay on Norman Island we sailed upwind in 17-20 knot winds, which is typical this time of year. They call these the Christmas winds, even though they last four months.
We arrived at Benures at 1:50, had a late lunch, and jumped in the water. Snorkelling at Benures is excellent.
Gail and Jeff brought full face mask snorkel gear, so they both tried it out and were pleased with the full view. We saw three stingrays (the first I've seen down here), three tarpons, three jack fish, and many other beautiful specimens of fish and coral. We also saw a hermit crab peering out of his borrowed home--a conch shell. This isn't my photo, but it was just like this. See his antennae sticking out?
Friday, February 3, 2017
We got up at 8:00 and motored a half mile to the Indians before breakfast. The Indians are a unique formation of four red rocks that shoot out of the water near Pelican Island. A reef extends between Pelican Island and the Indians which provides excellent snorkelling. No anchoring is permitted here, but there are ten moorings for day use only. When we arrived, we couldn't see any available mooring balls. Just as we were leaving, I spotted one and we picked it up. Score! It didn't have a ring on the pennant, but the guys were able to tie us up anyway.
Once we were moored, we had a quick breakfast and then jumped in the water. This is quite an exposed area, so the wind was blowing and we were bouncing up and down in the waves. The four of us swam to the reef to look around. Lots of colourful fish and extra large fan coral swaying in the underwater currents. The yellowtail snappers hung around us as if they were waiting to be fed.
Back on the boat, we sailed downwind to Lameshur Bay on St. John Island. We didn't notice it at the time, but on our way here, we lost one of the seats from the dinghy. Aaaarrrrgggghhhh!
Lameshur Bay is one of our favourite spots and within seconds Gail was pointing out the many turtles surfacing for a quick breath and the pelicans diving for lunch.
Gail and Jeff rowed over to the dinghy dock to pay for our night's mooring fee and then Gail and I went snorkelling. Unfortunately, the water was very riled up and cloudy, so we didn't see anything out of the ordinary.
When we got out, I had a quick shower and shortly afterward we realized that we had run out of water. Oopsy! as Gail would say. We pulled out a couple of jugs of distilled water and will have to make them do for the rest of the evening and tomorrow morning.
We'll stay here tonight and take Gail and Jeff to Nazareth Bay tomorrow where they'll stay in a hotel for a few days of land time. They'll be able to have Hollywood showers there!
This is Gail's first week of retirement and she has totally enjoyed her relaxation time with us. She has taken 'Boat Hair, Don't Care' to new heights.
Medusa has arrived!
Saturday, February 4, 2017
After breakfast, Gail washed all of th dishes in sea water and stacked them in the sink for a final wash when I get fresh water. we left for Cruz Bay. We took turns on the helm, but Gail sailed us around the point to get us to Cruz Bay. She is learning how to work the sails on the boat, even turning us into the wind to furl the main. Jeff has helped with the anchoring, mooring, and lines (ropes). We'll miss our crew when they leave!
We had lunch at the Sun Dog Cafe in the pretty Mongoose Junction. It was so delicious!
When we returned, there was a Canadian ball cap hanging from the stern of our boat. A fellow Canadian saying hello? American giving us a found Canadian hat, just in case we know the owner? Who knows. It was fun to see it, anyway. We will write RC Wings Canada on it, and pass it along to the next Canadian boat we encounter.
Gail drove us to Red Hook where we waited, hovering, for at least 20 minutes to get on the fuel dock. Once there, Gail and Jeff jumped off and we filled our water tanks and fuel tank.
Delicious dinner at XO Bistro.
Sunday, February 5, 2017
Red Hook is a very rolly anchorage. The last ferry got us rolling at 11:20 pm last night and the first one this morning was 6 am. After breakfast, during which we held onto our coffee cups to keep them from tipping every time a ferry went by, we headed over to Nazareth Bay where Gail and Jeff are staying in a hotel.
This is Super Bowl Sunday, so we spent the day poolside and then watched the game at their place
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