11-29-07 log entry

11-29 log entry

This would be our last day on the boat. When I got up I went out and sat in the cockpit for awhile. There was quite a show going on. Hundreds of little fish leaping out of the water, pelican and gulls try to scoop in mid air. The little fish were escaping their pursuers. We had another great sail our last of this trip.

The boat check in was uneventful except for the dock crew. They are really good. The lesson I learned was keep the speed p so you have good steerage.

Patti says:

The wind finally died down. Although we hated to, we got the boat ready and set sail for Tortola. Once again, it was a great sail. Actually a little better than the day before. Even had the rail in the water for awhile, since we hadn’t put a reef in the main. We were visited again by the Yachtshots inflatable. She took many, many photos of us. We tried to put off the inevitable, even tacking close to Road Town and going out for one more short sail. Then it was time to go into the harbor and relinquish our home away from home. As we did, we sailed not 10 feet from a huge cruise ship that was in town! Makes you feel like a small part of reality.

We got back in to the Footloose Base and got close enough to the pier for a dock assistant to step onto the boat. He would back it into the slip. Thank goodness! The slip he chose did not look wide enough, and there was an inflatable in the way. He very quickly and efficiently backed it in, stopping on a dime. Although at one point, as we passed a piling, he did say, “I think I can make it!” Yikes!!! It took us only about 15 minutes to get everything off the boat, but then the Mariner Inn did not have our room ready yet. So, we did what you do in a hot climate, we changed in the restroom and dove into the pool.

Dave spent the afternoon trying to download onto this website, and I enjoyed the pool and more liquid refreshment. All of a sudden, the ground started shaking! Really!! Turns out there was a large earthquake on Martinique. The Tortolans did not seem to know what had happened, but after several minutes, the senior management were all called into a meeting to find out what to do in case of a Tsunami. Thankfully, if we needed to, it would be very easy to get to high ground, as Tortola is nothing but hills that go straight up from town, but the situation never arose. We did finally get into our room, and then took a shower, had a short nap, and went out to dinner. We went to a restaurant called Spaghetti Junction. A fine Italian restaurant, in spite of the name! I had Oso Buco (Ox tails) that was to die for, and Dave had Steak Marsala that was equally as good. At the end of the meal they brought us a shot of butterscotch liquor, compliments of the house, that was lip smacking good. I even caught Dave licking the shot glass!

Attached to the restaurant was a bar called “The Bat Cave”, where Dave could not keep his eyes off the big screen TV. I guess this is the local hot spot, but we left before it really got hopping.