12-1-07 log entry

12-1-07 log entry

Up early to get stuff packed.

We got to the airport in time to have some breakfast. We decided to check 3 bags going home, in spite of the fact that the only bag we checked on the way down got lost and took 24 hours to catch up to us. We filed a lost bag report with the airlines, but got little satisfaction from the ticket agent, that we would get it back. I kept checking for it at the Moorings customer service desk. One gentleman commented that the airline was very good at baggage recovery, because they lost a lot of bags. Now I really felt a lot better (:>")

Went thru security. The security guy was pretty owly. He insisted that there was a bottle in my carry on. I was confused, I had made sure that everything with fluids were in the checked bags. Well they had to search the bag only to find a plastic bottle with a puzzle in it that Patti had gotten for a x-mas gift.

Then the security guy’s attitude changed completely. He suddenly was an investment advisor, looking for some venture capital for real estate development.

The flight to San Juan was uneventful. The connection to the flight to Dallas-Fort Worth was anything but. We had to clear customs in San Juan, so I was immediately concerned that we wouldn’t have enough time. We went thru immigration first, then we had to wait for our bags to clear customs. Another line, another hurry up and wait. Customs clearance was, dare I say it, almost a joke. A cursery look at our customs declaration and waived on thru to deposit our bags back on a conveyor to get loaded back on to the plane. I feel so much safer now.

Then on to another security clearance before going to the gate. We had been standing in line for about 5 minutes, not moving an inch, when the TSA guys told us to go to a different line they had just opened. Great! We only had 10 minutes until our flight to DFW left. It turned out that there were lots of people in the same predicament. We pointed this out to the TSA guys who then, believe it or not, did go a little faster. The only problem was that because of my hip implant, I get the full "arms out palms up" wanding and then a full body pat down. This guy was really thorough. I had on shorts and an aloha shirt and flip flops. What could I possibly be hiding.

We had to run to the gate. Luckily it was in the same end of the airport and we got there as the last folks were boarding. That was close!!!

The real fun was still to come.

The 4.5 hour flight to DFW seemed to go a lot faster than the flight from DFW to Seatac. It must have been the movie. "Hairspray" with John Travolta in drag as a horribly overweight mom. It was moderately entertaining, probably only because Michelle Pfiffer was in it too.

The flight to Seattle seemed to take forever. When we finally got there we could see the snow on the roads from the plane.

All the bags showed up in Seattle so we were off to Olympia. Matt had come to pick us up and had parked the car right in front of us. Still in my flip flops, shorts and aloha shirt I made it to the car and jumped inside.

It was 32 degrees Fahrenheit in Seattle, 12 hours before it was 32 degrees centigrade in Road Town, Tortola. No way I was going to change yet, I was going to wait until we got home. Besides, the Huskies were about to kick-off in Honolulu, weren't they? I had to keep the faith, didn't I?

As we headed south from the airport the snow got deeper and deeper. By the time we got to Tacoma there was a lot of slush on the highway. By Olympia there were a couple of inches of slush that was keeping the water from running off the road. We were hungry so we decided to stop for a take and bake pizza and get a few groceries. Patti and Matt went in for the pizza and I went for the groceries. I got lots of looks as I walked through 3 inches of snow in the parking lot. Yep, still in "Flip-flops, shorts and an aloha shirt". Got the groceries, jumped back into the car and on home. Well almost. It was really snowing now and as we went west the snow got deeper and deeper. Went by a Dominos delivery guy stuck in the ditch. Made a turn and suddenly the car just decided to do a doughnut in the middle of the road. Matt was driving and doing an excellent job. He had been going really slow so the doughnut was unavoidable. Luckily we successfully avoided hitting anything. We got straightened out and found a police car right behind us. Matt got out and told the policeman about the pizza guy. Turns out he only pulled behind us because he was going to turn around. We headed for home again, and found another car in the ditch, upside down, just around the next corner!! Got to the little hill within a half mile of the house and yep, you guessed it, stuck. Well, Matt and I got out, Patti drove and Matt and I pushed. Well, Matt pushed and I just laid on the hood. Worked great as we just motored slowly up the hill right past a couple of other cars that were stuck there too.

Home, finally. Got up Sunday morning to 5 inches of snow, jumped in the shower only to have the power go out.

It’s good to be home anyway, but would go back in a heartbeat.

nufffornow

Capt Kook

11-30-07 log entry

11-30-07 log entry

Last day in paradise

Went to Nanny Cay to look at the Annie B, a passport 40 in exceptional condition. Lots of great gear, new sails. We had not been able to find a Passport 40 near Olympia to look at.

Had Victor, our favorite cab driver take us to Cane Garden Bay for one last swim in the ocean.

The beach here was pretty deserted since there were no cruise ships in the harbor. I will never get tired of watched the penguins fishing.

Saw our new found friends from Atlanta again. They stay in the room above Rhymer's store. I think they said it was only $50 per night. Pretty cheap although we dont know what the room was like. Pretty uneventful day, just lying on the beach, catching some rays. The wireless was actually working today so I was able to work on the blog and look at all the pictures that we have taken..

Patti says:

The taxi ride over to Cane Garden Bay was something else! We just headed straight up into the hills, on the narrow winding one lane roads. Victor had to honk at the corners, in case someone was coming around from the opposite direction. We went by some old shacks that looked at first to be abandoned, but still had families living in them. Then we wound down the other side, passing an emaciated old horse by the side of the road.

We spent the afternoon lounging on the beach and swimming in the surf. The sand is so soft on the toes. It looked like a totally different beach without all the cruise ship people. We almost had the place t to ourselves. We stayed until the sun began to set, then had another nerve wracking ride with Victor, in the dark, going back to Road Town. A very relaxing day!!! So to speak.

Once back at the Inn, we repacked our suitcases to accommodate all of the souvenirs we bought. Then we went back to the bar for one last Mai Tai!

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.

11-28-07 log entry

11-28-07 log entry

White Bay to Norman Island

After breakfast we went for a morning dip in the bay. The water here is magical. So clear and the color is unforgettable.

Patti says:

The sail back to Norman Island was great! We had to sail through a channel between Tortola and St. John, that put us very close to both. This side of St. John is all State Park, and so there is no development. On the opposite shore, Tortola, we passed by Soper’s Hole, a large marina and bay. There were homes and hotel rooms built right on the cliffs, and we saw a huge sailing cruise ship anchored off the marina. It appeared to be vacant. Also went by Frenchman’s Cay, another large marina, then headed across the large strait to Norman Island where we had been at the beginning of our trip. It was another fabulous sail across, but from a slightly different direction.

Once there, we tied to a buoy and took off in the dinghy for more snorkeling at Treasure Point. It was even better this time around; much clearer! We spent a couple hours looking at all of the fish, then tried once again to get on board the inflatable. Early in the trip we had nicknamed the inflatable “Flubber”, and it stood up to its name. It clearly wanted to bounce me back into the sea! While trying to accomplish the near impossible, we met a couple who had also come over from the Bight. They invited us over to their boat when we got back for cocktails.

Their boat turned out to be a 46 foot Trintella sailboat. Very Nice! Even had a washer/dryer aboard, and a swim step on the rear of the boat that formed a sort of garage on the stern. Unusual! This couple was from Charleston, SC. They had just bought this boat and had only gone on a few outings with it. It smelled of mucho moneyo!! We went back to our boat and Dave barbecued some pork chops. The wind picked up, and we spent the rest of the night wondering if the boat would stay in one piece. It seemed like hurricane force winds to me, so I had another Mai Tai and tried to relax! Since it was our last night on the boat, we tried to do a little packing, and decide what food we would keep, once we got back to the base.

11-27-07 log entry

11-27 07

Cane Garden Bay to White Bay

We got up pretty early for a vacation day. There were a 100 pelicans fishing right next to the beach. After breakfast Patti wanted to take the 2 man kayak for a spin around the bay and then go for one last swim on at the beach. We put our swim suits on as we both were very skeptical about our ability to get from the boat to the kayak without tipping the kayak. Patti decided that I should go first. Not sure why other then she wanted to dump me in the water as she got in. Well after a pretty shaky entry I managed to get into the kayak without going in the bay. Now it was Patti’s turn. She actually made it in also with out tipping us over. After paddleing around for awhile we decided to go to the beach just past Quitos’ bar. Getting the kayak onto the beach proved to be a lot easier then getting into the kayak and off the beach in the surf. Patti was in heaven bobbing in the waves. A whole van load of Cruise ship tourists showed up. A bunch of Brit’s judging by their accent. They were very reluctant to get into the water because it was so cold. One of the ladies asked me, why is the water so cold. It’s 83 or 84 degrees for crying out loud what the heck do you want. If you want warmer water come back in the middle of hurricane season when the water temp is in the high 80’s.

Getting in the Kayak and back thru the surf proved pretty entertaining for the British tourista’s. We only tipped over once. Luckily the surf was pretty smell. 1 or 2 feet so it was really pretty easy. Paddled back to the boat and got under way for White bay.

Pretty nice sail again. Not quite as good as yesterday when we were doing 10.5 knots surfing on the ocean swell. Made to Sandy Cay real quick though and got some pretty cool pics of the little island, probably 200 feet wide and 500 feet long with a beautiful white sandy beach on the west (downwind) end and a very rocky shore on the east end. Guess which way the trade winds blow.

We hadn’t decided exactly where we were going to stay. White bay was our first choice, then Great Harbor and little harbor in the order. Little Harbor didn’t look very exciting, Great Harbor has Foxy’s, another iconic beach bar, and White Bay had the Soggy Dollar Bar. With no moorings in great Harbor we decide to see what might be available in White Bay.

White bay is a small bay with tricky entrance, especially since there were only 2 buoys left, to mark 3 channels through the reef. We decided to follow a power boat. The way he was flying in, it must be the right channel.

There was only one mooring left. As we motored up to it we saw that it was yellow, oops that is a private buoy, for commercial use only. As we were preparing to drop the anchor, a couple on a 30 foot sailboat hollered at us that they were about to leave so we just kind of hung out until they were clear and tied up to their mooring.

They were obviously local. They raised the jib and the main and sailed away. No motor. Obviously they new where the entrance through the reef was. The bouys marking the channel were mostly gone only 2 of six remained but this couple had been there before and just sailed right out through the reef and off they went.

Every place we go seems to be cooler than the last. Beautiful white sand beach!

I watched other boats leave the anchorage at that that end of the reef for awhile and figured out where the channel was. Patti wanted to do some more snorkeling so we geared up and headed for the reef. Not only looking for fish but also looking for the entrance. I also wanted to check the water depth, so I dove under the boat and we had 3 or 4 feet of water under the keel. Not much to look at but I did check out the neighbors anchor. It looked pretty good except that he was anchored in the coral which is a no no and he had 125 to 150 feet of chain out. For an anchorage that is only 10 feet deep and as protected as this was, 50 feet would have been plenty, plus you wouldn’t swing as much when the wind shifted.

Back to the boat and we decided to ditch the snorkel gear and swim to the beach. Not very far away, plus there was a very laid back bar right there. So off we went to “Ivans Stress Free Bar” It was oly a short swim away.. The perfect place to be when on vacation. Do I need to say, a “cool place”. Lots of shell art work done by visitors, pictures galore on the walls, even Walter Cronkite, who was a very avid sailor.

Had a couple of drinks and wanted some lunch. Ivan said “no fixins for lunch, son and daughter had taken the ferry to Road Town on the biggest island Tortola to stock up.”

We decided to head to the soggy dollar bar down the beach. I swam back to the boat, loaded up the dinghy and back to the beach for another episode of beaching the dinghy without getting wet. Well no problem, once I got the motor locked up I just drifted into shore.

Patti jumped in and off we went to the Soggy Dollar, so named because people anchor the boat and swim ashore. Another really cool place (duh, when wouldn't it be cool to anchor your boat and swim ashore for beer, drinks, and their famous Pain Killers (rum, rum and more rum and pineapple flavored rum.) This place gets our award for the coolest beach bar. Open air, just a few feet from the water, beach chairs, tables, shade and a very laid back atmosphere. Im coming back for a week. I guess that you can rent a room at the b and b just behind the soggy dollar bar. Too cool.

We ran into the couple from Atlanta that Patti met over at Cane Garden Bay yesterday. Pretty funny to run into people 2 days in a row. As I ordered coronas I overheard someone talking about being from Everett of all places. Here sitting at the bar was a father and son team who had come done here from Everett to look at a boat. They had made an offer on a Fast Passage 39. A super bluewater boat that was on the hard at Spanish Town on Virgin Gorda. They were very excited about the upcoming sea trial and marine survey. I checked it out online and it looks to me like they found a pretty nice boat.. A Fast Pasage 39 is a cutter rigged Bill Garden design with a very high entry and canoe stern. This boat is built for the serious off shore sailor. There is one at out marina that I see out all the time.

Time for some lunch so we walked a little further down the beach to Gertrudes for a terrific cheeseburger and beer. Hey, I hear that song again

Patti says:

Incredible!! The water here is so shallow, and so clear! You could actually see the anchors in the sand. And nothing but white sand and palm trees. No cruise ships here! All of the bars and restaurants were secluded in the palm trees. I sensed another day of nothing but beach lounging and liquid refreshment. Oh darn!! We did go out to the reef to try a little snorkeling, but for some reason there was nothing to see. Probably too much wave action.

Our cheeseburger in paradise was sooooo good! I would really have liked to stay here another day or two or three. We did run into the couple from Atlanta that I had met in the water in Can Garden Bay. They had taken a ferry over to this island. Had a drink with them at the Soggy Dollar. This bar actually has dollar bills hanging from a clothesline to dry! Also met a father/son there that were from Everett, WA. They had come down to purchase a boat and sail it back to the Pacific Northwest. How cool!! They were waiting at the Soggy Dollar to take possession of the sailboat. Everyone down here is so friendly, and I never worried about thieves, except back at the Footloose Base. It is said that the only place you have to worry about that, is in the US Virgin Islands. And it is a major problem!! They warned us that if we went there, we should always leave one person on the boat, and never leave the dinghy tied to a dock. That did it!! We would not be going to the USVI!!! Much better to stay in this paradise!

11-26-07 log entry

11_26 blog

Marina Cay to Cane Garden Bay

Time to leave this cool place. Off to Monkey Point for some snorkeling, and then on to Cane Garden Bay. I went ashore to get fuel for the dinghy and some cubed ice. They don't call it party ice here, it is cubed ice. Back to the boat, tie the dinghy off to the stern cleat, and we are off to Monkey Point. It's only 7 or 8 miles, so we motorsail, with jib only, just to steady the boat motion a little. Makes the ride much more consistant. We got to Monkey Point and tied up to one of the day use only buoys, jumped into the dinghy and motored over to the dinghy line. Like most of the state parks and more popular snorkeling locations, there is a line strung between 2 buoys very close to shore that you tie the dinghy up to. Gets you right to the good spots and you know the dinghy will be there when you are done. Jumped into the water and realized that the higher winds of the last couple of days had left the water a little stirred up. After a short while, I was swimming in a cloud of tiny fish. Wherever I went this cloud of tiny fish just went with me. They left a gap, kind of a force field, of 8 or 10 inches all around me. I would slowly stick out my hand to touch them and like magic they would move away. It was really cool except it made looking at anything else rather difficult. The school of fish around me got bigger and bigger until it was 6 or 8 feet thick all around. What was really cool was when a parrot fish swam in about 3 feet below me. The little fish did the same thing. They surrounded him and then moved out of the way in front of him and then reformed behind him. The force field effect again. The Parrot fish was swimming in this cloud also. That is when I realized what was really going on around me. It was magical.

We swam with the fish for awhile then decided it was time to move on. On the way back to the boat, we noticed that there was a large school of fish skimming along the surface trying to evade a bigger fish. The little fish maybe 3 or 4 inches long, were jumping out of the water, not like you would expect though. They were jumping out of the water and then falling back in 10 or 15 feet away, never getting more than 5 or 6 inches above the water. Behind them you could see a much larger fish swirling about trying to catch them before they went airborne. We went over to get a closer look but as soon as we got close they all disappeared.

The sail from Monkey Point to Cane Garden Bay was terrific. Just like going to Hawaii. We were on the north side of Tortola with nothing but ocean to the N and NE of us for several thousand miles. Full main and Jib, 15 to 20 knots of wind over the starboard quarter, surfing in 8 to 10 foot swells with 3 to 4 foot wind chop. Patti drove almost the whole time, learning how to handle the boat as we surfed down the face of the wells. A couple of days ago on the trip from Spanish town to North sound we had seen what happens when you don't pay attention when sailing with a following sea. We were motorsailing to weather that day and a 40 foot monohull was sailing downwind. They were really moving and rounded up several times, first to starboard and then to port, rail in the water each time. It is pretty scary when that happens because the boat feels like a wild animal with a mind of her own. Obviously the helmsmen was not doing a very good job of feeling the boat as the helm pressure changes dramatically between flying down the face, falling in the trough and then sliding off the back side of the swells. Not really very hard, but you have to pay attention. The 40 footer was having a tough time. Probably no fault of theirs since these are conditions that you don't run into sailing on inland waters.

Patti did a great job, hit lots of 9's on the fun meter and a few 10's. She topped out with a 10.5. Pretty exhilarating for her. We even threw in a few jibes just for fun. Actually we had to jibe or we would have ended up either in Florida or on the rocks.

Cane Garden Bay came up on us so fast that I was not convinced that we were there yet. I thought that we were at Brewers Bay and needed to go to the next bay. Then I remembered Winstons words from the chart briefing. When you are between the towers on Tortola and Jost Van Dyke Island, you are at Cane Garden Bay. Still not convinced, Patti started looking at the buildings on shore and convinced me that we were indeed at Cane Garden Bay.

We headed into the wind, dropped the sails, and started looking for the buoys that mark the opening in the reef. They were pretty easy to see once we got close. It always seems like you are a lot closer to shore than you really are. Grabbed a "Rhymers" mooring ball and headed for shore.

I had broken my "Aruba 1989 flip flops", so since I hadn't brought any shoe goo with, I was "flip flop less in Tortola." First stop on shore was for flip flops and as it turned out, the same place we needed to go to pay for the mooring.

Patti finally found a beach that she could stay at for days. Beautiful white sand, some ocean swell rolling through, great water temperature. I think she spent 3 or 4 hours bobbing. This is where she met the couple from Atlanta that come here every year and stay at the hotel right on the beach on Cane Garden Bay. I can hear it now, “Let’s go to Tortola and stay at Rhymers at Cane Garden Bay. It's right on the beach.”

As Patti swam, I updated the blog, labeled pictures and tried to connect to the internet. I had also been watching the Pelicans and gulls fishing. They are so much fun to watch. The pelicans are the total picture of hap hazard flight and dive bombing for fish, making a huge uncoordinated "cannonball" style splash as they hit the water. They look totally out of place but man, are they fun to watch. When they do get a fish, they float on the water and wiggle their tail feathers. Pretty funny.

The gulls on the other hand are totally the opposite. Not surprisingly, they are different than any gulls I have ever seen before. Their wings are very long and slender. Very high aspect ratio and a flat planeform. They are the picture of grace and elegance. Swooping back and forth across the bay. When they do spot a fish, they make a very hard banked turn and then fold everything up into a nice compacted package and knife into the water. They completely disappear from view only to "POP" back up to the surface a couple of seconds later. What a blast! These gulls are very dark colored on the top and bright white on their undersides. I get the white undersides, camouflage from below so the fish can't see them. The dark topside coloration puzzles me to some extent. Time to do some homework.

Back to the boat for a nice peaceful dinner. I was reading with my headlamp in the cockpit as it got dark. It was totally dark when I finally looked up and gasped in total shock. There in the distance was St. Thomas, lit up like a gigantic sparkling jewel on the horizon. Totally different from the British Virgin Islands which were mostly dark with a few scattered lights along the roads. This was the first time we had been on this side of Tortola and able to see St. Thomas. I was truly amazed. In retrospect, I guess I really did not know what to expect. I suppose I had thought the US Virgin islands and their British counterparts would have something in common. Although we did not travel to the US Virgin Islands this time, it was clear from the lights, that the US and British islands are not only separated by a few miles of ocean, but are worlds apart culturally as well.

Patti says:

What can I say? Dave just about said it all. Monkey Point was very magical, but I was disappointed that we did not see any monkeys!! I did get rather close to one pelican, and got some great pictures of him. I would like to have spent more time there, but we did have a long way to go to get to our next destination. As it turned out, the sail to Cane Garden Bay was fabulous! I love surfing the waves!

Cane Garden Bay lived up to the info we had read in the island guide. Absolutely beautiful! Just like a picture postcard. We tied up as close to the beach as we could, and I couldn’t wait to get to the beach. It was lined from one end to the other with beach chairs, and each one was occupied by a lotion slathered body, roasting in the sun. As it turns out, this is the beach that the cruise ships send their people to on the island. There are many bars and restaurants, and tiny shops selling various wares. There were even some ice cream stands. Mmmm, Rum Raisin ice cream!!!

Dave settled in to the bar at Rhymers, and I headed for the water! Ahhh! The white sand was like silk on my toes, and extended way out into the water. No rocks or sea grass to get over. The only hazard were the pelicans who were dive bombing for fish all around me. And I mean close!!! So I guess there were fish out swimming with me, too. I bobbed and bobbed, and struck up conversations with other bobbers. When I did go in to warm up and dry off, I had my own private Cabana Boy to bring me my corona and he even put sun screen on my back.

11-25-07 log entry

Didnt sleep in too late, wanted to get over to Marina Cay while there were still some moorings left. I watched as boat after boat left Trellis and headed for other places, not Marina Cay which was north of trellis bay a mile or two. We looked for the turtle again this morning but he was nowhere to be seen. It was a short motor over to Marina Cay and there were several moorings vacant. We grabbed one that was pretty close to the dock where we could get ice, diesel and gas for the dinghy outboard. We loaded up the dinghy with our beach stuff and headed ashore. What a great place this was. I know "again". The bar/resturaunt was a mere 50 feet from the water. There was a rather large reef protecting this really small island that left the anchorage protected. We sat down at one of the tables, and ordered a pain killer, or 2. After reading for awhile, we went snorkeling but didn't really see anything. We cut the snorkeling short since we knew we were going to monkey point tomorrow. Good snorkelng there they say.
As the afternoon wore on, all these people started showing up, dressed quite nicely for the islands. Then we saw the bride scoping out the area. There was going to be a wedding. "WEDDING CRASHERS" here we come. It was a very nice ceremony, we could not see much but didn't really care. the steel drum band was really cool. There were tons of appetizers, fruit, shrimp, barbecue, you name it. The sun was starting to go down and I overheard one of the guests say something like "There is dinner too, I ate enough veggies to go all night." Yes indeed they had a full sit down dinner to boot. After the toasts were done they plugged in the cd player and started playing some really cool sounding vocal and trumpet duo stuff. Of course I was paying close attention to this, cause I have always wondered how I could perform in a small group and never could get the right idea. Now I had it. I listened a little more intently and said to Patti, that trumpet is not canned, it's got to be live. Sure enough, live from Marina Cay, the vocal and trumpet duo of Carol and Gene. They are both retired US armed services bandmembers. They were currently living at Cane Garden Bay, our second most favorite place that we have found on this trip.
Patti says
This is another small island, quite like Saba Rock, but just a bit bigger.
It was the site of the old movie, "My Virgin Island". I spent part of the day shopping for Christmas presents in the Prusser Co. store. It was a very relaxing day, but right when we were ready to return to the boat, we got a real downpour. Sat on the beach under a thatched roofed picnic table 'til the shower passed. The tropical showers appear very suddenly here. We learned early on not to leave the hatches and ports open on the boat when we leave it We have had many emergency hatch closures while on the boat We also found out that the bimini will not keep out the rain, only the sun!

11-24 log entry

Left The Bitter end yacht club and north sound Virgin Gorda headed for Trellis Bay to get new batteries. Bummer, there is a good weather window to go to Anegada today but it is suposed to really blow on Monday. Talked to the fuel dock guy last night and he said that he opens up at 7:30 in the morning. So we got up early and were at the fuel dock at 7:30. Well guess what, he wasn't there. Turns out he catches then 7:30 ferry from Gunn Creek and gets here at 8:00. Another lesson in patience.

We had a wonderful sail to trellis bay. Downwind all the way with a nice 15 to 20 knots behind us. We even beat a couple of 40 cats to the anchorage. Good thing we did cause the moorage was jammed. Tonight is the full moon party.

Shortly after we radioed Moorings the erviceman called on the vhf. He was at the dock by the store with the ink roof. Gun was the gentlemans name. He was the first person that we met down here from Moorings/Sunsail/Footloose that had a real concern for our prediciment. He had brought a new battery with him. It was really heavy, 70 or 80 pounds. He jumped on the boat and spent a great deal of time trying to figure out what the real problem was. The dead battery was a symptom of the problem He brought his tester and looked at the alternator and decided that it couldn't be the battery or the alternator. There are 3 batteries on the boat, one reserved for engine start, and the other 2 are the house batteries. The starting battery was fine. The problem was with the "Isolator switch". Easy to replace and they had a new one at the repair shop. In the isolator switch went and we were good to go. the only problem was that it was 5:00, too late to go anywhere.
We offered him lunch, beer, a pop. He refused them all saying that he wanted to make sure that we were set to go. "Once the job is done, then we celebrate" was his motto.
So we stayed and enjoyed the full moon party. A sea turtle hung around us all afternoon . We didn't see him until gun had finished up. Then it was a real trip watching the turtle, and the boats trying to squeeze through the marina looking for a place to anchor for the night. The full moon party was a tradition here for years. Great barbecue with all local food. Chicken, pork and goat. The goat was actually really good. They also had a great coleslaw with walnuts, cashews and lots of other stuff. That was the hit of the night for me. After dinner the guys on stilts came out, the music got louder and the fire jugglers appeared, swinging lit bolo balls and the other guy juggling knives that were on fire. The grand finale was the iron encased fire balls set out in the water. Big iron work cases, prymid, square and a ball.
There are some pretty cool pics posted on webshots

nufffornow Capt. Kook

11-23 log entry

Thanksgiving dinner at the Bitter ENd Yacht Club was great. It had all the fixins you would expect at home except stuffing.

Patti says:
This is such an amazing place! I can't believe all the amenities we can enjoy for a measley $30.00 a night. And today we found another unbelievable piece of paradise. It's called Saba Rock. A huge rock in between two islands here in Virgin Gorda. The only thing on it that covers all of it, is a hotel/restaurant/bar. The hotel has about 6-8 rooms. One side of the rock looks out on the Atlantic ocean, and the other side on North Sound. We enjoyed a great lunch there, and then went back over to Bitter End for an afternoon on the beach. It was fabulous!


Today we just loafed around laying in the sun. Went over to Saba Rock resort. It is a really cool small rock formation probably 500 feet by 500 feet. The resort covers the whole island with only a smal area for gardens and beach chairs. The rest is the hotel, one small shop and a bar/resturaunt of course, and a dock, Inside the shop are all these old outboard engines in mint condition. Even one exactly like the one my dad had when I was growing up.

Awoke this morning to some real concerns about the batteries.
Just talked to the charter customer service guy, Both the house batteries are dead, the engine battery is fine. It is dedicated to engine start but the house batteries are both shot. We will have to backtrack 15 miles tomorrow to get the batteries replaced. Bummer, we were going to go to Anegada but will have to do that on Sunday.
There are so many small sailboats zooming around the harbor. The yacht club has over 100 small sailboats to rent, plus windsurfers. They also have a great sailing school where they have classes for all ages. This is a very popular sailing school and draws lots of big name sailors with ong americas cup resumes. Lowell North, founder of North Sails was even here as an instructor a couple of weeks ago.

11-22 log entry

North Sound on Virgin gorda is a sailors paradise. Great wind which makes for an interesting night sleep but eventually you get used to the wild swinging. I thought the tide changes and current changes in Puget Sound did wild things but nothing like the gust that come throught the moorages here. We would swing 90 degrees one way then 90 the other. It takes some getting used to.
The wind and these protected waters is what draws people here. There is a great sailing school here, with world famous sailors, many with long Americas Cup resumes. including Paul Cayard, and this years winning skipper. There are 100 pus boats that you can rent by the hour. Watched as 2 young kids who couldn't have been in thereteens yet were flying back and forth across he bay in a small catamaran. They were doing great when they caught a big gust and just didn't hve enough weight to keep the cat from flipping. They made a couple of attempts to right the boat, and then right there was a chase boat to help them. The sailing insrtuctors keep a close watch on the boats and are very quick t render assistance.
All this from the bar having a beer, Tonight is the big Thanksgiving feast. Boy was it great. All the things you waould have at a traditional american thanksgiving meal, except stuffing. There were a couple of carribean additions, like breaded stuffed clams, and conk chowder. carribean conk has a ery sweet meat and as you would expect a razor clam texture. The sweetness took some getting used to.
Patti finally got to go swimming. she loves the ocean and really enjoys floating and bobbing in the waves. Me, I don't float so it is work for me.

Catching up for los time

Well sports fans, Looks like my postings will not be as regular as I had hoped. The BVI wide Internet access hasn't caught up to Vista yet. I can hear Kevin Hall and Terry Smedley laughing all the way down here.

So we are sitting in the yacht club resturaunt at the Bitter End Yacht Club on the far northern end of Virgin Gorda free wireless no less. Our last internet access was 5,00 for 30 minutes so I passed.

Here is what we have been doing for the last few days.

Monday Night 11-19-20
We are still in Road Town. We were suposed to leave today but I keep forgetting that this is "the carribean mon" and the only schedule that is kept is the composite all of the locals who you depend on for goods and services. We spent last night on the boat hoping to get an early start this morning. By the time we finished our briefing (4:00 schedule, 5:00 actual) and got on the boat, 6 pm, it was too dark to do the systems checkout. That was re-scheuled for 7:30 this morning. Under my breath I am thinking, it's November, it gets dark earlier, let's move the briefing and the checkout up earlier, but no, can't start the briefing before 4 or the checkout before 6. They wouldn't even tells us which boat was ours until 6. GRRRRRRR--- - - - - -.
Turns out the name of our boat is "Class Act". So far, this establishment is anything but!!!
So now it is dark and we still have no provisions, went to the restaurant for dinner again. Not exactly stellar service there either. Yesterday it took 2 and a half hours to get a salad. WOW.
Got back to the boat, went thru the provisions list only to find a lot of stuff missing. Too late to do anything about it, so that had to wait until morning. Well our 7:30 briefing started at 9:00, the rest of the provisions took 3 seperate deliveries before we got everything.
But who really cares, Its hot and the weather, well thats another story. Patti will tell you about the weather today.
Actually we have to start with last night. Little drops of rain kept waking us up, forcing us to batten down the hatches. This continued all day Monday. About once every hour a storm front would go through and dump ALOT of rain, warm rain. Every time we would be just about dry, another shower would hit. Since we did not receive our last provisions until almost 4:00pm, we could not leave Tortola and get to another bay before dark, so we are forced to spend another night here at the dock. Oh well, the showers and the bar are great!!
Needlees to say this is all in a days work or play as it were, pretty tough I know but somebody has to do it. Tomorrow we leave for the caves on Norman Island. Several partially submerged caves that offer great snorkeling. And of course a really nice beach and a great floating resturant with bonus time for those that elect to dive in off the yard arm.
11-20-07
Had a wonderful sail from Road town to Norman Island. 15 to 18 knots on a close reach, we blasted all the way there on one tack. Full main and jib nicely heeled over, averaged around 6 knots. Great for a 33' cruising sailboat. Found a mooring bouy to tie up to, then decided that it wasn't in a very good place since all the boat traffic to and from Willies would go right past us. Moved to the other side of the bay. Bill and Judy were there also. They have chartered the same size boat that we have and left at the same time.
Patti and I jumped in the dinghy, an inflatable with a 15 hp kicker. That can spoil ya in a hurry. I am not sure why I thought it necessary to get a kayak also, the inflatable is too easy. We zoomed around Treasure point to the caves to go snorkeling. Tied the dinghy up to the dinghy line and had a great time exploring the underwater caves. Well not totally underwater but close enough to give me the creeps. They say you don't want to go swiming at night round here, I was extrapolationg that too dark caves and thinking to myself, whats in there that I can't see, and would I really like what I saw anyway. We got out of there. As soon as we got in the water we were surrounded by fish. All kinds in all colors. Patti found a school of "husky fish", very small maybe 3" long and 2" high, and very narrow, that were flourescent (sp) purple everywhere except for their tail which was flourescent (sp again) gold. We also found some really cool looking antler coral. Some looked like a moose rack and others looked like a small buck rack, except it was purple. We feel right at home now, well at least until the 5 foot Barracuda went cruising on by. He was only 10 feet away and very intimidating. but we let him pass. I told patti to slow down and let him get a ways in front of us, I didn't want the Barracuda to think we were stalking him. Well he slowed down some more and then turned to look straight at us, Patti goes yikes, I think he is stalking us. He passed peaceully by, knowing that he was the king of this reef and could have us at will. We snorkeled for a couple of hours and finally headed back to the dinghy when a whole group of people came snorkeling by. They were making lots of noise and splashing. I l0oked ahead and there was our friendly Barracuda, right between us and the outher snorklers. We were between him and the open water yikes. The other people did'nt see him because they weren't looking at the surface. He was cruising less than a foot below the surface. Sure enough he turned and went right in front of us 5 feet away this time. I kept my arms at my sides and lay there, he looked our way as if to say, "you know, I am not really hungry right now but if I was- - - - ).

The real entertainment came as all of us old fogies tried to get back in the inflatable. I went first, and of course made it very gracefully(:>"). There were no witnesses so who is gonna know. The others, well I think it is akin to landing a really big fish in a really small boat. I will let your imaginations go wild with that knowing that you will know exactly what I mean.

Back to the boat for some outstanding Carribean "Cheeseburgers in Paradise" .Hey I even have that song on the boat, should have played it. Then it was off to Willies for a night cap or two.

11-21-07
Another great day of sailing. you non sailors are gonna get really tired of me talking about the great sailing. 5 hours, 6 tacks brought us to the Baths. These huge boulders sitting right in the water at the shore. Some of them twice as big as our house. Really cool with the waves crashing between them forming all kinds of swirling pools, mother natures jaccuzi I guess. All in all kind of "Fern Grotto ish." Dan and Nancy know what I mean but for the rest of you that means "Alot to do about nothing.: oh well, we can say we were there. Then on to Spanish Town for the night which will hopefully be the worst anchorage that I select to overnight in. Wind, current and rollers in different directions, rolly polly all night long, banging into the mooring float. "BANG", there it goes again.

11-22-07 Thanksgiving Day.
Got up several times to check on the mooring bouy, everything was ok until 6:30 when we wern't where we were sopposed to be. The line that connects the mooring ball to it's anchor had parted 5 or six feet below the surface and there we were, floating, free as a bird into the channel. The mooring ball was still attached to us so we took it over to one of the other moorings and lashed it there. Suddenly realizing that we had seen mooring balls lashed together other places.
Boy are we thankfull today for alot of things, our mooring ball episode included.

Well up at 6:30 and no place else to go so on to Gorda sound on the very north end of "Virgin Gorda". It was an angry sea out there, Wind blowing right on our nose. It felt like 20 to 25 knots of breeze and 5 to 8 foot seas. Doesn't sound like much, but motoring into it was a struggle, I think we only made 3 or 4 knots boat speed. The seas were steep and choppy, making for an interesting and wet ride. We could have sailed, but I was tired and want to take a nap after a long night. We pulled in through the reef into North Sound about 9:30, found a mooring bouy and took a nap.

Off to shore to get this posted. The islands wide Internet has not caught up to Vista yet, I now will have to go ashore to post to the blog. Hope all is well with you.
nufffornow.
Capt. Kook

We are here

At long last we have arrived in Tortola, Road Town to be exact. We have posted a couple of pics, nothing too exciting. The best part of the day was sitting by the pool listening to Bob Rondeau call the Husky, Cal Game. Well most of it anyway. the battery on the laptop died and had to go into the room to plug it in. No power by the pool or the bar and no internet in the hotel room. Luckily we aren't sitting at the pool right now because a little thunderstorm is passing through giving everything a nice fresh water bath.

Now Patti says:
Tortola is quite different from Aruba. There are high mountainous hills, with most signs of life right down on the edge of the water. Aruba was a very flat desert island. They do have one thing in common....goats! Wild goats!

Since this is a British territory, everyone drives on the opposite side of the road, however the driver is still on the left side of the car. Our driver said that it was because cars are cheaper to by from the US. It's not easy to adjust to. Also, the roads are very narrow! On the way to the marina a car tried to pass the taxi we were in and almost hit another car head on. I'm not really sure how they missed!!

The most exciting times are to come. Tomorrow we will get our sailboat, and first thing on Monday morning the big adventure truly begins!!! I can't wait!!!!!!!!


nufffornow

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The Beginning

IN the Beginning