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!
Friday, November 30, 2007
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
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.
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.
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.
Thursday, November 22, 2007
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
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
Saturday, November 17, 2007
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
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
Sunday, November 11, 2007
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