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