It’s an interesting thing, sailing these Virgin Islands. You longingly look forward to getting here…you arrive…they’re wonderful…gorgeous…magnificent …and fun…but now what? We sort of feel like we’re partied out! LOVE the snorkeling. I could do that all day every day…well maybe not ‘all day every day’ but a lot. But not every place has that available. We are staying in and around the USVIs and the BVIs in anticipation of our youngest son and his wife coming to visit. Skip and Kim. We can’t wait to see them and are planning our route for their short stay with us. And we are anxious to show them some of our favorite spots in the short time they’re here.
But in the meantime…we’ve decided these BVI islands are pretty much just tourist islands. That’s not a bad thing but…it’s interesting for us, as full time cruisers who live on their boat all the time. We like to find places to explore on the islands and so far it seems these are mostly resorts/shops/restaurants/bars. They are so beautiful, but there are so many charter boats. And all the islands seemed to be geared to charter boats or big cruise ships. I would venture to say there are 8 charter boats for every 2 privately owned boats. Or more. And that’s fun. I don’t mean to sound negative but it’s sort of an invasive thing. In a way. We are tourists, too, so that’s kind of an odd observation but what I’m getting at is when we go to a new island here, it’s about grabbing a mooring ball or an anchor spot before the next guy gets it! Parking lot activity! Then it’s party city. And I love that…as most of you know I would, but when we are here all the time it gets a little much. I don’t want to sound like I’m whining and I actually feel really odd making these statements, but I guess I never realized how MANY charters there would be and how many people on each charter boat. But, then again, I would recommend people to do just that, as this is so great and fun and beautiful! I’m just a little worried about the space all these boats take up…particularly the catamarans. And trust me…I’m not what you might call an environmentalist, I just think we need to take care of what we have as best we can and I guess the number of people startles me a bit. When you snorkel some of these places you actually run into people! They’ve just come in on a big fat catamaran and there are 25 or 30 of them all at once trying to snorkel in a relatively small area. Then that boat calls their people back and a new boat comes in with the same thing. Interesting.
I’m all for people enjoying seeing all of this and having fun, and that’s exactly what we’re doing so I shouldn’t be worried about it, but I’m wondering what it will be like in a few more years? It feels like you’re in line at Disneyland sometimes out here.
I don’t know the solution…or even if it’s a problem, it’s just my observation. I guess I didn’t expect this. And we can move on…to different islands south and we will. I think it just caught me by surprise as I have never been here before.
We’ve noticed in the BVIs… particularly since we have just reentered the USVIs where the anchorages are run by the parks dept… they cram the mooring buoys into their anchorages. Then they charge you $25/night. Here at Watermelon Bay on St John, USVI, where we are this day as I write, the moorings are far apart. You aren’t allowed to anchor here unless there are no moorings at all. So it seems more peaceful. They only charge you $15 here or $7.50 if you’re over 62 like us! At this spot there isn’t a noisy,‘I’m having too much fun’ restaurant/bar thing going. Trust me, I like those too, but I think this peacefulness is what it’s all about.
OK…enough of my pontificating and on to what we’ve been up to. Mostly seeing the beautiful BVIs and taking advantage of all I was just worrying about! Being tourists! =)
As we last left you we were in Sopers Hole.
We ended up weathered in at Sopers Hole, BVIs for 3 days. It's a good protective harbor for not so great weather conditions. In the meantime we got lots of internet work done at the Jolly Roger where they have a good signal and great pizza and beer. Good combination for us. Finally, the weather turned gorgeous and we were ready to leave. Our next destination will be Norman Island. We filled up with water and provisions and tried to get our propane tank filled but failed to do so. Something about our little propane tank is not compatible with a lot of propane places. Well, that’s a pain in the rear. We had trouble in Puerto Rico, too, but they finally figured out how to fill it. We need propane to cook so it’s kind of an essential product. Though I guess we could eat out all the time. I’m not much for cooking anyway. =) But that wouldn’t be good. As much as I like having people cook and wait on me, those home cooked meals can’t be beat. So we will try to get it filled when we get to another marina area. After a bit of a George and Gracie morning, we’re off. 
Our first stop will be The Indians, just off Pelican Island on the way to Norman Island. I believe it was named so because it looks like the feathers on the Indian’s headdress. It’s a wonderful snorkel spot. The jutting rocks make cliffs of sort on which the coral has grown. Unfortunately it’s very popular, too. We are still traveling with our friends on Sans Clés and they were able to find a mooring ball right away. We had to drive around and around and wait for one of the other boats to finish before we could snag a mooring. [Cue my whining rant at the beginning of this post about finding a parking spot.] There are only a few moorings available here, and that’s a good thing. That way there are not so many people snorkeling about at one time. So we patiently waited. We noticed a boat making preparations as if to leave so we stationed ourselves near in a position that said…”this is our spot…just TRY to take it from us!” There were other boats waiting as well. Finally we can jump in and enjoy. Snorkeling is such a peaceful thing. You are floating and all you hear is your breathing. I like it. And I love seeing the different fish. The coral is interesting, but the fish are what I love. Just watching them.
Now to our final destination, Norman Island in the Sir Francis Drake Channel. To the Bight, which is a well protected anchorage there. We grab a mooring ball after checking to see if there were places to anchor…and settle in. Norman Island is referred to as Treasure Island. It’s beautiful here.
Apparently legend has it that there is sunken treasure about. Perhaps I shall dive and recover doubloons! 
We jump in the dinghy and go into the Pirates Bight restaurant for lunch. It’s fun to see people at these restaurants as everyone is in a great ‘I’m on vacation!’ mood… in their swim wear or shorts and flip flops. My kinda place, 98% of the time. We watched some folks play a game of stacking blocks of wood. Often there are silly games of this sort to challenge you at these places, particularly the more casual spots 
like this.
Gorgeous day, the next one! I relaxed in the morning on the bow of the boat with my book and watched the goings on in the little harbor. So nice. In the afternoon we dinghied over to Treasure Point and snorkeled and explored the caves which were fabulous. We snorkeled a long time.
Loved it. A charter company dumped off about 20 people and that was annoying as it stirred up the water too much, but it was still fun.
We dinghied back and had a beer at the Willy T, aka the William Thornton, a floating restaurant/bar named for the architect of the US Capital building. Our guide book said the vessel is a replica of a topsail lumber schooner and measures 93 feet long. Stories of raucous fun and abandon run rampant about the Willy T. It’s all pretty much validated by the x-rated slide show that continually plays at the bar showing the antics of past patrons. =) We decided to come back for dinner later so we made reservations just in case. Dinner was fun. Not the greatest but it didn’t matter. People start piling on the Willy T as the night goes on. WHAT A GREAT DAY!
Here at the Bight and also at Cooper and Peter Islands, the supply vessel Deliverance
makes rounds about 5pm to see if you need anything. They have just about everything you might be lacking. And they take your garbage! For a fee of course. But sometimes that’s a great service. Looking for places to take your garbage can be a challenge. Some places are free…some charge you a small fee. Also if you need anything special you just hail Deliverance on the VHF and they will bring it to you. Pretty neat little business. Randy likes it best when the cute girls in their bikinis deliver. Yeah, yeah, yeah…
We decided to move closer to the inside of the bay and try to anchor, saving us $25/day. Not sure why they have to charge so much. We did find a good spot as did Sans Clés. Excellent. Then it started to rain. We set up our rain catcher, which I made for days such as this. Kinda funky but it works pretty well! It blows around when empty and the wind is going crazy so not sure if that’s a good thing. But what a concept, yeah? Catching your own fresh water? We did catch some water in our bucket and in our rain catcher. Pretty cool. Our boat holds 160 gallons of fresh water, which is pretty good. We figure we average maybe 10 gallons of water per day, give or take. So we are good for a long time, but it would be so fun to top off the tank with rain water.
The night was busy! Pirates Bight had music…sort of reggae…wannabe reggae. They weren’t very good but they were loud! I had to put earplugs in when we went to bed. They didn’t last long. Willy T had music, too, but we were far enough away from them to not hear it much. The harbor was busy with dinghies zipping here and there. When you looked out…there was a ‘sea’ of anchor lights from all the boats. Pretty cool. Wish I could have captured that on film. We had an early dinner and watched more episodes of Deadwood. We bought all 3 seasons in Puerto Rico. We started watching the series when we lived in Virginia, but then we stopped HBO and never finished it. Love that show. Hate when it will be over. We don’t watch TV as we have no antenna or cable, so movies it is…or books. We do tons of reading, too. And… Sudoku. And…play cards, dominoes, etc. And…I beat Randy at Scrabble. The wind and rains came up again that night. We caught more water in our bucket and in our rain catcher.
Next day was nice. We piled in our dinghies and went in to the Pirates Bight to have lunch and work on our computers. That is we tried to work on computers. We can get a small signal from the boat but we wanted to go in and get a strong signal. We were working great when their system went down. Ugh! Finally Terri asked them to try to reboot it and it was fine. They just aren’t tuned into computers like we are. =) They could care less if the system is working right or not. Made me miss my tech guys from work! Terri and I played Scrabble. She won. Crap. I need to tune up my brain. There was more music that night from the Pirates Bight, but this time the band sounded 100% better and not as LOUD! Holy Cow. I just read what I wrote and I sound OLD! There was a time when I would have been there, where the music is, dancing my brains out! I still do that now and then, but not every night. Thank heaven. But it does make me sound old writing that. Goodness. We watched more Deadwood and I finished my book, and started another. Saw a topless lady on a Swedish boat today. Randy got all excited until he zoomed in on her with the binoculars. Guess she was older than he was expecting. She piled in a dinghy with 3 other guys…that also looked older…and off they went! Somewhere! Maybe to snorkel? We weren’t sure. Hmmmmm….
The next day we departed the Bight on Norman Island. Just as we got outside, our engine overheated. Oops! “Good eye, Randy.” Part of our routine when motoring is watching the engine rpms, the oil pressure and the temperature. Ran caught it right away. “Stop the engine, El, while I put up the sails!!” We were heading to Cooper Island and at this point were just off Pelican Island where the Indians snorkel area was. We stopped the engine, Randy pulled up the mainsail and went below to see what was wrong while I manned the helm. It was a fan belt. Randy scrambled around and found the new belt in his spare parts duffel and proceeded to change it. I was monitoring the boat, at sail, in very light winds and felt we were getting too close to Pelican Island. “Uh…Ran. I’m going to tack. I don’t like the direction we’re going and that we’re getting so close to Pelican Island.” “Roger that”, Randy mumbled with his head inside the engine compartment. I tacked through the wind to point the boat away from the island. It was a good move. I had to reach through the dodger opening and muscle the boom over to allow the wind to catch the mainsail as there was virtually no wind. It all went well. Randy got the belt changed, we started up the engine and she worked perfectly. Excellent. Love that smart husband of mine that knows how to change fan belts. He’s my hero!
We were headed to Salt Bay to snorkel on the ship wreck of the Rhone before proceeding on to Cooper Island. According to Wikipedia, the RMS Rhone was a British packet ship owned by the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company. She was wrecked off the coast of Salt Island in the British Virgin Islands on 29 October 1867 during a hurricane.
We grabbed a mooring ball at the wreck site. The seas were pretty busy but it was fine. It was an interesting snorkel experience. Ran and I swam from the boat to the wreck. Terri and Lyman anchored farther out so they took their dinghy. From there we motored to Cooper’s Island at Manchioneel Bay. We grabbed a mooring and relaxed. We missed our first grab which is the first time that happened. I didn’t have the boat facing into the wind and the wind pushed us past the pennant grabbing spot. No problem, I turned the boat and we tried again. We relaxed and had lunch and then dinghied over to snorkel at Cistern Point. Now this is quite a feat for me. Dinghying over to snorkel. The dinghy over…I can do. The jumping in the water from the dinghy…I can do. Getting back into the dinghy from the water…not easy for Ellen. Randy rigged up a stirrup on a line across the bow of the dinghy so I can get a leg up. Not an attractive site but it works. =) While snorkeling I saw a barracuda so I quickly swam back to the boat hoping that guy wasn’t following me. They do like to follow you. And they won’t harm you if you leave them alone but they look imposing. I didn’t want to look back at him because I didn’t know if he saw me and I didn’t want to know if he was still there!
After a great day of snorkeling we went back to the boat and waited for our dinner reservations while watching everyone come into the anchorage and try to grab mooring balls. It can be very interesting watching other boats. Sometimes Randy and I are really catty and rate them on how well they are doing. We’re so perfect, you know. =) We gussied up and went in for dinner with Lyman and Terri. It was very good. We toasted with Bushwackers
and my Painkiller! 
Randy is letting his hair grow long and he looked extra handsome that night. Very suavé and captain-of-the-boat-like. It was another really good evening with Terri and Lyman.
We had a Tania Aebi siting at Cooper Island. Tania Aebi completed a solo circumnavigation of the globe in a 26 foot sailboat between the ages of 18 and 21. Most of us cruisers have read her book Maiden Voyage about her trip. Quite a feat. Today there are two 16 year old girls trying to do the same thing but they’ve got a lot more equipment they can use now. Still, quite a feat. Tania now, apparently, does training on sailboats and there were 2 charter boats full of women moored there at Cooper Island that she was in charge of. Kind of neat for us to see her.
Next day we left Cooper Island to try to catch a mooring at The Baths on Virgin Gorda. We didn’t leave early enough, darn it. There were only yellow buoys left and Randy and I thought they were designated commercial use only. We later found out this was not true at this spot. Terri and Lyman took one and asked about it when they went ashore. Apparently it is ok to grab one of those for the day.
We went on in to Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbor where we had reservations for 2 nights. We can visit The Baths another day. We have time. We easily got into the marina. Nice place, but small. We had lunch and a beer and watched all the Sunsails charter people bring their charter boats back, again rating how they did. We are so tacky! We also watched some apparently wealthy people have lunch on the back of their large yacht. It was odd to us why they had their yacht facing the shore restaurant instead of facing the ocean? As we are sitting there having our burger and beer, they are being served by several crew quite a fancy meal with wine. Ahhh…the life of the rich and famous. In the marina we got on the internet…so nice to have it on the boat. YAY. I need to get my fix on the internet. We relaxed and at happy hour took our cocktails down to Sans Clés, who had since arrived, and sat there for hours analyzing life. Another great day.
Busy day, the next. Had the laundry done. It cost too much, but it was nice having someone else wash/dry/fold while I worked on other chores. I finally mended the dodger. It's like wrestling with a crocodile trying to get that thing in the sewing machine. Stupid dodger/bimini hasn’t lasted worth a darn. I keep having to mend it. The threads have rotted out and the canvas, supposedly good quality Sunbrella, has faded terribly. This is about the only thing I’m unhappy with on our boat. I love the style of the dodger/bimini, but for the amount of money we spent it sure hasn’t lasted.
Randy worked on a bridal for the dinghy so we can tow it if we want. We went to the little store to get provisions. Spent too much money on lousy coffee. I miss my Starbucks French Roast! For the life of me I can’t figure out why Starbucks hasn’t invaded this area yet. The Pottses (Terri and Lyman) came over for happy hour and we again solved the problems of life and reminded ourselves of our favorite movies. Later Ran and I finished watching Deadwood. Darn it. I wish they made more seasons. I’m going to miss it. Slept really good. Not always the case.
Off to Gorda Sound today. We sailed a tiny bit, then motored in. It’s still really windy. You might say that’s good for a sailor, but too much wind in the wrong direction doesn’t make for good travel. This area has lots to see: Saba Rock, the Bitter End Yacht Club, Leverick Bay and some other anchorages.
We toured around and found a good spot to anchor off of Prickly Pear Island. We can dinghy in to Saba Rock and the Bitter End and to Leverick Bay from here. This is the last of the BVIs after which we will go on to the Leeward Islands when we're ready. The water doesn’t seem as clear at our anchorage but maybe that’s because of the winds and currents. But it’s a beautiful blue. We watched a gorgeous tall ship
come in and another multi masted cruise ship come in. It’s nice to have a good anchorage that’s close to all we need to see. It’s still very windy but not rocky too much. Tonight we watched a Die Hard movie. We’re running out of movies! There is lots of book trading as we go along but not so much with movies. We trade back and forth with Sans Clés but I think we’ve about seen all of our inventory.
Today we went in to Saba Rock for lunch, taking our computers to catch up on stuff. It’s a beautiful day but it’s kind of a choppy ride in the dinghy. And our dinghy engine hasn’t been working well…STILL! I’m so sick of that stupid Yamaha 9.9 four stroke piece of crap! =) Just venting. The lunch was ok and VERY expensive. Beers were $5.50. Too much! It was almost $70 for the 2 of us for lunch including drinks. Nice place though. Since we are anchored off of Prickly Pear Island which is a ways out the trip in with the dinghy got Randy VERY wet. The water always splashes on the side he needs to sit on to run the engine. Should have bought a hard bottom dinghy.
It was a really windy night so Ran and I were up and down all night, making sure things were ok.
We both dove on the anchor this morning just to check and it hadn’t budged at all. Love our Rocna anchor! We went into the Bitter End Yacht Club today. Another wet dinghy ride and our engine was really acting up today. The Bitter End is not really a yacht club, but a resort. It’s beautiful, but we were a little disappointed in the place. It’s very expensive. I guess that’s to be expected. They only had a buffet to offer at the main restaurant for $28 per person. Didn’t look like what we wanted. We ate lunch at their pub instead. We had quesadillas that we shared. They were pretty good but, again, it’s not enough for the price. 
But the place is just gorgeous. 
Terri and I found some lounge chairs overlooking the beach and sat and talked all afternoon while Lyman and Randy did the hike of the island. That was fun. Now we’ve decided to dinghy across to Leverick Bay thinking we would hit their happy hour and therefore cheaper drinks! But when we got there, their happy hour didn’t start until 5! Ugh! It was only 4:00! At the Bitter End and Saba Rock the happy hours started at 4:00. Doggoneit! Well…we’re here…we need to order drinks. What the heck. Bushwackers and my Painkiller ordered up. $8 each. And they’re too small for that price. Ugh. Oh well! We still had a lovely time with a lovely view. Tomorrow off to Trellis Island.
Off we go to Trellis Bay on Tortola. We sailed but it was hard. The wind was behind us and the seas were following but choppy. It’s hard to hold the boat steady and keep from accidentally jibing. To explain the jibe, here is a blurb from the web: A jibe or gybe is a sailing maneuver where a sailing vessel turns its stern through the wind, such that the wind direction changes from one side of the boat to the other. Because of the inherent dangers in jibing (uncontrolled, the boom can travel almost 180° with great speed and lethal force), communication with the crew is important. It’s also important for the helmsman (me) to pay attention! We did an accidental jibe once. I wasn’t paying attention. Damn. But it was ok. I concentrated much harder the rest of the journey. We are finding our auto helm, aka Max Headroom, doesn’t seem to be holding right. But then with the wind behind us and following seas it’s more of a challenge for Max, too. We will have that checked when we get to the marina in Redhook at the end of February.
We made our way into Trellis Bay and we see out friend Marc on Opal! Yay! Fun to see him here. It was very busy in there with several boats trying to find a mooring, though there were plenty to be had at this time of day. It gets a little more crazy toward the end of the day when people try to find moorings that are no longer available. I avoided banging into a couple of boats milling around the mooring, but it was ok. This weekend is the Full Moon Party here. Saturday night. That should be fun! Marc dinghied over when we were settled and we visited with him and then made plans with Marc, Terri and Lyman for dinner at the Last Resort, the restaurant that sits on the little island at the head of Trellis Bay. We got to the Last Resort by Happy Hour and had Painkillers…two for one. Yay! Really cute place.
Had a wonderful dinner and conversations. First really great meal I can say we have had around here…particularly for the prices they charge in the BVIs. We had a cute little waitress from South Africa that Marc had already befriended. Of course.
Then the entertainment started setting up. We thought we might not stay…probably will be too loud and the same old reggae songs. The guy started playing. He was unbelievable! So good! He was not only an excellent musician but quite the personality. They were to have name-that-tune contests where the winners got to go on stage and have a shot of tequila and help sing the song. Oh great…this sounds a little corny. When he started playing Dock of the Bay, he asked us all to whistle with him. OK…been there, done that. But it was good! And Randy got to go up and have a shot because he’s such a good whistler. That Randy is so talented, you know. Then the entertainer guy...it would be nice if I could remember his name...started the name-that-tune stuff. OK…we may want to go now. But …again…it was good! The songs he chose were great. And the renditions he and a key board player did were OUTSTANDING. By now, I know I can do this.
I know I can guess at least one of these songs. Five notes in…I’ve got it! “Come Together by the Beatles!” YAY! I won! Lyman guessed it, too, but he let me win. I go up, get my shot of tequila, entertainer guy says, “This is going to be the upbeat version.” Ohhh kayyyy. I stand there and they begin. And they’re playing fast. This is not normally a fast song. I can’t even think of the words at that speed so I mostly just dance around and sing the chorus when I hear it. They played an 8… minute… long version of that song. I stood up there for 8… …minutes making a fool of myself! But they are such good musicians, it was so fun. (The reason I know it was 8 minutes was because Terri video’d the whole frickin’ thing!) Goodness! What a fun, fun, fun night.
Next day the weather was kind of a crummy. We dinghied to shore and had burger at da Loose Mongoose.
Good burger. 
We planned on going back over for the Full Moon Party that night but the weather was awful. Rainy, windy, so we stayed in. We would have been sopped by the time we made it to shore from riding in the dinghies. I hated to miss this once a month traditional party. Marc, of course, did manage to go and said it was great! This was his second Full Moon Party. The first one he attended was on New Years Eve. Marc KNOWS where the parties are. It’s ok…we had such a great time the night before that made up for missing this one. Randy and I ended up watching the movie Serenity…the ending movie of the Firefly series we had borrowed from Terri and Lyman. We liked the series but not really the movie.
The next day was STILL windy but now at least the sun was out.
We all decided to stay another 
day at Trellis. I had wanted to visit Marina Cay just across the bay but the weather wasn’t great to take the boats over. So Terri got us all together and we took a ferry to Marina Cay. And it was free! Amazing. We just had to call for them to pick us up. We figured that out after we stood and waited for awhile. Duh. It was really pretty over there. We walked around, had lunch, and I got another cup for my collection from the Pussers Restaurant. Of course it was filled with a Painkiller. =) Fun day.
A rainy, windy, ugly morning. What’s the deal? We paid for sunshine…always! We left Trellis Bay and put the sails up. We are headed back to Norman Island. Terri and Lyman needed to get back to the USVIs as Terri’s mom and son were coming to visit. We also need to get back as we’ve been in the BVIs for most of the 30 days we are allowed and we are also expecting company the end of the month.
So we’re working our way back to the USVIs together. It ended up being a nice peaceful sail. The rain went away and the winds died down a little. We again anchored in the Bight, about where we were before. And what should we see but Opal! Marc decided to head that way, too. Yay!
I always want to get in the water when we reach spots so I immediately donned my attractive snorkel paraphernalia and snorkeled on the anchor to check it and then around the edge of the bay. It felt good to be back in the water. Trellis Bay wasn’t conducive for snorkeling. After a bit we decided to move our anchor. We felt we were too close to the cement dock that was there… if the boat were to turn and swing that way. That’s better. The new spot is better. Marc stops by and he’s headed to the Willy T for drinks about 5-ish.
“OK…sounds good, but just drinks. We’ll have dinner when we get back.” Off we dinghy. Five hours later…. Holy Cow! I must have had a zillion painkillers! We met so many fun people and they were buying us drinks and we were talking and laughing and dancing and….whoa! It’s time to go! And the place hadn’t even really started to rock and roll! We were taking our dinghy back to the boat as many others were dinghying on to the
Willy T. Holy Cow! I can’t keep up with that bunch. Marc, of course, stayed. He's younger, you know. =) It was sooooo fun. But we hadn’t eaten…ugh. That doesn’t bode well for the rest of the evening. Memorable, though! It was memorable! We did the tourist/party thing that night. Yes...we...did.
Ugh…slept in. I’m sure you were expecting me to say that! Headache/stomach ache. Can’t do that anymore! But it was such fun. It’s a windy day (windy all night, too) but the sun is out. Everyone just sort of hunkered down on their boats today. We read books…played Soduko. I made spaghetti and found out I can get online from the boat. Good. We had a nice quiet night and the wind was quiet too.
Up and at ‘em, we left Norman Island to check out of the BVIs at Sopers Hole. Marc's engine was overheating...again...so he headed out to Roadtown where he had mechanics work on his engine before. Randy started to check the engine oil, as is routine, and there was oil all on bottom of engine compartment. Oops! Not sure what that was. Randy mopped it up and checked the oil. It looked ok but needed a little more. Then he tightened the oil filter. We’ll just keep an eye on that. She started fine and was ok all the way to Sopers. We had an early dinner with Terri and Lyman at the Jolly Roger. Pizza and beer. I had them put anchovies on my half of the pizza. =) As long as they don’t touch Randy’s half. Nice evening. Nice sunset.
Checked out of BVIs the next morning…easily. The guys were nice, and efficient, for a change. We said goodbye to the Pottses as they were heading into Redhook to get their new cockpit cushions they were having made. They then were headed to Christmas Cove in anticipation of their family coming on Saturday. We are kinda having separation anxiety! We’ve been together with Sans Clés most of the time for the last 2 months. We decided to head to Watermelon Bay. One of our favorite spots on St John. That’s where we spent Christmas Eve. It’s so nice here. Very peaceful. And very close to Sopers Hole so it was an easy motor over. Got a mooring no problem. Went snorkeling. Relaxed. Met the couple that are volunteers for this little bay for the parks dept. So nice. Ran into another couple we met through Terri and Lyman at Ocean World. Connie and Keith. They spent hurricane season at Luperon. They are both now working in Charlotte Amalie to build up their coffers. We had a very nice quiet evening. But didn’t sleep well! Maybe it was too quiet and still.
It’s so peaceful here. This is a very protected area with tall mountains all around. The area reminds Randy of the Pacific Northwest. With the green hills. The next day Randy worked hard on waxing the transom and the port side of Kwanesum.
I worked on the blog out in the cockpit. Lots of fish around. We saw an iguana swimming across the anchorage. Not sure what he was doing! I guess just swimming from the tiny island to shore. Silly iguana.
There is lots of fish activity, jumping all around and little fish swarming. We saw a shark, too. A nurse shark. Randy saw it later sitting under our boat. Nurse sharks aren’t known to be aggressive. But I didn’t jump in that day…just in case it was the shark’s day to go against that rule.Our mooring neighbors on a boat called Hanco stopped by and chatted from their dinghy and invited us over for cocktails at 4:30. They also invited us to ride with them into Cruz Bay in their large tender for lunch but we declined. We’re trying to save some money and we had work we were in the middle of.
We did take them up on the cocktails on their boat. I made some tortilla chips and a dip and we took our drinks over. Very fun. Very nice people.
From Ohio. Of course when we left their boat we had trouble starting the damn Yamaha! Finally… got it started. Ugh. YAMAHA FOR SALE!!!
Woke up and decided to move on. We left Watermelon Bay and motor sailed to Christmas Cove. Found a good spot to anchor. It is more rolly over here but so nice. The weather was good. We did have to ask a boat to move as they anchored too close for an overnight anchorage. You never know which way you will swing during the night and they were too close. They were very nice and moved. They seemed to have trouble anchoring. They were on an Island Packet that was chartered out of Redhook. We snorkeled for an hour or so on the reefs near our boat. Love it! Randy decided he was going to work on the dinghy engine. OK. Good idea! When we were in Sopers Hole Lyman and Randy took off the cowling and did a lot of cleaning and checking. (Terri and I played Scrabble. She beat me again, dammit.) So today…Ran decided to take apart the carburetor. Not an easy job! He checked everything and cleaned it out with gasoline. And he got it all back together! First time he’s done that. Where’s Al on Painkiller when you need him! =)
OK…the engine seems to run well now, according to his test run. Yay. Hope it stays that way. We had dinner of hash and salad and we sat in the cockpit until dark. Saw some neato phosphorescence in the water from fish. We weren’t expecting to see that here. Loved it. Nice evening. Breeze started coming in from the West which is different. Turned our boat the opposite way. Hope the anchor knows that. Randy slept in the cockpit, which he loves to do when there are no mosquitos or noseeums. I got online! Someone in the anchorage had wifi. Perfect.
The next day we decided we are not comfortable at this anchorage. The boat turned almost completely around during the night which meant the anchor twisted around, too. It looks ok, Randy dove on it, but we aren’t comfortable with it. And it’s rolly here.
I think we’re going to leave. We wanted to stay and wait for Sans Clés and meet Terri’s mom and son, but we’re not sure when they’ll be here. We decided to just head over to Caneel Bay. We found a mooring just to the left of the entrance to the Caneel Bay Resort. It’s a perfect spot. And…tah dahhh…I have GREAT internet! Three bars! The weather turned out to be great this day. We are making lots of power with this sunshine. Now that we have that 3rd solar panel our power has been excellent at anchor. So nice not to have to worry about that. Ran and I decided to dinghy over to the resort for a fancy drink and share a quesadilla. They were having a super bowl party that evening but it was going to be $30/person and then …you buy your drinks on top of that. Cheap beer was offered, but it still seemed too expensive. Last year we were in Lucaya and watched the super bowl there with our friends from New Zealand, Robin and Peter. But this year we weren’t sure we wanted to spend the money. We walked around the resort, it’s beautiful, and then went back to the boat and had our own drinks in the cockpit. Cheaper! We will probably stay here a few days. It’s nice.
Another nice, relaxing day. The weather was beautiful. The water was calm. We had a nice late breakfast and I put the computer in the cockpit and started back on this blog. That is exactly what I had pictured myself doing before we left on this adventure. It was so nice. Sometimes people look at us funny when we lug our computers in…specially in the BVIs where there are a lot of charter people on vacation. They’re wondering why these people bring their computers on vacation. Terri got an odd look one day from a guy. The deal is…this is our life, so we have to get our internet where we can…to check our banking, to check email, to check the weather, to search websites for various things we’re looking for or need information on, or to Skype our families. It just happens that most places that offer internet are bars/restaurants.
Oh well. They can just think either we’re very busy business people…or we’re weird. =) Steaks for dinner tonight, with my son-in-law Greg’s rice recipe that I love and tomatoes and avocados drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, feta cheese and walnuts sprinkled on top. Yummo! Dinner in the cockpit with an ocean view. Doesn’t get much better than that.
We will probably stay at this location another night or so. It’s a good spot. We are waiting until the21st when Skip and Kim will arrive on St Thomas, which is just right across the bay from here. I’ve got cleaning and provisioning to do prior to their arrival and we’ve already visited just about all the spots in this area so we’re just enjoying being at anchor…or on a mooring.
I’ve written this post off of a journal I’ve started to keep nightly. Not sure it’s the same rhythm as my other posts but it was certainly easier for me to put together. I’m not sure it reads as well, but you’re still getting the gist of our days on the boat. Cheers everyone. Stay tuned for another episode soon.
I’m all for people enjoying seeing all of this and having fun, and that’s exactly what we’re doing so I shouldn’t be worried about it, but I’m wondering what it will be like in a few more years? It feels like you’re in line at Disneyland sometimes out here.
I don’t know the solution…or even if it’s a problem, it’s just my observation. I guess I didn’t expect this. And we can move on…to different islands south and we will. I think it just caught me by surprise as I have never been here before.We’ve noticed in the BVIs… particularly since we have just reentered the USVIs where the anchorages are run by the parks dept… they cram the mooring buoys into their anchorages. Then they charge you $25/night. Here at Watermelon Bay on St John, USVI, where we are this day as I write, the moorings are far apart. You aren’t allowed to anchor here unless there are no moorings at all. So it seems more peaceful. They only charge you $15 here or $7.50 if you’re over 62 like us! At this spot there isn’t a noisy,‘I’m having too much fun’ restaurant/bar thing going. Trust me, I like those too, but I think this peacefulness is what it’s all about.
OK…enough of my pontificating and on to what we’ve been up to. Mostly seeing the beautiful BVIs and taking advantage of all I was just worrying about! Being tourists! =)
As we last left you we were in Sopers Hole.
We ended up weathered in at Sopers Hole, BVIs for 3 days. It's a good protective harbor for not so great weather conditions. In the meantime we got lots of internet work done at the Jolly Roger where they have a good signal and great pizza and beer. Good combination for us. Finally, the weather turned gorgeous and we were ready to leave. Our next destination will be Norman Island. We filled up with water and provisions and tried to get our propane tank filled but failed to do so. Something about our little propane tank is not compatible with a lot of propane places. Well, that’s a pain in the rear. We had trouble in Puerto Rico, too, but they finally figured out how to fill it. We need propane to cook so it’s kind of an essential product. Though I guess we could eat out all the time. I’m not much for cooking anyway. =) But that wouldn’t be good. As much as I like having people cook and wait on me, those home cooked meals can’t be beat. So we will try to get it filled when we get to another marina area. After a bit of a George and Gracie morning, we’re off. 
Our first stop will be The Indians, just off Pelican Island on the way to Norman Island. I believe it was named so because it looks like the feathers on the Indian’s headdress. It’s a wonderful snorkel spot. The jutting rocks make cliffs of sort on which the coral has grown. Unfortunately it’s very popular, too. We are still traveling with our friends on Sans Clés and they were able to find a mooring ball right away. We had to drive around and around and wait for one of the other boats to finish before we could snag a mooring. [Cue my whining rant at the beginning of this post about finding a parking spot.] There are only a few moorings available here, and that’s a good thing. That way there are not so many people snorkeling about at one time. So we patiently waited. We noticed a boat making preparations as if to leave so we stationed ourselves near in a position that said…”this is our spot…just TRY to take it from us!” There were other boats waiting as well. Finally we can jump in and enjoy. Snorkeling is such a peaceful thing. You are floating and all you hear is your breathing. I like it. And I love seeing the different fish. The coral is interesting, but the fish are what I love. Just watching them.
Now to our final destination, Norman Island in the Sir Francis Drake Channel. To the Bight, which is a well protected anchorage there. We grab a mooring ball after checking to see if there were places to anchor…and settle in. Norman Island is referred to as Treasure Island. It’s beautiful here.
Apparently legend has it that there is sunken treasure about. Perhaps I shall dive and recover doubloons! 
We jump in the dinghy and go into the Pirates Bight restaurant for lunch. It’s fun to see people at these restaurants as everyone is in a great ‘I’m on vacation!’ mood… in their swim wear or shorts and flip flops. My kinda place, 98% of the time. We watched some folks play a game of stacking blocks of wood. Often there are silly games of this sort to challenge you at these places, particularly the more casual spots 
like this.Gorgeous day, the next one! I relaxed in the morning on the bow of the boat with my book and watched the goings on in the little harbor. So nice. In the afternoon we dinghied over to Treasure Point and snorkeled and explored the caves which were fabulous. We snorkeled a long time.
Loved it. A charter company dumped off about 20 people and that was annoying as it stirred up the water too much, but it was still fun.
We dinghied back and had a beer at the Willy T, aka the William Thornton, a floating restaurant/bar named for the architect of the US Capital building. Our guide book said the vessel is a replica of a topsail lumber schooner and measures 93 feet long. Stories of raucous fun and abandon run rampant about the Willy T. It’s all pretty much validated by the x-rated slide show that continually plays at the bar showing the antics of past patrons. =) We decided to come back for dinner later so we made reservations just in case. Dinner was fun. Not the greatest but it didn’t matter. People start piling on the Willy T as the night goes on. WHAT A GREAT DAY!Here at the Bight and also at Cooper and Peter Islands, the supply vessel Deliverance
makes rounds about 5pm to see if you need anything. They have just about everything you might be lacking. And they take your garbage! For a fee of course. But sometimes that’s a great service. Looking for places to take your garbage can be a challenge. Some places are free…some charge you a small fee. Also if you need anything special you just hail Deliverance on the VHF and they will bring it to you. Pretty neat little business. Randy likes it best when the cute girls in their bikinis deliver. Yeah, yeah, yeah…We decided to move closer to the inside of the bay and try to anchor, saving us $25/day. Not sure why they have to charge so much. We did find a good spot as did Sans Clés. Excellent. Then it started to rain. We set up our rain catcher, which I made for days such as this. Kinda funky but it works pretty well! It blows around when empty and the wind is going crazy so not sure if that’s a good thing. But what a concept, yeah? Catching your own fresh water? We did catch some water in our bucket and in our rain catcher. Pretty cool. Our boat holds 160 gallons of fresh water, which is pretty good. We figure we average maybe 10 gallons of water per day, give or take. So we are good for a long time, but it would be so fun to top off the tank with rain water.
The night was busy! Pirates Bight had music…sort of reggae…wannabe reggae. They weren’t very good but they were loud! I had to put earplugs in when we went to bed. They didn’t last long. Willy T had music, too, but we were far enough away from them to not hear it much. The harbor was busy with dinghies zipping here and there. When you looked out…there was a ‘sea’ of anchor lights from all the boats. Pretty cool. Wish I could have captured that on film. We had an early dinner and watched more episodes of Deadwood. We bought all 3 seasons in Puerto Rico. We started watching the series when we lived in Virginia, but then we stopped HBO and never finished it. Love that show. Hate when it will be over. We don’t watch TV as we have no antenna or cable, so movies it is…or books. We do tons of reading, too. And… Sudoku. And…play cards, dominoes, etc. And…I beat Randy at Scrabble. The wind and rains came up again that night. We caught more water in our bucket and in our rain catcher.
Next day was nice. We piled in our dinghies and went in to the Pirates Bight to have lunch and work on our computers. That is we tried to work on computers. We can get a small signal from the boat but we wanted to go in and get a strong signal. We were working great when their system went down. Ugh! Finally Terri asked them to try to reboot it and it was fine. They just aren’t tuned into computers like we are. =) They could care less if the system is working right or not. Made me miss my tech guys from work! Terri and I played Scrabble. She won. Crap. I need to tune up my brain. There was more music that night from the Pirates Bight, but this time the band sounded 100% better and not as LOUD! Holy Cow. I just read what I wrote and I sound OLD! There was a time when I would have been there, where the music is, dancing my brains out! I still do that now and then, but not every night. Thank heaven. But it does make me sound old writing that. Goodness. We watched more Deadwood and I finished my book, and started another. Saw a topless lady on a Swedish boat today. Randy got all excited until he zoomed in on her with the binoculars. Guess she was older than he was expecting. She piled in a dinghy with 3 other guys…that also looked older…and off they went! Somewhere! Maybe to snorkel? We weren’t sure. Hmmmmm….
The next day we departed the Bight on Norman Island. Just as we got outside, our engine overheated. Oops! “Good eye, Randy.” Part of our routine when motoring is watching the engine rpms, the oil pressure and the temperature. Ran caught it right away. “Stop the engine, El, while I put up the sails!!” We were heading to Cooper Island and at this point were just off Pelican Island where the Indians snorkel area was. We stopped the engine, Randy pulled up the mainsail and went below to see what was wrong while I manned the helm. It was a fan belt. Randy scrambled around and found the new belt in his spare parts duffel and proceeded to change it. I was monitoring the boat, at sail, in very light winds and felt we were getting too close to Pelican Island. “Uh…Ran. I’m going to tack. I don’t like the direction we’re going and that we’re getting so close to Pelican Island.” “Roger that”, Randy mumbled with his head inside the engine compartment. I tacked through the wind to point the boat away from the island. It was a good move. I had to reach through the dodger opening and muscle the boom over to allow the wind to catch the mainsail as there was virtually no wind. It all went well. Randy got the belt changed, we started up the engine and she worked perfectly. Excellent. Love that smart husband of mine that knows how to change fan belts. He’s my hero!
We were headed to Salt Bay to snorkel on the ship wreck of the Rhone before proceeding on to Cooper Island. According to Wikipedia, the RMS Rhone was a British packet ship owned by the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company. She was wrecked off the coast of Salt Island in the British Virgin Islands on 29 October 1867 during a hurricane.
We grabbed a mooring ball at the wreck site. The seas were pretty busy but it was fine. It was an interesting snorkel experience. Ran and I swam from the boat to the wreck. Terri and Lyman anchored farther out so they took their dinghy. From there we motored to Cooper’s Island at Manchioneel Bay. We grabbed a mooring and relaxed. We missed our first grab which is the first time that happened. I didn’t have the boat facing into the wind and the wind pushed us past the pennant grabbing spot. No problem, I turned the boat and we tried again. We relaxed and had lunch and then dinghied over to snorkel at Cistern Point. Now this is quite a feat for me. Dinghying over to snorkel. The dinghy over…I can do. The jumping in the water from the dinghy…I can do. Getting back into the dinghy from the water…not easy for Ellen. Randy rigged up a stirrup on a line across the bow of the dinghy so I can get a leg up. Not an attractive site but it works. =) While snorkeling I saw a barracuda so I quickly swam back to the boat hoping that guy wasn’t following me. They do like to follow you. And they won’t harm you if you leave them alone but they look imposing. I didn’t want to look back at him because I didn’t know if he saw me and I didn’t want to know if he was still there!After a great day of snorkeling we went back to the boat and waited for our dinner reservations while watching everyone come into the anchorage and try to grab mooring balls. It can be very interesting watching other boats. Sometimes Randy and I are really catty and rate them on how well they are doing. We’re so perfect, you know. =) We gussied up and went in for dinner with Lyman and Terri. It was very good. We toasted with Bushwackers
and my Painkiller! 
Randy is letting his hair grow long and he looked extra handsome that night. Very suavé and captain-of-the-boat-like. It was another really good evening with Terri and Lyman.We had a Tania Aebi siting at Cooper Island. Tania Aebi completed a solo circumnavigation of the globe in a 26 foot sailboat between the ages of 18 and 21. Most of us cruisers have read her book Maiden Voyage about her trip. Quite a feat. Today there are two 16 year old girls trying to do the same thing but they’ve got a lot more equipment they can use now. Still, quite a feat. Tania now, apparently, does training on sailboats and there were 2 charter boats full of women moored there at Cooper Island that she was in charge of. Kind of neat for us to see her.
Next day we left Cooper Island to try to catch a mooring at The Baths on Virgin Gorda. We didn’t leave early enough, darn it. There were only yellow buoys left and Randy and I thought they were designated commercial use only. We later found out this was not true at this spot. Terri and Lyman took one and asked about it when they went ashore. Apparently it is ok to grab one of those for the day.
We went on in to Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbor where we had reservations for 2 nights. We can visit The Baths another day. We have time. We easily got into the marina. Nice place, but small. We had lunch and a beer and watched all the Sunsails charter people bring their charter boats back, again rating how they did. We are so tacky! We also watched some apparently wealthy people have lunch on the back of their large yacht. It was odd to us why they had their yacht facing the shore restaurant instead of facing the ocean? As we are sitting there having our burger and beer, they are being served by several crew quite a fancy meal with wine. Ahhh…the life of the rich and famous. In the marina we got on the internet…so nice to have it on the boat. YAY. I need to get my fix on the internet. We relaxed and at happy hour took our cocktails down to Sans Clés, who had since arrived, and sat there for hours analyzing life. Another great day.Busy day, the next. Had the laundry done. It cost too much, but it was nice having someone else wash/dry/fold while I worked on other chores. I finally mended the dodger. It's like wrestling with a crocodile trying to get that thing in the sewing machine. Stupid dodger/bimini hasn’t lasted worth a darn. I keep having to mend it. The threads have rotted out and the canvas, supposedly good quality Sunbrella, has faded terribly. This is about the only thing I’m unhappy with on our boat. I love the style of the dodger/bimini, but for the amount of money we spent it sure hasn’t lasted.
Randy worked on a bridal for the dinghy so we can tow it if we want. We went to the little store to get provisions. Spent too much money on lousy coffee. I miss my Starbucks French Roast! For the life of me I can’t figure out why Starbucks hasn’t invaded this area yet. The Pottses (Terri and Lyman) came over for happy hour and we again solved the problems of life and reminded ourselves of our favorite movies. Later Ran and I finished watching Deadwood. Darn it. I wish they made more seasons. I’m going to miss it. Slept really good. Not always the case.
Off to Gorda Sound today. We sailed a tiny bit, then motored in. It’s still really windy. You might say that’s good for a sailor, but too much wind in the wrong direction doesn’t make for good travel. This area has lots to see: Saba Rock, the Bitter End Yacht Club, Leverick Bay and some other anchorages.
We toured around and found a good spot to anchor off of Prickly Pear Island. We can dinghy in to Saba Rock and the Bitter End and to Leverick Bay from here. This is the last of the BVIs after which we will go on to the Leeward Islands when we're ready. The water doesn’t seem as clear at our anchorage but maybe that’s because of the winds and currents. But it’s a beautiful blue. We watched a gorgeous tall ship
come in and another multi masted cruise ship come in. It’s nice to have a good anchorage that’s close to all we need to see. It’s still very windy but not rocky too much. Tonight we watched a Die Hard movie. We’re running out of movies! There is lots of book trading as we go along but not so much with movies. We trade back and forth with Sans Clés but I think we’ve about seen all of our inventory.Today we went in to Saba Rock for lunch, taking our computers to catch up on stuff. It’s a beautiful day but it’s kind of a choppy ride in the dinghy. And our dinghy engine hasn’t been working well…STILL! I’m so sick of that stupid Yamaha 9.9 four stroke piece of crap! =) Just venting. The lunch was ok and VERY expensive. Beers were $5.50. Too much! It was almost $70 for the 2 of us for lunch including drinks. Nice place though. Since we are anchored off of Prickly Pear Island which is a ways out the trip in with the dinghy got Randy VERY wet. The water always splashes on the side he needs to sit on to run the engine. Should have bought a hard bottom dinghy.
It was a really windy night so Ran and I were up and down all night, making sure things were ok.
We both dove on the anchor this morning just to check and it hadn’t budged at all. Love our Rocna anchor! We went into the Bitter End Yacht Club today. Another wet dinghy ride and our engine was really acting up today. The Bitter End is not really a yacht club, but a resort. It’s beautiful, but we were a little disappointed in the place. It’s very expensive. I guess that’s to be expected. They only had a buffet to offer at the main restaurant for $28 per person. Didn’t look like what we wanted. We ate lunch at their pub instead. We had quesadillas that we shared. They were pretty good but, again, it’s not enough for the price. 
But the place is just gorgeous. 
Terri and I found some lounge chairs overlooking the beach and sat and talked all afternoon while Lyman and Randy did the hike of the island. That was fun. Now we’ve decided to dinghy across to Leverick Bay thinking we would hit their happy hour and therefore cheaper drinks! But when we got there, their happy hour didn’t start until 5! Ugh! It was only 4:00! At the Bitter End and Saba Rock the happy hours started at 4:00. Doggoneit! Well…we’re here…we need to order drinks. What the heck. Bushwackers and my Painkiller ordered up. $8 each. And they’re too small for that price. Ugh. Oh well! We still had a lovely time with a lovely view. Tomorrow off to Trellis Island.Off we go to Trellis Bay on Tortola. We sailed but it was hard. The wind was behind us and the seas were following but choppy. It’s hard to hold the boat steady and keep from accidentally jibing. To explain the jibe, here is a blurb from the web: A jibe or gybe is a sailing maneuver where a sailing vessel turns its stern through the wind, such that the wind direction changes from one side of the boat to the other. Because of the inherent dangers in jibing (uncontrolled, the boom can travel almost 180° with great speed and lethal force), communication with the crew is important. It’s also important for the helmsman (me) to pay attention! We did an accidental jibe once. I wasn’t paying attention. Damn. But it was ok. I concentrated much harder the rest of the journey. We are finding our auto helm, aka Max Headroom, doesn’t seem to be holding right. But then with the wind behind us and following seas it’s more of a challenge for Max, too. We will have that checked when we get to the marina in Redhook at the end of February.
We made our way into Trellis Bay and we see out friend Marc on Opal! Yay! Fun to see him here. It was very busy in there with several boats trying to find a mooring, though there were plenty to be had at this time of day. It gets a little more crazy toward the end of the day when people try to find moorings that are no longer available. I avoided banging into a couple of boats milling around the mooring, but it was ok. This weekend is the Full Moon Party here. Saturday night. That should be fun! Marc dinghied over when we were settled and we visited with him and then made plans with Marc, Terri and Lyman for dinner at the Last Resort, the restaurant that sits on the little island at the head of Trellis Bay. We got to the Last Resort by Happy Hour and had Painkillers…two for one. Yay! Really cute place.
Had a wonderful dinner and conversations. First really great meal I can say we have had around here…particularly for the prices they charge in the BVIs. We had a cute little waitress from South Africa that Marc had already befriended. Of course.Then the entertainment started setting up. We thought we might not stay…probably will be too loud and the same old reggae songs. The guy started playing. He was unbelievable! So good! He was not only an excellent musician but quite the personality. They were to have name-that-tune contests where the winners got to go on stage and have a shot of tequila and help sing the song. Oh great…this sounds a little corny. When he started playing Dock of the Bay, he asked us all to whistle with him. OK…been there, done that. But it was good! And Randy got to go up and have a shot because he’s such a good whistler. That Randy is so talented, you know. Then the entertainer guy...it would be nice if I could remember his name...started the name-that-tune stuff. OK…we may want to go now. But …again…it was good! The songs he chose were great. And the renditions he and a key board player did were OUTSTANDING. By now, I know I can do this.
I know I can guess at least one of these songs. Five notes in…I’ve got it! “Come Together by the Beatles!” YAY! I won! Lyman guessed it, too, but he let me win. I go up, get my shot of tequila, entertainer guy says, “This is going to be the upbeat version.” Ohhh kayyyy. I stand there and they begin. And they’re playing fast. This is not normally a fast song. I can’t even think of the words at that speed so I mostly just dance around and sing the chorus when I hear it. They played an 8… minute… long version of that song. I stood up there for 8… …minutes making a fool of myself! But they are such good musicians, it was so fun. (The reason I know it was 8 minutes was because Terri video’d the whole frickin’ thing!) Goodness! What a fun, fun, fun night.Next day the weather was kind of a crummy. We dinghied to shore and had burger at da Loose Mongoose.
Good burger. 
We planned on going back over for the Full Moon Party that night but the weather was awful. Rainy, windy, so we stayed in. We would have been sopped by the time we made it to shore from riding in the dinghies. I hated to miss this once a month traditional party. Marc, of course, did manage to go and said it was great! This was his second Full Moon Party. The first one he attended was on New Years Eve. Marc KNOWS where the parties are. It’s ok…we had such a great time the night before that made up for missing this one. Randy and I ended up watching the movie Serenity…the ending movie of the Firefly series we had borrowed from Terri and Lyman. We liked the series but not really the movie.The next day was STILL windy but now at least the sun was out.
We all decided to stay another 
day at Trellis. I had wanted to visit Marina Cay just across the bay but the weather wasn’t great to take the boats over. So Terri got us all together and we took a ferry to Marina Cay. And it was free! Amazing. We just had to call for them to pick us up. We figured that out after we stood and waited for awhile. Duh. It was really pretty over there. We walked around, had lunch, and I got another cup for my collection from the Pussers Restaurant. Of course it was filled with a Painkiller. =) Fun day.A rainy, windy, ugly morning. What’s the deal? We paid for sunshine…always! We left Trellis Bay and put the sails up. We are headed back to Norman Island. Terri and Lyman needed to get back to the USVIs as Terri’s mom and son were coming to visit. We also need to get back as we’ve been in the BVIs for most of the 30 days we are allowed and we are also expecting company the end of the month.
So we’re working our way back to the USVIs together. It ended up being a nice peaceful sail. The rain went away and the winds died down a little. We again anchored in the Bight, about where we were before. And what should we see but Opal! Marc decided to head that way, too. Yay!I always want to get in the water when we reach spots so I immediately donned my attractive snorkel paraphernalia and snorkeled on the anchor to check it and then around the edge of the bay. It felt good to be back in the water. Trellis Bay wasn’t conducive for snorkeling. After a bit we decided to move our anchor. We felt we were too close to the cement dock that was there… if the boat were to turn and swing that way. That’s better. The new spot is better. Marc stops by and he’s headed to the Willy T for drinks about 5-ish.
“OK…sounds good, but just drinks. We’ll have dinner when we get back.” Off we dinghy. Five hours later…. Holy Cow! I must have had a zillion painkillers! We met so many fun people and they were buying us drinks and we were talking and laughing and dancing and….whoa! It’s time to go! And the place hadn’t even really started to rock and roll! We were taking our dinghy back to the boat as many others were dinghying on to the
Willy T. Holy Cow! I can’t keep up with that bunch. Marc, of course, stayed. He's younger, you know. =) It was sooooo fun. But we hadn’t eaten…ugh. That doesn’t bode well for the rest of the evening. Memorable, though! It was memorable! We did the tourist/party thing that night. Yes...we...did.Ugh…slept in. I’m sure you were expecting me to say that! Headache/stomach ache. Can’t do that anymore! But it was such fun. It’s a windy day (windy all night, too) but the sun is out. Everyone just sort of hunkered down on their boats today. We read books…played Soduko. I made spaghetti and found out I can get online from the boat. Good. We had a nice quiet night and the wind was quiet too.
Up and at ‘em, we left Norman Island to check out of the BVIs at Sopers Hole. Marc's engine was overheating...again...so he headed out to Roadtown where he had mechanics work on his engine before. Randy started to check the engine oil, as is routine, and there was oil all on bottom of engine compartment. Oops! Not sure what that was. Randy mopped it up and checked the oil. It looked ok but needed a little more. Then he tightened the oil filter. We’ll just keep an eye on that. She started fine and was ok all the way to Sopers. We had an early dinner with Terri and Lyman at the Jolly Roger. Pizza and beer. I had them put anchovies on my half of the pizza. =) As long as they don’t touch Randy’s half. Nice evening. Nice sunset.
Checked out of BVIs the next morning…easily. The guys were nice, and efficient, for a change. We said goodbye to the Pottses as they were heading into Redhook to get their new cockpit cushions they were having made. They then were headed to Christmas Cove in anticipation of their family coming on Saturday. We are kinda having separation anxiety! We’ve been together with Sans Clés most of the time for the last 2 months. We decided to head to Watermelon Bay. One of our favorite spots on St John. That’s where we spent Christmas Eve. It’s so nice here. Very peaceful. And very close to Sopers Hole so it was an easy motor over. Got a mooring no problem. Went snorkeling. Relaxed. Met the couple that are volunteers for this little bay for the parks dept. So nice. Ran into another couple we met through Terri and Lyman at Ocean World. Connie and Keith. They spent hurricane season at Luperon. They are both now working in Charlotte Amalie to build up their coffers. We had a very nice quiet evening. But didn’t sleep well! Maybe it was too quiet and still.
It’s so peaceful here. This is a very protected area with tall mountains all around. The area reminds Randy of the Pacific Northwest. With the green hills. The next day Randy worked hard on waxing the transom and the port side of Kwanesum.
I worked on the blog out in the cockpit. Lots of fish around. We saw an iguana swimming across the anchorage. Not sure what he was doing! I guess just swimming from the tiny island to shore. Silly iguana.
There is lots of fish activity, jumping all around and little fish swarming. We saw a shark, too. A nurse shark. Randy saw it later sitting under our boat. Nurse sharks aren’t known to be aggressive. But I didn’t jump in that day…just in case it was the shark’s day to go against that rule.Our mooring neighbors on a boat called Hanco stopped by and chatted from their dinghy and invited us over for cocktails at 4:30. They also invited us to ride with them into Cruz Bay in their large tender for lunch but we declined. We’re trying to save some money and we had work we were in the middle of.
We did take them up on the cocktails on their boat. I made some tortilla chips and a dip and we took our drinks over. Very fun. Very nice people.
From Ohio. Of course when we left their boat we had trouble starting the damn Yamaha! Finally… got it started. Ugh. YAMAHA FOR SALE!!!Woke up and decided to move on. We left Watermelon Bay and motor sailed to Christmas Cove. Found a good spot to anchor. It is more rolly over here but so nice. The weather was good. We did have to ask a boat to move as they anchored too close for an overnight anchorage. You never know which way you will swing during the night and they were too close. They were very nice and moved. They seemed to have trouble anchoring. They were on an Island Packet that was chartered out of Redhook. We snorkeled for an hour or so on the reefs near our boat. Love it! Randy decided he was going to work on the dinghy engine. OK. Good idea! When we were in Sopers Hole Lyman and Randy took off the cowling and did a lot of cleaning and checking. (Terri and I played Scrabble. She beat me again, dammit.) So today…Ran decided to take apart the carburetor. Not an easy job! He checked everything and cleaned it out with gasoline. And he got it all back together! First time he’s done that. Where’s Al on Painkiller when you need him! =)
OK…the engine seems to run well now, according to his test run. Yay. Hope it stays that way. We had dinner of hash and salad and we sat in the cockpit until dark. Saw some neato phosphorescence in the water from fish. We weren’t expecting to see that here. Loved it. Nice evening. Breeze started coming in from the West which is different. Turned our boat the opposite way. Hope the anchor knows that. Randy slept in the cockpit, which he loves to do when there are no mosquitos or noseeums. I got online! Someone in the anchorage had wifi. Perfect.
The next day we decided we are not comfortable at this anchorage. The boat turned almost completely around during the night which meant the anchor twisted around, too. It looks ok, Randy dove on it, but we aren’t comfortable with it. And it’s rolly here.
I think we’re going to leave. We wanted to stay and wait for Sans Clés and meet Terri’s mom and son, but we’re not sure when they’ll be here. We decided to just head over to Caneel Bay. We found a mooring just to the left of the entrance to the Caneel Bay Resort. It’s a perfect spot. And…tah dahhh…I have GREAT internet! Three bars! The weather turned out to be great this day. We are making lots of power with this sunshine. Now that we have that 3rd solar panel our power has been excellent at anchor. So nice not to have to worry about that. Ran and I decided to dinghy over to the resort for a fancy drink and share a quesadilla. They were having a super bowl party that evening but it was going to be $30/person and then …you buy your drinks on top of that. Cheap beer was offered, but it still seemed too expensive. Last year we were in Lucaya and watched the super bowl there with our friends from New Zealand, Robin and Peter. But this year we weren’t sure we wanted to spend the money. We walked around the resort, it’s beautiful, and then went back to the boat and had our own drinks in the cockpit. Cheaper! We will probably stay here a few days. It’s nice.Another nice, relaxing day. The weather was beautiful. The water was calm. We had a nice late breakfast and I put the computer in the cockpit and started back on this blog. That is exactly what I had pictured myself doing before we left on this adventure. It was so nice. Sometimes people look at us funny when we lug our computers in…specially in the BVIs where there are a lot of charter people on vacation. They’re wondering why these people bring their computers on vacation. Terri got an odd look one day from a guy. The deal is…this is our life, so we have to get our internet where we can…to check our banking, to check email, to check the weather, to search websites for various things we’re looking for or need information on, or to Skype our families. It just happens that most places that offer internet are bars/restaurants.
Oh well. They can just think either we’re very busy business people…or we’re weird. =) Steaks for dinner tonight, with my son-in-law Greg’s rice recipe that I love and tomatoes and avocados drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, feta cheese and walnuts sprinkled on top. Yummo! Dinner in the cockpit with an ocean view. Doesn’t get much better than that.We will probably stay at this location another night or so. It’s a good spot. We are waiting until the21st when Skip and Kim will arrive on St Thomas, which is just right across the bay from here. I’ve got cleaning and provisioning to do prior to their arrival and we’ve already visited just about all the spots in this area so we’re just enjoying being at anchor…or on a mooring.
I’ve written this post off of a journal I’ve started to keep nightly. Not sure it’s the same rhythm as my other posts but it was certainly easier for me to put together. I’m not sure it reads as well, but you’re still getting the gist of our days on the boat. Cheers everyone. Stay tuned for another episode soon.
