British Virgin Islands

The remainder of our visit to the British Virgin Islands went by in a flash. A lot of lazy days snorkelling, eating and drinking. We finally caught up with Geoff and Merel from Miss Molly and spent some great evenings with them and son James. One of the highlights was going across to Marina Cays for happy hour and be entertained by this fellow who had the whole one man band thing happening. He had us all singing along with our clappers and Rummmmm…….and some lethal cocktails.

We also spent a couple of nights at Gorda Sounds at the Bitter End. It was a gorgeous spot with a calm anchorage and stunning views. We went for a snorkel with Geoff and Merel to find some old cannons (I think they are fairly old) on the reef. There are no markers so I was amazed that Si located one.

From Gorda Sounds we had to go back to Spanish Town to extend our visa and collect Greg and young Danielle on Cadans. Our deflag papers had not yet been received so our departure date to the Panama was reliant on these being sent to Tortola. So with nothing more to do we headed back to Norman Island for the weekend. We secured our favourite anchorage in front of all the mooring buoys. The four of us had a BBQ off the back of Woodsia before heading over to Willie T’s. It was a fun night with lots of very drunk people to watch. Their rum punch is rather lethal. Poor Si played rescue ranger for most of the evening. He rescued some very drunk guy who had started his tender and somehow got a line caught around his prop. Everyone just thought he was waving. So as he slowly started to drift away, Si decided he had better go get him. Then half an hour later, someone had let loose a dingy, so off Si went again…very heroic.

The next day Geoff and Merel popped by and we had a FKG (Simpson Lagoon, St Martin) reunion. Geoff took us out to snorkel around the 4 Indians (rock formation). It was hard to get across as we had six in a dingy and the wind had picked up. I thought the snorkelling was amazing and well worth the journey.

All too soon we had to leave Norman Island and head back to Tortola to pick up our deflag papers (that had finally arrived) and prepare Woodsia for the trip to the Panama. We had originally planned to head out on Wednesday but due to some large swell in the Caribbean Sea, we departed on Friday 18th April.

So here we are on passage. We have had very light winds so we are only averaging 5knts an hour. It will add an extra two days to our initial seven day passage. Must say I don’t mind too much as the conditions have been perfect. We did have some reservations about only the two of us doing the passage but it was definitely the right decision.

The night watches are working well. We generally go three on three off. We still get our eight hours sleep; it is just spread out during the day. At the start of the passage we had a full moon with the light reflecting off the ocean. Now that the moon is setting later, the stars are out and you can see the phosphorous in the waves. It really is beautiful and it makes getting up at 3am nearly bearable. We have seen many big ship pass us in the night with only one getting a bit close for comfort.

Si has become a nudist and not sure if he will ever be able to adjust in the real world.  He definitely has adopted that Albi Mangles look. We caught our first fish off the lure that Trevor made us. It was a good size tuna but I was a bit taken aback after watching the poor thing suffer. I would have taken a photo but it was all a bit messy. I think we have to work out a better system. In the end, it did taste delicious. Unfortunately we have had no such luck since.

The highlight of the trip was waking up one morning I woke up to find the boat surrounded by about 30 plus dolphins. Some where playing on the bow while others where surfing the waves and getting some serious air. There were a number of mums with babies…very cute. They hung around for about three hours. They were amazing to watch. We sat up on the bow and they were right at our feet. It was sad to see them go !!!

Anguilla then the BVI's

We finally escaped St Martin. We had some good news. Our auto pilot could be fixed without having to wait for parts from the States. It is amazing what you can achieve when they want the dock space. After about 10 trips to the supermarket and a lot of hair pulling trying to work out where to put every thing, we were all provisioned ready to go.

We said goodbye to our friends knowing that we would catch-up in a week or so. The first stop was Friars bay on the west side of St Maarten (French Side). We wanted too test out the autopilot before wandering too far from Simpson’s Lagoon. From there we sailed around to Road Bay in Anguilla. The winds were directly behind us so Si took the opportunity to test out the spiniker pole to hold out the head sail. It worked a treat and cruised along nicely. Road Bay was lovely. We spent a day chilling out; I sewed a strap for the spinnaker pole (attached topping lift and down brace) while Si set up the preventer for the Main sail and the down brace for the Head Sail.

We had a few hours sleep before heading off at midnight for the BVI’s. It was a sensational sail with 15 to 20 knot winds and 1 to 2 meter seas. The moon rose shortly after our departure and added to the serenity. We reached the north of Virgin Gorda around 1pm and sailed past Richard Branson’s island. We arrived in Spanish Town around 3pm. Customs was closed (being Sunday) so settled in for the evening. Being Sunday night, pizza night, I made my first ever pizza (I have become Susie homemaker).

The following day we anchored across from a bay with palm trees and white sand…heaven. We waited until about 3.30pm and took the dingy around to the Baths. It is a collection on giant granite boulders that are partially in the sea. It is a major tourist attraction hence the reason for leaving it late in the day. We had a snorkel around, not much in the way of coral but there are some really cool fish. We swam to shore and walked through the caves. Very cool.

That night the weather turned and we got woken to some serious swell. We did an early run to Peter’s Island as we heard that it was relatively protected. It must have been blowing 35+. We dragged anchor about three times before we but out a stern anchor to stop from hunting. It worked a treat and we pretty much did nothing for the next couple of days. The bad weather continued so went to Road Town, Tortola to visit Giles. Giles was the fellow who sold us Woodsia so it was great to put a face to a name. We had a yummy lunch (it was a treat not to have to cook) and stayed on the Moorings dock for the night.

The next morning we left early for Bight Bay on Norman’s Island, otherwise known as Treasure Island. It is still blowing hard but at least the sun has come out. We have a nice anchorage that is relatively protected. We have been swimming and snorkelling and generally enjoying life. Sure beats 9 to 5!!!! We had a squall come through this morning that clocked 40 knots that flipped the dingy. Fortunately we where up and witnessed it happen. Can't say that Si's crocs and my thongs had a happy ending. They are on the way to the US VI's.

Our friends are arriving from St Martin early this week. The wind has been so bad they did not open the Simpson Lagoon Bridge to let boats out so they have been stuck their. We intend to stay for another week before heading to the Panama. That is when things are really going to get interesting.