Did the immigration stuff in Great Harbour, Jost Van Dyke, so we’re cleared to leave Sunday morning …. and headed off (slowly!) by dinghy to the Soggy Dollar, as we’re running the new engine in. Coming round the point we were met by the view of two cruise ships – one Club Med with masts and the other a Seabourne (I think). But although the beach was busy the bars were not…..most of the cruise ship passengers tend to stick to eating / drinking the ship’s supplies (which are brought ashore with them) rather than frequenting the local hostelries. Had a great time as always…including bobbing with beer. While we were cooling off in the sea – an American lady dived into the water in front of us and came up with one of her nipples exposed. Richard said he felt cheated could she show him the other one – and to my amazement, she did! That made his day…..
Also bumped into Tony and Mel from Utopia – haven’t seen them since March 2011, so great to catch up and looks like we’ll be seeing them around this trip….. They are also going to let us have some hints and tips on where to go / where not to bother for the down island trip, as they did this themselves last year. Richard is just keen to know how they manage to catch those huge tuna off the back! Headed off back round the corner to Great Harbour to get ready for dinner.
I know that this is the second visit in two weeks to Corsairs – but they really do have great food and just so happen to be convenient for the immigration office! Had a fun time with Vinny, Ghee and Roger – although I think Richard should probably have called it a day rather than doing cinnamon whisky shots with Vinny… Some other tourists came in hunting Absinthe…and guess what, Vinny has three types.
And so to bed – another great day and another party – must have a day of rest tomorrow!
Got up early this morning, did boat jobs, and then headed off to St John to clear into the US Virgins. Light airs so we had a slow meander across passing Carvel Rock and to the lush scenery of St John. Through customs / immigration relatively easily even though there was a ferry load of people in line ahead of us.
Coming away from the dock, we were hailed across the channel to a small bay by a crowd of locals who were racing model speedboats around. Two of the boats had come to a halt and their dinghy was deflated – so we did our international rescue bit yet again. Giving them back we tried to claim salvage rights and the group, luckily, all took it in good humour…..
Back on board and down to Mahoe Bay for the night – as it is quiet here and gives us a great jumping off point for getting into Red Hook (St Thomas) tomorrow morning. We need to go in to return the outboard we borrowed and to get some electronic issues sorted out from the refit of Morpheus. Hope to be there for a couple of days only then back to the BVIs for Christmas / New Year. Still waiting on the liferaft and the final new sail (the staysail) … so looks like mid January is becoming a reality. Oh well, worse places to be – we could be commuting to London in the snow! (Sorry peeps….)
Oh yes, people have been asking us what we’ve had done to Morpheus to get her ready to go cruising – so watch this space for a separate blog to follow. Non-sailors may look away now….
Bye for now
Jan