Left Great Harbour and went to Diamond Cay – which is a small island between big Jost and little Jost. The north swells are up again and this is a protected anchorage behind a reef. The swells were rolling in which meant that the water in the anchorage was pretty murky and there was no point snorkelling – shame as this is a turtle ‘hot spot’!   Anyway…. we went ashore and went on a trek to the bubbly pool. Through mangroves, fallen down trees and scrambling over rocks like mountain goats. Great terrain for goats – and we saw a few wild ones wandering around. Wonder if they know that the local delicacy is goat curry???

Arriving at the bubbly pool we were very surprised to see a health and safety billboard and a safety ring for throwing into the water… This was new – but I guess it was the BVI Government trying to absolve themselves from all responsibility for accidents. Last year, sadly, a young mother died after being sucked out through the rocks into the ocean…

Anyway, the bubbly pool was running. The picture really doesn’t do it justice. If you can imagine 15-20 foot waves crashing into the rocks into the air on the other side and then rushing through into the pool creating a bubbly froth of water, then sucking out at speed for it all to be repeated again. Now you get the idea? Anyway…Richard and I went in and played in the surf for a while – fantastic fun….. Up to the gap, relax when the wave hits you, surf up the beach (avoiding the rocks underneath the surface) and then pop up onto your feet to brace against the rip current trying to drag you out. We had a ball…

Back to Foxy’s Taboo (yes another one of the Foxy family) for a diet coke – we got hot and bothered on the way back to the anchorage and bitten to death as a rain shower got all them biting critters really excited. Diet cokes all round – we have declared today another non-alcohol day – but didn’t stay long as the staff were not in the best of moods with some teeth sucking etc…. Don’t stay where we are clearly not welcome. Anyway, back on board for a quiet night reading books and chatting under the amazing starry night. And so to bed.

On Tuesday morning we decided to run across for our last night in the Bight, Norman Island. Did I tell you that this is famous as Treasure Island and it is thought that local pirates buried their treasure here – people, to this day, can be found there with metal detectors! Anyway….had a great sail in relatively light winds….and got almost to the Bight close hauled on 45 degrees to the wind when this idiot – in a nice sailboat but under motor – starting overtaking us and pushing us closer and closer to the wind.

Eventually we had to luff and rather than tack away again we decided to get the sails down – honestly, some people. We did teach him some working class language when he waved!! Anyway…he anchored in the Bight for the night…so we took a photo to warn others about him…. One of the beautiful sailing cruise ships – Star Clipper – was also anchored…. Nice.

Went over to Pirates for an afternoon on their wifi – am trying again to get the new router to work with the Alfa antenna but to no avail. Pirates, usually the laid back beach venue, was a bit like Magaluf – day trippers everywhere from day boats and the cruise ship. Quite amusing to watch them all queuing up to try little pico sail boats etc. Anyway….back to the task in hand….and three hours and every option considered / explored – I gave up again. Life is too short for this! Anyway….during this time Julia, a fellow cruiser, came by. We had a really good time with her and Lyle before at both Virgin Gorda and Soggy Dollar and we agreed to come to the Willy T for happy hour at 4pm and surprise Lyle.

Well…more drunken and naked goings on at the Willy T…but they all cleared off pretty quickly (many of them falling off the dock rather than getting into their dinghies on the first attempt) and we had our own party with Lyle and Julia – who were celebrating their 36th wedding anniversary – and their guests Richard and Janelle. Good time had by all…. We retired back to Morphie around 8pm and we had dinner on board and a relaxing time.

This morning (Wednesday) we left early and sailed hard into the wind up to Cooper Island. Well – the forecasters got it wrong again – 15-20 knots my a**e… We had 20-25 knots most of the way with rain squalls up to 30 knots.. Never mind – we got wet again – but had a fantastic four-hour sail.  Until we met another idiot – this time on a Sunsail boat. These people really should read the rules of the road – motor gives way to sail every time. They had no sails up and were motoring – and heading straight for us. We thought they would run behind us – the usual thing – but, oh no, they decided to gun the engine and pass in front of our bow. They only just made it – and only because we did all we could which was to luff up and stop our boat moving forward.  More choice words – met with shrugged shoulders. Funnily enough on the VHF we later heard Lyle call another boat and ask him to look up the collision regulations – wonder if it was the same one??!!!???

Anyway into Cooper just in time for lunch. Lovely spot this and one of our favourites for a quiet relaxing evening.

Had a really nice meal and then went to the dive shop to fix up some diving – but, unfortunately, they are full until Saturday. Don’t want to hang around until then so we’ll have a quiet night on board and run up to Virgin Gorda tomorrow. Sitting here at Cooper doing the blog and we’ve just realised that the conditions look really good for a run to St Martin on Friday night. Will have to watch this weather pattern with interest….

Off to bob….bye for now

Jan

We had a relatively lazy morning in Cane Garden Bay and then headed out to go across the channel to Jost van Dyke. So far we have been getting feast or famine on this trip….and today was another one of those days. Beautiful blue skies, sun and sea – but coupled with no wind…. So we ended up motoring across. The sea was a bit swelly so we were swaying quite a bit as the waves hit us on the side of the hull. So although benign I’m sure many stomachs would have rebelled at this one!  We went past Sandy Cay and into Great Harbour to find beautifully flat conditions. Picked up a mooring and, as we were getting ourselves sorted, up popped a turtle alongside the boat. Radical dude! He was a decent size with a couple of ramores attached to the underside of his shell.

Tidied up we headed off in dink to White Bay for our final Soggy Dollar afternoon. The conditions were perfect – and people were out in force. Quite a party atmosphere and we chatted to quite a few people before a long bob in the ocean. Headed back into the bar and, guess what, the skies darkened and the heavens opened. Oh well…..we were wet anyway. Said our farewells to the Soggy Dollar Gang and headed off round the point in dink – getting very wet again as Richard ramped up the revs into the waves – and back on board for a few hours before heading into Corsairs for dinner.

Had a fantastic dinner – yes I had lamb again, this time in curry sauce – and Richard had grouper with salsa. Amazing food as always and the only place you get sticky rice in the islands that we know of so far… and then, to my surprise, out comes a birthday chocolate dessert including candle and I got sang to. Totally embarrassed but it was a lovely gesture. Oh yes, the puppy crew came ashore too and had a few too many drinks…..

On Sunday we had already arranged for the Corsairs gang to come on board in the afternoon – so the morning was spent cleaning and preparing some nibbles. Richard went ashore to collect them and Vinny, Lori, Ghee and Roger came over to see Morpheus. They had a good look around and then we had Prosecco and nibbles in the cockpit. Roger and Ghee were getting paler by the minute and it was clear they weren’t going to be able to stand it for long. Luckily it was a very very calm day in the bay!

At this point Lori disappeared below and reappeared with a special decorated carrot cake that she had baked for us. We had talked about wanting to renew our vows here but didn’t like the pastor so had delayed it – and because they were coming on board this was a pre-wedding renewal vow party!!! What a smashing thing to do. Very very touched by all this. Anyway…Roger and Ghee bailed to the safety of dry land and Vinny and Lori stayed on for a while. A lovely chilled relaxing afternoon.

In the evening we went ashore for our final trip to Corsairs for dinner. Richard had an amazing lobster ravioli but I stayed on the club soda and didn’t have anything to eat. Felt really land sick – with everything swaying around. Not too much wine, honest!!! Anyway…we had a really nice evening….and donated our Bank of England sailing club burgee to Corsairs to pin to the wall with the others. We can’t fly it on Morpheus any more as we are no longer club members and this is a special place to us so a good place to leave it… Final farewells and so we have come to the end of another chapter – felt quite emotional, will miss these kind and generous people.

Richard wanted to go to Foxy’s one last time so we did walk down the road and watched a crowd of youngsters dancing along to the DJ and the rastaman hitting on all the scantily clad girls…. A quick cold one and back to Morphie to bed.

This morning we are heading round to Diamond Cay and to visit the bubbly pool as the surf is up and should be good fun… Bye Jost van Dyke it’s been great!

Bye for now

Jan

The wind continued to howl all night and into the next morning – accompanied by squalls and squalls of torrential rain. We watched a few boats struggling to get somewhere down the Sir Francis Drake channel – no sails up just motoring into big lumpy seas. Although one of the largest privately-owned sailing yachts in the world, the Maltese Falcon, went down the channel under sail at a distance….

You know what, we are not on a schedule, so we decide to stay put and spend another day at Peter Island. The wind continued to blow really strongly while we did boat jobs in the morning – pink job today was to polish all the stainless rails / ports and lights down below, and Richard got on with security-linked blue jobs that we need for later in the trip…

Eventually the sun came out so we hiked through to the Peter Island Resort and, this time, we were determined to explore the beach at the end of Deadman’s Bay. We took Kristine and Doug with us as they had just arrived into Great Harbour – they had never been to the resort so were keen to have a look. We all ended up in the bar where we had a couple of cold ones and then we left to go look at the beach while they had lunch in the restaurant.

Following the dirt road we ended up on our own private beach with fantastic views across to Salt Island – which is where the famous dive site, Wreck of the Rhone, is situated. After lunch Kristine and Doug joined us and we had a lovely afternoon just playing in the surf and chatting. Difficult to believe the weather had changed so much all on the same day. Hopefully this is a sign that it is turning…..

So we settled back on board for another quiet night, having left a couple of beers with Conrad on the way. Oh yes, the night before there was some interesting things going on in the bay.   During the evening we spotted a large motor yacht linking up with a small local vessel and transferring some bags of stuff…….looked dodgy to us but could, of course, have been completely innocent like laundry?!?!

Well the wind didn’t die down and the rain came back with a vengeance… Time to rethink our plans. The weather forecast had it clearing up on Friday but very large north swells then make another appearance, which makes some anchorages untenable. We wanted to go up to Cooper and do some scuba diving – but that is a rolly anchorage on a quiet night, so didn’t fancy that in 30+ knot squalls…. So decided to make our life easier and run back downwind to Norman instead of beating up the channel. Had a great downwind sail and with following seas we even did a bit of surfing. Nice.

The weather looked promising while we sailed down and fingers crossed this was the start of the improvement.   But no, we just got lucky, with a temporary lull in the yucky stuff and then the heavens opened yet again.   The Bight was very very busy with boats…probably people taking shelter from the rotten weather.  We went ashore and had a great bob – dodging the rain inside Pirates – and then back on board for dinner.

Later on we didn’t really feel in the mood for a night at Willy T’s but decided to go anyway to see what was going on. Well – it was absolutely manic – and the usual crowd of women (young and old alike) were queuing up to get fake tattoos from the bar staff. Dylan – the Welsh bartender – was enjoying himself a lot! That’s because they are usually placed in intimate places and the bar staff licks them on…  Pretty innocent adult fun….but then they all strip off and get silly.  What makes these women turn into aspiring porn models after a couple of painkillers???   Jumping off naked into the sea is normal Willy T behaviour – but to dance around and grope each other?   For those who are interested, painkillers are rum punch drinks and a local speciality.  Well – tonight – there were topless women dancing, squirty cream licking, lots of grinding on the dance floor…well you get the picture and if you think I’m embellishing the story I think the picture below (which Richard took) says it all……. The others were not publishable!   Needless to say I don’t get involved in all this…such a prude… If you still don’t believe me guys then google William Thornton in Norman Island on the internet – and you might not want to do this at work!!!!  Fun night…although I think Richard had a better time than me….as he used the blog as an excuse to be there amongst all the action with the camera!

Friday morning and it’s my birthday and I get a cup of tea in bed along with some cards… Was a nice way to start the day. I’ve decided that I’d like to go back to the Elm to watch the band and have the BBQ… Always a good evening and, with the swells forecast from Saturday, this will be one of the ‘no-go’ areas so this will be our last night here, maybe forever…. On the sail the forecast was wrong again – lovely blue skies mind – but the 15-20 knots turned into 25 knots on the nose for a while, but we were ready for it with reefed in sails and had an absolutely fantastic time. On the way round, Richard said that he had had a word with Flipper and asked him to pop by to wish me Happy Birthday. Yes, we really did have that daft conversation!  But then, within 10 minutes, we had a dolphin appear under the surface just behind Morphie… He came up and showed us his back fin and then dived – only to reappear to play off our bow. But he came and went so quickly we didn’t even attempt to get the camera out. What a fantastic birthday present! On the way to Tortola we also saw a beautiful classic sailing yacht.

Both of us are feeling pretty tired – still not got into a proper sleeping pattern – and wake up every three hours as though we are on watch! Oh well….guess it will work itself out at some point. Anyway…arrived in Cane Garden Bay after a great sail and went ashore for some provisions. Came across this pimped up Chevrolet – check out those wheels! Back on board for a while and then to dinner at The Elm after watching the sun go down.

The band were having so much fun it was infectious and we said our goodbyes to them and all the other staff at the end of the evening.

Great end to a great day…apart from getting a soaked bum when going ashore in the dinghy cos it rained on us again!  Bye Cane Garden Bay, been nice knowing you.

Heading into Jost today for our last soggy weekend.

Bye for now

Jan

The sail turned up Saturday morning about an hour after the time they agreed…but it is island time so no surprises. We took it out of the bag and – thankfully – it’s now the right colour and they’ve done a good job. We did want to hank it on there and then, but in a 20 knot breeze with the wind up our chuff in the slip, it probably wouldn’t have been the wisest move. So we take it down below and get ready to leave…

At last, at 12.50 pm, we slip out of Red Hook, St Thomas, for the very last time. We are free!!!!    Hurrah!!!!    Hugs all round….and head straight into 8 ft seas, whitecaps and 25 knots of wind gusting higher. So we plowed through it under motor – as this is head to wind all the way – and got pretty wet with green water coming over the bow. Picked up a mooring ball near Cruz Bay, St John, and went into customs to clear out of the USVI. Waited in line behind some Argentinians who were getting a really hard time – they were pussy cats to us by comparison.

Back around Lind Point in dink to pick up Morphie and went straight out towards Jost van Dyke to check into the BVIs. Well…as we rounded Carvel rock….the wind picked up and now we are at 31 knots and building seas. Without the stay sail to balance us on a close hauled tack we decided to drop the sails and run in under motor. Pretty choppy is all I can say…and I got soaked again with water coming over the bow…but nothing could detract from our feelings of relief that we can now start planning our trip properly.

Anyway….we arrive into Jost and, because of the conditions, all the mooring balls are taken so we anchored in Great Harbour and stayed on board for a while to make sure we had set as the conditions here are tricky. Luckily we got a good set first time and headed ashore to do normal stuff and book dinner at Corsairs.

Had a great welcome back from the gang and enjoyed Roger’s lamb cutlets and mint sauce. No, not Caribbean fare, but lamb is a rarity over here so I eat it whenever it appears on the menu, which is very very infrequently…. Yummmm….

In the morning as part of our usual routine we realised that the weather forecast was for Christmas winds – a couple of weeks late – which are going to be a feature for the next week or so, along with small craft advisories over hazardous sea conditions.   Went ashore so that I could skype my mum and had a chat with the famous Foxy Callwood who always regales us with fun stories of his life and particularly when he came to London with his family to collect his MBE from the Queen.

We also met the pastor from the little church and heard – down the street – his hell and brimstone sermon… Wow there must be a lot of sinners in town… We were planning to renew our wedding vows here but having heard the tone of the sermon we decided that perhaps we’ll do this further down island instead!

So after more boat jobs – Richard was sorting out the macerator which needed tightening up, definitely a blue job that one – and I did pink things like wiping the salt off my previously polished stainless steel rails… And together – in a lull in the wind – we hanked and furled the new sail on.

At this point we decided to stay put and relax for rest of the day – so we headed off in dink round the corner for a soggy afternoon in White Bay.   The new outboard is now run in so Richard was making it plane…   It was like a rollercoaster ride and great fun – not sure what everyone thought of a couple of 50+ year olds laughing and squealing with delight like kids as we buzzed around!   

The huge cruise ship – The World – was anchored off and the queue at the Soggy Dollar was five deep so we headed off down to the beach to see what was going on at One Love, which is owned by Seddy, Foxy’s son. Seddy was out of his head – not sure on what – so the atmosphere wasn’t that great. So after a swift cold one, we headed down to Gertrudes where we ate the local pork platter for lunch.

After that we returned to the Soggy Dollar and bumped into Kyle and Julia from Canada who we had met earlier in the trip at Virgin Gorda. Nice time was had by all. Dinked back round the point and after a few hours went ashore for a quiet evening at Corsairs…and yes, I do mean a quiet evening, although Richard did get tempted by that Fireball (Cinnamon Whisky) shot at the end!

On Monday we headed out into big seas again – and sustained winds of 27 knots – and made great progress on reefed main / genoa and full staysail…. An exhilarating – if not a bit of a bumpy and wet – sail. Into Norman Island and over to Pirates for a bob – didn’t actually make it into the water though, as we bumped into Kristine and Doug who we had met many years earlier on previous trips. Enjoyed chewing the fat with them for a couple of hours and went back on board for a bite to eat. Decided not to go to the Willy T and had an early night.  

Surprised to see a Seadream Yacht Club ship at the Bight too….and could this be Jack Sparrow on a new boat????

This morning the conditions have deteriorated so we decided just to run round the corner to Peter Island. As we left the comfort of Norman there was a huge rain squall where winds topped 37 knots and a complete white out. Not so nice. I even felt cold in the rain! Anyway….arrived here safely….to the spectacle of hundreds of pelicans feeding and tucked in neatly along the shore. Have decided not to go ashore at all today – if the sea state calms down I might get a swim – so tonight we have designated a non-alcohol movie night!

Oh yes, a new neighbour has just puled called Blind Date and, surprise, surprise, Cilla isn’t on board!

Bye for now

Jan

Had a great downwind sail to Sopers Hole with lightish winds but enough to get a good run going. Sopers was pretty full – as well as some mega private yachts anchored out and two cruise ships in the channel. Have never seen so much traffic here before….but then I’ve never been here this time of year so have nothing to judge it against.

During the sail the north swells were starting to make themselves known as we came along the coast of Tortola. After arriving we went ashore for a quick look round the shops – didn’t buy anything – and watched the cruise ship passengers being ferried in and out. Pussers the bar was rammed and it took forever to get a diet coke so we didn’t hang around for long although did bump into a couple of cruisers we had met before.

A quiet evening on board having dinner and then, as the sun went down, the mayhem started. We had already heard that the swells were bad on Jost……and all these charter boats (who are not allowed to sail at night) started turning up and driving around and around the mooring field looking for a free ball….and there weren’t any! Too deep to anchor for these boats at 60 ft as they won’t have enough chain on board. This was a dangerous situation to be in at this time of the day so many of them had to stump up and pay to go alongside one of the slips in the marina or run over to St John for shelter. Maybe next time out they will read the weather forecast before they decide where they are going to spend the night?

In the morning up early and checked out of the BVI after a great breakfast at De Best Cup and sailed downwind to St John to check into the US islands. Went ashore after the formalities were done and rescued a very drunk guy who had fallen into the sea under the ferry dock from his kayak and couldn’t climb back out….. don’t know how long he had been there but he was pretty distressed. But not so out of it that he couldn’t hit us up for a couple of bucks to get the bus home!

Anyway into Red Hook and met up with Blaine Parks who helped us deliver Morpheus down island in November 2008. Great to see him again. Blaine had just delivered down a brand new (huge) Island Packet for the fleet from Florida and came bearing goodies for us! At last….not long now before we are free! Really excited. So I spent the afternoon doing pink jobs like laundry, banking etc while Richard helps Blaine with all the last jobs to be done…. Fantastic….. A new (stern) anchor and the life raft were the main items we had been waiting on plus some extra jobs like putting new sacrificial washers on the gooseneck.

I virtually skipped back laden down with fresh clothes and bedding and as I walk down the dock I spot the problem. The damn sail is the wrong colour!!!! I try not to cry or get mad – Richard was angry enough for both of us – so we talked through the options and decided to pay to get it fixed locally and then claim back the cash… We really cannot wait for another sail to be produced and shipped…we’ve already lost weeks of our travels on the back of it – and if they can’t get it right twice, who can guarantee third time lucky???? Grrrrrr…… The people who could authorise this plan are on holiday until the 7th so we just went for it and sent assertive emails etc to start the process running. Notice no names? Yep – let’s give them the chance to put it right first – so watch this space!

We also went shopping for more stuff – new mats and extra bedding in the January sales. We even got a new blanket as it is a bit chilly at night at the minute, so we must be getting acclimatised….

After putting everything away and cleaning up we decamped to Molly’s for dinner and caught up with the bar manager Sharme, Blaine, Chandler and Dan (his crew as the owners didn’t do the trip)…..

then off to Duffy’s Love Shack – for a night of memories, dancing and drinking….followed by a visit to the Caribbean saloon for blackjack and more drinking….

How Blaine got his 6am cab to the airport I don’t know! Fantastic time and took us back to the start of our journey four years ago so a fitting way to start our cruising life. Shame that Brad couldn’t be here to share it again too – but he has a proper job now!!!

Friday we did jobs – I cleaned, waxed and buffed the topsides and gave some tender loving care to the stainless steel – Richard did some engine modifications and had an in depth walk through all the boat systems with a guy who knows these boats inside out. Headed off shopping in the afternoon for more crates, padlocks and other things on our spare parts list and loads of great meat which we’ve vacuum packed and frozen, taking advantage of being on shore power.

After a physically demanding day – and still emotionally drained after all the dramas – we headed back to Molly’s to have a quiet evening with Sharme who, unusually, was off duty and sat on the other side of the bar with us.

So now it is Saturday morning and we’re carrying on with the boat jobs…waiting anxiously for the local sail loft to turn up so that we can get out of here… Please please let it be right…

Bye for now

Jan

PS – phone reset and working again…… Phew!

After a couple of relaxing days on Anegada, including an international rescue operation when a boat ran aground at the back of the mooring field, we decided to head back towards Tortola as we are going to spend New Year’s Eve in Cane Garden Bay….so, as it’s Sunday, we may as well go a day early and visit our favourite watering hole the Elm for some live music.

We had a fantastic downwind sail and enjoyed chasing down boats who had left ahead of us – we are really getting to know how to trim Morphie now – and we overtook one monohull and held off a big catamaran behind us.   Colin – our autopilot – played his part as we watched on in admiration at his skill.   Why Colin?   Well, Richard used to sail occasionally with a guy called Colin North who is a great skipper and a safe pair of hands so our autopilot is named in his honour!

While underway I’m also getting to understand the AIS and how it depicts boats near us.   It is also a great tool for anybody who is slightly nosy as I can tell what the boat is called, how fast it’s going, it’s draft and whether it’s sailing / motoring or moored.   Nice!  And will be a really useful piece of kit for future night sails…

No Elmtones tonight at the Elm – instead Steve was joined by Jeff who has played with Bob Marley and the Wailers….a fantastic set and the place was absolutely full to the brim…  The staff were rushed off their feet trying to accommodate everyone but they managed it.  We spent the evening enjoying the music, chatting and catching up with old friends who had arrived on island that day.   

During the night it was really rolly …. if you can imagine trying to sleep on top of an inflated gym ball you’d get some idea!  In the morning we decided to move further out to see if we can get a more peaceful night – also, north swells are predicted for Tuesday morning and, if they come early, we can get out of here quickly.     We found a better spot and got ourselves set.    Did a few boat jobs and had a swim…as well as a bit of breakfast at the Sailors Rest and some provisioning at Bobby’s supermarket.    Oh yes, did I mention that it was raining cats and dogs at this point?   And then we realised – oh no – it’s cruise ship day and the beach is being transformed into huge lines of beach chairs and umbrellas.    These poor passengers are being shipped in and then dumped on a paradise beach – but in the rain…  Oh well, it’s only liquid sunshine, and at least it’s warm!

We went ashore about 2pm and went into Stanleys – now renamed Tonys – and chatted to some people.  Amazed by how many people are on this beach, but hey, at least they are spending money to boost the local economy.   And then, like magic, they all disappear and the locals pack up all the chairs for another day.

Back on board and a relax before getting ready to go out tonight.   Richard wants to party and is a bit grumpy because I didn’t let him go to Foxy’s on Jost for the big event of the year.   There was a reason – not just me being a party pooper, honest – but this is such a big event there are hundreds, literally, hundreds of boats crammed into the harbour and outside and no sane boat owner would put their boat at risk of being rammed in the night, particularly if the wind gets up.   Richard did agree – I just hope that there is a party happening somewhere to make him happy!

Well we went to Myetts for a drink around 8.30 pm – and Candyman was playing and getting the crowd up dancing.  We all got crowns too…   Had some fun and met some more people we knew from before.  Including the two Dutch families we had met in Anegada – although it is a bit like land of the giants as they are all over six feet tall including the gorgeous 11 and 14 year old girls who could be models if they wanted – legs up to their armpits, you know what I mean!   

Anyway….we decided to decamp to Quitos as we knew that Quito and the Edge were playing live tonight.   The party was in full swing when we got there with a real nice mix of locals, ex-pats and tourists all mingling and having fun.  Dancing, drinking, laughing were all compulsory elements and we had a really really good time.

Then suddenly, it was midnight – Happy New Year everyone!    Suddenly I felt really sad not to be with friends nor family – what a wuzz – really must get a grip….   So wiped away the tears and enjoyed celebrating the start of a new year which, for us, is the start of a great adventure…

And to cap it all, today we had also heard that the rest of our stuff has turned up – so we are heading to Sopers Hole in the morning (also to escape the swells) in preparation for checking out and returning to the US on Wednesday.  Soon we will be free….

Bye for now

Jan

PS – my iPhone has decided to go on the blink – so no texts to / from me at the minute.   Sorry for anyone who has sent something through…  When I get a good internet connection I’m going to try a factory reset and see what happens.  Fingers crossed!  

After the excesses of Christmas, we motored around to Diamond Cay on Jost Van Dyke for a quiet Boxing Day at anchor.  Went ashore for lunch and snorkelled a bit.  Had a long overdue alcohol free day!   Didn’t see much – no tarpon or turtles that frequent this area – but had a really nice chilled day and enjoyed the scenery.

The following morning we decided to head up to Marina Cay and had a great sail….took us a long time head to wind but hey, in no hurry, and enjoyed 20+ knots of wind most of the way and anchored at the back of the mooring field when we arrived.  

We had a sandwich on board for lunch and Melody and Tony from Utopia arrived….so we went aboard their spacious catamaran and had cocktails and made reservations for dinner ashore.  Had a great time in their company and learnt load of useful stuff for our down-island adventure to come.   We were also gifted one of Tony’s special fishing lures which we hope will be lucky for us going forward!  Thanks guys…

We were up early and headed out for a long sail to Anegada…the sunken island of the BVIs.  Sails up and heading into quite big seas with dink tied up tight on her davits …. Had a fantastic close-hauled sail with 23 knots and breaking seas….with a top speed of 7.6 knots this time and a great time was had by all….

Into Anegada – tricky entrance as usual but we have the advantage of following our track on the handheld plotter from earlier years – and anchored in front of the mooring field.   Another $60 saved for two nights stay ….  Richard snorkelled the anchor to make sure it was set and I spotted two manta rays cruising past – a real treat and a bit unreal as there are few sightings of these guys in these waters, especially in the anchorages.   Not sure I would have let him had I known that another tiger shark had been caught in the anchorage two days previous!

After sorting out some boat jobs we went ashore and took a cab to Cow Wreck beach…..named because in the early 1900s a ship wrecked here carrying lifestock which all got swept ashore…..      Anyway…had a great afternoon and returned via Neptunes for happy hour where we met some fellow cruisers.

And so to bed – we crashed about 8.30 pm…..   Up early this morning (Saturday) and cleaned Morpheus top to bottom ater breakfast ashore at Neptunes Treasure….   and then ashore this afternoon to another chilled afternoon at Cow Wreck, happy hour at Neptunes and then sundowners aboard Sha Sha with our cruiser friends Sharon and Jim…   

Back on board now…..and ready for an early night….back to Cane Garden Bay tomorrow for Sunday night with the Elmtones and to stay there for New Year’s Eve – swells permitting……

Oh yes, and to Tommy our nephew, who was worried about us bumping into Captain Jack Sparrow…we did wonder whether this was the Black Pearl anchored around the corner from us….  But don’t worry – we’ll keep a good look out!

Bye for now

Jan

Just as we were getting ready to leave North Sound on Monday a huge private yacht came in which, apparently, is linked to the Qatar royal family.    It was so big it had speedboats the size of Morpheus on the side and dwarfed a Seabourne cruise ship that was anchored nearby.  How the other half live eh?

The marine forecast still had a small ship advisory in place because of north swells but we thought we’d poke our nose out and have a look to see if we can sail down to Jost Van Dyke as we really do plan a soggy Christmas day.  We leave around 9.30 am and head out past Colquhaun reef and Mosquito rock into the main channel having a quick glimpse at Necker behind – wasn’t able to get a photo but looks like Branson’s big house is being rebuilt but not finished yet… 

The swells became evident as we headed out and turned downwind for the run to Jost.   We sailed along nicely with just a full gib up although we did get pushed around a bit – dink had the most fun surfing along behind us!  The waves bouncing off the north coast of Tortola were really something.

Arrived at Jost and as the swells had turned north east Great Harbour was tenable – hurrah!  So we picked up a mooring ball – holding is poor here – and hurried off round to the Soggy Dollar.    As we came round the point by dink we were stunned – the surf was running across the reef and we surfed in really quickly.   Got the dink up the beach really easily – but the waterline was almost at the tree line so we tied our dinghy anchor to a tree just to make sure! 

Had a really nice couple of hours – but really really quiet – and blagged a couple of Christmas hats.   No bobbing today – and getting dink back out to sea was like something out of Hawaii Five-O!!!  

Back on board for a couple of hours and into Corsairs for dinner….  This is the weirdest Christmas Eve I’ve ever spent.   No Christmas songs being played / very few decorations / and everybody just going about their business as usual.   When we turned up in our hats you would have thought we had landed from outerspace….even the kids in the street shouted Ho Ho Ho after us!   Never mind – a nice evening with Bubo auditioning to be a Christmas decoration – but decided ship’s owl was a better position! 

Back on board and to bed.   Santa isn’t visiting us this year as we have spent so much cash getting Morphie ready for sea….even though we have been really really good…promise!    Bit strange to wake up and realise that I don’t have a pile of sausage rolls to make and felt a bit sad about not seeing Mum…    But we opened our cards – thanks everyone – and did our Christmas crew photo shoot.   

Around lunchtime we headed off to the Soggy Dollar again….and this time the swells had calmed down quite a bit.  Not gone altogether but no longer so dramatic.   Much busier today with day trippers.  Had a few drinks and then a bob (with beer)…   Just heading back to the bar for a couple more and the whole of the Corsairs gang turned up (Vinny, Laurie, Gee and Roger) and they made us drink shots!    Wow…what a nice time we had.  

They left – as they have to get ready for dinner service – and we headed back to Morphie around 5pm.   

Got cleaned up – and decided to have a snooze before heading out for dinner….   Oh no…it’s 9.30 pm…what happened????   Damn…get dressed quickly and head into Corsairs hoping that Roger has saved me some roast lamb….   They were pleased to see us and yes we still got our dinner.  Phew…..

After dinner we joined the gang at the bar and, to our surprise, they had bought us a Christmas stocking filled with high energy foods which are going straight into our grab bag for emergencies and lots of other goodies like chocolate, candy and cookies.  Yum….   Thanks so much guys – this was a real treat and we were touched as it was totally unexpected. 

Now its get spooky…    Vinnie has thousands of songs on his play list which he just puts on shuffle.   When they were giving us the stocking Forever Young by Bob Dylan started playing – which is very ironic as this was the song that we played at Richard’s brother Christopher’s funeral and his birthday was on Christmas Day.   Wow what a coincidence….and made us feel quite emotional.

Vinny decided to close the bar early and we all went over to a local bar where Derek – Jost’s Scottish medic – was hosting a karaoke night.    We had a real blast – Richard crucified a few songs although appeared to get more fans as his Jimi Hendrix air guitar (backed up by a blow-up version) went down really well – and partied the night away with the gang.   Finally came back about 2.30 am.   What a Christmas day!

This morning, Boxing Day, we’re actually feeling quite sprightly – undeservedly – and are heading round to Diamond Key for some snorkelling and, maybe, a visit to the bubbly pool.

Bye for now

Jan

Arrived at Leverick Bay and were met at the dock by Leroy and Tito – who did a sterling job helping us get into our reserved slip.   Fantastic service – a bit like valet parking but with ropes!

Did a few boat jobs and some domestic stuff like the laundry and then decided to go off to Hog Heaven to have lunch and some aerial shots of the bay.  But, alas, no taxis available so we returned to the boat for a lazy few hours and Richard got the new seat cushions installed on the stern.    Eric, a fellow Island Packeteer, also came along to introduce himself.

After all that work we felt we deserved a Happy Hour visit to the Jumbies Beach Bar. We had a chilled couple of hours – met some fellow cruisers – and returned to the boat for dinner.  We then came over all weary and planned to return to watch the Jumbies show….but fell asleep and didn’t get back to the bar until 9.30 pm!    The band, Hard Core, were playing live and the audience were really enjoying themselves – unfortunately the residents of some of the villas up the hill didn’t agree and rang down to complain.  This stopped the night short at about 10.30 pm so we retired to bed.

We had already decided to have Saturday as a day of rest….so motored a whole mile across the North Sound and picked up a free mooring ball off Prickly Pear island and took dink ashore to Sand Box bar and restaurant.  This has hundreds of beach chairs but no guests….unless a small cruise ship is around….so we enjoyed a quiet lunch, taking in the scenery, and chatted with Sheryl who was pleased to see us again.   After lunch a quick bob and then escaped from the sun – it was really fierce – and returned to the boat.  Back on board we motored around the corner to Saba Rock and anchored for the night.

Went ashore to Saba Rock and went to see the Toucans and the beautiful views / gardens of this little island oasis.  We also went into the shop and had a look at their collection of antique outboard motors and I decided Richard should try on some hats!   I thought he looked quite dashing in his panama myself….   Luckily the timing of our visit ashore also coincided with the tarpon feeding frenzy and Happy Hour.   We bumped into Lyle &Julia (from Canada), Eric & Pat (from the USA) and another couple who had recently sailed down from Virginia on the Caribbean 1500 rally.  A great few hours getting to know each other and then back on board for a quiet evening.   It looks like our cruising plans may overlap in future too…..

This morning we were planning to head to Cane Garden Bay to catch the Elmtones for their Sunday show…..but the weather forecast was dire. Although warm and sunny most of the day the north swells were forecast to be huge with severe weather and surf warnings along all north coasts of the island chain.  Cane Garden is notorious for surf in these conditions and not a viable anchorage…..so we decided to stay put and have another relaxing day.  

So we did a few more boat jobs – including running the watermaker for a while to top up our tanks.  We have a water quality tester as part of the kit – and the maximum recommended salt levels for human consumption is 750 ppm.  We are currently turning out water at 88 ppm – out of interest, I tested water from a bottle that we had purchased and it was 257 ppm…. Amazing – really happy with this new piece of equipment.

Lunchtime we headed off to the brand spanking new YCCS Superyacht Marina which is a bit rich for us – in that they charge $30k entrance fee and $30k annual membership and you have to be recommended by two existing members to get in!  When the docks are available they charge a reasonable $3 a foot – and they cater for yachts up to 350 feet long alongside…bigger vessels have to go stern to.  Currently the superyacht Athena is in the bay and she is stunning.   There are quite a few large motoryachts about too – but the 90ft ish sleek racing yacht caught our eye.   How we managed to blag our way into the facility is beyond us but the manager and the staff made us very welcome.

We had a fantastic afternoon – lunch at the bar, swimming in the infinity pool, quaffing champagne cocktails and enjoying the luxurious surroundings.   What a lovely way to spend a day……

Headed back to Saba Rock for Happy Hour and spent a few hours with Lyle and Julia again who happened to be in the bar!   

Back on board now for dinner and a quiet night.  We are heading out early hoping to get to Jost Van Dyke for Christmas Eve….  The weather forecast still talks about swells but we’ll make a decision once we’ve left the North Sound and seen for ourselves.

Bye for now.  I probably won’t post again now until Boxing Day – so to all our friends and families we’d like to wish you a very soggy Christmas.

Jan

Off the dock early on Wednesday and headed over to Cruz Bay, St John, to check out of the US Virgins.   Motored from there to West End, Tortola, to check back into the British islands.  

We are going to stay here now until we get word that all the stuff has arrived into the US islands – and we’ll make a single trip back to get it all.   Want to avoid having to do more customs / immigration forms, and changing courtesy flags, than really necessary.

While we were in West End we went over to Sopers Hole Marina to check out the grocery store.   I know what you are all thinking – more shopping??  Actually I’m on the hunt for some well-known British stuff to put into the ship’s stores – and I came away very happy with a bottle of HP sauce.  All I need to find now is Branston Pickle and I’ll be in seventh heaven, having already got a supply of decent cheddar cheese!

A bit hot and bothered so we stopped for a club soda at Pussers – and suddenly there is a huge scream and all the local ladies working in the stores come running down the dock in hot pursuit of a very large iguana.   They scared the lizard so much he jumped onto a dinghy to escape.   From there he went swimming….   Felt sorry for the poor guy – he was only trying to get a suntan.

Out of Sopers and we sailed across nicely into Norman.   Bit too late to get much further.    I have never ever seen the Bight at Norman so quiet – no more than about 30 boats in an anchorage that can hold upwards of 200.   Had a quick bob at Pirates and then headed to the Willy T to see what was going down.  The answer – NOTHING!   We were the only people there so just hung with the staff for a little while and headed back on board.

In the morning we did some boat jobs then headed out into the Sir Francis Drake channel to sail up to Trellis Bay, Tortola.    Into the wind this is always a beat and today with seas building and 23 knots sustained it was no different.   We played with different sail patterns and settled down to a fantastic sail – topping 7.8 knots at one point – and having a mini race with another cruising boat.    Amazing time.

Into Trellis and, again, the bay was almost empty.   This is weird so close to Christmas.   Went to see Jeremy at the Cyber Cafe for a short while and then across to the Last Resort, which is a bar / restaurant that sits on its own island called Bellamy Cay and is decorated with local artwork.   Pretty stormy and a spectacular sunset tonight…   Quiet in here too – but caught Al, the singing chef’s set, and Richard managed to get invited up to sing Pinball Wizard again.  Yes, I mean again – this has become a bit of a party piece, although no fans shouting out ‘we want Dick’ this year!  

Stayed up late chatting with the young Cornish staff and to bed.   This morning the wind was howling and the rain is heavy at times – we are monitoring sustained 25 knots with higher gusts and we have a slip reserved up at Leverick Bay in North South, Virgin Gorda.  A fair way to go and the seas are building too.   So at this point I’ll confess that we didn’t fancy six hours beating into the wind getting cold and wet – so motor sailed all the way….   We apologise to our sailing chums and promise never to let this happen again!

Staying up in Virgin Gorda for a couple of days before we head back to Jost Van Dyke for a soggy Christmas.  After that we may run up to Anegada one of our favourite spots on earth.   But no firm plans yet…

Bye for now

Jan