I wrote this last week, but did not have a good connection to post.

06.22.12

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TEJON!!  (Can it really be your 34^th?)  LOVE YOU!!

Try as he might, Tim was not able to convince the folks at the boat yard to fabricate the new bob stay.  We got the sinking feeling that we were in the film Ground Hog Day as each new day we heard that the part was going to be made “tomorrow.”  This went on for over a week.  We finally gave up and got the old bob stay back from Tim, who felt very badly.  We didn’t hold it against him at all.  The upside is that we got to know him a bit and hear some of his story. 

A long time ago Tim built a sailboat from scratch, a feat that never fails to amaze me.  Later on he raced sailboats – fast and expensive sailboats owned by others - quite often here in the Virgin Islands.  One wealthy man he knew bought a sailboat and asked Tim to turn it into a racing boat.  Tim says that the first tool he used on it was a chain saw!  He redid everything on the boat and skippered for the man who really never raced it himself.  Tim won many races on that boat.  The man eventually wanted to sell the boat, and Tim ended up buying it from him and he now lives on it in Red Hook.  It’s a sleek looking boat made with many carbon fiber (lightweight) parts.



Coming in to Soper's Hole

From Red Hook, we went to Sopers Hole, on Tortola to clear in to the British Virgin Islands which went smoothly.  From Customs and Immigration, we walked past a little café with several locals inside – always a good sign for tasty and inexpensive food.  In the glass case were several macaroni salads and some chicken stuffed pastries.  We tried the pastries, which were delicious especially paired with local chutney.  We shared a bottled fruit juice and were momentarily shocked when the bill came to $19!  So much for the local eatery theory.  Well, at least it was a tasty and filling meal.  The BVIs are islands of steep, angular, dark green hills, so the harbors often have a nestled in feeling.  Sopers Hole is one of these. 

While in Red Hook, we researched metal fabricators in other ports.  We got a positive email response from Nautool in Road Harbour, the main city of Tortola.  Tim recommended them as well.  So after clearing in, we continued on to Road Harbour, where we anchored in the midst of a mooring field for Conch Charters.  We met a quirky guy in the anchorage who is a live-aboard.  He’s a twenty-something named Branson – so named because he was born on an island owned by Sir Richard Branson – who was chatty and willing to tell all sorts of local information.  We thanked him and he replied, “No worries.”

We took our old bob stay to Nautool at 8:30am and had it back by 1:00pm.  What a difference!  First we thought, “Why didn’t we come here sooner?”  But then we realized that we probably wouldn’t have gone to Lameshur Bay on the south coast of St. John since it is out of the way, and this was one of our favorite stops.  So even though these bumps can be frustrating, we try to see the positive. 

Actually we just heard from our friends on Alibi, Ann and Darryl.  When they attempted to check in to the BVI, they were told that it would cost $200 (we paid $24.50) because of their dog AND they would have to quarantine the dog.  They decided to turn back to the USVI, but Darryl had to pay $18.50 to be told this and to check in and check out.  Since then, they’ve researched other islands and found that many have similar restrictions.  They are reevaluating their plans and may not continue south.  It is not unusual for plans to change, certainly in minor and sometimes in major ways.  This is something that is quite different from land based living.



Great Harbour, Peter Island

We installed the bob stay and left the next day for Great Harbour, Peter Island less than two hours away.  Several catamarans were anchored there.  We had a nice snorkel.  Though there was a lot of boating activities going on in the afternoon, it was pretty and peaceful in the evening.  Dave blew his conch shell horn at sunset for the first time, and got applause from the neighboring boat. 



Dave announcing sunset

The next day we motored up to Spanish Town on Virgin Gorda.  Since the wind is on the nose and the hops are only a couple of hours, we motor rather than sail.  We are eager to get to St. Martin where we’ll have a better angle on the wind.  Early the next morning, we dinghied up to The Baths.  We tied up to the mooring line and swam ashore.  Large granite boulders strewn along the coast create crevices and slots where sea water pools.  Shafts of light shine down producing beautiful scenes.  It was wonderful to have these watery rooms all to ourselves.

We decided to stay through the weekend so we could talk with a Yanmar engine repairman about our engine not coming to full RPMs when we throttle up.  He said to check the secondary filter first (we’d changed the primary already) and if that didn’t do it, he would take a look in the afternoon.  We got a slip in the marina as the anchorage was really rolly to change the diesel filter among other things.  It worked!  We felt proud that we fixed it ourselves and dumb for not knowing to do this before.  Ah, well…always learning. 

It was the first time we’d stayed in a marina since Charleston, six months ago, right before we left the States.  We “plugged in” and charged the batteries and turned on the air conditioning for a bit.  I did a lot of cleaning since we could easily fill up the water tank.  Water costs 15 cents a gallon, and our tank holds 70 gallons.  I defrosted the freezer since we could run it for a few hours straight to get it cold again.  We did our laundry and enjoyed long marina showers.  I always think that I’m going to have a leisurely time on those rare occasions that we stay at a marina, but I usually end up working my tail off.  But it’s always good to get the boat spiffed up for the next jaunt.  Marinas are usually too expensive for our budget, but once in awhile, it’s worth it.  This one charged $1.25 a foot plus electricity and water.  All told it came to $100.  At least we didn’t have to pay a mechanic.  And we’re getting good at changing filters.

Right after we took the slip, I looked up and noticed the boat in the next slip looked familiar.  It was a Freedom 45 with an unstayed mast, just like ours!  We’ve seen just a few other smaller Freedoms, but only one other 45-footer.  We were hoping we’d meet the owners so we could swap Freedom stories and pick their brains a bit.  Later on, they stopped by so we chatted about things that would bore most readers of this blog, but we were excited.  They live here on Virgin Gorda and are about to put their boat on the hard for hurricane season. 

On Wednesday we headed north to Gorda Sound and anchored off of Prickly Pear Island.  This is the jumping off point to cross the Anegada Passage to go to St. Martin about 90 miles away.  We’re now waiting for a weather window.  

This afternoon we went into Leverick Bay Marina to use the internet and check emails.  As we were leaving, we ran into the Freedom 45 couple who offered to let us use their mooring ball while we’re here.  It’s a nice offer and we’ll probably move the boat tomorrow.  They also told us of the good snorkeling spots, so we’ll have a snorkel in the morning.