Great Harbour, Jost van Dyke, BVIs

No, you are not mistaken by the heading, we did actually leave Cane Garden Bay and hadn’t taken root as perhaps some were expecting! Monday was a busy day, I had to get up at 4.30am to speak to my bank in the UK that morning, so that we could leave that day with everything sorted, as some things I prefer not to do online. I went back to bed then and Kevin was busy on the internet downloading information about when we were heading and putting waypoints into our various GPS for our trip.

When I got up I headed ashore to dispose of our rubbish /  garbage and buy some fresh supplies. I saw Jean on the way past who was busy at the laundry having also had an early start. She said Mike was busy scrubbing their waterline, which made me feel guilty as I’d promised to clean our props the day before but wasn’t feeling well enough. Feeling inspired then, I dashed back to do that job before our lunchtime departure.

I kitted up quickly and got straight in when I got back, removing the beards which had accumulated on our props and stern drive legs in the last few weeks and generally cutting my fingers to shreds on the barnacles! I changed tools to a soft plastic scraper though and improve my method and very soon had them restored to their former glory, everything removed even the barnacles. Our hulls had a small amount of weed on the waterline, but we have decided that as the antifoul is so soft we won’t scrub it as it wears it too fast. Kevin had pulled a a piece of weed and it came off easily. In fact by the time we had arrived at Jost van Dyke later that day the antifoul had done it’s job and all the growth on the outside of the hulls had worn off and most of the stuff on the inside was gone.

Mike and Jean motored past to the fuel dock and we gave them a few minutes before we got our anchor up and followed. We had a steady motor the 5 miles across to Jost van Dyke, arriving about 2pm. Great Harbour in Jost Van Dyke is possibly slightly overstated a title, though it is a nice large bay it is populated only by a small number of houses, which is I think part of the island’s charm with only 200 inhabitants. I picked up Mike and we went ashore, I was a little too successful in my deployment of our stern anchor for the dingy, which in combination with a lack of foothold on the dock, I managed to fall in! Luckily the water was only less than waist deep even for those of diminutive stature like myself and only my shorts were wet as I walked up the beach to get ashore instead. Luckily the police station for checking out is just off the dingy dock and they dealt with us swiftly.

 

Kevin, Jean and Mike arriving at Foxy’s, Jost van Dyke

We met Mike and Jean again later a drink at the famous Foxy’s bar, the first local to capitalise on the boating visitors. The ceiling is literally plastered in business cards and t-shirts of previous visitors, including lots of id cards, how the absence of these were explained after their holidays I’m not sure! We had a couple of rounds in here, those at 18$US a round in Happy Hour, we could see why Mr. Foxy himself is now impersonated by a plastic model rather than the man himself who was presumably off spending his cash somewhere!

Jo, Jean and Mike at Foxy’s – beneath the previous visitors’ t-shirts

Cane Garden Bay, Tortola, BVI

Today was slightly subdued for Kevin and I, who were feeling rather worse for wear from the night before. We nursed coffees and slept in, not doing anything very energetic.

We’d decided that we wouldn’t attend the weekly barbecue that night and were very impressed when Mike and Jean arrive ready to go that evening – I think they’d shown more restraint the night before. We were just coming round with a hair-of-the-dog beer but that was to be only one of two that night. They also decided to save the night and instead we lent them a DVD we’d recommended the night before.

Cane Garden Bay, Tortola, BVI

Saturday morning Mike was heading over to Road Town to pick up some things needed before heading off next week. Our Camping Gas cylinder had run out the night before so Kevin went with him for a refill. We had invited Mike and Jean over for drinks that night so I was busy cleaning the boat and catching up on the blog. I agreed I would pick up Jean to pop to the minimarket in our dingy when I left, but was caught out by the Kevin and Mike arriving before I expected.

I finished up the cleaning and Jean and I headed off to the shops. I got some beer and wine supplies for the night and some fresh food and then we headed back for some lunch, having both been caught out by the men sneaking off for lunch at the now favourite Chinese in Road Town.

It was another rainy afternoon and I just managed to get my swim in before Mike and Jean were due over that evening. They arrived loaded with laptops as we had agreed to swap various boating related files and Mike and I set that off whilst Kevin provided Jean with a tour of the outside of our boat. The beer and wine flowed freely as we swapped stories and plans for the future and I think a good night was had by all.

Cane Garden Bay, Tortola, BVI

Today was a rather wet and rainy, which will amuse those in the UK who are currently enjoying some unseasonably good weather for April. Rain in the Caribbean comes in black squall rain clouds which can be seen approaching and after 10 minutes have passed through, the temperature again rising quickly. Therefore, we spend the day opening hatches to get a breeze and closing them again when the rain passes through. Perhaps it is our English heritage that I rather enjoy the cosiness of the sound of rain on the roof (nostalgia no doubt, it being less frequent here), so we settled down to reading internet jobs in doors. At points through the morning, Jost Van Dyke island, only 5 miles away was obscured in deluge and everyone in the anchorage sat on their boats.

 

Jost Van Dyke island our view astern – in clear weather

In the afternoon, the weather brightened up and we were able to get in for our daily swim. After the morning cooped up inside it was lovely to be in the water, although it is not quite as clear where we are now nearer the beach due to the sand, we still have a resident colony of small silver fish and their predators, two sleek jacks swimming up from below.

I managed to speak to my parents today on Skype to find out how things were progressing with their plans, not ones to hang around, they had already bought a boat! A 2 year old 57ft narrow boat would soon be delivered by the previous owners nearer to their house. Therefore, we had much to discuss about equipment choices, living on board etc. They send us a link to the boat and it looks lovely, very comfortable, I’m sure they will enjoy joining the large community of live aboard cruisers in the UK for the summer.

We popped across to Jeannius early evening to deliver the fishing rod and make a plan for our departure. We all agreed over a couple of cool beers that we would depart  for Jost Van Dyke.

Back to the boat, we watched an old Billy Connelly DVD before getting an early night.

Cane Garden Bay, Tortola, BVI

After another loaded hint from my Mum, one of our most loyal readers, I was prompted into catching up on the blog today. I therefore spent the day at the computer, I had been dreading trying to compose something interesting as we’ve been in Cane Garden so long now, but as I sat down to write it I realised how much we’d done.

Kevin went over this morning assist in winching Mike up his mast to resolve a problem with his anchor light, as calm conditions in the bay were suitable this morning. Mission successful, problem identified, though typically more parts needed to fix it and none are available locally so they couldn’t complete the job today.

Meanwhile, Kevin was keeping busy, he was inspired by assisting Mike with servicing his winch to attend to our mast mounted winch. He had read on a forum from another Mahe owner that had had difficulties doing his because the brass winch had been mounted on an aluminium bracket cause corrosion due to the dissimilar metals. Our last boat was aluminium and we know only too well the problem that it can cause. Kevin managed to remove it without too many issues and stripped it down, cleaned it out and re-greased. The position of this winch means that it is particularly expose to the elements and had received more than it’s normal share of Canarian dust. It was still functioning well enough but having serviced our other winches we could now detect the difference. Kevin made a plastic gasket to insulate the metals from each other and remounted the winch. Another good job done, we’ve often discussed how difficult it must be to keep on top of such jobs when not living aboard.

Finally, Kevin spent this evening setting Mike’s fishing rod up for him, which had been left tangled up by a previous charterer, the coiling mechanism having jammed. Kevin stripped it down and loaded some spare line and gave him one of our lucky lures, so there could be no excuses for not catching! Jean is a particular fan of fresh fish and poor Mike has been set a challenge now after hearing how well our fishing was going.

Cane Garden Bay, Tortola, BVI

We get an email from Mike & Jean to see if we need anything from Road Town whilst they are there and we ask Mike to see if he can pick us up a stern anchor. I am busy looking at flights for Alex to come out in the summer and we are trying to confirm who will travel with her.

My next job is the laundry, one of the local hotels has a laundry for their towels / bedding etc which is open to the public for $2 a wash and 25 cents for 5 minutes in the drier which is the cheapest we have found anywhere. I take my book and Kevin drops me at the dock and I proceed to do our three loads of washing and drying. There is a local lady working in there doing the hotel laundry but she isn’t too chatty. I even manage to borrow an iron from the hotel reception, though she doesn’t have a board and I have to iron Kevin’s linen trousers and shirt on a towel on top of one of the washers, still I manage a reasonable job of it.

Ironically when Kevin comes to pick me up there are two men repairing the dingy dock, rebuilding all the sides and replacing the missing planks on top. Two days too late for us though!

Mike and Jean arrive back just after we have finished making up the bunk and we pop over to collect our dingy anchor and see what their plans are for the next few days. They had been toying with the idea of joining us up to the Turks and Caicos but sensibly decide as they have another charter in 2-3 weeks that they don’t want to risk the return journey against the weather in short a short time window. Instead we agree to travel with them as far as the Spanish Virgin Islands, where they will spend their couple of weeks off. We depart on Monday, first to Jost Van Dyke to check out. Kevin also hands Mike his fishing rod which he has set up for him, giving him a lucky lure, so now he has no excuses!

Cane Garden Bay, Tortola, BVI

We pump up the dingy and leak test, all looks good, so we carry it to the stern and launch. We lift the outboard on and Kevin gets in for the test run. The outboard starts first time and runs perfectly as he takes it for a spin around the anchorage. The patch is holding well, success and we are mobile again.

We take a trip ashore in the afternoon for provisions and decide to have a beer out for Happy Hour whilst we are there. As we are drinking and seeing other people’s food arriving we weaken and decide we can’t be bothered to cook either. I have a veggie pizza and Kevin has a chicken roti, the local equivalent to a cornish pastie which Kevin has taken a real liking to since we arrived in the Caribbean. We head back to the boat for an early night.

Cane Garden Bay, Tortola, BVI

After the night before, today was dingy repair day. Kevin set about the outboard first and within 20 minutes that was running actually better than before because he fixed the slightly misaligned ratchet on the pull cord. Mike dashed out from their cockpit and gave the thumbs up when he heard it.

Next was the dingy was washed, stitched and inner and outer patches applied. The glue took quite a while to go off due to the ambient temperature and it is a bit complicated having to keep partial pressure in to keep the right shape to the curve of the tube whilst it is setting. However, Kevin who’d had dingies etc as a boy seemed to know what he was up to and by late afternoon it was all sorted and just allowing the glue to set properly overnight.

Mike and Jean headed off in the afternoon to Road Town where Mike’s parents were arriving the next day by cruise ship for the day. They popped by to check whether we needed a lift anywhere as we were stranded aboard for the day, but as we were ok they headed off.

Meanwhile, I was following Mike’s advice the night before that I could obtain the PIN we needed to book our US visa appointment by phone, not only at local vendors as it says on the website. So, I called up using Skype Out, also discovering the unexpected bonus that US freephone numbers are free on Skype. After listening to lots of announcements, you finally get the option to pay your $14.95 over the phone, so I go through that finding out that this entitles me to 8 minutes of conversation with the operator. I am automatically connected and we start the long winded process of giving the details, the broken Skype connection is not helping and everything has to be repeated twice and spelt out. The person we are speaking to sounds so much like an android that we really can’t tell whether they are human or a machine. The eight minutes expire and the Skype connection is getting worse until finally it breaks off and we don’t have a confirmation of the appointment. I then have to call again, paying another $14.95, this time from our UK mobile as we can’t risk another cut off and have no dingy to go ashore for a payphone. This time we get a human and an appointment in mid June though we have to start again from the beginning and even proceeding at a rate of knots the 8 minutes expire and she starts talking so quickly that I can hardly understand a word. Anyway, we get our confirmation and now don’t have to rush to Turks & Caicos just to buy the PIN to call and the appointment isn’t three months away as we were originally told it would be.

Cane Garden Bay, Tortola, BVI

Cane Garden Bay is well sheltered behind the higher land of Tortola and consequently the breeze here is gentle. However, when anchoring a steady breeze in one direction is probably optimal, to keep you set and reduce swinging. This morning however, we finally completed a 360 degree pirouette and like Mike & Jean in Jeannius decided to reanchor as the new position was too close to other boats / hazards.

We pulled in along the beach where there is a narrow strip free from mooring balls, alongside Mike & Jean.  We were at least nearer the dingy dock.

We did a bit of Skyping home today and found out that my parents own travel plans are coming to fruition at last as they now have an accepted offer on their house. First stop this summer will hopefully be a tour of the UK by narrow boat, I’m really excited for them and hope they enjoy life on board as much as we do.

It being Sunday night and as we are now locals to Cane Garden Bay it was time for the Elm barbecue. Mike, Jean, Kevin and I head out to get our usual table. Though tonight we’d brought the padlock and locked up the dingy

It was another a good night at the Elm and the Elmtones were joined this week by a shaggy haired, gravelled voiced guitarist who brought some new songs to the repertoire. The audience was split on his performance however, Mike and I felt his voice was not as strong as George’s, but Kevin was really impressed. Although, we were all sold on the saxophonist who joined them for some later tracks who really added to the sound.

I should also mention the locally famous Shadow, a 6’4” Rastafarian who provides the dancing accompaniment to to band every week, much to their amusement at times, they were especially impressed with his toe touching move which in such a tall man clears the floor. He also feels that it is his duty to dance with all the ladies present, mostly being drunken charterers he is fairly successful. I’m ashamed to say I hid behind Kevin when he came to our table and Jean had to step up, being a regular she had little choice and she managed Shadow’s extravagance beautifully.

Unfortunately, when we got back to the dingy dock the excitement of the evening was literally deflated when we found that the wind had shifted round and trapped our dingy under the dock puncturing one of the tubes. Kevin and I dragged it up the beach, luckily right beside the dock. We have 2 metres of 6mm chain attached to the steel painter loop on the dingy bow which is the right length to lock the dingy to the stanchion when hoisted on the davits. It usually has the effect when we tie to the dock using the line attached to the end of the chain of holding the dingy just off the dock. The dock is in a poor state of repair with boards missing on the walk way and the steps / sides just jagged wood to the waterline. Every time we come back to the dock we will see at least one of the Moorings or Sunsail dingies trapped underneath.

Tonight because we’d seen the theft the night before we locked the dingy up, which shortened the painter and held us too close to the dock. We moored downwind to hold us off the dock, but that had shifted a full 180 degrees whilst we were at the barbecue. The other option is a kedge anchor off the back, which we hadn’t done as we never bought one, having no integral box in our dingy to lock / hide it away. In the Cape Verdes we’d had the only thing not locked down -the davit shackles, stolen out the dingy. Luckily, Mike and Jean gave us and the dingy a lift back to the boat and we hoisted it up on the davits to await repair the next day. Kevin pulled the outboard and although it didn’t start it wasn’t too wet and he was confident of fixing it the next day.

Cane Garden Bay, Tortola, BVI

Today I’d agreed to lend out Kevin again to help Mike with some of his boat jobs, so late morning he headed across there. I had decided to look up the Susan Boyle video on You Tube whilst I had the boat to myself. We’d seen something on US news a couple of days before but could not see what it was about. I’d seen yet another headline on the internet that morning and decided to have a look. Just as she was about to pipe up, Mike and Jean arrived on their dingy, Jean had come to visit. So we both got to watch the video, both with a tear in our eye to see someone achieving their dream.

Obviously this then sparked a conversation about why it was such a story just because of her appearance… well 5 hours later the men returned and we were still chatting. Jean mentioned they’d be surprised we were still chatting, I said Kevin would not be in the least surprised that I was still going and actually she conceded that Mike wouldn’t be either.

We had a couple of beers / G&Ts and Kevin & Mike told us their progress for the day. They’d serviced winches and resolved a leak but unfortunately didn’t make it up the mast, the original job due to the wind and swell.

As our fridge was bare from our defrosting activities Kevin and I then had to go ashore for supplies before we could make dinner. Jean and Mike headed back for burgers on their barbecue and Kevin decided he’d be looking for those too. When we arrived at the dingy dock there were three local teenage lads in one dingy who climbed out and stood along the pier chatting not very convincingly as we came by. Kevin was not sure about them and we hadn’t locked our dingy as the swell on the dock here is quite bad and it holds us too close when it is locked, plus it had seemed fairly safe. Anyway as Kevin stood at the top of the dock watching they jumped in another dingy. I asked the guy who runs the food stall at the top of the pier and he said yes they are always taking dingies! Well that’s ok then! It now added up to who the young lads were that were racing back and forth in a dingy at full speed through the anchorage the first couple of days we were here. There was nothing much we could do and by all accounts they would bring it back – though the fuel level at that point would be less assured.

We went up the the shop deciding to be quick so we would still have a means of getting back to the boat. We’d only been in the shop a few minutes when I thought I recognised the same lads enter, so I guess they’d quickly had their fun. We got our burgers and a pizza for me and went back to the boat.

Cane Garden Bay, Tortola, BVI

I had decided recently that fulltime boat life was not as active as we had imagined it would be and that I needed to get a bit more exercise. I decided to reinitiate my Pilates podcast exercises and so duly got changed, got out my exercise mat and assumed the position… only to find that for some reason my 30 minute workout had somehow been deleted from the iPod! Every single other podcast was still present but the one I actually use was gone. Ah well

So, then I decided to start on swimming, my regime is ten laps of the boat a day. This may seem the obvious answer to exercise but with all of the water from a tank you just can’t have several showers a day. So we decided to swim about 2pm, the hottest part of the day, then have our evening shower afterwards.

The swimming is lovely where we are at the moment, as catamarans providing a large area of shade tend to attract shoals of small fish. The small silver fish swarmed around the port keel and another shoal of slightly larger silver fish had occupied the starboard keel. However, lurking below were a couple of jacks (which eat little fishes). It was fascinating watching the jacks dart up dividing the shoal in front of them. I actually detected that the sneaky jacks were taking advantage of my laps disturbing the small fishes from their spot to make their attack. I felt a bit bad about that, but I didn’t actually see one taken.

This being a Friday, even if we hadn’t been working this week, it still feels like it should be a night out. We’d agreed with David to meet him for Happy Hour drinks. Just as we were leaving Mike arrived back from collecting Jean from the ferry from St. John’s, USVI. Jean had had a three connection back from the UK so we were not sure whether she’d feel up to a drink. We saw Mike and said to come along if they felt up to it.

Myett’s bar occupies a good spot along the beach, though we hadn’t actually made it that far yet. We met David on the road on the way in and entered through the beautiful garden entrance and found a spot near the bar. It was Happy Hour here too so we took our beers and settled in. There was a live singer here as well but he wasn’t half as good as the Elmtones!

Soon after Mike and Jean arrived and so we had a lot of catching up to do. It was an excellent night, I think everyone had one or two more than normal until eventually we made our way back along the beach back to the boat.

Cane Garden Bay, Tortola, BVI

Today we saw another boat we met in St. Lucia arrive – David who has a Fountaine Pajot Tobago called Nauticat. He is has brought his boat up here to be lifted for the hurricane season. He called over this afternoon and invited us over for a drink later to exchange cruising notes. He was obviously slightly surprised to see us here thinking we would be the other side of the Panama canal by now.

We went across to see David at about 5.30pm and discovered we covered much the same path in the last few months, though had seen each other only once in Tobago Cays when he’d been heading north coming from Grenada and we were still heading south.

We exchanged several tips and compared our FP experiences. David told us he’d managed to get a very impressive 12-13knots out of his 35ft Tobago in the Heineken Regatta this year which he enters each year. Although he did admit that his main gave way soon afterwards!

We returned back to Invincible after dark for some food and were treated to the sound of bag pipes which we both enjoy coming from one of the nearby boats. We were quite amused by the complications on travelling with bagpipes. However, I hope that whoever it was felt rewarded when he/she received a round of applause and cheers from the whole anchorage later!

Cane Garden Bay, Tortola, BVI

Another day of inter netting, swimming, snorkelling etc. I should mention the wildlife surrounding us even in this well used anchorage. There are we think three individual turtles which seem to be quite territorial and spend all day feeding on the bottom surrounding the boat. There are two larger and one smaller and we see them several times a day surfacing nearby to the boat. It is great to watch the wildlife over a longer period and see their routines…

One of regular turtle visitors, less than 5m from the boat

Well except perhaps for the gulls. Since we arrived in Cane Garden Bay a flock of gulls have arrived that we had never seen in our time in the Caribbean so far. We are informed since by Jean that they are migratory and come back each April. They are really loud and gather several times a day in large groups to squawk together. If the local boaters are lucky this will be harmless on the water somewhere in the bay. Otherwise it will be on someone’s dingy, who will come back to it later to find the presents they have left behind! We have seen about 15 lining each side of a dingy left tied behind overnight. We are careful to lift our dingy each night, but are now seen several times a day going to the bows waves hands making shooing noises to our regular visitors there which despite our efforts have already managed to leave a few calling cards.

Gull invasion

Finally, the local pelican population is really strong, there must be about 15 resident to the bay who are seen making their ungainly dives into the water throughout the day. There was one sat quite undisturbed on a dingy at the dock when we arrived the other day who looked at us disdainfully (I’d of course forgotten the camera) but refused to budge.

This evening just after we had gone bed we were awoken by a thud just above our heads. You get quite good at recognising noises and we both recognised that it sounded like a muffled rubber dingy rebound on the sugar scoop. We leapt up into the saloon in time to see the Irish group (red and white striped of the newly arrived) we had seen moor beside us on the 48ft Fountaine Pajot Salina that afternoon returning to their boat by dingy! Both boats look very similar from the front and it had clearly been a mistaken identity problem. We were quite pleased to be mistaken for the larger and considerably more expensive sister ship albeit by drunken Irishmen. No harm done anyway. We’d actually had a similar incident a couple of nights before when Kevin got up because he could hear voices. When he switched on the lights in the saloon it turned out to be a fairly drunken couple in a dingy hanging on to our anchor chain, who identified with slightly slurred speech that this must not be their boat after all when the lights went on.

Cane Garden Bay, Tortola, BVI

We have been spending a bit of time educating ourselves about different investments, seeing as the interests rates for savers are so dreadful at the moment and as we have a good internet connection. We therefore spent quite a while on the internet today.

We also did a few other boat jobs such as defrosting and cleaning the fridge, metal polishing etc.

A quick trip to the shop for bread, fruit etc and a beer in the local bar on the way back to the boat.

Cane Garden Bay, Tortola, BVI

We are keen to get a pilot book for the next leg of our journey, so Kevin accompanied Mike on a trip into Road Town today by taxi. Mike as a local citizen had to submit his taxes.

They were gone all day and had lunch out at a Chinese restaurant which serves a buffet type menu and is served with ruthless Chinese efficiency ( a stark contrast to the laid back Caribbean service!). Kevin was still raving about this when he returned, without pilot book. It would seem that the belief of the chandlers in the BVIs is that when you are here you won’t want to leave. Therefore, stocks of every type of BVI pilot are readily available but not a single other is available! Typically, everywhere else in the Caribbean we would have been able to get one, but not wanting to buy until we were sure of our plans we didn’t.

Kevin enjoyed seeing a bit more of the island including the improbably steep bends and twisty roads which basically take your over the hill and down the other side from where we are to get to Road Town. I was happy pottering on the boat getting a few jobs done.

A quiet night in after all our nights out. The fun thing about the BVIs is that nearly all the surrounding boats are here for a week or two weeks only so every evening there is a nice hum of people enjoying their time off to the full instead of going to bed before 10pm like all the cruisers!

Cane Garden Bay, Tortola, BVI

It had been quite swelly in the bay for the last couple of days but we had managed to get a spot in the middle of the bay which due to the shape of the bay was not affected. However, we could see the swell breaking over the reefs on each side of the bay. There was even someone surfing on it this afternoon, rather them than me, I can’t imagine it’s too comfortable when you come off.

Puerto Rican Fishing fleet remain through Easter (spot the group drinking in the water where it is cooler on the left)

Mike arrived this afternoon from Road Town on Jeannius. We’d already arranged that we would go to the barbecue at one of the beach bars that he had recommended for the live music. Having spent holidays in the BVIs for several years as well as chartering here for a season, when we contacted him to say we were arriving he gave us recommendations for all the best spots last week.

We met Mike and headed to the bar at about 6.30pm after being warned by Mike that it got busy. Luckily as Mike is a local we were ushered in to a good table. The barbecue was really good value at 15$USD a head and a choice of two from ribs, fish or chicken (or any two of them). The food was really good and came served with a delicious rice and vegetables.

The live music is from Steve, the bar manager and George making up the ElmTones (the bar is the Elm) and any other regular who wishes to join in. Tonight they were accompanied by quite a good guy on bongos and an utterly dreadful guy on wooden blocks whose rhythm was really out! The atmosphere is great and Steve and George clearly have alot of fun doing it, both are very talented and they play old favourites like Brown Eyed Girl, Diamonds on the Sole of her Shoes and Night Nurse (apparently after a request some weeks ago from Jean). There is much banter with the locals and general amusement from the Elm tones including changing lyrics to include regulars or each other in the songs etc. A really good night out, infact after planning to head off to the Turks and Caicos on Thursday / Friday we are now planning to delay to see Jean and come back again next week!

The Elm tones and accompaniments (note the diamonds in the soles of their shoes on the wall above a present from an artistic local!)

Cane Garden Bay, Tortola, BVI

After a nice day onboard with a bit of snorkelling, reading etc. We went ashore to investigate a bus into Road Town for provisioning before we head to Turks & Caicos which will be about 3 days of sailing. We see a very nice guy who is one of the cruise ship tourist bus drivers who tells us that there are not local buses but that the government have set the taxi fare at 24$, so if we found a taxi heading to Road Town with someone in they can only charge us 6$US each. He said that some of the drivers will try to tell us differently and said he didn’t agree with all of the dual tourist prices that the less reputable charge. We really appreciated his honesty and decided at that rate it would be easier than taking the boat and when we are ready we’ll possibly go that way, depending on how much we decide we need as $24US goes a long way to make up the price difference locally too.

 

 

Cane Garden Bay

We also investigated the price of fuel at the petrol station which is on the waters edge and includes a dock to supply boats. They also supply water. It was more expensive than prior to the BVIs but sounded like it could be good value for here. We decide to wait until we meet Mike, a friend we last met in St. Lucia who has been doing skippered charters on his boat Jeannius – Liverpool (Red one, not blue) this season in the BVIs with his wife Jean (Wonder were the name came from). We had been emailing Mike and were expecting him in Cane Garden on Sunday following his last skipper only charter. Jean had taken the chance to go back to the UK to see family and friends and was due back the following week.

We decide to treat ourselves to a drink and meal ashore this evening and just pick the fullest looking bar. We discover that this is because it is Happy Hour, beers for 2$ each, not only this but on today’s Happy Hour includes 50cents a chicken wing. There are many people enjoying this offer in the bar and some ordering quite unbelievable portions of chicken wings however, I did not see any returning to the kitchen.

Kevin has some chicken wings followed by the house special of curried calamari with dan cakes (local bread product) which he thoroughly enjoys. I opt for the vegetarian eggplant dish which is fairly average but have a pina colada for desert which makes up for it!

Cane Garden Bay, Tortola, BVI

Our first full day in Cane Garden Bay and we decide to have a bit of an explore. We head ashore and find a well stocked minimarket though it is, as everywhere in the BVIs not cheap and prices are not marked on much of the stock. However, they do have a good selection of fruit and vegetables and we stock up on salad and fruit.

We also find that rubbish/garbage disposal here is free and there are two large skips on the edge of town which we make use of.

It is a small but fairly friendly place with a few bars along the lovely fine white sand beach which is filled daily with bus loads of cruise ship tourists arriving in the brand new super trucks with elaborate paint jobs. The cruise ship trade must be good money in the BVIs. Chickens walk down the street and the local hairdressers on the main street does the local hair styles in front of old wooden dressing tables like those you threw out 20 years ago, such that I though it was an antique shop the first couple of times we passed.

We do a little hand washing on board and amuse ourselves watching the many charter boats which come in and out daily.

Invincible – 1 year on!

Today is the anniversary of the day we took possession of our Fountaine Pajot Mahe 36 catamaran in La Rochelle, France and what a year it has been. Our annual report:

 Mooring

We had hoped to spend most of our time on anchor during our travels, both to keep costs down and for the additional freedom that this gives. Overall we spent 30% of our time anchored in the last year, however, if we exclude the time spent fitting out in La Rochelle and my return to the UK to work my notice the figure was 37% and marina time was 42%. The time on passage was probably more than I expected at 10%, most of which was the Atlantic passage (16 days) and Cape Verdes Passage (5 days).

In the pie charts above, the mooring time is displayed as pre- and post- the Atlantic crossing or roughly our time in the Canaries versus the Caribbean. It can been that the time at anchor increased dramatically from 14% in the Canaries to 59% and time in marinas reduced from 77% in the Canaries to 10% in the Caribbean.

Time on the Hard (lifted out on Boat yard) is possibly higher than expected only due to the need to renew antifouling and then the need to repaint an area following the buckling of a shackle on the anchor bridle causing the chain to drag across the hull. No damage was done but the antifoul was scraped off. We also wanted to spit and polish the boat for all the visitors due for our wedding so we were off the water for much longer than was really necessary.

Budget

We would rather not share all the details of our personal spending, however the following figures will hopefully be of use for those planning a trip of their own. Please note: the figures below represent 44 weeks of spending, as recording was not started until I was on the boat fulltime.

Category	Amount
Mooring Fees	£2,275.15
Diesel	£422.02
Petrol	£92.02
Gas Cylinders	£74.86
Internet Access	£68.75
Laundry	£98.51
Water	£16.59
Customs Fees	£78.77

 

Mileage

Nautical Miles travelled: 6028nM

Longest trip: 2275nM (Mindelo, Cape Verdes – Le Marin, Martinique)

Although, we use the engine for battery charging as well as propulsion so the figures are not exact, this works out as 7p per mile!

Route

Things that worked well:

• Mahe 36 – Overall we would say that we are very happy with our choice of boat. It gives us unparalleled living space in a boat of its size, which is very important when living aboard. She has definitely proven her seaworthiness on the trip so far as well as speed and comfort of passage. We have also been really pleased to have bought a new boat for the reduced repair work required and ease of maintenance. The few warranty issues have been quickly and painlessly resolved by our brokers MI Cats and FP. With special thanks to Karen George at MI Cats for her excellent service and assistance.
• Seagull Water Filter – Without a water maker this meant we could drink local tap water from the tanks without the need to buy and carry expensive and heavy bottled water (we also add chlorine tablets to the tanks as a secondary precaution which is filtered out). Several visitors have all said that the filtered water tastes as good as bottled water.
• Raymarine Autopilot – As a relatively short handed crew, “Auto” has spent the majority of hours at the helm on our trip and never missed a beat
• Furuno GP-32 GPS – We use this extensively on passage for GPS readings, on anchor as an anchor alarm and as a volt meter for the batteries. It draws very little power and does all you need it to.
• Fishing – Lots of fun and regularly fills the freezer. Little effort to troll lines when you are sailing anyway and great sense of achievement to eat your own catch. Please note: Ciguaterra poisoning is a risk in tropical waters and pelagic fish only should be taken.
• Incidences Spifurl – Our furling Spinnaker / gennaker sail. Gave us much need propulsion during the Atlantic crossing. There is a technique to furling but now we have learnt it we will happily use this sail in up to 22 knots.
• Delta Anchor – Sets quickly and stays set, really pleased with this purchase which has been in regular use and saved us a fortune in mooring fees.
• Large fenders – We bought both tear drop and tube shaped large fenders which we can easily store in the large bow lockers of the Mahe. Perhaps there is a bravado in having small fenders which skippers like to parade, but we have never regretted a pound spent on fenders and our top sides have not a scratch. We have also lent them out to more than one boat along the way, on one occasion following a very expensive damage on the previous attempt. The roughness, ill-placement and instability of the pontoons, fuel , lifting and reception berths encountered have to be seen to be believed… not to mention strong winds, rafting, inadequately secured neighbouring boats on stern-to moorings.
• Trojan T105 6V batteries – We have upgraded our battery bank using 4 of these batteries and achieved a 25% increase in capacity. This reduced engine hours for charging and has made life more comfortable to allow us to us laptops, lights etc as we wish without constant monitoring.

Things that did not work so well:

• CQR Copy anchor – Bought as a bargain, dragged and dragged and dragged. The high freeboard and lightweight design of the Mahe 36 means it needs an much oversized anchor compared to the equivalent monohull. We did buy one grade up it needed more, but the design of this anchor was not good and we would snorkel and see it drag and not dig in.
• Honda Generator – We bought a £300 Honda Generator as a backup to charge the batteries and as an external source of power. It is stored in one of the engine bays and we lift it out to use. Although it still gives piece of mind to have aboard as a secondary power source, it is inconvenient to use for regular charging and is not as efficient as engine charging.

The negatives section may seem very short and perhaps not as open as it should be. However, it is honestly all that we can think of and we attribute this to the very detailed research and amount of time we spent in planning the kitting out of the boat. It also helps that as a new boat we didn’t inherit anybody else’s bad decisions and everything fitted was chosen specifically by ourselves.

Other Statistics:

Countries: 9

Visitors: 12

Weddings: 1

Cane Garden Bay, Tortola, BVI

After a rolly night in Road Harbour we decided we’d seen enough of the big smoke and motorsailed down the coast. We looked in at the protected creek of Soper’s Hole but it was another place where anchoring was prevented by the amount of mooring balls now installed. We decided instead to carry on to Cane Garden Bay a large bay surrounded by lush green hills and lined with a white sand beach shaded by palm trees.

We arrived in the late afternoon and were able to anchor in amongst the well spaced mooring balls. There appeared to be a convention of sports fishing boats and we later learned that these are all from nearby Puerto Rico and they come here to the BVIs for their holidays. They created quite an atmosphere in the bay with families or sometimes all male groups enjoying a party all rafted up alongside each other along the beach front.

Cane Garden Bay

Road Harbour, Tortola, BVI

We departed Manchioneel Bay along with all the other yachts that morning and rounded Salt Island to find the famous local wreck of the RMS Rhone. The British Mail steamer was overwhelmed by a hurricane in October 1867. It has received numerous awards and featured in the 1977 film The Deep.

Green grouper on the RMS Rhone

We were very easily able to identify the site of the wreck by the cluster of about 8 boats on mooring buoys above it. Kevin went in first by snorkel to identify exactly where the wreck was lying and immediately that he was in the water he shouted up he’d found one of the anchors which was under our boat. He swam up to the front of the moored boats and quickly found the prop and prop shaft however reported back that the wreck itself was not as complete as we had thought and has been reduced to piles of plate presumably by the hurricanes passing the islands since. At only 10m depth and being able to see the whole structure by snorkelling we decided to see it that way instead, being frequent UK wreck divers previously this was really a bit too touristy a wreck site for us. When a boat on a closer mooring left we took that and went for a second look. You can see the visibility from the photos I took snorkelling at the surface.

The RMS Rhone propeller – broken blade damaged in the sinking?

The propeller shaft of the RMS Rhone

Collapsed plates of the RMS Rhone

Later in the afternoon we decided to visit the big smoke, Road Harbour, Road Town on its shores being the capital of the BVIs. If nothing else we wanted to go because of the number of yachts that we see around that are registered there presumably because of financial incentives, most of the superyachts we see seem to be registered there. There were three cruise ships in dock in harbour as we approached and we were amused to see a tv screen outside on the top deck of one so large we could easily watch the game of football being broadcast from our boat. There are a number of marinas in the inner harbour, but at an average price locally of £50 per night for us to moor there we opted to anchor for free just outside where quite a number of other catamarans were already anchored.

Road Town overlooking Road Harbour

That evening we decided to treat ourselves to a meal ashore and took the dingy into the dock at Village Cay marina dingy dock. However after walking around the large industrial looking area beyond it we only found two restaurants associated with the marinas. We opted for the Spaghetti Junction / Bat Cave and were very pleased with our choice enjoying New Zealand green lipped mussel (not a local dish but a favourite of Kevin’s) followed by Jambalaya pasta for Kevin and a seafood linguini

New Video – Hummingbird in Dominica

 

I have been meaning to post this video I took of a hummingbird on our Indian River trip in Dominica for some time.

Manchioneel Bay, Salter Island, BVIs

Today we visited the Baths on Virgin Gorda and odd collection of boulders forming pools and caves along a section of coastline. We left Spanish Town anchorage early and were at one of the two remaining mooring balls by 7.30am. It was just as well as obviously that majority of the 90minute mooring balls had been used overnight.

Invincible at The Baths

We had a leisurely breakfast before we swam out across the bay to the further beach. The water was lovely and clear but compared to the relatively less dived sites of the last couple of days there was far less life. However, it is not surprising given the number of visitors arriving. We thought it was a no anchor area but later another dozen boats dropped anchor behind or alongside those on the moorings.

Swimming out to the beach

We enjoyed a swim between the boulders and up the lovely clean beach. We then followed signs past the Poor Man’s Bar (I guess it’s called that as you aren’t allowed to land dingies so everyone arrives by swimming without cash) towards the Cave and Devil’s Bay. The route takes you up, over, round and between various boulders some of which are 50-60ft high and sometimes through water as all of these are just along the shoreline and pools are formed inside the formations. The crowds meant we were behind one Spanish family and in front of an English and American family in a processional route through sometimes assisted by wooden steps and platforms. Despite the crowds it is quite a stunning natural phenomenon although my knowledge of geology does not explain how these apparently granite shapes were formed and so deposited.

Kevin in amongst the boulders

The route eventually opens out onto a lovely beach sheltered by more large boulders. The bay beyond was however now teaming with power boats which slightly disturbs the serenity.

We decided rather than take the narrow route back through the rocks against the flow we would follow the route to the car park. This lead up the hill behind through the shrub land teaming with lizards, cacti and even a small brown snake. A short cut which turned out to be longer than the route in but was rewarded with good views over the bay. We arrived back to the resort at the back of the first beach and made our way back to the boat for some peace, quiet and lunch!

Devil’s Bay at the end of the hike through the cave (salt on u/w camera case not soft focussing!)

Later in the afternoon we made the short motor along through the islands to Salter Island to position ourselves for a dive on RMS Rhone tomorrow. The bay has also been completely taken over by mooring buoys and not a spot to anchor remains so we took a buoy, most of which were filled already – perhaps it is due to the Easter holidays.

Devil’s Bay

Good news though, we have heard from the US Embassy in Nassau, we can apply for our US visa there. Lucky we contacted them so soon as there is a three month wait for an appointment.

Spanish Town, Virgin Gorda, BVIs

We were having breakfast in the cockpit this morning off Necker Island when Kevin spotted that we were being stalked by a large fish just underneath the surface and behind the boat. We’d also seen it the previous afternoon and it had hovered around for quite a few minutes before disappearing again. We were trying to work out what it was and I just managed to get a photo by dipping the camera in the underwater case over the side to get a lucky shot and find out it was a large barracuda.

Being stalked by a barracuda

Today the Invincibles were going to the Invisibles! This is a reef and a group of rocks which are just awash and presumably from their name have caused some mischief in the past. We were getting the dive gear ready when Kevin spotted a flock of pink flamingos flying over the boat! We really felt with this we had seen it all in the short time we had been here. They flew round Necker island and then landed on a small idyllic looking sand spit complete with palm trees just in front of the island. We finished getting the kit ready and motored round where luckily they were still feeding at the shore.

Pink Flamingos feeding

Pink Flamingos at Necker Island

We found the Invisibles okay and were pleased to find a national park mooring ball there for us to use, so we tied up. I was first to dive and at first the flat bottom with lots of soft coral but not so many fish didn’t look so promising but then as I saw the rocks towering above me in the distance I saw the shoals of fish surrounding it. There were jacks and tuna, lots of reef fish and various others which I cannot name. As I rounded the north east edge of the rocks a reef shark came into view chasing another fish and soon disappearing away. Over to the slightly flatter ground shelving deeper there were big schools of yellow jacks and then a couple of big black grouper with bug-like eyes which came very close to inspect me before heading off. Finally another barracuda (some relation?) was hovering under the boat when I returned.

Fish soup at the Invisibles

Kevin was next in the water taking the camera with him. He didn’t manage to see the shark but he did get to see a turtle in close quarters that he got a great photo of. We both really enjoyed the dive and are looking forward to doing a few more in the BVIs before we head on.

Turtle close up

Back to Spanish Town this evening so that we can get into The Baths early before the crowds arrive. We had to motorsail all the way from Necker Island with very little wind, but no swell either. There were quite a few boats anchored here, we were amused again to see a few familiar ones and we enjoyed trying to remember where we saw them last.

Necker Island, BVIs

  Kevin had decided we should get away from the crowds and get some diving in and suggested that we move round to Necker Island just to the north west of North Sound, Virgin Gorda. Necker Island is famous for being owned by Sir Richard Branson and although you are allowed to anchor off, due to the surrounding reefs not many boats visit.

Invincible at Necker Island

Unfortunately it was overcast from east to west when we got up in the morning which was not good to negotiate reefs when you need bright sunlight. Luckily by waiting a couple of hours the sky cleared, we filled our water tank and got our ice.

Necker Island

 

Clear waters at Necker Island anchorage

There was one other yacht in the anchorage when we arrived at Necker Island but we managed to get a spot closer in giving us both plenty of privacy. The water was again crystal clear and Kevin went in to check the anchor. Ten minutes later I am still waiting for him to come up and tell me if it’s ok. He seems transfixed on the seabed. It turned out he’d seen a large ray that had gone over to investigate what might have been dug up by our anchor and chain. The anchor is fine though so I make some lunch but Kevin is hooked now and goes off snorkelling.

Nurse shark

He comes back to announce he’s seen a shark! We have lunch then set off with the camera for another look. The reef is teaming with fish and the small nurse shark is still on the bottom, as is the ray under the boat. We spend a bit of time exploring before returning to Invincible.

Ray under the boat

Invincible at Necker Island

Later in the afternoon, the other boat leaves and the constant stream of mini ferries and posh RIBs stops ripping past Invincible at full steam and we have a lovely quiet night under the stars alone on the anchorage with just a few lights ashore.

Saba Rock, North Sound, BVIs

Today we took advantage of a reasonable Wifi signal included in our mooring fees to try and do a few jobs. The main one of which was to settle our route plan for the next few months. We are keen to see the Bahamas but need to plan for somewhere for the hurricane season so were researching this and flights for Alex to come and see us. We didn’t quite manage to come to a final decision as we need to find out some more about a US visa to perhaps take Invincible to the US Intercoastal for hurricane season.

I also downloaded Windows Live Writer which I can now use for composing the blog offline and it make publishing photos far less painful when on a poor connection. Also it has whizzy maps and things which I will play with.

Saba Rock from west (The red roofs)

Bitter End Yacht Club, Virgin Gorda, BVI

Having caught up on some sleep overnight we decided to go and do some more exploring which in the BVIs is all done by boat, with lots of anchorages and attractions close to the shore. One of the most famous is probably The Baths on Virgin Gorda, large boulders make interesting pools in clear water for excellent snorkelling. However we were a bit slow starting following the broken sleep of the previous night and by the time we arrived at The Baths which are only 5 minutes from Spanish Town the place was inundated and all mooring balls were taken (protected area of no anchoring).

Not to be perturbed we decided to hoist the sails and head to North Sound a large lagoon created by the mainland of Virgin Gorda and outlying islands (Gun Creek on map below).  It was easily the nicest sail we have had I think since we picked the boat up. The water round between Virgin Islands is like a lake with no swell and just a gentle breeze. We glided along the water and before we knew it we were approaching the first passage into the Sound.

I think North Sound must be and old crater because it can only be accessed by two passages all of the gaps between the islands are joined by reefs.

The Bitter End Yacht Club is quite famous in yachting circles so we felt we ought to go and see. Unfortunately the anchorage is now completely covered in mooring buoys so you can’t anchor anywhere close. We decided to take a mooring and head ashore. It is actually a fairly exclusive resort rather than a Yacht club but has a few bars, a minimarket, souvenir shops etc. We were mistaken into thinking we may get some access to facilities for using one of the their moorings (20$USD) a night. Actually if you want to use the pool it is another 10$USD per visitor. We stopped for a beer, at the English Pub which was 5$USD a bottle, though Kevin did manage to get a pint of draught Strongbow cider that he enjoyed!

We had also seen a rock with a resort perched on it alongside which looked nice, we thought we would go over. At Saba Rock you get a tank full of water and a bag of ice for the mooring ball fee, so we decided as our tanks were nearly empty we would stop there the next night.

The Bitter End Yacht Club is on the further hill

Spanish Town, Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands

We anchored at Spanish Town, Virgin Gorda, the water was the clearest we had seen anywhere and two turtles swan around behind the boat. We’d heard much about the BVIs and it all appeared to be true. We got a couple of hours of sleep then headed in to check in with customs and immigration.

We went in the the office and diligently waited in front of the Immigration window as directed by signs. Three customs officials milled around, plus two cashiers but no one was in the Immigration department. An older sailor beside us also waited patiently, he’d apparently been given the forms to complete but since then the official had disappeared. Four more sailors arrived. We all waited. We could see someone in uniform stood around doing nothing outside. 40 minutes after arriving a surly young official (the one who’d been outside) reluctantly returned to his seat and asked with all the petulance of a stroppy teenager if he could help. Knowing that any signs of displeasure on our part would make our checking in extremely hard, we smiled and asked for the forms. The rest was completed fairly quickly and the fees were not as much as we had expected. However, it was hard not to see the deliberate waiting as anything other than a power game.

We had lunch at a cafe in the marina and had a walk round the nicely landscaped marina and the little shops behind before returning to the boat. When we got back we had a lovely afternoon snorkelling around the boat. I could not believe the water clarity and the number of fish.

Passage from Sint Maarten to British Virgin Islands

On Wednesday although still not feeling 100% we decided to depart for the BVIs, thinking that recovery would be dramatically increased by getting off the rolly anchorage of Simpson Bay.

We departed in the early afternoon for a leisurely overnight sail in light winds and little swell. There were few boats around during the afternoon and we started the night watches expecting a quiet night. I took the 6-9pm watch and Kevin was also up for a short while, a cruise liner passed but at a good distance which is just as well because with all the lights they carry on every deck it is impossible to make out any navigation lights to indicate which direction they are headed. I went to get to sleep telling Kevin all was quiet. Whilst I slept Kevin was inundated, first by two American yachts tacking in tandom across our course and not answering the radio. Then by a succession of other yachts all on a nearly reciprocal course, the last of which passing very close just as I came up on watch. Needless to say, as soon as I came on watch it all went quiet, all I saw was the lights of Tortola / Virgin Gorda of the BVIs approaching.

When Kevin arrived back on watch at 3am, he decided to heave-to for a while so that we could make the pass between the islands in daylight. This time he had a cruise ship come quite close, though not as close as to another nearby yacht who called the captain on the radio, only to be told he was seen on radar no problem, he was going to Tortola. The yacht replied that so was he but did he have to come so close? The Officer of the Watch was not to be deviated and passed very close only to then heave to himself a couple of miles further on to wait behind another cruise ship for daylight to dock!