Oldies On Tour

Although it is not raining, it is one of England’s grey days, never had them here before, but it is not raining; We were up quite early as Jeff has to catch the 10.00am ferry, and we are heading to St.Thomas, only about 20 miles, but they are very interesting waters. Lots of rocks to miss, and twists and turns, and different passages to take, before you get there, good job we have a good navigator on board. This year we have a chart plotter, last year we only had paper charts, and it was a lot easier this time.

We left at 9.30, having dropped Jeff, and stored the dinghy away, no wind which was a shame, although it did get up later. We put the jib up, and eventually we were able to turn off the engine, it was lovely and peaceful, and very picturesque, then Geoff decided to put the generator on to see how it worked whilst moving, it was fine, so now we are back to status quo.

Several big ferries came past, I am sure they enjoy watching us go of course, trying to cope with their wake, just wish they would slow down a bit. We went through one narrow channel, which had maximum depth of 7metres, but rocks were everywhere including the middle of the channel, that was a bit scary, especially as another power boat would not move over.

We eventually arrived about 1.30pm, I love this place, it is so different, you have so much to see, you have the seaplanes, and ferries, one side, and cruise ships (3 today) on the other side, and lots of yachts in the middle of the big bay, the town is very old, with narrow streets, and busy with tourists, and in one corner of bay you have this amazing Grande Yacht Marina, where all the super yachts go, there dinghy’s are the size of the average boat. Last time we hired a car, and it took us less than 1 hour to go round it; amazing.

We anchored first time, although I thought we were too close to the buoy we settled down, to some lunch, boiled eggs, I thought one was off so threw it over board, but it hit Geoff instead, he had egg running down his face, I thought it was funny! Finished lunch, then we lowered dinghy, and emptied all the water out, somehow Geoff cut his head open, which did not look very nice, I did my first aid bit, I passed him some tissue, (still not good with blood). Eventually he left to pick up Jeff, who could only arrive on the Ferry, so he could get a visa waiver. No problems there, back on board, we had a couple of jobs for him. The anchor ball had somehow come unclipped and the rope had gone up the mast, so Jeff climbed up to retrieve, whilst we did the safety ropes.

Then On deck came over and asked us to leave, as they would be using the buoy later tonight, and it would be better to go now, then later, so we did. We found a lovely little spot in the far corner, sheltered from the wind, and closer to the land, so no rocking and rolling tonight hopefully.

I cooked roast chicken, with the help of the generator, so now we know the electric cooker works, so that is good, we sat outside and ate it, with no wind, or rain, it seems the low has passed over us, fingers crossed.

Geoff and I played crib, and I beat him 2 – 0, he was so disgusted he got his book out, so I did some Sudoku, and went to bed.

We all decided not together, but just to have a lay-in, it is still raining, blowing, and a typical English day, we thought why get up. So we eventually stirred about 9.30, had some breakfast, and generally did nothing.

Generator on for an hour, so I did some hoovering, the others were clearing all the paperwork that was lying around, a general tidy up.

We went across in dinghy to find out about the ferries to the Avi’s, and also to get some shopping and money. Atm not working so no money, supermarket busy as the cruise ships were in, can’t think why; always loads of food on board!

Geoff and I went for a drink, whilst waiting for Jeff, still raining, so not pleasant, we then went back to the boat, dropped me off, and they went to Customs, to check us into and out of the Bvi’s, plus to take Jeff off, as it is a Sunday, you have to pay more, as it is overtime!

Lunch prepared I had done a pizza and salad, which was nice, the rain had stopped for a while, so Jeff went back to the internet, having trouble to get it round here.

Soon the rain came again, so thoroughly fed up, I made some bread, did not come out as usual, but used wholegrain flour, so will get ordinary next time, it was edible.

Geoff did meat balls for dinner, which were very nice he had made a very tasty dish, he can do them again.

We all decided to have an early night, as we were fed up with the wind and rain.

Oh boy! What a night, it matched Fort Vieux St.Lucia, it was horrendous, we were all up and down, I had taken a sleeping tablet, in the vain hope of getting some sleep, not a chance. Things were going everywhere; if we had still been at sea you would expect it, but not on anchor. I ended up sleeping in the lounge, Geoff slept sideways across the bed, and Jeff just did not sleep.

We made tea at 7am, and things were still bad, we all had breakfast, then the rain came, and did not stop, we had the new awning up, which stopped us getting wet in the cockpit. I was convinced we had moved, we checked the positions on the gps, and we had slightly, in the end we decided to go, so we took the anchor up, and sailed out of Virgin Gourda without any problems.

The sun was trying to come out, and we put the jib up, a very comfortable 5 knots, we were going to play with the generator, so did not want too much sail out. We only have 13 miles to go, so it was nice just pottering, when down came the rain again, we put up the main, to make us go quicker, by which time we were down to 3 knots, we were not using ‘George’ either, so not using the battery.

We decided to not play with the generator, leaving it till we were in a quiet bay somewhere, which definitely will not be today. The weather is terrible it is blowing a holey, and raining really bad, we had forgotten was rain all about, we are still laughing, and saying it is like camping in England, except it is still about 30 degrees.

We took in all the sails, as it was now on the nose, and speeded our way to Sopers Hole Tortola, where there were limited buoys, and we had one of the last ones. We have put the awning up again as it is still raining, we are spinning in all directions at present, just hope it settles down before nightfall.

Geoff and I played crib, and I beat him, then we all played dominoes, and I won again, so I am the champion for today.

Geoff cooked a lovely chicken curry, with rice, which we ate outside, but it is still raining. Hope it is better in the morning.

Up early Geoff went off to see what was happening to the starter etc., etc., I nipped up to do some internet, then the engineer appeared, so we went back to the boat. Greg was on a mission, to get the solenoid and the starter/off to work, which he achieved after some time. We tested it several times, now it is up to us, do we go or do we stay, unanimous decision, we are going.

Geoff and Jeff went off the book us out of St.Maartins, and Jeff went to the bank to try and change his E.C.Dollars, we all messed up, and have lots, we forgot you could not use them in the Virgin Islands, it is dollars only. They both came back
Geoff was successful, although they charged him 77$ to book out, we had to pay to use their bridge (only way through to the Lagoon) and also for the privilege of parking in their murky waters for two weeks, whether we had been at anchor or on a marina. We knew they charged but never thought it was that much, if we had come through the French way, they do not charge, but we had no engine at the time, so no choice!!

We then went to the marina, and paid for the water, we must have gone mad, cos that was over 100$ as well, the electric was reasonable, so all in all and expensive stay, as the engine repair, although cheaper than we thought it was going to be, still worked out 1500$, so it is official we are broke.

We did last minute tidying up, and we did some last internet, then we were ready to slip. Jeff meanwhile had run to Marigot, to try and change some of his EC Dollars, but they wanted too much, so he did not do it. He caught the bus, but had forgotten to take $, so the guy said he would have to get off, so he was not a happy bunny, by the time he came back.

4.00pm we are ready to slip, our neighbours, were very helpful, mainly because they wanted to see the back of us, but they will have someone else, and have to go through it all again, we were quite tolerant of them, let us hope the next lot sort them out. We reversed back for some time, trying to avoid all the shallow areas, then we stuck to the channel, we were away, with no running aground this time, so that was good. We waited for the gate to open at 4.30pm; we were one of many all scrambling to get out. They are holding the Heineken Regatta, here this week, so very busy.

Through the gates load dinghy on, we had left it off, just in case we had gone aground, Geoff and Jeff eventually got it on the davits, and by now it was 5pm. On course to the Virgin Islands, the last overnighter for me, and I am so pleased about that. Out of sight of the island, still not wind, it looks like we will have to engine all the way. We had big swells, so we decided to put the main up, to try and steady us, which it did a bit, we just pottered along at 5 knots, still it is testing the engine. I had cooked spaghetti Bolognese earlier, so Geoff heated it up, and did it with shells for easiness, I had a small one, but wished I hadn’t had anything, I felt queasy all night. We all did our shifts throughout the night, putting the jib out about 2.30am, did help a bit, but not a lot.

Daylight came and we could see Virgin Gourda, we had a cuppa, as everyone was awake, and plodded on. Geoff had navigated to go through the Blinders, but I requested that we didn’t do it, we have been through on two other occasions, one with Andrew in the middle of night, that was really scary, because we had no plotter or charts at the time, the second time we had all the charts, but it was still frightening, so we came through the correct passage, and up past the Baths, and put down anchor about 9.30am, we watched a stingray floating around for a few minutes. Tired and exhausted and still feeling sick, we had some breakfast, about 11am Jeff said we are moving, we checked again, and sure enough we were. So we tried again, and again, third time lucky, we made it, hopefully we will be ok

We are all going for a swim now, and will continue shortly.

Sunbathed on deck for a while, we were all pretty useless, Geoff went to bed and slept for a couple of hours, I did some internet, for some strange reason we can get it on the boat, when we were in the Marina, we were supposed to get it there, and we couldn’t now we are anchored not close to anything or anyone we have it, will never understand modern technology.

I cooked dinner, then at 8ish I decided to go to bed, the boys followed shortly.

We were then up and down all night, as there were big roly poly seas, things were going bump in the night, I lost my best cooking dish, it smashed on the floor, and the coffee perculator also went. Just when we needed a good night’s sleep. Think we will be moving today. To add insult to injury it is raining!!!!!

Up at 5am, David had a flight to catch, we all said our farewells, and Jeff and Geoff took him via the boat, to save crossing over the South African’s boat, Jeff rowed, then came back, and Geoff took him in the hire car to the airport, I drank my tea, and went back to bed. Good plan I thought!
Geoff eventually came back, he had had a puncture, so it took him longer than he thought, then both G & J went to the supermarket, I stayed on board waiting for the engineer, and to ensure he had no problems with next door. I did loads of washing, and cleaning, the engineer arrived about 9.30am, and got straight onto the job this man is about 6’4, he soon had everything back together, then we had asked him to change the oil and filters, plus look at the starter as it did not always turn off.
Meanwhile the shopping had arrived and I had put it away, cleaned the fridge out, whilst the other two had gone off to collect the sail, and get other bits, plus return the car.
It was midday before we sat down for breakfast, bit late, but it will save on lunch, we had decided not to leave today, as it was rush rush rush, and one more day would not make any difference.
The engineer was still with us, he could not get the engine to stop, and starting was no problem, eventually he left about 2pm, saying he would ask his boss, not sure what is happening now. Geoff will go and see him in the morning.
Geoff got into the bilges, as there was a lot of surplus oil etc, and the pump was not working, he striped it out, and cleaned it off, and it is now ok, it only needed cleaning. Jeff did some more tidying of the head lining, and something to do with one of the other pumps, he was in the engine room absolutely soaking wet with heat. Geoff fixed a new towel rain, toilet roll, and shower lead. I was the plumber and electricians mate, at their beckon call, I also finished the ironing. So a very good days work, we emptied some of the water from under the engine to clean the bilges a bit, and we will do the rest when we are at sea.
I cooked sausage and mash, with onion gravy, tomatoes and broccoli, funny mix, but it tasted good.
We all then had an early night, as we were shattered, David meanwhile will be in the air somewhere over the Atlantic, safe journey, see you in April!!

Today is David’s last day, so we have hired a car, to see some more parts of the Island. We had an early breakfast, then Geoff and David went to Customs to check him off the boat, then they picked the car up. Jeff and I went to the internet, to catch up again.

The boys eventually returned about 11am, and we all piled in the car, we went round to the Atlantic side first, the roads were dreadful, and our navigation was not that good, as we were using a tourist map, but we got around eventually, we arrived at Ocean Pond, we had no idea what was there, but we found this private club and hotel, which Geoff drove into, as the barriers were up, and straight down parked the car near the beach and out we got. Well the sea was so clear, far clearer than the other side, which is amazing as it was the Atlantic side, we were followed by security, but none of us looked back, and we just plonked ourselves on sun beds, as if we owned the place. No questions were asked. We had a fabulous swim there, and David bought us a drink, which although I do not know how much it was, I imagine it was more than the normal.

Geoff was getting hungry, so we decided to head for the chicken and ribs place in Grand Case, where we went last time, it was great as usual, even better because David had treated us. We then went on the beach, Geoff did his normal sleep time, I went for a swim, Jeff went for a run, and David was sunbathing, although he did go for a long swim, practicing his crawl.

We eventually left and went to see the aircraft coming in over another beach, but we were far too late, so we had missed them all, which was a shame, cos I wanted to see that, never mind, another time maybe.