Cat Tales is on the hard, in Virgin Gorda Yacht
Harbour. We woke up early to rain, and
had to close the hatches - after ripping away the mosquito screens to get at
them. We're just lamenting over what jobs we can do
if the rain continues. Not a real
problem: I can always tear down, clean, lubricate and reassemble the head/toilet,
as we can't use it here... It is 8 am,
the coffee has worked on me, and there is no stop to the rain, so I'll have to
hike over to the toilets in the downpour.
Okay, I'm back. It
wasn't so bad: just a traipse around the
deeper puddles, a jump over a minor stream, but a step into one super soft
bunch of mud.
We last wrote from Guana Island. Though the wind took its time decreasing, Dawn,
Kristin and I swam into the rock face and found some wonderful snorkeling
around stag coral. Besides the usual
guys, we found major schools of bait fish, around 6 large tarpons just short of
4 feet, and one 5 foot shark. We are
still arguing about what kind of shark it was.
It was grey, with a head somewhat like a nurse shark, but narrower and
pointier. It was neither afraid nor
interested in us.
Dawn and I left Guana on Sunday, April 20th, and enjoyed two
nights in Cane Garden Bay, where we did laundry and enjoyed the beach scene,
just the two of us. We then sailed to
Jost Van Dyke Island, and spent three nights there, mostly enjoying the beach
and bar scene with Steve and Maria of s/v Aspen. We continued with Steve and Maria to Norman's
Bight, where we kind of did the same. We
had a supper on the Willy T, a floating restaurant; where we were totally
entertained by the antics of the youngish tourists flitting around quite drunk
with skimpy swimwear. Frankly, some girls would walk by and I felt I
should pay somebody.
We also had an excellent hike on Norman Island. The trails are quite fabulous, and we have
determined that there are 4 more hikes for us to do there next year.
Leaving Norman on Monday, we had our last sail, and it was
an excellent one: one tack straight up the Sir Francis Drake Channel all the
way to Spanish Town. We had three nights
on the water, taking care of the jobs we could do, including changing oil and
glycol in the two engines. Tough work,
actually, with a waste oil pump that failed on us in the middle of the
operation.
The work has continued since being hauled out on Thursday. I had to take time out yesterday to run
around with the hot water tank to see if I could get it fixed. The local welder said he just couldn't take
the time to re-weld a 1996 tank that is at the end of its useful life, so I am
working with the chandler to see if he can get a new one before next year. I have already bypassed the connections for
the water and glycol, so no real panic. The starboard engine is done, so we have a
safe location to pile stuff to get at what isn't done...
So here we are, working through the chores. As the sun has just made it, it is time to
stop procrastinating and go back to the chores.
Here is how we sit with the list (Dawn's lists not included):
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| The balls and figures are loaded up with firewood awaiting the full moon for the party in Trellis Bay, BVI |
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| The moon in one hand and a beer in the other! |
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| Kristin had to reach a bit higher since the moon was on the rise! |
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| Before lighting |
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| the parking lot for the full moon party |
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| Look at the pictures in the ball! We watched how this was done in the workshop behind one of the buildings on the beach. |
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| The kids had the best view of the flaming balls! |
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| A man in a dinghy drove away from this boat with a line attached to the mast top. The kid hanging onto the line raised up to a tremendous height and then released his grip and dropped into the water. After the first kid dropped, they boys remembered to land with their legs closed!! |
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| A little bubbling pool at the end of a hike in Jost van Dyke, BVI |
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| Haulout, Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbour, May 1st, 2014 - Flights home on May 10th and 11th. |
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| Just enough room to get the travel lift out! Now, the work begins! |
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| Paula (s/v Magique) sent this photo from Bonaire where she and Brian have sailed this season. This seahorse was wrapped around a pin on their outboard engine so she saved him and put him back. Isn't this a beautiful shot!? Thanks Paula. |
