Hi From Guana Island, BVI

Guana Island is one of the bigger islands just north of Tortola.  It is an L-shaped island with the bottom of the L to the north, and that shape is protecting Cat Tales from high waves, a North-East swell of significant proportions, but not from an outrageous and tiring wind.  The gusts here today are easily near 30 knots, and at times we have to turn off our windmill.

We last wrote from Spanish Town, where we investigated our boat storage yard and their services.  Things may be quite different, as we seem to be spending more money for fewer services, in comparison to Trinidad.  The promised laundry was discontinued last October, apparently, but we did find one that might serve in the little community of Spanish Town.  A laundry is rather necessary, since much of our clothing has been done in a minimalist fashion for the last six months, and much of our fabric on board has slowly picked up dirt and salt.  Such salt might attract moisture during storage, promoting mould.  We also note that things we take for granted: water and electricity during the effort of preparing the boat for storage; require special arrangements at this yard.  Still, we’re sure things will come together to our ultimate satisfaction.

We left Spanish Town on Monday, coming to Trellis Bay to join Silk Pajamas for a lovely supper in The Loose Mongoose, a favourite haunt of ours from back when John Fallon used to keep his boat StoppKnot here.  We found that the cook, Rosie, a short local woman of “traditional build” and fond of hugging regulars has since retired; but the newest owners have installed a cook called Neill, who is equally as gregarious, and with the rest of the staff, puts out fantastic meals.  

Thanks to my “old man’s prostate” we were also able to get up to see the “blood moon” at some point during its display.  Interestingly, the only other time I recall seeing such an eclipse was when we were counting on a full moon to move Cat Tales from Bequia to St. Lucia a few years ago, and we were quite confused by this rather strange moon for a bit.

The official full moon was later Tuesday morning; and the Trellis Bay Full moon party was that night.  Kristin and Terry joined us as we ate at the stalls, drank at the various venues, and listened to the three different musical stages.  As fun as it was, we were still aboard our boats near “cruisers’ midnight” (9 pm).

We left Trellis Bay early the next day, having an appointment in Road Town’s Doyle Sails to repair the tear at our mainsails second reef.  We had already removed the sail at Spanish Town, rolled it up, and replaced it in the boom bag for simple storage.  The repair and replacement came on with splendid ease; all completed by noon while Cat Tales sat against the Tortola Marine Management marina bulkhead.  We found both Doyle and TMM well managed and friendly.

However, after walking downtown to a bank machine during the repair, I (Laurie) found I had misplaced my credit card.  A phone call back to The Loose Mongoose located it, and also determined where we were to have another dinner; and that is why we are still at this end of the island chain.

So, now we sit, considering a trip by dinghy to relatively flatter water near the rock cliffs of the island, reading books, and carrying out minor chores.  Dawn is reading Philippa Gregory’s “The Red Queen, and I have just finished one more of Patrick O’Brien’s series that starts with “Master and Commander”.  This morning, Dawn attempted to do some window washing before her pail was blown way behind the boat and causing an early bath, and I topped up the batteries in preparation to equalizing the cells for storage.  Silk Pajamas is with us, but likely doing similar things alone, a hundred metres away.

The high winds are slated to last until Sunday night, when we intend to continue around to Brewer’s Bay, Cane Garden Bay, Jost Van Dyke, Norman’s Bight, and then back to Spanish Town; there to begin the hard work of closing down this season’s wandering.

We cannot send much in the way of pictures from this location, but just wanted to stay up to date.

Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbour

Well, we're back in the British Virgin Islands for the first time since 2008, and we're currently in Virgin Gorda checking out the boatyard here where we'll be hauling and storing the boat for the summer hurricane season.  Haulout date is on May 1st with flights home on the 10th and 11th.

Last episode, we were heading to the east end of St. John in the USVI  to get ready for the jump.  That sail, from Cruz Bay to Haulover Bay, was rather long, but fun.  We tacked out into the large area behind Tortola, shot into the Sir Francis Drake Channel just ahead of Little Thatch Island, and took three or more tacks to make Haulover.  The sailing was beautiful and fast, and the efforts to navigate through all the charter-boats made the time fly by.

Haulover Bay was a little scary.  As the well known Caribbean cartographer Don Street had written that it was excellent for only one boat, we wondered what he meant.  After finding the corner of the bay he must have been talking about, we scouted around  and figured it out.  By dumping our anchor in 7 metres of water, and allowing exactly 30 metres of chain, we could have our stern swing around within 40 feet of shore for about half a circle, and then just miss a shallow reef to seaward.  Our rudders were always in about 3.5 metres of water that steeply shallowed to the beach or the coral.  It was a little nerve-wracking, but after we were calmed down by the 3rd evening drink, we were convinced it was rather ambrosial.  We could see a few mansions, most under construction well up the steep hills, but the hills were so steep that we had to stick our heads out from under the bimini to consider the bay was other than uninhabited.

The morning was rather less perfect, with scudding dark clouds and unforcasted winds; but we hoisted the sail with two reefs (removing 20% of the area from the bottom) and headed out for Virgin Gorda.  The captain (me) loved the sail, and Dawn agreed it was fun.   The trip took about 4 hours and numerous tacks, and there were other boats to contend with, but the higher winds kept most in port.  The apparent winds were about 24-26 knots, and the waves were over a metre but sharp and hard.  We truly dusted the boat with salt, and shook about like crazy, but knowing we were only going to be at it for 4 hours seemed to make it quite acceptable.  I kept her tight into the wind, catching every puff and wind change, and enjoyed the sail immensely.  Sadly, after we anchored down and checked the anchor with a mask, I found that we had again ripped the sail at the reefpoint.  We have some email out to some sail repairers to assist us in deciding where, when, and how it is to be re-repaired.  Here is a picture:

Nice rip in the Main Sail.  We'll be looking for a repair shop soon!

 

I pause here to tell you a little bit about our last days in St. John.  Dawn and I had sailed with Kristin and Terry (s/v Silk Pajamas) with a couple of days hiking around Great Lameshure Bay and indeed, hiking also out of Maho Bay.  Indeed, we really put on the miles, seeing many ruins and some nice vistas.  After a while the ruins become less interesting.  We'd like to see more interpretive plaques around them and on the hikes themselves.  At any rate, we left them in Lameshure, and carried on into Salt Pond Bay, where we had a fantastic brunch at an eco-resort called Concordia.  After that, we spent two nights in the area around Coral Bay.  

A well preserved Sugar mill in St. John USVI

Terry & Kristin from s/v Silk Pajamas and Dawn hiking in St. John, USVI

Cat Tales is the catamaran on the left

 One thing we did was snorkel in the mangroves of the Hurricane Hole.  It was a little out of our comfort zone, with blooms of many sea creatures making the water cloudy; but we did see quite a few small fish, and got into a real study of schoolmasters and baby angel fish.  After washing off, we were happy we did it, and just as happy it was behind us.

Back in Coral Cove proper, We sent a text to Walter Piescik's friends, Ray and Brenda, who run a charter operation.  They "took over" and we had a real nice, but steep, drive to a fantastic view of the Hurricane Hole area, the Sir Francis Drake Channel, and all the islands on either side all the way to Virgin Gorda.  We then a great time and meal at a bar called the Aqua Bistro.  Afterwards, Dawn was grizzling about our propane tank that went flat because of my incompetence (a non-compatible rubber washer), and they said they could drop it off in Cruz Bay while on a laundry run.  Well, Dawn wanted to do laundry too, so next day at noon, we pile in their SUV and start a "road trip".  Turns out Ray's laundry choice has $2 beers.  After the laundry was well in hand and done, and after Ray had provided some fantastic hors-d-ouvres to go with our beers (and his and her wines), we turn left instead of right, and as ("surprise") it is Ray's 59^th birthday, we hit 6 more drinking establishments where as often as not, he is well known.  When I let out that it is his birthday, we even get free shots.  Can't say I really remember the last bar or the return to Cat Tales.  I do remember you have to fight for the bill, and fight hard.  I was seldom successful.

BTW, seems Ray and I have more than our age in common.  There were very few original Hobie 21s in the world, and not the mamby pamby cruiser either.  Ray and I each own one.   This happened as we got into a bit of discussion in acknowledgement that Hobie Alter had recently passed away at 80.

We saw this cute Hobie Cat on St. John.  It is named the same as Hugh's H-18 at home!

Also, Ray tells us that our 4'  friend Barry (or Mr. Cudda)  in Salt Pond Bay is actually named  "Fang", and that he responds to just a splat of a flipper anywhere in the bay and waits for a hot dog to be fed by hand.  Well, that`s the end of my skinny-dipping in that bay.  Ray and Brenda own a charter business and live aboard in the USVIs.

Well, I guess that is it for now, except, to show some more of our pictures.

Perfect Brain coral specimen!

Gray Angel Fish - we don't see these at all in the southern islands!  One day we saw 3 traveling together!

Stunning views when you climb and climb!

After tossing chicken bones in the water one afternoon, a group of 4 or 5 remoras lived under our boat for the next day.  Notice the sucker section on his head for hanging on.

These 4 foot long creatures kept Dawn out of the water until we landed in the next bay.  They are known to connect to a diver to catch a free lift.  They look very much like a shark, don't you think?!

Moving from USVI to BVI

We're sucking in a little internet while we have lunch just outside of Cruz Bay. The problem is that computer updates are taking over and taking time away from communicating and from sailing.

We have really enjoyed hiking and snorkeling the island of St. John, but we hope to have 20 days afloat in the BVIs before we get put on the hard there and fly home.

While here, we've been entertained by a 4 foot barracuda named "Fang" in Salt Pond Bay that has been trained to eat hot dogs out of your hand - which tended to curb my skinny-dipping in that bay, and more recently four 3-4' remoras that adopted our boat in Maho Bay that so freaked Dawn out that she will not get into the water. We have pictures of both fish, and, yes, they would freak anyone out. The remoras are quite willing to try to attach themselves to a shark, a boat, a diver, or a snorkeler; and you can imagine a four foot, sucker-headed fish smiling away as it settles onto your belly or thigh. However, pictures will come later.

Pictures also should be available for the steep hikes, the wild ruins, the bats, and possibly others.

We'll try to tell the story of the wildest laundry day we've ever had as well.

For now, we're saying the heck with updates, and heading for an isolated bay on the north-east of St. John where we will jump off early tomorrow, heading for Spanish Town, Virgin Gorda. This will be a short sail, but could take us 4 hours easily, as it is upwind.