We have been having a great couple of days. On Wednesday we dropped Patrick and Jason off at Soper’s Hole so they could catch the ferry back to St. Thomas. Bill and I went back to White Bay and tried to get a mooring again -- and again, no such luck. We spent the rest of the day and the night at Little Harbor, Jost Van Dyke and enjoyed the great weather. We watched the last of the movies in the Godfather trilogy, and ate dinner on board. It has been really hot and since there has been a lack of breeze, we are really feeling it. We have also had to run the generator more than usual because we aren’t getting any charge off of the wind generator. We have started to discuss the possibility of solar panels. As Miles and Ann said – it is either always sunny or always windy – but not necessarily both at the same time.
On Thursday morning we got up early and gave it a last ditch effort to get a mooring at White Bay. We have found that at least 90% of the boats here in the BVI are charters. People come down to the islands for a week, rent a boat, and island hop. Most boats vacate the mooring field by 9 am so they can see as much as they can in a week. Since we aren’t on the same time table, we usually stay in each place for at least two days. We thought we could get a mooring at White Bay if we got there by 9:00 – the old boats would be gone, the new boats just coming in. Well….White Bay is a popular place… and we were unable to get a mooring again. And we weren’t the only ones. At 9:00 am there were 4 or 5 other boats with the same idea all vying for a mooring. But enough is enough… In November Bill and I had a fabulous four days at White Bay, and we were lucky to have been able to experience the Soggy Dollar, Ivan’s, and the beautiful beach and water then, so we decided this was our last try….
On Thursday morning we got up early and gave it a last ditch effort to get a mooring at White Bay. We have found that at least 90% of the boats here in the BVI are charters. People come down to the islands for a week, rent a boat, and island hop. Most boats vacate the mooring field by 9 am so they can see as much as they can in a week. Since we aren’t on the same time table, we usually stay in each place for at least two days. We thought we could get a mooring at White Bay if we got there by 9:00 – the old boats would be gone, the new boats just coming in. Well….White Bay is a popular place… and we were unable to get a mooring again. And we weren’t the only ones. At 9:00 am there were 4 or 5 other boats with the same idea all vying for a mooring. But enough is enough… In November Bill and I had a fabulous four days at White Bay, and we were lucky to have been able to experience the Soggy Dollar, Ivan’s, and the beautiful beach and water then, so we decided this was our last try….
So, we went to the Bight at Norman Island. We got an outside mooring so we could snorkel from the boat and hung out. The water has been so clear (the lack of wind makes the waters calm and the visibility has been great). We saw a huge and very beautiful Leopard Ray swim right by us – which was absolutely amazing. There were a ton of fish, and the coral formations were different from any other place we have snorkeled so far. It was really nice.
On Thursday night we ate dinner on board and watched a movie. We have been using the George Forman grill that my mother gave us for Christmas a lot. We brought it to the boat with us the last time we were in DC, and have been using it ever since. It is easy to use and clean up – especially when we don’t feel like messing with the propane grill.
Friday we had a lazy start and spent the morning reading. We decided to get lunch at the Willie T’s – the floating bar that is in the Bight. We had a nice lunch and decided to hang out there for a few hours. Bill met a retired F-4 pilot who now owns a flight school and a P-51 (Bill was excited to say the least). Willie T’s is known for plenty of shenanigans and we weren’t disappointed. We saw several people jump off the roof of the boat/bar (a few with no clothes on) and lots of people getting the most out of the last few days of their vacation. We called it an early night and came back to the boat.
Our tank indicator has been broken for about two weeks. It is functioning, but not displaying, making it virtually useless – except for the high/low warning, which is still working. So we have been able to tell if we are either are high (holding tank) or low (starboard, port, and head water supplies) by the alarm – but we can’t tell which one. Saturday we realized that we are very low on water (even though we topped all of the water tanks off when we left Nanny Cay a few weeks ago). The boat is equipped with a water maker, but it takes a lot of energy to run. Since the batteries have been low (no wind = no charge), and the tanks are fairly big (300 water [port and starboard combined] + 65 head water supply [the head flushes with fresh water, which requires a separate water tank]) we thought it would be easier / better to fill at a marina. We tried to go to Nanny Cay to get fuel (Bill wants to have a full fuel tank for the passage) and water but the fuel dock was full and other boats were waiting. Since Nanny Cay is such a tight fit, we decided to try somewhere else. Currently we are enroute to Marina Cay, where we will most likely spend the night.
Island Packet did send us a new tank indicator, but we haven’t installed it yet because it is fairly tricky to do. First all the tanks have to be empty so an initial reading can be done. Then all the tanks have to be full so a “full” reading can be taken. This is hard to do when we are using the boat (we need water and don’t want a full holding tank!) and we are not entirely sure how we will tell that the holding tank is “full.” Right now we have been emptying the tank every other day or so to ensure we aren’t full. So right now we are still trying to figure out the logistics….
We have been mixing up the games (Texas Hold’em and Spades with Jason and Patrick, Mancala, Scrabble, Yahtzee) and laying off the backgammon because ever since we switched to the new board (dice and stones went down the scupper on the old board) Bill has been on a losing streak – although he is still winning by a mile….(currently the running tally is Bill = 89, Lauren 74).
The plan to do the Atlantic Cup on May 3rd still stands. Al and Cindy will be flying in next week sometime and we’ll be in Village Cay Marina in Road Town starting Wednesday to prepare the boat for the offshore passage. Until then, Bill and I are enjoying our last few days on the water in the BVI.
Friday we had a lazy start and spent the morning reading. We decided to get lunch at the Willie T’s – the floating bar that is in the Bight. We had a nice lunch and decided to hang out there for a few hours. Bill met a retired F-4 pilot who now owns a flight school and a P-51 (Bill was excited to say the least). Willie T’s is known for plenty of shenanigans and we weren’t disappointed. We saw several people jump off the roof of the boat/bar (a few with no clothes on) and lots of people getting the most out of the last few days of their vacation. We called it an early night and came back to the boat.
Our tank indicator has been broken for about two weeks. It is functioning, but not displaying, making it virtually useless – except for the high/low warning, which is still working. So we have been able to tell if we are either are high (holding tank) or low (starboard, port, and head water supplies) by the alarm – but we can’t tell which one. Saturday we realized that we are very low on water (even though we topped all of the water tanks off when we left Nanny Cay a few weeks ago). The boat is equipped with a water maker, but it takes a lot of energy to run. Since the batteries have been low (no wind = no charge), and the tanks are fairly big (300 water [port and starboard combined] + 65 head water supply [the head flushes with fresh water, which requires a separate water tank]) we thought it would be easier / better to fill at a marina. We tried to go to Nanny Cay to get fuel (Bill wants to have a full fuel tank for the passage) and water but the fuel dock was full and other boats were waiting. Since Nanny Cay is such a tight fit, we decided to try somewhere else. Currently we are enroute to Marina Cay, where we will most likely spend the night.
Island Packet did send us a new tank indicator, but we haven’t installed it yet because it is fairly tricky to do. First all the tanks have to be empty so an initial reading can be done. Then all the tanks have to be full so a “full” reading can be taken. This is hard to do when we are using the boat (we need water and don’t want a full holding tank!) and we are not entirely sure how we will tell that the holding tank is “full.” Right now we have been emptying the tank every other day or so to ensure we aren’t full. So right now we are still trying to figure out the logistics….
We have been mixing up the games (Texas Hold’em and Spades with Jason and Patrick, Mancala, Scrabble, Yahtzee) and laying off the backgammon because ever since we switched to the new board (dice and stones went down the scupper on the old board) Bill has been on a losing streak – although he is still winning by a mile….(currently the running tally is Bill = 89, Lauren 74).
The plan to do the Atlantic Cup on May 3rd still stands. Al and Cindy will be flying in next week sometime and we’ll be in Village Cay Marina in Road Town starting Wednesday to prepare the boat for the offshore passage. Until then, Bill and I are enjoying our last few days on the water in the BVI.
.jpg)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment