Back to Cane Garden Bay

When we leave for St. Maarten after Christmas we will likely leave from Leverick Bay at the top of Virgin Gorda.  What a beautiful spot.  We enjoyed 3 nights up there after Don and Pat left us.  We spent an evening ashore being entertained by the Jumbies - young dancers on stilts.  Very impressive and fun to get up and dance along.  We used the marina's laundromat, pool and grocery store.  When you tie up to one of their moorings you get 100 gallons of water and a bag of ice for free!  One day we took the dingy to visit the classy Bitter End Yacht Club resort across the bay and had a beer in the "English Pub."  

Approaching Leverick Bay Marina

Bitter End Yacht Club

Sir Richard Branson's Necker Island-see the remains from the fire? 

The Necker Belle - Sir Richard's luxury catamaran - for charter if you can afford it.

Anegada

 After 3 days of lounging around and boat projects - cleaned the carb on the generator and installed a new prop on Murphy the dinghy - we set off for Anegada, which apparently means the drowned island in Spanish?  It is surrounded by a huge horseshoe reef which has claimed over 300 ships over the years.  The island is only 23 feet high at its max - so you don't need to worry about getting a nose bleed climbing the hills.  The passage there is well marked and it is north so we had a nice beam reach for a couple of hours sailing up there.  Anegada's claim to fame is the plentiful beach bars, many of which specialize in Anegada lobster.  At $50 for the lobster we opted for the $11 hamburger.  We also chose not to rent a car for the day to drive the 12 miles of road and visit snorkelling beaches and flamingo ponds.  We've seen lots of great snorkel beaches...  and flamingos, well, our Bahamian friends call flamingos "red turkey."  Many people love Anegada so much that they have purchased vacation homes. We met a lady - we think she was the owner of the Anegada Reef Hotel - moved there from Yorkshire 40 years ago.  Wow!

Expert dolphin spotter

But… here we are back in Cane Garden Bay - one of our favorite spots - after a 4 hour beam reach at 7 knots the whole way.  Once again we were accompanied by dolphins for part of the way.

We are surrounded by charter boats. There are very few cruisers like us.  They are only down for a week or two and they've paid a ton to charter so they are here for a good time.  The $30 per night for a mooring ball is part of the experience.  So is the daily trip to town for a tee-shirt and a burger with a beer.  Or maybe several beers.  And many of the beach restaurants feature dinner menus with entrees at $40 or $50.  We simply can't afford to do that for the months that we are down here.

For the most part we also pay the $30 for the mooring ball because they cover the anchorages and there just isn't room to swing on an anchor.  But that's the charm of Cane Garden Bay.  We've found a cool spot where we can anchor that is close enough to shore that we can pick up internet.  The scenery is gorgeous and the live music at night is wonderful.  We have our share of cold beer in our fridge and we certainly aren't lacking for great food.  Last night, Pam made roast pork tenderloin with jambalaya rice and a salad.  We chased it down with Chilean champagne.  Tonight we had Pasta al Deborah - penne with oregano, garlic, onions, bacon and tomatoes accompanied by a Chilean red.  Mmmmmm!

Cooling off in an afternoon squall...
These things come on you fast and leave you fast, Boss!

So that's why we love Cane Garden Bay.  We will hang out here for another day or two and then head back to the USVI to do some boat chores.  Then back home for a dose of grandchildren!

BVIs

We just dropped Don and Pat off at the Soper's Hole ferry to Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas after a delightful trip around the islands.  As you can tell from our SPOT fixes, we went from Jost van Dyke (and the bubbly pools) to Cane Garden Bay to Marina Cay (there is a movie about Marina Cay starring Sidney Portier) to the Baths on Virgin Gorda to Norman Island and then back here to Sopers.

Painkillers

We've developed our own recipe for Painkillers with orange and pineapple juice, cream of coconut, nutmeg and rum.  That helped us a lot with our oversupply of Pussers rum.  Even Don had seconds!

View from the top of Marina Cay

Local guy selling fresh fruit and vegetables at outrageous prices

Taking the pain out of schlumulligan

Enjoying the shade

The Baths

An elderly couple we met there

Blue Pearl in the background

Except for yesterday, we were in the water several times each day to snorkel, cool off and do daily ablutions.  It's impossible to keep up with the Macdonalds in the water.  They are like fish and it encourages us to swim more.

So now they are off to continue their Caribbean vacation exploring Puerto Rico.

Today we are tackling the mundane… defrosting the fridge, taking out the garbage, replacing broken screws, cutting Glen's shaggy mane and getting a good charge on the ship's batteries.  

Over the next few days we will try to head east to explore the north end of Virgin Gorda and maybe Anegada.  We'll see!

Virgin Island Tour

We rented a car from the airport on Monday and toured St.Thomas.  We knew Don and Pat would like to see the sights but it was also cool for us to zoom around at speeds greater than 5 knots and see all the great sights from the lookouts high up on the hills.

Carigas Bar near Budget Marine

Not a bad view ... Charlotte Amalie

Unsavory characters

Looking over Magen's Bay - Tortola in the distance

We left on Tuesday for St. John, stopping along the way at Christmas Cove, St. James Island to have a snorkel.  We saw spotted eagle rays and sting rays along with lots of different fish.  Barry the Barracuda was about 4 feet long - quite intimidating when you don't see him until you look up beside you about 5 feet away.

We spent a nice night in Francis Bay - Don and Pat were in the water most of the day.  We took some time to do a hike that took us past the ruins of an old plantation.  The next day we went around the corner to Leinster Bay near WaterLemon Cay.  We snorkelled (Glen napped) and hiked up to the ruins of an old sugar mill.

Cooling off in Francis Bay, St. John

Annaberg Sugar Mill, St. John

Dolphin spotting....

On Thursday we cleared into the British Virgin Islands at Soper's Hole.  We won't complain too much about the process - filling in the same information on 3 different forms and not reacting badly when they told you not to abbreviate CANADA to CAN.  A quick dinghy ride across the harbour took us to the Pusser's store where our wonderful children had arranged for a case of rum to be waiting for the boat - Glen's 60th birthday present.  

A whole case of headaches

Sopers Hole

Later in the day we left Sopers for White Bay on Jost van Dyke and the Soggy Dollar Bar for Painkillers before heading to our hot, hot beds.  Very muggy night.

Soggy Dollar Bar - called this for the wet money used to buy drinks after swimming to shore

Enjoying Painkillers

Drying out soggy dollars

Where next?

Callwood's Rum Distillery

Today is Glen's birthday so Don and Pat treated for lunch in Cane Garden Bay.  We are enjoying internet (can hardly wait to find out who won the election) and cooling off in the bay.  Tomorrow we go somewhere else… not sure where.  We need to learn how to plan!

Old Macdonalds Had a Trip

After waiting outside SJU for 20 minutes we finally saw two familiar faces - happy but maybe a little tired from travel.  We loaded them up and drove from San Juan across to Humacao where the boat waited at the Marina at Palmas del Mar.

We spent the rest of the day keeping cool at the pool and enjoyed Pam's tacos for dinner.  Then a final blissful sleep in the cool of Blue Pearl's dockside AC and off we went - a marathon (OK only 4 hours) trip to Tamarindo Beach on the west side of Culebra.  

Moments after taking a mooring we were in the water to snorkel and just cool off.

Don decided that the boat was too hot for sleeping so he decided to try the cockpit.  Apart from a couple of drops, the night was relatively dry.

Next day we moved the boat around to Dewey and went for a short, hot walk around town.  Apparently the tourist season hasn't started because not many of the stores and restaurants were open.  The social hub of the town, El Batey's was so we tucked into Medalla beers, Batey burgers and grease with fries.  Mmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Then back to the boat and out to Dakity so we could get off early to Saint Thomas.  Next morning we enjoyed a quick breakfast and set out to Brewers Bay, by the airport in Saint Thomas.  There wasn't any wind for the rest of the day - very still and hot - but during our trip we had 15 mph on the nose which made for a bumpy crossing.  That's usually the way it goes - the wind is coming from where we want to go.

Virgin Islands Agricultural Fair

Cool wood carvers

We went to shore to enjoy the last of the VI Agricultural Fair - some great music, food and crafts - and then back to the boat to listen to overwhelmingly loud gangsta rap from a beach party. 

Another blissful night on the boat - once the music stopped - with good friends and cool drinks.

Today we adventure around the island in a rental car.  More later!

Splashed

We are thinking about the poor folks up north having to deal with Sandy.  We certainly hope that people come through it safely.  So sorry to hear that the HMS Bounty replica out of Nova Scotia had to be abandoned at sea.  Hope that the two missing will be found soon.

And a big earthquake at home near Vancouver Island!  What the heck???  Sounds like the Mayan calendar was right after all.

It is hot and muggy here but getting better every day.  This morning it is clear with very light winds.  These have been our past few days...

Thursday - splashing on Friday but the old propeller nut won't work.  We checked locally - nothing.  Drove to Puerto de Ray Marina in Fajardo - nothing.  Tried the Skipper Store, West Marine, local propeller store - nothing.  Then we met Bobby the propeller man.  He said, "Go the the local ferretaria (hardware store).  They have everything.  And they did!!!  For $3.32 we got the correct nut - in stainless steel and with a nyloc (won't come off) insert!  Propeller is on and good.

Another propeller nut dead end

Installing a wifi antenna on the backstay

Cleaning the stainless

Launching Murphy

Propeller nuts!

Friday - waiting for the travel lift we spotted a huge manatee in the harbour.  Good omen!  Getting ready to splash we found out the main bilge pump was toasted.  So we checked that the manual pump worked and into the water we went.  Yan Diesel fired up immediately and we coasted 100 meters to our new spot on the dock.  We noticed that the fixed prop doesn't CLUNK as we change gears from forward to reverse.  It also seems smoother!?  Fired up the fridge - goodness how we love our fridge.  Within an hour the freezer was at -10 C and the fridge at 6 C.  Yay for cold beer!

Ready to go!

And... in we go

At the dock

Saturday - spent the morning driving into San Juan - closest place to get a new bilge pump.  Glen spent the afternoon cursing and yelling into the bilge until the job was done.

Sunday - put on the main sail and Mack Pack (the thing that catches and covers the sail when it comes down), put on the dodger and bimini and reinstalled the solar panels.  Also, installed a new galley fan so chefs can be cool as they prepare their masterpieces.  Pam is concerned that it will muss up her hair.

Today - Costco run

Tuesday - install new water heater and put on the head sails.

Wednesday - hang around the pool.

Thursday - drive into SJ to pick up Don and Pat for their Spanish/US/British Virgin Island tour!

Wooopeeee!

Back to the boat!

Holy Crap it's hot.

We drove straight from the airport to the Blue Pearl - a little under an hour.

We are not allowed to work on the boat in the yard so we've hired a contractor to buff and polish and then to apply our new bottom paint.  His quotes were quite reasonable so we decided to let someone else endure the fumes in the heat.

Buffed and polished

Someone else doing the work

It looks fantastic!  We've never seen the hull so polished.

Yay - it fits

All of our summer purchases were waiting for us in the marina office.  Our stomaches flipped a bit when the new prop didn't fit on the shaft... but once we oriented it correctly it slid on perfectly.

We have a bunch of inside jobs but it is very hot with no cool breeze so we are concentrating on a few outside jobs that we can do.  Once we have moved from the work yard over to the marina we will be able to put up the canvas up to give us shade and get to our inside jobs.

We are staying in a B&B near the marina for a couple of days until the boat is in the water.  We huddle in our air-conditioned room or sit by the pool.  We are working to adjust to the heat and humidity but it is daunting.  Spending time in air-conditioned malls and grocery stores is appealing.

The weather is a result of the remnants of hurricane Sandy that is currently passing over Cuba on its way north.  Hopefully we will have clear skys in a couple of days.

Breakfast croissant - these things look delicious in the ads

A Summer of Superlatives

We had a tremendous summer at home.

Our youngest daughter, Carrie, got married; the spectacular wedding attended by wonderful family, our closest friends and the new “outlaws”.  Our eldest daughter, Jen had a beautiful baby girl in June, rounding out her “million dollar” son/daughter family.  Our son quit his job, went to Lollapalooza in Chicago, bought a motorcycle and “Easy Rode” across the country to meet us at Whistler – and followed up by moving to Calgary for a new job!

Here comes the Bride!

4 generations

Easy Rider

We spent wonderful days getting to know our new granddaughter, Lucy and playing with grandson, Jack.  “Play with me, Dan (Gran)?”

We did a million house chores; gardening, installing new doors, updating plumbing, rebuilding a fence, getting rid of last decade’s treasures.

We visited Anacortes, Whistler, the Okanagan, the Sunshine Coast and Vancouver Island.  Our summers in this part of the world are breathtaking!

We dined with friends at their homes and reciprocated at ours.  We enjoyed the Second Annual Pig Roast in our backyard with more than 80 friends– roasting a 90-pound pig over hot coals, Cuban style.

Public Works

Luke and Glen tend to Porky Pig

Sid, Mac and Calum making ice cream 

Mount Baker

Hiking at Whistler

Looking out to Texada Island

We sewed courtesy flags for all of our upcoming island nations, built a mount for the battery monitor, ordered a new prop, running rigging, and a new AIS radio and read up on the Leeward and Windward Islands.

And now that the cold and rain is announcing the end of fall and the beginning of winter, we are back in the warm to resume our adventures in the Caribbean.

What a life!