We came back to the BVI on Wednesday, enjoying a short but exhillarating close-hauled sail from Francis Bay to Sopers Hole at the west end of Tortola. We even reefed the main en route due to gusts of ~26 knots and found it so much easier than it would have been on SW. However, the wind just didn’t let up so in light of a shortage of moorings due to the Spring Regatta being in process, we decided to stay put in SH for the next 3 nights! Would you believe we didn’t see the sun at all on one of those days; it rained almost all day? The photo was taken on Saturday as we left SH and encountered the Spring Regatta racers. We were much happier to be observing and not participating, although that could have been interesting with a stripped-down boat and more crew!
We enjoyed a more leisurely beat up to Fat Hogs Bay (E Tortola) where we checked up on SW and removed a few more items that we thought, after all, might be useful on Timing. From there we had another great sail up to North Sound, Virgin Gorda. The sun was shining, wind around 15 knots, Timing was in her element! We met the mega yacht coming out as we were entering the sound. What a beautiful vessel….
Having had some spare time over the last few days our in-house computer guru Hope has, with some frustration, managed to coax our new Iridium Go/Predict Wind package into action. We now have several route options for our trip to St. Martin, depending on which weather pattern we wish to follow. The weather looks much more settled now, and is forecast to drop even more over the next 2-3 days so we plan to head out to St Martin tomorrow early afternoon, only 4 months later than originally planned.
2 Comments
Ed
From an optimist’s viewpoint, being mindful of spending the winter in the BVI’s and all the fun you enjoyed, it might just be the right time to head further south.
Wishing you fair winds and a safe passage to St Martin. Hope you get to St Bart’s as well.
Coppercoat bottom painting is the next thing on my agenda.
Cheers.
Jonathan
Good to see you’re on your travels again. And that “mega yacht”….what a beauty…..
Any chance you can hook up the AIS again to the web site? Close to shore the GPS cuts in and out….so you’re at A……then you disappear….then you rematerialise at B. Very Star Trek!!