Still on holiday in the BVI

Sunday afternoon we went ashore primarily to get some cash.  An ATM had been installed behind Myetts relatively recently so we had all things flexible crossed. And yes….it did work….. hurrah!!   We now have some drinking vouchers and can give our credit cards a welcome break!!

Wandering the streets behind the beach Beach at Cane Garden Bay Wandering the streets behind the beach 2

Back on board for a short while before we got ready to go to the Elm. Arndt had pulled in too so we had agreed to meet him. We caught up with Steve and the gang and had a chat and then settled into the best seats in the house for dinner and the music. Usually Malcolm (Manpot from TTOL fame) has this table but he wasn’t coming and had told Arndt that we could have it instead. VIP treatment!  Had a wonderful welcome back hug from our favourite waitress and we settled in and enjoyed the spectacular sunset.

Great welcome from our normal lady

Arndt at the Elm

Sunset at Cane Garden Bay

Shortly afterwards we were approached by the gang from Latitude – another Island Packet 370 which was out in the bay. We had watched it come in but had assumed that charterers were on board as we had seen the Island Yachts logo on the side. But they were the owners – along with their daughter – and their boat had actually replaced Morphie in the fleet – and we had been in email conversations and they are followers of my blog!   What a small world….. We quickly invited them to join us and the conversation flowed….

Crew of Latitude Us at the Elm

The band were great, the food was lovely, and we had a really nice evening. I even danced a bit – although it always gets a tad tedious when one particular rasta guy asks me to dance. I said ‘no’ my husband wouldn’t approve…..so this guy asks Richard for his permission! Which he thankfully refused…. I know that this guy is probably fine but I’ve seen him getting jiggy jiggy with so many tourists over the years he actually gives me the creeps! We said our goodbyes to everyone and were back on board, quite late, but with arrangements to meet up on Tuesday for a Soggy day.

Elmtones having fun Dancing the night away Elmtones having fun 2 No thanks don't want to dance!

Monday morning and we went ashore to get more drinking vouchers…. The limit on this ATM was quite small so wanted to top up. Well it said yes again but only spat out $40. Panic! The machine didn’t give me a receipt so I asked for another transaction and managed to get a receipt showing that $40 was all I received. So all I can do is hold on to that and wait until the transaction comes up on line….. To cheer me up, Richard took me out to breakfast at Rhymers and we enjoyed the views of the anchorage as well as some Facetime with Rachel, Kiera and Finlay. Was lovely to speak to them all again….. well, actually, we just made faces and noises at Finlay as he’s not old enough to talk yet!

Cane Garden Bay anchorage

Back to Morphie – waving at Latitude on the way – and we headed off across the channel to Diamond Cay. This is between Jost van Dyke and Little Jost van Dyke….and is a favourite anchorage of ours because we often see turtles here. As we approach the anchorage a power cat comes charging through at high speed to overtake us – obviously concerned to grab the last mooring ball. We let him go – we’re going to anchor anyway! Well…. he did grab the last ball… but not in the way he planned to as he propped it and was facing the wrong way when we arrived. Have to say we felt that he got what he deserved for his un-seamanship behaviour! And it took him quite a while with divers in the water to get free…

Facing the wrong way

While we are watching all the drama we spot turtle heads breaking the surface when they come up to breathe. Yippeee they are around….. So we went off for a lengthy snorkel. The water was pretty murky – as there was a bit of a swell running and it was a bit gloomy – but we did manage to find some turtles, a stingray and some other usual suspects, who all tend to hang around by the old broken dock in the warmer thermoclines that are always present there. Good fun….

Snorkelling 1 Snorkelling 2 Snorkelling 3 Looking for turtles Snorkelling 4 Snorkelling 5 Snorkelling 7

Broken down dock

In the afternoon we headed around the corner to Little Jost van Dyke to a new beach bar that we had heard about – the B-Line Bar. Pulled dink up on the beach and chatted to Jerry, who we remembered from his days working at Ivans. Had a lovely time bobbing and having fun in the water – although we did get rained on a few times….

New beach bar Happy to be bobbing again New beach bar 2

We helped a family with their dinghy and got them underway at the point we spotted that Zanshin was anchoring. Then the family’s dinghy conked out and they were drifting – so Arndt did the international rescue for them that time! He then joined us in the bar and we had a nice time together until the sun went down. There were quite a few goats wandering around and I loved this little one who was using the wall as his back scratcher!

Zanshin arriving International rescue Another bar guest

Back on board and we had a quiet night enjoying the views out to sea between the islands.

View out to sea tonight

Tuesday morning and the plan was to sail back to Great Harbour and meet the gang from Latitude in the Soggy Dollar Bar. Unfortunately during the night I was taken ill…… and couldn’t face even moving the boat let alone going drinking. Felt rough all day so Richard kept himself busy doing various boat jobs and I stayed in bed….. So sorry to have missed them – they were good fun – and hope that we may bump into them again before we run south as they have some time left on board after their daughter flies out.

Wednesday morning and feeling a bit better… so decide to move on. Coming out into the channel I enjoyed the views of Sandy Cay, although pretty overcast and the sky is also heavy with Saharan dust at the minute.

Gloomy looking Sandy Cay

By the time we got ourselves organised and anchored in Great Harbour the time was getting on…. so we stayed onboard and just went ashore for sundowners at Corsairs. While chatting to JR – the chef – he was asking about some English food that he had heard off and was desperate to try, namely bangers and mash. How funny! And coincidentally I have quite a supply of English sausages on board….. so I agreed to bring them lunch on Thursday. We spent a few hours in Corsairs and met quite a lot of people – including a couple who were on their second trip to the BVIs since getting married there six months ago. This place is definitely addictive! After an enjoyable time we headed back on board for a quiet night.

Fun couple

Thursday morning and finally feeling completely recovered from whatever bug it was that I’d had….. Leisurely start to the morning and then I cooked up the lunch and headed ashore to Corsairs around 1pm. Plated up and we all ate perched in the bar. Vinny and JR really enjoyed it!   Bit random and like taking coals to Newcastle…. but was a fun thing to do!

Vinny and JR try bangers and mash

After lunch we got Bun to take us across the hill to the Soggy Dollar. We enjoyed lovely views of Great Harbour and White Bay doing this trip by road and the best bit is that I don’t get wet on the way!!!!

Great Harbour anchorage View down to White Bay

Arrived at the Soggy Dollar and enjoyed sitting in beach chairs, bobbing, chatting with other tourists and generally just chilling. Love this place. Again was pretty busy in the anchorage but not so much in the bar – so got some time to chat to Winsome, Shaneek and Mic again. We don’t even have to ask for drinks – they just appear when we walk up! This is such a great way to spend an afternoon.

Busy day! Everyone's bobbing Stormy day at Soggy Dollar

We were picked up by Bun’s friend in his safari bus for the trip back to Great Harbour – recovered dink from the dock and went over to see Ardnt who was now anchored behind us again…. and went on board to have a look at his new boat, a Jeanneau 54. All electric with mod cons like dishwashers, washing machines, air con, electric winches, electric toilets…. Amazing and absolutely huge – particularly as he is a solo sailor. Back on board our – tiny!!!! – boat and we chilled for a while before getting cleaned up and headed back out for dinner at Corsairs. Arndt and I felt virtuous by having salad and then ruined it by sharing a pizza…. Richard was much healthier by eating the fish with rice…. Overall, this was another great end to what had been a full-on, fun day.

Friday and we planned a quieter day. We headed ashore to go to the supermarket to pick up some more bits and pieces – saying hi to the gang in Corsairs along the way and end up agreeing to cook shepherd’s pie for them for Sunday lunch!!!! – and then wander along the road to Foxys , primarily for internet. We haven’t been here for a while – and nothing much has changed – although the front bar was open, and it was quite busy. We heard that Foxy was around but we didn’t actually see him this time…. The ceiling full of old t-shirts and sailing burgees is looking incredibly shabby and dirty…..and covers most of the area. Have to say, must be getting old, but can’t imagine sitting here eating under the cumulative dirt and dust from so many years of accumulation….. But plenty do and no-one dies so I’m sure it’s fine really – and not something that I’ve given even passing thought to in the past. Thankfully while online I found out that the $40 transaction was recorded correctly – so panic over!

Inside Foxys

Back on board around lunchtime and I baked some bread for lunch. Spent the rest of the afternoon making water and cleaning Morphie up down below. We had decided not to go ashore later – and had already invited Arndt over for sundowners at 5pm although he didn’t make it. Couldn’t raise him on the VHF either – although I could see he was on board. Oh well… never mind… we had a nice evening alone in the cockpit and had an early night.

This morning – Saturday – and I’m up early to get this blog done. Then we came ashore to find out that the power and internet problems are still going on….. so had a great breakfast at Corsairs while we await for it all to be restored.  Thankfully it all came back…..   Later on we are planning our final Soggy afternoon. We also plan to check out One Love, Gertrudes and Ivans too…… It is looking pretty benign out there this morning so looks like we can dink around the headland today.

Tomorrow Sunday, sadly, is going to be our last day in the BVIs – our parcel has arrived in St John, US Virgin Islands, and the weather window is looking good for Wednesday next week to make our passage south to Bonaire. But we’ll keep you posted.

Bye for now

Jan