My how the weeks are passing. We have been in the BVI for over three weeks now. Today is Friday 20th February and as you can always expect from us we have more stories to tell.
You may recall that I mentioned in my last update something big swimming around the boat whilst we were at anchor in Peter Island. The next morning I looked in the beautiful clear blue water to see a shark under the boat, chasing the smaller unwary fishes. It was not the shark making the noise more the small fishes trying to escape. I decided to wait a while for a swim.
Paul and I both have had awful colds which we think we caught whilst in St Maarten. We were laid low for about a week each. There seems to be a lot of it around. Anyway we are now fully recovered and back in form.
We continue to meet lots of nice people on our travels. The weather has been a bit unpredictable and we were held up on anchor in Trellis Bay for about four days whilst the winds blew up to 35 knots. Quite unpleasant and while we had no time schedule we stayed put. Monday 9th February was full moon and in Trellis Bay on each full moon throughout the year they hold a Full Moon Party on the beach. They have a good selection of West Indian food, drinks and entertainment, which includes dancing Jumbies (men on stilts), setting fire to three caldrons in the sea and generally enjoying the excuse for a party. It was not as warm as we have come to expect of a Caribbean evening. The wind was cool and a little off putting to be standing on the beach. It turned out that this was the start of the high winds and lower temperatures. However compared to Britain we were in a heat wave.
The full moon party is an attraction for the charterers and the anchorage was particularly full. It has many mooring bouys but we found room to anchor as normal, as did many of the charterers once the bouys had been taken up. It was an interesting time! They even anchored in the restricted area regardless of the warnings that the restricted area was an extension of the airport runway and they keep this area clear as the DC3 planes sometimes had trouble taking off if there was no assisting wind and it was likely that they would hit the masts of any boats in that area. That would have been interesting.
Once the winds subsided we left Trellis Bay and headed back to Peter Island for a couple of days. We met up with an American couple from New York City, Ken and June Eng. They keep their boat in Tortola and come out for 10 days to 2 weeks at a time. They were having trouble with the kicker on the boom and were clearly struggling. Paul offered assistance much to their amazement. They came over for a sundowner later that evening. They suggested that we try Benures Bay, a quiet anchorage on Norman Island. It was certainly their favourite place. On Saturday morning (Valentines Day) we headed out to Benures Bay. When we arrived, there was only one other boat in the bay and you just would not believe the clarity of the water. We dropped anchor and not only could you see the chain, you could see the anchor as it lay in the sand some 10 meters below us. Amazing. Loads of fishes to look at and my essential turtle.
HMG on anchor in Benures Bay, Norman Island
We had anchored and then heard the bilge pump fire up twice in about half an hour. Not what you want to hear. Paul went to investigate and with a mirror and torch was able to see water running down the inside of the hull of the boat. Not what you want to see. He donned mask and snorkel and swam down to see if he could find the source of the leak and found much to our horror that we had a crack at the back of the keel, which had not been there before. Looking back the damage was obviously sustained when we ran hard aground in St Maarten and this must have cracked the fibre glass. Expletives were expressed. Why is it that when Paul has been so kind to help fellow cruisers, that such bad luck seems to follow us. What with the dinghy and now this. Well if it sinks we will not have the worry about getting it back to the Med!
Whilst we were at anchor the leak diminished and what did come in the bilge pump handled well. It was clearly when we were sailing that it opened up and we were taking on quite a lot of water. On Monday we contacted our insurers to find out what to do and we were instructed to take her to Nanny Cay where there was a good guy who would fix it for us. Hence we are now out of the water, sitting in a boat yard and have been since Tuesday morning. The boat is being repaired and it is hoped that we will be back in the water by next weekend. Could have been worse I suppose. We are glad that we have good insurers – For those interested it is a Policy for RYA members through Bishop Skinner. They have been very helpful to us in our hours of need.
Returning to the subject of Benures Bay, our new friends Ken and June did not turn up in the bay as predicted and in amongst the panic of the potential sinking we did not really think much about it. Today I have received an email from them, thanking Paul for his help and explaining their absence was due to Ken collapsing on board when going to anchor. June motored the boat back to Tortolla, where he was taken to hospital. It seems that we was dehydrated and was quickly restored to health. Unfortunately the last two days of their holiday were spent in the marina. They are now back in New York City and all appears well. Just goes to show that with our water ingress and his health you can never plan anything sailing.
Being in a marina you have a chance to meet new people. Nanny Cay marina is first class. We have the use of the facilities of the hotel resort whilst we are here. You would not believe the showers or as they call them bathrooms. They are self contained fully tiled rooms with a wetroom shower, granite surfaces, toilet, washbasin and teak and holly woodwork. Absolutely stunning. Never seen marina facilities like them before. Ramsgate eat your heart out!
Anyway time is getting on. And soon the yard will be empty of the workers for the weekend. So I will leave you all for now and keep you posted as events progress. Paul has just returned from the chandlers with tins of varnish etc. and so it looks as if we will be busy over the next few days.
Love to you all – bye for now and be safe
Helen and Paul
