We spent a week in St Martin doing some boat work, watching the weather and provisioning for our trip back to the BVI’s.
 |
Finally the weather was looking good and all the weather models seemed to be saying the right thing. We said goodbye to Mike of Shrimpy’s Laundry and the net, and we upped anchor at around 4:30pm and headed out of Marigot Bay.
 |
| Beautiful sunset on passage |
After about an hour we considered turning around and going back. The wind was non-existent and not at all as predicted. However, we persevered with full sails out and the engine going. Poor Donk worked hard that night as we didn’t switch off the engine at all. A light wind picked up but was on our aft quarter for the whole trip, blowing a mere 6 knots. At least the sea state was calm.
 |
| Nearly there |
We finally arrived in St Thomas Bay, Spanish Town, Virgin Gorda, dropped anchor and switched off the motor. The bay was very busy with lots of charter boats checking in. It must have been turnover day. While standing in the line to check in, Andrew overheard the charter skippers talking about a huge swell coming in. He took mental notes while they discussed the best places to hunker down. They said Gorda Sound would be well protected so that was where we decided to go.
Gorda Sound is further slightly further north of Long Bay, but still on Virgin Gorda. We had a lovely sail across the blue waters and arrived to a very busy bay where lots of charter boats were already anchored for the night. We dropped anchor and I dived in to see if it had set well. The visibility wasn’t great but I could just see that we were well bedded in sand.
We went and explored Saba Rock, which has been rebuilt since Irma and is very fancy.
 |
| Phone booth on the pier |
 |
| Phoning home |
 |
| Restaurant with a view |
Then we tried to go for a walk on the island. The tracks are goat tracks and are very tricky to navigate. It didn't help that Laura was in a dress and we only had slops on as usual.
You may have noticed Laura had a bandage on her arm. We had our first bad burn! She was making breakfast and I was helping her and let's just say the galley is too small for two people. She has such a high pain threshold that I didn't realize how bad the burn was until she had finished eating. She didn't cry or complain. I had put some liquid burnshield on it, but when I realised how bad it was I put a burnshield bandage on. It has healed beautifully and now we only allow one person at a time in the galley!
 |
| Post Burnshield |
We spent the next few days watching super yachts, a small cruise liner and other boats go by.
 |
Andrew and I zipped across to Leverick Bay in the dinghy to buy some cheese, bacon, and eggs - we get through those at a rapid rate - which was hellish expensive. Thank goodness that was all we needed.
This is a charter boat which belongs to Doug and Val who are very good friends with Dave and Sandy. They dropped anchor right next to us. Andrew went to say hello but they were very busy with charter guests. Doug told us the best place to snorkel in Long Bay.
 |
Andrew is celebrating 40 years out of school this year and we will be home for his reunion. Through the WhatsApp group we found out that a school friend of his, Dave, was going to be in Gorda Sound on a charter while we were there. We met up with him and his wife, Fiona, for a drink and a chat at the Bitter End Yacht Club. It is such a small world as it turns out he is very good friends with our old family friends, Sara Trebbett and her family, who now live in New Zealand.
 |
| Andrew and Dave |
 |
| And I thought Andrew was tall! |
The super yachts that don't have to worry about anybody else at all. Their lights are bright enough for the whole anchorage.
One evening, Dan from Adventure Man Dan came over to our boat and we had a drink and a chat. The other night we were watching the sunset and noticed a person climbing the hill. We wondered who would be going up the hill as the sun was setting and decided to keep an eye on him. Later we noticed that he was still on the hill and we could see his head lamp moving from one side to the other. Although we were concerned, there was nothing much we could do to help. When we looked again the torch was lower down and the person seemed to be getting to the shore to his dinghy. It turns out that it was Adventure Man Dan who had lost his drone on the hill and was frantically looking for it. He said he was pretty scratched up as the plants were not ankle high shrubs, but rather bushes, some head height!
 |
| Completed 7000nm since leaving Cape Town |
We left North Sound and spent a few lazy days in Long Bay, Virgin Gorda. I love this bay so much. The water is clear and so blue. We snorkeled and SUP’ed and basically just chilled. Last time we were here a group of us went for a walk to the top of the hill. Andrew wasn't able to join, so we decided to do the hike again, this time with takkies on! We noticed that the island is so dry. I am sure they need lots of rain.
Sometimes boats drop anchor just too close! Thank goodness this family were not staying the night otherwise we would have had problems.
 |
Anthony and Debbie were due to arrive at the airport in Trellis Bay so we headed down to Beef Island and anchored off the Aerial resort for one night.
 |
| Famous YouTubers next to us - Sailing Florence |
 |
| Sailing Florence |
Then it was clean and tidy the boat time! All hands were needed to get the boat ship shape for the visiting family. The floor was swept and washed, the woodwork polished and the cushions given an airing. Even the cockpit was power-washed.
Even though I had tons still to do we decided to sail to Trellis Bay, giving the Donk a rest, but the wind was coming from the wrong direction so it took us ages with lots of tacking. We eventually made it, picked up a ball and I finished washing and drying the sheets before we went to the airport.
