Still more wandering ……

Time to get out of Cane Garden Bay

Cane Garden Bay - Awaiting the cruise ship invasion

We were very fortunate to arrive in Cane Garden Bay when there was NOT a cruise ship in town. The beach was virtually empty. 

On this day however, you can see that everyone is getting prepared for a crowd!

Everyone needs a beach chair

Off we go to Virgin Gorda and North Sound. The destination is Leverick Bay Marina and Resort – they offer 100 free gallons of water if you spend one night on a mooring ball – this is a great deal!

Leverick Bay

It is Maryse’s birthday today – happy birthday to an incredible lady! 

Upon our arrival there was a “little” yacht already there …. I would have loved to make them an offer for a gift for Maryse – but then I realized that I do not know how to fly a helicopter. 

MY Anna

and the helicopter that I can't fly

Instead we opted to have a wonderful lobster dinner at the restaurant at Leverick Bay – service was impeccable, the meal delicious and the company was extraordinary – Happy Birthday Maryse!  

A beautiful birthday girl .... looking great!

Leverick Bay

Bitter End

The next day with our friends,  Yolene and Jean  we decided to snorkel the reef  in Eustatia Sound  which is north of Bitter End and just a bit east of the famous Necker Island owned by Richard Branson.  

Maryse was still suffering from swimmers ear – a nasty infection that prevented her from swimming with us – so the “princess” sat in the dinghy and was ferried around by the three us, so with the help of a clear bottomed bucket, she could see what we saw! Talk about first class treatment!

My little Princess!!!

The reef was unfortunately mostly dead coral with the only new coral being small elkhorn coral.

Bushwhacker....

We stopped off at Saba Rock for happy hour and kicked back a couple of Bushwhakers – deadly afternoon drink – Rum, Vodka, Kahlua, Amaretto, Frangelico, Bailey’s, Crème de Cacao and Cocunut milk – drop in a blender and add crushed ice. The king of smoothies!!! I had one for myself and one for my friend Benoit! It's what friends do - right???

Benoit - SABA ROCK!!!!

For the entertainment of the happy hour guests, they hold a tarpon feeding frenzy – impressive as the 3 to 5 foot long tarpon all show up,  just like us .... for happy hour!

Tarpon frenzy

and you thought delivery charges were high from your garden store!!!!!

Saw this on our way to Saba Rock .... "you want that delivered???"

Next stop on our wandering is Anegada – an island that is completely formed as a coral reef which is different from all other BVI islands. Caffe Latte and Ambition had just a little wager going as who would arrive first ... seems that there was an un documented regulation that I should not have used the genoa, staysail and mainsail when Jean only has the genoa and main .... hhuummmm just saying - Ambition led the way into the mooring field! 

The seasonal rains kept us rather confined to the boat as we didn’t want to get wet in the dinghy going to snorkel! Winds and squalls blew through at 30+ knots – we watched intently as a small catamaran drifted backwards through the mooring field. A quick dash out to tie him to a mooring ball so he wouldn’t damage any other boats – Ambition 911 at service yet again! They returned and found their boat in a very different spot than where they left it! At least they did return my line once they were secured ....... MUCH further away from us – good thing!

Free wheeling catamaran....

We did get out for a famous Anegada lobster dinner and cold wine on the beach with Yolene and Jean – life is very good!

Ambition's crew....

the crew of Caffe Latte

One of the rules in the BVI is that we can use our boat here free of charge for only 30 days per year after which we must pay a temporary importation visa that is good for 1 year for US$200. We opted to take a marina at Village Cay in Roadtown as it is also close to Customs – well so we thought! Interesting how folks give directions – ended up in Government House – did at least three different offices obviously confusing everyone about what we needed to accomplish – but they were pleasant in their confusion. Back to the marina for one more set of new instructions – this time we got it right and armed with all our very official documents – filled in a bunch more documents – paid the $200 and back to the second floor for our VERY official temporary import visa complete with seal and red star! We are legal again!

The marina will offer us fresh water and a chance to really recharge our batteries. I have discovered that the combination of black hull and the sun seemingly always being on the same side of the boat as the fridge and freezer, the refrigeration compressors are struggling to keep their temperatures. The ultimate fix will be to install Freon coolers through the bottom of the boat but that will have to wait until January when we will haul the boat out of the water for a few days.

The other major plus is that we have fired up BOTH air conditioners and the big chill is major happening on Ambition – it is our way of helping prepare us for our 2 week mini vacation in Montreal in a few days! I have my tuque on inside the boat!

Next stop the VERY famous Trellis Bay Full Moon Party ….. I can only imagine!