With all the repairs finally completed
successfully we left Nanny Cay and had a fantastic upwind sail in 20+ knots of
wind to get us to north Sound in Virgin Gorda. We arrived late in the afternoon
and found a nice spot in 12 feet of water with a sand bottom – PERFECT! Did I say the repairs were all done? I
should NEVER say that because as soon as I do, something new pops up just
screaming to be added to my to do list! This time it is the windlass …. Turns
as it should but the clutch will not disengage – result the chain neither goes
down nor up! Last I checked, up and down were windlass requirements. Quickly
make up a plan B – motored to an available mooring, Maryse secured us and I
went for the tool box AGAIN!
I keep all the manuals for all Ambition’s
equipment on my laptop – find Maxwell Windlass and get to work. Disassembled
the entire upper unit and found nothing broken or out of place which is very
good. Dig out the windlass grease and lubricate everything that is “greasable”
and put all the pieces back together. Test …..All is good and no parts left
over – we are back in business. Drop the mooring ball and head back to our
little sandy spot for the night. Life is all good again.
The next day we moved Ambition to Leverick
Bay mooring field. This resort really does a great job catering to boaters.
They offer super laundry facilities, a great resto and bar and they offer 100
gallons of water free with a one night mooring ball rental – considering we
have paid as much as $0.70 a gallon this is a bargain!
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| A Sun Reef 80 .... for Chelle! |
They also offer a Happy Hour with live
music – Michael Bean – we first saw him at Marina Cay more than 10 years ago –
as an indication that nothing changes much in the islands – his 3 hour show is
almost identical to the show from Marina Cay.
The beer case with a microphone inside under his feet is the percussion
section! The conch blowing contest from the bar patrons – I sure hope it is a
new conch! Reminds me of Steve’s attempt many years ago in the competition – he
didn’t finish at all near the top – I would describe the sound it made but this
is a family blog!
Thursday morning we skiffed over to the
Customs office in Gun Creek to clear out of the BVI – small fee of $5 to get
the official documents stamped and signed so that we can clear into St. Martin.
At 4PM we left Leverick Bay for an overnight trip to St. Martin. The last week
the winds have been blowing 25 to 30 knots directly from where we want to get from
so now that the winds have dropped to less than 5 knots we will go even though
it will be only a motoring trip.
As we left Virgin Gorda, we passed Necker
Island – a private island owned by Richard Branson of Virgin Everything . It
comes complete with it’s own marina, fleet of little catamarans, and a sandy
palm tree island!
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| The Main House |
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| My guess ... Yoga suites LOL |
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| A Fleet of Hobie Cats.... |
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| Three Palm Tree Island! |
The ride to St. Martin was uneventful other
than the cruise ship traffic and occasional tanker. We arrived a little too
early in St. Martin and needed to wait for sunrise to drop anchor in Marigot
Bay. The bridge to get into the lagoon in Simpson Bay opens only at 9AM so we
relaxed and caught a little nap.
The little canal to get to the lift bridge
and enter the lagoon is super narrow but we made it through with no issues.
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| Parade to the bridge... |
Once inside we wiggled our way through some
VERY thin water to find a spot where we can anchor. Only dragged the keel in the sand once – cut
a corner a little too tight. Hook down – time for a better nap!
This place is such a confusion of two
worlds – we are surrounded with old abandoned boats barely afloat, sunk commercial
ships, cruising sailboats and multi million dollar super yachts.
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| Me no fish no more...... |
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| A little buffing and we are good to go... |
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| Just need the stick thing now! |
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| Add caption |
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| Hate to even ask the price one of these |
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| This is a favourite of the Quebec construction industry |
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| Randy - The two extremes |
Our dear friends Eric and Annie invited us
by on Galatee for afternoon of catch-up and a few beers before heading out to
the Dinghy Dock on the Dutch side for dinner and beers. SO good to meet back up
with good friends that we haven’t seen in a couple of years.
Because it is such a small world, we
crossed paths with Coral Beauty, friends from our marina in Plattsburgh! We
hopped a ride with them for the 7 mile run to L’Anse Martin for a late lunch on
Saturday – WOW the restaurants so a great job of serving amazing dishes on the
French side of the island.
Our social calendar now takes on a land
expedition with Eric and Annie to Orient Beach for a late lunch. This beach is
a clothing optional beach – interestingly enough the folks that take advantage
of the clothing option feature SHOULD NOT and those that should don’t! I think
this is the same scenario that those who wear spandex clothing shouldn’t and
those that can don’t! Anyway the food was great and the company excellent!
We need a day off to rest now!
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