Happy Christmas
Beoga's Madventure
Henry and Marina Lupton
Thu 24 Dec 2009 23:50
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Happy Christmas Everyone!
we motored all the way to BVIs, first time we had
little wind in the entire trip.
it was less than 10kts behind us.
Interestingly we were a little low on diesel so we
used it to experiment on the fuel gauge to see how low it goes before the engine
dies.
You never get a chance to do this at home. If you
are low on fuel the wind will be agin you and the lee shore will be the cliffs
of moher or the loike.
If we ran out here we could slowly sail downwind to
a sandy anchorage and punt ashore for more fuel.
As it happened the can of fuel we had was only
added a couple of hours out and the air only took a minute to clear. All very
reassuring.
That was the end of the fuel we added in the
canaries. I was amazed how little we used overall. The marinas here didnt have
fuel available so Cormac took some drums to a nearby commercial dock where he
met lads from a large power yacht. It burns 1000 litres per hour flat out. if
you are going half speed it costs about €500 per hour just in fuel!!!!!
We are berthed in an expensive marine in road
harbour. there are tons of marinas here but it hosts a huge number of
charter boats. In fact the sailing club here keeps their boats on moorings such
is the demand on the marinas! Immigration, customs etc took a while but we
are official and the boat is booked to be lifted out next week for the next 4
months while we return to the real world.
We arrived early in the morning and gave the boat a
good christmas wash.
I was outside and didnt realise the place was being
decorated below. Dermot chopped up the 110v christmas lights and wired them
together to get them lighting on 220v so we are all sorted for santa to
visit.
Hope he fits down the mast ok and its not too much
of a squash down the inside of it.
Folk talking to home at the moment and we are
getting stories of small bodies struggling to get to sleep in Ireland tonight.
Clair joined us for a glass of wine last night. We
can certainly see why she moved to this side of the world! Especially after this
afternoon.
We spent christmas eve on coopers
island.
A long 6mile trip from the marina in tortola. The
islands have improved as we moved north.
Road town itself, where we are berthed right now is
a very busy charter base and is a major transfer town for the cruise liners.
There were 2 large liners in yesterday and the queen mary 2 was anchored
off.
As a result the place was a bit mad yesterday and
this morning (2 different liners alongside) so we were keen to get to a beach
and what a beach.
There were moorings that are free on the isalnd
during the day and associated with a hotel on the
beach that uses little beach houses as
their rooms with small gardens and wooden gates to the beach. Clair told us
about the snorkling near by an my God was it amazing. It was like being in a
national geographic movie. The colours and mixture of fish was fantastic. Marina
brushed off something exotic in a wave and it give her a nasty sting so we had
some application of vinegar and antisting stuff during lunch followed by a
return to the fishes and stingy things.Dermot is able to spot all
sorts of stuff. He was seeing the fish that are rock
coloured and are impossible to see. He also spotted a octopus or
squid stuck in amongst the rocks. I tried taking pics but used the
wrong settings so i guess we will have to go back again......
You sometimes come across a place that you would
love to share with everyone you know and I think this is one of those spots. Any
takers?
We retired to the bar on the beach for banana
daiquairis and watched all the charter folk arriving and getting used to picking
up moorings from a strange boat. It was then we realised we were the tanned
ones. Lots of very pasty sailors here about to have a wonderful sailing
hristmas.
Weather is
overcast today and expected to remain that way until sunday. It will help get us
ready for home. Actually it made today really comfortable.
So we are invited to Clair;s Irish breakfast for
orphans tomorrow. Its a nice idea where she hosts friends who are away from home
for christmas to an Irish breakfast.
We are then booked into a quirky restaurant for dinner which should be interesting.... All flights booked now so looks like we will have
to leave paradise soon. Feeling very lucky to have experienced this
though.
Wrapping up now cos its starting to rain and i dont
want to get pc wet.........
HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE. See ye soon.
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