Thursday 29th April (Lini’s Journal)

Brindabella's Web Diary
Simon Williams
Mon 3 May 2010 13:20
I was a bit fragile this morning and not too lively getting
Brindabella ready to leave. We hoisted the sails and set off clockwise
round Beef Island to the south coast of Tortola. I took my lovely new
chair onto the foredeck, set it in recline mode and read my book with
fleeting glances at the changing view. My book terrified me. It is a
very old copy of Vertue XXXV, the log of a twenty five foot boat that
sailed from Lymington to New York in 1949. I think they averaged two
gales a week and also caught a hurricane where the windows were
shattered by a breaking wave and the coachroof split along the side.
Their eventful journey took them seven weeks. I am trying not to think
about hurricanes.
The morning was extremely hot and even hotter when we entered the
sheltered marina at Nanny Cay. ARC Europe leaves from here on May the
sixth with twenty five boats returning to England and Lagos. I
expected to see flags flying from boats preparing to leave but there
were none at all; just one boat we recognised, Ginn’s, a very big
Hallberg Rassy. I guess there isn’t the same two week social calendar
beforehand like we had in Gran Canaria. Si set off immediately for the
watermaker parts and I did a bit of laundry. While pegging it out on
the guardrails I chatted to our neighbours in the sweltering heat with
everyone melting into pools at their feet. I was told a mother and
baby dolphin had been seen several times in the marina over the last
few days. I do hope they are still here when we return in a week or
so.
Si returned and commenced the extremely frustrating job of fitting
the key between the pump and the motor. It was practically impossible
for him to see what he was doing with the position of the motor and
the heat was unbearable with no breeze at all coming into the cabin. I
zipped off to buy a few provisions and also bought sorbet to cool him
down later. We had only booked the berth for a couple of hours so had
to leave the job unfinished for another day.
It was such a relief to be on the move with some apparent wind on
our faces and icy sorbet on our tongues. In no time at all we were at
Norman Island where we picked up one of the many buoys off the
Pirate’s Bight Restaurant/ Bar. To another side of the bay sat ‘Willy
T’, a schooner that had been turned into a bar. Things sounded very
lively for early afternoon and I wondered if there was a private
party. It was still extremely hot, so it was fantastic to dive in and
cool off. We turned our dip into a work session and scrubbed
Brindabella’s bottom which already had all sorts growing on it. Si
shouldn’t really have pointed out the large tarpon which patrolled
past us as I then found it difficult to focus on the job in hand as I
was constantly looking over my shoulder. Boat scrubbing really is
excellent exercise as you have to keep kicking to stay close to the
boat. We felt after our sterling effort we deserved a reward, besides
which we had to take a look at ‘Willy Ts’ if only to see what all the
noise was about.
We tied Shovell to the dinghy dock fitted alongside the old boat
and joined the lively crowd. We grabbed a rum punch and a margarita
from the bar on the lower deck then took our drinks upstairs. Large
notices were dotted about saying, ‘Strictly No Diving or Jumping’. As
we reached the upper deck several well built ‘mature’ ladies
disappeared off the edge with cheers from the gathered crowd who were
obviously thirsty this afternoon. Si returned from the bar with
refills saying a TV screen above was showing photos of many tenders
leaving with girls baring their breasts for the camera. With that two
‘ladies’ ran up to the top deck, whipped off their tops and jumped in
to the delight of groups of men. Some time later while we were well
into our second cocktail some more ‘Good Time Girls’ staggered into
their dinghy, stood in a row and flashed their boobs to the awaiting
crowds! Obviously all the cheering we had heard earlier was either
people jumping in or ‘ladies’ leaving! We had another round of
cocktails to recover being the more quiet, reserved types!! By now my
tongue seemed a little numb and I had trouble talking without
slurring. We staggered down the stairs and into Shovell where Si
briefly started steering away from Brindabella and round the bar. I
clipped him round the ear as soon as I realised he was teasing me,
pretending I too would be expected to do a flashing circuit!
Cooking dinner took me quite a while tonight! On deck Si moaned
that our neighbours were playing awful music very loudly. From the
shore there then came even louder music. I then loudly played my
‘Shake’ playlist to drown them out which makes us as bad as the rest.
It was a miracle dinner was served on plates and not the floor as I
‘shook’ while I cooked. We finished the rest of the red wine with
dinner before Si suggested a touch of Grand Marnier over ice to finish
our meal. I don’t remember going to bed!!!