After Sint Maarten - Virgin Gorda - British Virgin Islands.
Chelone's travels.....
John and Susie Blair.
Thu 17 Oct 2013 18:58
We'd gathered spare parts etc from the chandlers, seen some sights, had a
few beers and a laugh and were ready to move on. Ieuan decided he wanted to
return to Tenby to spend some time with Emily before she goes traveling in a
few weeks so it was just Ross and myself that made the 80 mile passage last
night here to Spanish Town, Virgin Gorda. We left the lagoon on the 5pm
bridge opening and sailed towards the setting sun. Our day started early as
Ieuan was up at 5.30am for his flight so Ross and myself struck a few jobs
off the list while it was still cool before heading ashore for last minute
provisions, propane and a small welding job on part of the bimini frame. We
paid another visit to Philipsburg by bus and grabbed a trolley full of food
supplies before bringing Chelone alongside the marina dock to top up her
water tank and petrol cans.
Back to last night's passage then and by the time I came back on watch at
03.30 the waxing gibbous moon was just setting leaving the night sky bright
with stars and the faint outline of Virgin Gorda's shore lights now visible
27 nautical miles ahead.
It was 09.00 when we entered Sir Francis Drake Channel via Round Rock
Passage with just a short (<4 Mile) reach along Gorda's western shore.
Looking at the chart some of the coastal landmarks read like they're plucked
from the pages of Treasure Island......Cockroach Island, Pull and be Damn
Point, The Bitter End and Prickly Pear Island to name but a few. We dropped
the hook in the shallow turquoise waters off Spanish Town at 10am.
We'll take a look around and let you know what we think! Bye for now, JB.