18:26.81N 64:32.06W

Next stop, Key Bay again.  Well, we liked it a lot and Galatea and Sturdeee were already there!  Great snorkelling again and then sundowner drinks on the beach.

Little did we know that Ed (Telemachus) had flown his drone over the small ridge between us and photographed us all at anchor.  I’ve ringed Infinity, surrounded by Galatea, Sturdeee and Adastrina:

Our week with Paul and Sarah was over too quickly.  Lovely to be able to spend time with them again.

Ed assured us we’d like it where he was in Little Bay, so after doing the drop-off, we went there to join the gang and sure enough, he was right!  We rafted up and took lines ashore.  Perfect excuse for a party!  Sturdeee provided the dance floor, the rum flowed and I’m afraid we turned into the people you least want to find yourself moored close to for a quiet night.  After the hangovers faded a bit, Ian put his drone up and snapped us all together.  From right to left, that’s us, Sturdeee, Galatea, Telemachus and Adastrina:

For our last night in the BVI before returning to Sint Maarten, we sailed to Leverick Bay and had dinner at Hog Heaven, a restaurant serving delicious ribs on a hilltop overlooking Virgin Gorda Sound.  We said goodbye to Sturdeee as they were soon to be heading south again to leave the boat in Grenada for the hurricane season.  What great company they have been ever since we met in Las Palmas.

With very light winds, we ended up motoring all the way back to Sint Maarten.  Tedious, but better than 25 knot trade winds, which would have been largely on the nose.  Arriving in Lagoon Marina, we rafted up against a catamaran and were very pleasantly surprised to find it was Rui, a lovely Portuguese man we had been introduced to by Miguel at the Full Moon Party.  Rui was on his own and seemed to welcome our company, so we shared many a glass of wine, great food and lots of discussion about all the work we were both having done that week.  We were indeed especially fortunate to be next to him as our Starlink had stopped working when we arrived and we were able to share his.  [As I write this two weeks later, we still haven’t managed to get it working but Mike & Cathie are bringing out a whole new system tomorrow.  Can’t wait!]

So, on with the work to Infinity.  Amazingly, the batteries arrived before they were expected and the guys at Nomad managed to complete all the work in the week, so here we are with a water maker that can make 50 litres per hour and an alternator that can throw up to 250 amps at the new lithium batteries!  And if those numbers don’t excite you, they’re transformational to us!

Of course it’s a bit risky making these changes so close to when we set off across the Atlantic again, but we tested them over the next 48 hours and then had the confidence to return to the BVI.  Sadly, that was largely another exercise in motoring but we were glad to be back.

We spent the first night in The Bight on Norman Island.  Willie T’s floating bar is there but thankfully it seemed to be closed, or a shadow of its former self.  When we were last there in 2015 it was wild!

The following morning I managed not only to change the prop anode, but also to replace the autopilot with one that is less likely to fail on the return trip.  Two big successes.  Very happy bunny.

Not only that, but we managed to swim the Indians (a famous snorkelling site) and have a lovely sail to George Dog Island to meet up with Andrew and Muriel for their last night in the BVI.  Days don’t get much better than that.  Or do they?  The snorkelling at that anchorage was the best I’ve experienced anywhere in the Caribbean.  Beautiful, colourful coral in crystal-clear water with dappled sunlight illuminating fish I hadn’t seen before.  Stunning angel fish and some other fish with electric blue highlights including their eyebrows!  Also a reef shark, spotted eagle ray, two stingrays and most of the usual favourites.  Magic.

Andrew & Muriel left the following morning for Sint Maarten, where they will join ARC Europe to make the return journey to the UK.  We embarked on a cleaning spree before our next guests arrive and we depart for Bermuda.  The cabins are now clean and the hull will be by the time we leave.

We’re now anchored in Trellis Bay, just beside the airport on Tortola, waiting for Cordelia to arrive.  Mike and Cathie arrive tomorrow and we’ll give them a couple of days to relax before we set off on Wednesday.  This marks the end of a wonderful Caribbean season and we’re sad about that but we’re also very excited about the journey ahead.

Giles