We heard there were a couple days of weather coming. Since we needed to plug Quest’s batteries for her once-a-month shore power soak, we considered it good timing and headed to a marina in Tortola’s capital, Road Town. We can confirm that there is definitely a big ‘road' here… to the enormous supermarket! Xmas has come late for some of Quest’s crew… Yippee! Also, after weeks of failing to bring scissors to the beach for Fin's haircut, we decided to take matters into un-neglectful hands. The Humane Society in Tortola. They collect all of Tortola’s strays, try to give them homes, offer free veterinary care for those who can’t afford it, run a kennel for boarding animals but most importantly for us… they cut hair. Yes, haircuts! A man called VJ runs the show. ‘She’s in quite a state, isn’t she?’ he said when we arrived. 'Who?’ we asked, looking around. He shook his head at Fin. ‘She must be hot in that coat. Poor thing. Come and put her in the cage.’ We followed him very quietly. Like Lulu says; we’d been schooled, brah.

The stray dogs barked like they were giving presentations for why we should adopt them. The cats rubbed their backs against the cages as we passed. Look how affectionate I am. It was a heart-dropping moment on the cold, concrete floor. Fin went reluctantly into her cage. After a moment of staring at us, she raised her front paw. For Fin this is her ultimate fear pose. Please don’t leave me. Delphine started to cry. ‘Are you sad because of all the poor stray animals?’ we asked, walking back along the road. She shook her head. ‘What is it?’ She wouldn’t say. ‘You think Fin might get re-homed while we’re away?’ Delphine blew her nose like a horn. ‘No!'

We went to the supermarket. Vast and expensive. Wow. We bought lunch from the deli counter. There was no where to sit so we ended up perching on the loading bay step at the side of the supermarket. I was happy with this, the girls were happy. The Cap? Well, perhaps you can’t take the French out of the man… Luckily, we had company to distract us. ‘Ahhh! They’re attacking me!’ ‘No, Delphine, they’re just chickens.’ ‘Ahhhh!’ Delphine continued to yell. A lady passed by wearing an HM Customs uniform. ‘You know, if you feed them,’ she pointed out, ‘then they’ll follow you home.’ I was just throwing one chicken a noodle. She sucked it up like it was a tasty worm. 

We were joined by Colin, the rooster. For us, one of the best kids’ books in the world, Cluck O’Clock by Kes Gray has a rooster called Colin. Our Colin however, didn’t kick dirt in Olga, the fox’s eye but managed to get under the loading bay rails and have a massive meltdown. ‘Colin, the gap is just there.’ We showed him, encouraged him. For reasons that were unclear, Colin had his heart fixed on returning between the bars. Frankly it was a little disappointing. We wondered if this was a common occurrence because the hens paid him not the slightest bit of attention. They were busy sucking up all our noodle worms. Pastry crumbs.  

‘That was the best lunch ever.’ We stood up, seriously full from our lasagne and mahi-mahi noodles. The Cap tried not to scowl. We went back in the supermarket and cruised the air-con aisles until VJ called us to say Fin was ready. We rushed back. Delphine was right! An entirely different dog was waiting for us. A loose-skinned, strange thing. But we still loved her. Even Delph. VJ said good-bye and turned back to his efforts to secure funding since the Humane Society relies completely on donations. And haircuts. Plus he has a massive flatpack for a new building waiting outside on a flat-bed truck. He may have had a change of heart about us though. He called to us as we were walking out the door, 'Come back if you ever want to walk the puppies.’ 

Love from Quest and her crew xx