18 23N 64 42W

Osprey
John Bowering
Sun 16 Nov 2008 12:40
We finally arrived at Sopers Hole at 0700 on the 15th November after what can only be described as an awkward passage. The weather had a final fling at us on the last night with headwinds gusting 30 knots throughout the night and the engine going flat out to maintain forward momentum. We had motored the whole way from the Turks and Caicos Islands, an unheard of passage for Osprey, with only ten gallons left in each tank. Fuel consumption was much higher with the relatively large head seas and certainly exceeded our 1.3 gallons per hour for normal running. When we fill up again we will be able to check the final consumption. Sopers Hole is beautiful and we are all enjoying the rest and the location. Another tale of Florida developed as we tried to start the dinghy outboard which was straight from theYamaha Dealer on departure Fort Lauderdale. The carburettor as filled with oil from a prior spill (the reason it went into the dealer for service). Finn spend a couple of hours dissembling the fuel system, cleaning and re-building it. He did a great job and the engine is now back to its usual reliability. His sun tan also improved whilst he was sitting in the dinghy working on the engine. Jonathan and Finn went ashore once the dinghy was back together but found they would need to wait until Monday to get either flights or a ferry out of here. Their present inclination is to take the local ferry to the US virgin Islands which is close - and get a flight from there to Miami. Its probably quicker as all flights from here (and most Caribbean Islands) are routed through San Juan in Puerto Rico. Once we are able to talk to the travel agent on Monday we can determine whether we need to go to Road Town or whether it can all be arranged on the phone. We were able to clear customs here in Sopers Hole which was a surprise but very convenient and much easier than the Customs office in Road Town. Sunday will be a day of rest here as everyone recovers from the sea passage -Jonathan wants to climb a mountain - he has no takers for company at present! We also need to re-fuel once the wind has died down a little. The unseasonable strong winds are still with us but according to the local radio should go away on Monday, which will be a pleasant change.We had a great landfall dinner at a local restaurant called the Jolly Roger and sat watching some large fish playing in the ocean alongside us under the floodlights.

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