18:23.11N 64:30.86W

Tues, Wednesday & Thursday  17^th,  18^th & 19^th April

Up at 6am to make the 20 mile dash down Road Town, Tortola in order to do a supermarket shop in preparation for the arrival of Simon and Caroline Evans who are staying with us for 5 days.

Things started badly when I was not paying full attention as I got the anchor snubber in and so the chain hook jammed itself in the anchor roller. It took 5 minutes and ever increasingly violent use of a club hammer and screwdriver to release it before I could then get on with raising the anchor. It of course came up caked in thick cloying mud and as I cleaned this off with the deck hose, Sarah set a course for Tortola.

We made very good time under sail and iron topsail (engine) and dropped anchor alongside the cruise ship dock a few hours later. We then took the dinghy into Wickham’s Cay marina and went over to use the ATM. Helpfully, given that we were in a hurry today, this machine swallowed my card and declared itself ‘Out of Order’. A obliging marina employee said that this happens a lot and if I went into town and reported this to the bank, they would probably be able to give me my card back on Friday….!!

So I jumped in the dinghy and shot across the bay to the town and found my way to the bank, which of course had huge queues. The security guard was very helpful and after he and I agreed that I could have to wait hours, he suggested that I just walk into one of the offices and explain my plight. I did this and found a very helpful lady (Christine) who took my details and assured me that the card would be safe and here waiting for me when we return at the end of the month. Nothing else I could do for now so I returned to where Sarah was standing guard over the machine and we headed off to the supermarket.

Successful shop generally (but no local tomatoes which upset Sarah) but when we returned to the dinghy we were somewhat surprised to discover that Wickham’s Cay weren’t quite as welcoming as previously and had padlocked our security wire to the dock.   Luckily they hadn’t looked very carefully at what they were doing and we were able to undo the padlocking from our end and hastily leave with their padlock still attached to the other end of our wire – a bit mean, but the day had already had a few setbacks.   We got back on board Serafina and on our way to Trellis Bay by 12.30.

Trellis was busy, but fairly flat despite the pretty strong wind still blowing. We picked up a buoy and settled down to prepare for the arrival of our guests. At 6.00pm we wandered the 400 yards up to the airport and met Simon and Caroline and we walked back to the Loose Mongoose where we had left the dinghy. A quick painkiller each during happy hour was perfect before we all crammed into the dinghy with their luggage and made our way out to Serafina.   Simon and Caroline recounted their awful journey where they were supposed to have left the UK on Monday to stay overnight in Antigua before their LIAT flight to Tortola.   Unfortunately they were on a flight behind the one that caught fire at Gatwick and their own plane had technical difficulties, so after 5 hours on the apron eating lunch they were turfed off to queue for a further 4 hours and be assigned to a hotel prior to a flight the next day.   Not ideal preparation for a relaxing holiday.

On Wednesday morning we went back ashore in Trelllis Bay for a better look round and to drop our rubbish and the packaging that they had brought various things wrapped up in.   We also visited Aragorn’s artist studio with some of the best artwork in the Caribbean (and definitely the ‘best’ prices….) – we picked out a huge Humpback Whale copper sculpture as a perfect embellishment to the Evans’ beautiful new house but didn’t dare even enquire the price! We then had a gentle sail down Francis Drake Passage to Peter Island where we dropped anchor and all had a long snorkel along the coral reef before a lazy lunch. Afternoon drifted by with another swim and a great evening on board which helped us celebrate what had been Caroline’s birthday.

We had an early start on Thursday morning and motored quickly down to the ‘Bight’ on Norman Island where we dropped anchor and took the dinghy round to the caves where we enjoyed another great swim and exploration.

We returned to Serafina, had breakfast and then had a wonderful sail north up the sound to Cooper island where we opted to pick up a buoy. As we had sailed up (close hauled) we came across ‘Il Sogno’ who were also heading north, but as we were on starboard tack, they had to give way and sail under us. Much waving and brief banter before they sailed into the distance.

La Contenta (Warren & Judy) dropped anchor nearby and popped over in their dinghy on their way ashore. Just one of those endless sailing coincidences but Simon and Caroline had also met Warren and Judy before, in the UK, when la Contenta had arrived tied up next to them in a marina.

Sarah served up another wonderful evening meal and we then settled down to teach Simon & Caroline the fabled Mexican Train. Predictably Sarah won and seeing as how it is a game of skill and expertise, I came last.