18:25.46N 64:37.09W

Mon & Tues - 30^th April & 1^st May

We didn’t race off to Road Town, Tortola on Monday morning as technically we were not due in until 1200.   We did just check that the casual confirmation on the phone had translated into a proper booking (!) and to confirm that they have a fuel dock.   Yes, they have a fuel dock but no fuel.

So we motored over to Wickhams Cay II, the next door marina that is purely a charter base and used their fuel dock instead.   They had the slowest, most laid back lad (and for the Caribbean that is saying a lot) running the dock.   Heavens knows what would happen if a rope had urgently to be thrown…..   Rob nosed Serafina in alongside at the end of the trot, but we managed to go aground on the way out – it’s a pretty tight hole if you aren’t a twin engine catamaran!

Rob then managed a very nifty entry into our berth on the shallowest pontoon, passing Richard Branson’s very smart, modern catamaran, Necker Belle – in to collect a guest we surmised.   I then raced off to take the large load of washing into the laundry (we’ve been unable to make water in Great Harbour and now time is pressing), and catch a taxi to the supermarket.   My day was made:  fresh local tomatoes – I am easily pleased (Rob may not necessarily agree?).  Despite being a large, new supermarket with many Waitrose items it still suffers from the Caribbean shortages – if the ship hasn’t been in, the stock just doesn’t exist.   So some of the things I was relying on for our sail weren’t available – but there are only two of us for possibly 10-14 days and we do still have the Fray Bentos pies from Gibraltar still!

Meanwhile Rob had checked us in with a monumentally disinterested woman in the marina, who had told him that they could fill both our European and American gas bottles “just leave them outside”.   Rob was not at all convinced this was a sensible course of action:  leaving a brand new gas bottle worth $100 lying around by a bar!    Amazingly a really nice man came and collected them from the boat, returning them later in the afternoon.

Sadly this IGY marina is not of the luxurious standard of the other IGY marinas we have visited.    The pontoons are a bit dilapidated with little wooden bollards instead of cleats.   The showers are deeply disappointing – only two, for which you need $3 tokens; we haven’t bothered with them and showered on board.

Rob trekked off to the bank to collect his debit card which had been swallowed by an ATM just before the Evans joined us, to discover that the BVI still has good old British banking hours – they shut at 3pm.

As I had managed to get a couple of meals cooked for the passage and wasn’t totally inspired with another meal to prepare, we thought we would pop into town for a quick bite.  So we set off hoping for a pizza but after a wander around, came to the conclusion that there are no restaurants in Road Town, you need a car to get out and about.   In fact Road Town is pretty dire and has the delightful aroma of all-pervading drains.   So back to the marina and we had a very pleasant, if slightly expensive meal.   Unfortunately this came to an abrupt stop when first one energetic cockroach scuttled along the balcony balustrade to join us, Rob despatching this into the sea with a plate;  but I finally lost my joie de vivre as a second one popped out of a hole in the floor and shot up the table leg.

On return to Serafina we found that the evangelical evening was still in full swing in the stadium behind the boat.   Surprisingly the amplified singing was quite poor – we have become used to everyone dancing and singing in wonderful voices:  in the Customs offices, especially by supermarket shelf stackers, just about anywhere, so this was much more my type of vocal effort!   And I am afraid that the pious brother pontificating does not bring out the best in me.   But luckily it didn’t run late.

Tuesday morning, Rob was up and running to be first in line at the bank – he’s already experienced their queues.   He wasn’t first, but got seen very swiftly by a snippy woman who informed him, contrary to what he had been previously told, that overseas bank cards are destroyed and the issuing bank notified when they get devoured by an ATM.  So that was a bit irritating and means we are one cash card down, but not the end of the world.

Rob also checked-out of Customs and immigration for tomorrow as unexpectedly, a different part of the office from that where we initially checked into, was more accommodating.  In fact we are feeling really quite prepared for tomorrow (must have forgotten something vital!).   We rang my brother,  James to confirm about our passage plan – he has been emailed all the boat details for Falmouth coastguard in case we don’t turn up in Norfolk, Virginia in a fortnight or so’s time.   He sounded worryingly hazy about the whole thing but since he is about to do his first adjudication of a law case, he quite rightly has his mind on higher things!

We have had contact from Chris Parker (weather forecaster and router) and although the weather patterns are not ideal (not nice Easterly trade winds - now where have we heard that one before?) we should get a good sail initially, then very little wind but we can’t afford to get ahead of ourselves as a nasty storm will roll off (toward the UK again, sorry about that folks) Cape Hatteras around Monday and we need to let that get away and for the Gulf Stream to settle down again before we dash around the cape into the Chesapeake.   We could wait a further 10 days for another weather window but the moon would be waning and we are already psyched up for the trip now.

So we will set off tomorrow and hope to post blogs as we sail, although it may just be positions depending on the sea state.   We should arrive in about 10-12 days – and this time I really do intend to see a whale.   In fact any sea mammal would be a real bonus at the moment having only had two dolphin sightings this season.

PS. You will thrilled to hear that we are being treated to another religious event tonight – tomorrow is world prayer day and we expect lots of fervent prayers for our passage!!