Thank you for smoking

Serafina
Rob & Sarah Bell
Tue 3 Dec 2013 02:50

18:30.0N 64:21.5W

 

 

Fri, Sat, Sun & Mon – 29th & 30th Nov & 1st & 2nd Dec

 

On Friday we nipped ashore after some boat jobs to sit in Peter Island Resort's small harbour and take advantage of their free wifi as although we could occasionally pick up emails in the bay, Rob had work to upload.  While we did this the wind built up blowing straight down Francis Drake Channel and into the resort resulting in impressive seas, so we quickly headed back to Serafina.  Great Harbour is a strange bay in the way the winds and down drafts interact and although we seemed to be in an exposed position all the gusts worked their way around us.  In the evening we watched more of Game of Thrones that Ruffian have introduced us to and with which we are swiftly becoming addicted.

 

Ruffian arrived at mid-day with a purring engine in full working order and an amazing tale of parts delivered from the US despite Thanksgiving shutdown, 3 different transfer locations, a 2 hour turnaround in Customs and Lochy, an engineer with Compton Marine being prepared to fit the part after 1700 hours on a Friday - now that is service!

 

On Sunday the wind shifted to allow a nice reach up to Bitter End.  It is apparent from the weather forecast that we are not heading south for a week or so, so we decided we might as well take full advantage of the free buoys under the Salty Dawg rally offer and sit it out there.

 

Early on Monday morning following a rash decision during sundowners, Sarah joined Ruffian for an ambitious walk up to the highest point on Virgin Gorda - Rob's knees felt the pounding down the steep slope would be a less than comfortable option. We set out in Doris to dinghy over to Gun Creek at 0700 and walk up the incredibly steep road to the National Park surrounding the peak.  On occasions the road was at quite unbelievable angles although this did not deter the local drivers from speeding down the middle or even the wrong side of the road which made navigating exciting!  The last section was a 25 minute scramble up a rocky path through woodland and it appeared that the peak would have no viewpoint but at the summit there is a wooden structure with a succession of ladders to mount it.  The views were spectacular.  When we finally got back to the dinghy dock we felt we had earned a celebratory ice cream but the only way to buy them was in a multi-pack so two each seemed quite acceptable!

 

The rest of the day was spent watching the comings and goings of dozens of charter boats and dinghies as they tried to go ashore at Bitter End to enjoy the music booming out over the bay only to be turned away and zoom back past Serafina creating lovely washes as Sarah cleaned the stern and Rob tried not to lose vital little bits as he serviced the winches  The resort has been taken over for the week by a tobacco company which had put 52 holiday tickets in packets of cigarettes to be won.  The staff are less than impressed as presumably not much tipping is going on in what should be one of the busier weeks of the year.

 

Ruffian are setting out tomorrow, Tuesday, to get to Guadeloupe in time to greet a friend (one of only 4 women competitors in a field of 90) of theirs who is racing with the Mini Transat across the Atlantic in a 6.5 metre open boat, often billed as one of the toughest sailing races.  Ruffian have been working hard to persuade us to join them sailing to Cuba.  It would be a lovely way to finish our sailing on this side of the Atlantic but the need to then turn round and sail at least 500 if not 1000 miles back upwind to get back to the BVIs by May felt like more than we could bear.  So we are opting to stick to the easy option of heading down the archipelago as far as Grenada and then back up again taking in St Croix and the Spanish Virgin Islands on the way, but we will be very sorry to say goodbye to Iain and Fiona who have been wonderful company since we met them in the summer.