Man cannot discover new horizons unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.

Stream
Darrell Jackson and Sarah Barnes
Fri 24 Jan 2014 02:30
18:26.98N 64:26.22W
Or in this case, if Darrell can convince Sarah to get up at 2.30 am to set sail to the British Virgin Islands?

Monday 20th January
Began with a short sail to Crocus Bay, before breakfast. As we were so early we decided to dinghy to the beach and walk up the hill (very steep) to The Valley, Darrell being so keen to finish the Heritage Trail! As we carried the dinghy up the beach Darrell made a new friend, as he does, a local dog, who then accompanied us on our exploration of the area. As we wandered through The Valley Darrell decided we should stop for breakfast in a local bar. We wandered in, with the dog, who promptly lay down for a nap. Our waiter was a white Rastafarian, who unfortunately couldn't add up and seemed to need to phone for instructions from a third party before doing anything. It was finally decided he could provide us with toast, scrambled egg and some tea, however, he was very surprised and confused that Darrell required a knife and fork to eat it. After a quick wander around the village we returned to the beach. This area has changed since we were last here, but is still beautiful. A smart exclusive resort has been built on the hill from the beach, with about thirty separate small huts in the complex. On the beach is a restaurant, which is apparently the place to eat, but is closed on Mondays! But the bar was open for those lounging on the beach. We did note the absence of pelicans and turtles, which had previously been a feature of this bay. However, the snorkelling was as good as ever and Sarah's new homemade dinghy ladder was a success, she can very nearly get back in without much assistance, but still with gales of laughter. 

Tuesday 21st January
We had another enjoyable snorkel before breakfast, before heading back to Road Bay. As we were planning to leave at such an early time, we needed to clear out with customs the day before - we didn't think anyone would be in the office at that time! However, no one was there when Darrell turned up on Tuesday afternoon either. He was instructed to have a drink and return later. Which fitted well with our plans for a 'Last Supper'. When we did pop back into customs the form was completed for us, so after checking the time of departure and the customs officer raising her eyebrows we were ready to leave.
On the dinghy dock a local man was filleting some fish, which caught Sarah's attention, as these fish were like nothing she had ever seen before. Being curious she asked what they were; Lionfish (Pterois sp) Which lead to a long conversation. These fish are very exotic looking, brightly coloured pinks and maroons, with lots of spines and long spiny fins. They are not native to the Caribbean, they are from the Indo-Pacific, but in 1992 they were accidentally released in Florida from an aquarium after hurricane Andrew. They are now causing problem as they are an invasive species and have no natural predators in this sea, apart from man; apparently they are very tasty in a light batter or seasoned with lime. The spines are venomous and would cause great pain, but not necessarily fatal. Obviously, Sarah then had to google them to find out more facts!
Back on the boat getting ready for a long passage, we saw the young sailors out in the 420's, lasers and a couple of optimists.. They were sailing between the yachts and having a riot. A kid started shouting "starboard," the other boat on a port tack shouted back, so Darrell's RYA instructors head kicked in and he joined in. "Starboard tack has right of way!" The reply came back, as quick as a flash and with a laugh: " we're using Anguillan rules!" 
They were happily playing a form of chicken, where they would sail directly at each other to see who would give way first, or they would try to force their opponents towards yachts so they would have to turn. It was like watching a match race in confined spaces.

Wednesday 22nd January, the day of Sarah's dread!
Yes is the answer, Darrell did manage to get Sarah up at 2.30, well in fact it was the other way around as she had not slept all night. We weighed anchor successfully and then, as tradition would now have it, a squall hit us just as we were hoisting the  main sail. Which like Sarah being sick over the side was slightly inconvenient. This meant Sarah's first fear was realised, sailing, well motor sailing as there was too little wind, in the dark. Just after dawn, 6.30ish we set full sails when the wind had picked up to a force 3. Sarah's second fear was soon realised: sailing with no sight of land! It was a fairly pleasant sail downwind, with a poled-out genoa. After about fifty miles of sailing Sarah was relieved to sight land in the distance. The British Virgin Islands had come into view. This lead to a discussion about why Columbus, the first European to sail these parts named them that and especially Virgin Gourda, the 'Fat Virgin', obviously they had been at sea too long!
At 2pm, the entertainment arrived, a pod of about thirty dolphins, including some very small ones, came darting across from the starboard bow to join the boat. They were jumping and diving around before bow riding. A fantastic and cheering spectacle to watch. Their agility is amazing, there were about six of them around the front of the boat going in and out and over each other, never once hitting each other or the boat. The spectacle even got Sarah to walk up to the front of the boat to sit under the genoa to watch them. It felt such a privilege that they chose to play around the boat before resuming their own journey.
As we approached the islands, what had appeared as an indistinct mass of land gradually evolved, so that the individual island's identities could be ascertained from the features that could now be clearly seen. Sarah's third fear; entering unknown waters. The Spanish Town Harbour on Virgin Gourda, is protected by a reef with only a narrow buoyed entrance (some of which were difficult to see as they blended into the background or other yachts). Berthing was strangely easy and took about four minutes and absolutely no shouting. Starboard side to on a pontoon hammerhead. All was good with the world and Sarah could finally relax! We berthed exactly fourteen hours after leaving, having sailed just over 80 miles- Sarah's comfort zone slightly stretched.

Is it Tuesday? (Rant Alert!)
We thought we had come to the British Virgin Islands, not the American Virgin Islands. Indeed the Union Jack flag flying at the entrance of the harbour would suggest we had. However, as soon as we tried to plug into the shore power we hit our first problem. Not only is the electric 110 volts, the plugs and sockets are American, not the European standard plugs that we have been using throughout our Caribbean tour so far. This meant a trip to the chandlers, but not until the morning as they had just closed when we got in! Likewise, Customs was closed, so we were confined to the boat, under custom and immigration regulations. Luckily,we were far too tired to do anything apart from sit in the cockpit, watching the sunset and the pelicans dive bombing and make use of the wifi, before falling asleep.
The marina seems full of Americans, including the supermarket. We have a slip rather than a berth. We have stopped producing rubbish and now have garbage. The accent of all those working here is American. We also pay in US dollars, rather Caribbean dollar. Was this a colonial expansion that we missed?
At 8 am Darrell rushed to be the first customer in the chandlers ( he appears to need a regular trip to one) in order to buy an American plug, which he then proceeded to wire onto an adapter cable after a quick internet search to check on the American colour coding of the wires; black, green and silver not our usual colour combinations. Hey presto we have electricity on the boat from the shore, but disaster Sarah can't use the Hoover, Darrell can't use the Nespresso without swapping to the generator! (Neither work well on 110v)
After breakfast, a trip to Customs and Immigration, simple. One long form to fill in on self copying paper, three hatches to visit in the correct order: immigration, customs and the cashier. Three nice uniformed people to ask questions. The plus side no cruising permit as it is a private yacht, so Darrell was happy and we were given a month to stay and enjoy the delights of the fifty or so islands, islets and quays. It didn't take long to explore Spanish Town: Millionaires Road, reminded us of a similar one in Tarset.
As we have wifi on the boat, Darrell has been playing with Google Earth looking at the pictures of all the places we are going to explore, and working out the best way to walk to them from the boat. Some of them are well worth a look at! Modern technology is a wonderful tool.
We would like to include pictures in the blog but are having problems with reducing their size (pixel number) If anyone has an app that can reduce the pixels in photos please let us know.