The Penns arrived (after the journey from hell) and we met up with them in Maya Cove, at the east end of Tortola.  The Sunsail operation there is pretty impressive.  We were the only blue hull for miles and they wouldn't let us fill up with fuel or water.

 

Yesterday we motored around 5 miles across the Sir Francis Drake channel to Cooper Island, and are on a mooring off Manchioneel Bay - a pretty idyllic spot.  The water is crystal clear and the white beach is only a short swim away.  It was a different story last night though.  We are being affected by a weather depression just to the north, which gave us strong wind squalls last night.  They were so powerful that they flipped our dinghy over, with the outboard on the back.  Charlie and Juliet returned the dinghy to its normal position and then Charlie decided to untie the windsurfer board, which was on a rope attached to the dinghy.  He jumped into the dinghy and untied the painter.  Suddenly there was a massive gust of wind and the windsurfer flipped, jerking the rope out of his hand.  The windsurfer disappeared into the night.  There was only one thing for it - he had to launch into the blackness and swim after it.  It would have been fine, except that it was such a wild night.  Anyhow, he came back shortly afterwards, with the windsurfer.  The wind didn't abate until around 2.30 am so we didn't get much sleep until then.

 

Looking at the view this morning, it is hard to believe last night's conditions:

 

 

On Friday we watched some of the Oysters racing in the BVI Spring Regatta.

 

 

We also visited the studio of a local sculptor/artist called Aragorn.

 

 

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