Back on Tortola

Another brisk sail to Tortola proved the new boat's speed and ease of sailing. With electric winches and furling main as well as jib, the brute strength sometimes needed to hoist these sails has been eliminated. Just as well at our age! Al skillfully eased the boat alongside the dock where we tied up, put up the awning and prepared to settle in for the night. As it turned out, a boat coming in from Bermuda (8 days on the open ocean) was in need of our place so we moved off the dock, danced around the many boats on moorings and ended up back on the dock. It was a good exercise in maneuverability.

Friday night is pizza night for a group of ex-pats either living on Tortola or their boats for the better part of the winter. Our hosts, Kitty and Al have befriended this group and often join them for a social evening. We tagged along and met new as well as old acquaintances for a jovial time. It was surprising how many had connections with Vermont and Stowe in particular.

The morning brought a few more small tasks and provisioning and then we set sail for Virgin Gorda. Once again Mirage performed flawlessly although the visiting crew managed to jam up a winch causing a slight delay in the action.

Mountain Point is on the west side of the island, a quiet little bay with no moorings but good anchorage. The only ones there, we dropped anchor well out from the rocky shore and swam in to shallower waters where the coral was spectacular and the fish and other sea life was abundant. It is hard to describe the extent of the variety of fish but suffice it to say that just when you think you have seen them all a surprise comes along. This day it was in the form if a shark! Nurse sharks are not aggressive towards humans but still it was more than 4 feet long, black and had the tell-tale fin on it's back. My heart missed a beat. As we watched, it swam slowly away from us into the depths not in the slight bit interested in us.

The spotted moray eel I spied within minutes, again not common, looked a lot more threatening. He quickly wriggled into a space under some coral with just the menacing end showing. Not a good idea to get too close. Reluctantly we ended our swim with the sun going down and the swells gaining size. With the boat rocking and rolling all night we moved on early the next morning.