Thursday, 11/27/03 (Thanksgiving Day)
Slept late (0830) on the anchor in Great Harbour. Noticed that at least one boat in the fleet had dragged anchor during the night. After coffee and breakfast, and feeling a bit full of ourselves (by now we were becoming an efficient crew) we set sail and weighed anchor without starting the engines.
Winds were still E and very fresh. Crossed back by West End on the way to Norman Island in 35 minutes. Several VERY large private yachts anchored west of the Customs dock. Turned the corner to head east up the Drake and reluctantly lowered the sails. I motored up the south shore of Tortola almost to Nanny Cay so we would have a dead reach down to Norman (I know...it's cheating, but the cat doesn't go to windward, especially in the current at that end of the Drake).
Set sails, shut off the damn diesels, and had a fabulous sail just to leeward of the Indians and into the Bight. Got 9-10 knots out of Melvin.
About 11:30 picked up a ball next to shore about midway between the Willy T and the Pirate's Bight (formerly Billy Bones). Snokeled and limed around the boat for awhile then loaded all 8 of us in the dink for the wet ride to the Caves.
2 underwater lights for 8 of us. Didn't matter because five-eighths of the crew weren't enamoured with the darkness at the back of the Caves anyway.
There really is buried (or rather floating) treasure on Norman Island! While hunting around in the floating seagrass at the back of the cave, my light found a Caribbean Wallet with $40 in Amex Cheques and $17 in cash. Looked like it had ben in the water for some time...the signatures were barely legible. If anyone reading this can identify the signature, there will be a check in the mail for $17. The cheques are in the scrapbook.
Dinked back to the Willy T for drinks. Spent some time taking pix of each other diving off the upper deck in between Red Stripes (no Carib here) and PK's. Zeus, the bartender, had us all in hysterics. What a great time, and what a place to be on Thanksgiving afternoon!
Dinked back to Melvin and called Pirate's Bight to make dinner reservations. To our surprise, they had a Thanksgiving dinner buffet (it's an American holiday after all)...full meal including salad, appetiser, main course (including turkey and all the trimmings if you so desired) coffee and dessert for $25pp. What a great meal! By this point in the trip we were running out of superlatives.
SERIOUS food coma set in, so only my friend Joe, his wife Jeanette, and I could muster the energy to go back to the Willy T for a few after dinner. Joe and I (in spite of his wife's best efforts) spent the rest of the evening fending off amorous advances from a couple of friendly German gentlemen.
Climbed up the transom of our boat just as the lights were going out aboard the Willy T.
Friday, 11/28/03
Up at 0800 and underway for the short ride to the Indians by 0930. Picked up the last available ball at 10:15. The eye at the end of the nylon mooring line was almost frayed through, and the wind and current were pulling it guitar-string tight, so we rigged a safety halter thru the eye on the ball to play it safe. I wanted Melvin to still be there when we returned.
My dive buddy Ini and I finally got to use the dive gear we put aboard. Circumnavigated the Indians in 30-40 feet while the rest snorkeled. This is a good dual-purpose spot.
Back aboard and underway on the tedious windward trip to Cooper by noon. Made about 4 knots under bare poles against wind and current.
Pulled into Sprat Bay (Peter Island Marina) for ice and water. Yikes! $55 for 60 gallons of water and 7 bags of cubes (no block here). Left before they began charging us for the air we were breathing.
Back out in the Drake and pulled in to Manchioneel Bay about 3:30. Plenty of moorings available. Picked up a ball at the Cooper Island Beach Club marked "shallow draft" about 30 feet from the beach in 8 feet of water. The northerly swell was still going and was wrapping around the western end of the island, so I wanted to be as close to the beach as possible. The crew was in the water before the engines were shut down.
At some point in the trip the starboard engine fuel cut-off handle quit working, so each time we wanted to shut off that motor we had to access the cable behind a panel in the salon and pull on it. No big deal...it became part of the routine.
Dinner at the CIBC was a mixed bag. The food was excellent (conch creole and chicken roti in particular) but the service was awful, and it wasn't terribly busy. We weren't in a hurry, but we never saw the same waiter/waitress twice and we thought dinner would last forever. Drinks were slow in coming. Best conch fritters of the trip were here.
Before and after dinner hung out at the bar, danced and people-watched with Nigel, who had collected our mooring fee alongside, and Vernon the bartender. Vernon let our shipmate "sharkbait" Debbie bartend for awhile until she was overwhelmed. A very memorable evening!
Worst food coma of the trip set in and we were all in our cabins by 11:30, hatches open to a bugless breeze.
To be continued in Part Four.
