August 8-10, 2015

Sunrise at Leinster.





Remember tiny Larry from yesterday? Do you think we did him a favor shuttling him close to shore? This big old Cuda was seen lurking in the shadows outside the escape hatch located under our stairs..................



Donna, Val and Sydney decided to go for an early morning snorkel. They said they were heading to the cay. As they swam away I jumped in the dinghy and made my way to the floating mooring station to pay our $15. I then cruised the shoreline and saw a couple of people in the water, but not our crew? I floated outside the swim area for a looooong time confused as to where they went, did they go ashore to look around? I decided to move to deeper waters in search of those who wandered. Sure enough, the ladies were not lost, they snorkeled all the way around Waterlemon Cay. First timer Val is the adventurous type, but has very little snorkeling experience, she loved it!







Assured I had not lost my family I tied up to the convenient dinghy line next to the cay. As they swam within ear shot they gladly accepted a ride back to the boat, wish I had pictures of the graceful trio floundering to climb in the dinghy hahaa. I noticed a handful of welts on Sydney's back and shoulder, she said the dang jellies got her, nobody else, just her. Once on the boat we treated her stings and I don't remember her complaining for long, she's a magnet for skeeters and jellies.



We had a fantastic time on St John as always, but it was time to get our BVI groove on! With one engine we were soon crossing the channel enroute once again to Soper's Hole. This was a very short trip and we were assisted at the docks by a nice pass'er by and secured at the head of the T-dock in front of Harbour Market. Matt had contacted the Mooring's from St John and advised that we would need a mechanic once here. Donna, Carley and I grabbed the folder of crew documents and dinged over to C&I to clear in. This process was as easy as the last time, nice.






It took less than an hour for the Moorings crew to arrive. They checked the filter and then went straight to the impeller, it was shredded. It was quickly replaced and the engine ran beautifully thereafter. The crew was able to shop a little, water was topped off and some provisions were gathered at the Harbour Market, again this market has everything you need.



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Diamond Cay is our next destination, perhaps our favorite bay in the BVI. The turtles could be seen popping up as we once again had our choice of balls, only 3 boats with us this day. The grill was loaded with Charlie's charcoal and we finally enjoyed those tasty burgers and hotdogs.

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After lunch we dinged over to the Beeline to see if they would be open later. There was only one other crew of 3 there. We spoke with a bartender named Jerry. He said they would probably close around 6pm, but if we came back we could simply yell for him at the house and he would get us drinks, nice guy! We grabbed a beer and the HOKIES had fun adding a message to some OSU fans that were there before us, see you in Blacksburg next Monday OSU!! By the way, we did not change the B to an F! After stretching our legs for a little while we headed back to the boat to see if we had any takers for a hike to the Bubbly Pool.

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There were people happily sitting at the Taboo bar as we started our hike. It was warm and dry this day and the seas were calm so we weren't expecting many bubbles! Along the trail by the salt pond my daughter found an interesting piece of aged wood stuck in the mangroves, looked like part of a small transom with rusty bolts and a well weathered patina. She said she must find a way to get this 4 foot by 9 inch treasure home....hmmmmm. Once at the pool we found it to be calm as we had expected, barely a drizzle.

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HOWEVER, apparently there were some swells that were on about a ten minute interval. We have been here when it was very active, knock you off your feet active. While we were here a lady climbed down to the apparent high water mark way out at the mouth to get that one special photo, I cringed she was so far out. I love to climb too, but I've read accounts of how lives unfortunately have been lost here during swells, don't let your guard down especially with adventurous youngsters. The surge wasn't crazy, but we sure enjoyed it every 10 minutes!

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With a piece of transom in hand we unfortunately found Taboo closed up tight on our return, rats! Oh well, back to the boat for a nice shower. We enjoyed a dinner of curry chicken and rice while the sun set over Jost. The colors at sunset here always make me pause.

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To be continued.....CHEERS!