BVI Day 4

[Kyle]We slept in a little the next day but a swell was working it's way into the anchorage and it was starting to get a little uncomfortable. The surf breaking on the reef and on the rock was pretty impressive, though, and made for some great breakfast entertainment along with the diving pelicans.

We cleared the bay and headed north for the upwind beat back to Trellis Bay along the northern coast of Tortola. We would head out until we couldn't see enough detail, then we would tack and head in until we got nervous about being too close. Eventually, we ended up tacking back and forth up a narrowing gap between Guana Island and Tortola, enjoying views of the many beaches and bays along the way. The pace gradually picked up until we were short tacking our way through the narrow gap against the current. Several times, we'd think we made it, then the wind would shift and we would have to tack again. Maryanne is great in these situations. She just seems to instinctively know what needs to be done. We work so well as a team that we can tack back and forth, back and forth without saying any more to each other than "Okay, now!". That's fun sailing.

We came through the gap and found ourselves in a little spot of protected water bounded by Tortola, Guana and the Camanoe islands. There is a tiny deep water channel Between Camanoe and Little Camanoe that opens up right at the entrance to Trellis Bay. The last time we arrived, it was the night of the Full Moon Party. This time it was slightly less crowded. We tried and tried to find a place closer to the dinghy dock, but eventually ended up almost exactly in the same spot as last time near the shoal in the middle of the bay. Maryanne said that was okay, it made for great entertainment watching dinghies run aground trying to take a short cut across the bay. In the last hour of daylight, I got to see three of them. One guy got up speed and used inertia to make it over, one guy in a charter dinghy with six others looked embarrassed and flustered, Two young boys just tilted up the motor and started rowing, which I thought was better than the adults handle it.

[Maryanne]If you are on a dingy, then clearly you came from a boat, with charts, right??? AND the water is really clear, so all you really need to do is look where you are going. For a while I tried to wave down and warn dinghy users when I saw they were obviously headed for the reef, but after being ignored (who wouldn't ignore some random woman waving like crazy), told "I KNOW" by some that actually came to see what I was waving about, and a few other comments, I gave up and just enjoyed the show. If I'm ever about to do something stupid like drive my dinghy (or any other boat) motor over rocks and coral, PLEASE someone wave and yell at me! I promise to be grateful.

[Kyle]From here, I have to pay for all of my goofing off with a burst of work which will have me gone for three weeks before I get to return for more goofing off.