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May 02, 2007
Cane Garden Bay to Jost Van Dyke, er... Soper’s Hole
This morning, I cannot find my specs. Just last night, Chis was saying I needed new ones. It seems he doesn’t like the paper clip that holds the right arm together at the hinge. The screw fell out on the Atlantic crossing, and I just haven’t bothered to replace it. I make do. I am becoming my grandfather. Maybe Chis hid them, forcing me to finally deal with the paper clip.
I look across to Jost Van Dyke and a massive squall to the north out to sea. Another one seems to be forming over Tortola. I’ll run some garbage ashore, and by the time I return, Chis will likely have woken. Four days left, three days in, and I feel like we’ve been doing this forever. I don’t feel rushed or in a hurry.
We dropped the mooring shortly after 10 and set the jib for a leisurely 5 mile sail downwind to Little Harbour on Jost Van Dyke. We chose the least popular of the three anchorages on the island, opting to hike to the famous Foxy’s Bar. We reached the entrance, and spotted only one boat, and another leaving. The wind was out of the southeast, exposing the anchorage to swells, and the one boat that remained was rolling like a ping-pong ball in a washing machine. We carried on down the island to check the other two anchorages, and they were just as bad.
Plan B: Back to Cane Garden Bay, now a beat into increasing winds. Well, we wanted to sail. We had a wonderful sail, until we reached the anchorage to discover it jam packed.
Plan C: Soper’s Hole. A downwind/ beam-reach right down the lee short of Tortola. 25 knots winds became 5 knots. After countless sail configurations, we turned on the engine. We arrived in Soper’s Hole to find plenty of choice moorings.
It was a long day in the end, full of disappointments, a jammed main halyard, fluky winds, and an aborted hike to Foxy’s. We have been to Foxy’s before, and frankly it was the hike I looked most forward to. We’ll go next time.
We opted for beef stir-fry for dinner instead of barbeque. The wind is just too strong. Besides, I feel for the owner of the new Oyster moored just behind us. They would be none-too-impressed to find ash all over their decks.
Posted by dave at May 2, 2007 03:06 PM