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May 01, 2007
Drying Out, Cane Garden Bay
Up before the sun again this morning, I watched the sun rise over the hills of Tortola, and enjoyed watching people pop up from below decks to see if anything changed, or to remind themselves of where they are. Like groundhogs.
Today, we plan a short trip up the north side of Tortola to a place called Cane Garden Bay. This was a favourite spot of ours on our last trip. It tends to be a bit noisy with the bands on the beach, so we will choose a spot well off the shore. There are a few reefs for snorkeling, some good restaurants, a wonderful beach, and a couple of little shops.
The wind is not calming down, and the clouds are getting flatter on the bottom. I don’t expect this wind to drop much. It’s blowing 25 knots this morning, which is wonderful, but probably too much for Santana. I think we’ll put a reef in both sails today.
After Sam’s Anything Goes Omelet (me) and pancakes (Chis) at Pisces, we stopped into the grocery for shower soap and headed back to the boat. A big storm had been forming over the island, and the top had now been sheared off. It was time to go. Once clear of land, we set the main with one reef, and set the jib. We were galloping along beautifully when the first of the 30 knot gusts put the boat right on her ear. Santana likes 15-20 knots – anything more makes her cranky. Sailing the lee of these islands is never easy, with gusts and shifty winds. The mountains do all sorts of weird things to the winds blowing all the way across the Atlantic from Africa.
We arrived at the anchorage at Cane Garden Bay just as a squall hit. It was short and quick, and we got plenty soaked picking up the mooring. We got the boat put to bed just as the second, much larger squall descended down the mountain into the bay. This one had strong winds, heavy rain, and much reduced visibility. We sat in the cockpit, soaking wet, watching long threads of rain descend in front of the backdrop of the lush green mountains. The rain seemed to pause just above the surface of the water, just long enough for the wind to come and move it horizontally. It was a beautiful storm to wacth.
It finally passed by mid-afternoon, and we went ashore to explore. We spotted a leatherback turtle on our way. We walked the beach and pondered the river of rain water that had carved its way through the beach. There was a woman with a shovel filling in one of the rivers that by now was dry. A dog lay nearby rolling in the sand. I said to the dog “Hey, you’re not being much help”. The woman laughed. Of course, I could have said the same thing to myself. In our former lives as live-aboards, I would have offered. But with precious few days, priorities are priorities. Spoiled rotten.
We returned to the boat, and read our books. Chis is reading Elizabeth George’s newest book “With No One as Witness”. I am reading Carl Hiassen’s “Lucky You”. Shortly before sunset, I gathered our clothes from nature’s dryer and paused to watch the sunset and do a little yoga. After dinner, we lounged in the cockpit and listened to the music wafting off the beach, listened to the wind and the water burbling around the boat, pondered tomorrow’s journey, and fell asleep under the stars.
Posted by dave at May 1, 2007 08:12 PM