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Friends, Christmas Cove and the BVI.
We were so happy to reach Christmas Cove, USVI and meet up with our friends Amy and David of Starry Horizons. We first met them just after we had taken deliver of LIB and Starry Horizons was still in production in France.
While we have met Amy and David a few times on land, this is the first time we have been able to meet on our boats and compare our Helias.
We had a great time sharing dinner a few times, including a delicious dinner of tuna that Amy and David had caught on passage! Very fun to share time and their yummy catch!
We were able to share our “catch” of fresh coconut water, which is quickly becoming Frank’s specialty as he searches out low hanging coconuts anywhere we go!
David, Amy and Frank share coconut water. David likes his straight from the nut.
We spent two days snorkeling, sharing Pizza Pi, comparing post factory changes to our boats, paddle boarding and just generally enjoying time with these two awesome friends. Then we had to say goodbye as we needed to report to TMM for some warranty work.
Double rainbow in Christmas Cove
It was great to be back in the familiar and beautiful BVIs. Our first evening was spent anchored off Peter Island, one of our favorite spots!
I love the water colors here and the lush hillside.
There were soooo many butterflies! I bet we saw 500 in a 24 hour period.
Frank and Mark loosen the shroud.
A big thank you to Mark, of TMM, for helping us replace our roller furler drum which had some issues with metals seizing. Thankfully Facnor replaced this under warranty so we only had the cost of labor. Again, a big thank you to TMM for helping us even after we were out of charter with them!!
After TMM we sailed around Tortola and spend a day or two anchored off Sandy Spit and Frank was able to kiteboard ~ a much needed play session for him!
We have not spent any time in Cane Garden Bay and decided to zip over there. It is a lovely bay and we enjoyed it’s beauty and the access to the white, sandy beaches.
Cane Garden Bay at sunset
My cute dog and very handsome husband out paddling.
An unexpected and fabulous event was meeting Frank’s cousins who happened to have chartered a boat in the BVIs. Unfortunately I failed to bring a camera, so I don’t have any pictures. We spent a wonderful evening on their boat and had a great time catching up on each others kids and lives. I really hope we are able to meet up with them all again sometime.
After Cane Garden Bay we spent a two nights on Norman Island just relaxing. Then we went back to TMM where we picked up a wind scoop modification from the Doyle Sail Loft and worked with our favorite BVI electrician, Dave Gibson. You will hear more about Dave and his greatness in another post.
Sunset off Norman Island.
Now we are settled in at North Sound waiting on a weather window to skip over to St. Martin. We know this will be a motor rather than a sail as we will be heading into the winds. We hope to have winds less than 10 knots… but we shall see.
For now we will spend a few days enjoying Saba Rock, Bitter End Yacht Club and all the other great things North Sound has to offer. Hopefully we will be lucky and have a nice light wind day to go to St. Martin this week. In the mean time, this isn’t a difficult place to wait.
Our “back yard” while we wait in North Sound, BVI.
Norman Island
I’ve been a little slow about posting as I’ve been focusing on whittling away our possessions. But my thoughts keep returning to our last visit to the BVIs….
We have enjoyed Norman many times usually snorkeling the caves, paddle boarding, etc. But this trip we decided to have a leisurely lunch at Pirates. Of course, the view was fabulous and we lingered over the food and simply soaked up the beauty.
After consuming a few extra calories and generally sitting about like bar lizards, we decided to explore Norman by foot.
As usual in the BVI, the road led upwards, but the rewards were immediate. Here is an early view as we ascended the island.
Of course, Cappy was with us and enjoyed walking the trails. She was disappointed that no goats were found, but I was quite happy about it!
Looking south from the top of Norman is a breathtaking view… but it is also a sobering one when you contemplate the vastness of the ocean and the power of the sea.
Somehow we managed to loose the well worn track and ended up making our own route down a steep slope. The slow decent through this unusual, long grass afforded us a different view of The Bight.
I especially love the texture in this picture; I can feel the sway of the grass, see the ripples of the wind across the water and observe the lengthening shadows as the sun fades in it’s evening decent…
