The Start of Our 2nd Journey South

Friday 25th June 2010

The Start of Our second journey south.

Our location: Bitter End, Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands.
Following a full day of frantic hard work, preparation, repairs, and maintenance, we were finally ready to set sail at 6:30pm. We were all quite tired, and somewhat grumpy, not the best way to begin a trip. Having checked the weather, Bob had no arguments from Edi or me, when he suggested to our great relief that we all grab a few hours’ sleep, and leave in the early hours of the morning instead.
The alarm went off at 3am, which would have been no problem as we all went to bed at 8pm, and should have had around 7 hours sleep. Unfortunately we were moored next to a charter cat with a group of young girls and guys who were playing the ‘Backstreet Boys’ at full volume, and singing along at the top of their voices (badly). I didn’t get any sleep until our neighbors finally stopped singing, which was sometime around midnight.
At 3:30am we were casting off. There was no moon; we were in total darkness, as we headed into the bay to set our sails before hitting the open ocean. By 4am we were well underway. As we sailed past Necker, the number of lights all over the island amazed us. Very few buildings are visible on Necker by day, but at night, all lit up it looked like a small village.
With the sails set, and everything on deck under control, I went back to bed, leaving Bob and Edi in charge. This is a passage that anyone who knows me will know, I hate! I dread this passage, I have nightmares about it, and in truth I would do anything to avoid doing it. Although it really helped me to have Edi on board, I knew he would be on deck with Bob, leaving me free to slink back under the covers and go back to sleep for the next 10 – 12 hours. Actually, sleep would be a bit of an exaggeration, as we heeled hard to starboard and Daisy pounded up and down, I rolled around eventually ending up sideways across the bed in my attempts not to fall out. It was also really hot below decks as all the hatches were locked, so I had the fan going at full blast to cool me down. I watched a movie and drifted in and out of sleep for most of the leg, wondering again why I had allowed myself to do this. I had prepared food for the trip, but each time either Bob or Edi opened the fridge to get to it everything spilled out. I tried to get a bottle of water out, and the entire top shelf with all its contents fell out and rolled around the galley floor. At one point I ventured up on deck briefly, but the sight of the dark gray skies and angry sea sent me running like a scared rabbit back to bed, I’ll never be a sailor.
Edi woke me around 2pm to come and see the dolphins that were swimming alongside. They looked like Striped Dolphin’s, the last time we did this trip we were fortunate enough to have spotted several of them. There are many different varieties of dolphins sighted throughout the Caribbean. You have to study them closely to differentiate between them, it’s not easy, but as I’m learning what to look for, I’m getting better at it.
Up on deck I was happy to see St.Maarten so close, we would arrive within the hour, relief flooded over me, and for the first time in almost 10 hours I was able to relax, the worst leg of the trip was almost over. At least I hope so.