Voyage 2010: Chapter 3

12 Feb 2011, Cane Garden to Sopers Hole, Tortola, 18 23.15 N/ 064 42.22 W

Time to leave this paradise, so two days ago, we slipped past our mooring ball and headed for Sopers Hole which is near the west end of the BVIs on Tortola. We had the trade winds at 15-18 kts with seas 6-8 feet. However, as we approached the West End of Tortola, we had to turn 180 degrees to make the approach to the settlement of Sopers Hole. My, it was windy. Still we picked up yet another mooring ball and ready to explore the place.

Moony wanted to check out Road Town in case they had to go there for repairs or medical help. Wollfgang is sick again and is struggling with his cough, fever, and chills. Still he says everything is 'perfect'. Road Town did not impress us much as it was crowded, rather dirty, and full of rude waitresses. Still, it was interesting to see the charter boat capital of the world. We got a great taxi driver to bring us back to Sopers Hole who gave us the scoop on the place. Turns out he was originally from Nevis. We arrived back on the boat in time to see a nice sunset.

Today we discovered the Jolly Roger Inn that was less than 500 meters from our mooring ball. We had both lunch and happy hour there. People were friendly, prices were right, and no one tried to cheat us. This was a far cry from our experience with Pusser's restaurant at Sopers Hole. Our experience was so negative in so many ways that Bob used up some of his precious WiFi minutes to write an email to the Pussers folks. Appears it was wasted minutes.

13 Feb 2011, On to the Bight at Norman's Island, 18 19.08 N/ 064 37.00 W

Yesterday, we left Sopers Hole around 0730 and headed for Normans Island which is about 8 nm away. We had winds mostly on our nose with seas around 5-6 ft. Why are we going to windward anyways? As Capt.Ron said, "nobody knows". We left early before the winds and waves picked up so the trip was not uncomfortable. We picked up a mooring ball near the Bight at 1025. We pick up moorings rather than anchor as most of the anchorages are in 30-50 feet of water. Though we carry 300 feet of anchor rode, only 100 feet is chain. That coupled with the fact that Bob did the chain to rope splice, we will take a ball in deep waters.

There is this floating restaurant called the Willie T. which is a landmark at Norman's. We attempted a Happy Hour there but it was so crowded and so noisy, we went to the Bight Restaurant instead. Waitress alert there too. We did have chance to explore the bight a bit and walked one of the few roads (dirt) in the area. We saw the restaurant's generator, the watermaker, lots of termite tunnels and mounds, and hermit crabs. The greenery was not very green as even these trees know its winter.

We gave the Willie T another try today,but this time for lunch. First we had to go to the Grub side (bow) and order the food, then we had to go to the Grog side where we ordered the drinks and tea shirts and had to pay for everything. Food was good, folks were very friendly, and the boat was quite interesting.