Voyage 2010: Chapter 3

15 Feb 2011, On the North Sound for the Bean, 18 29.994 N/ 064 23.22 W

We left Norman's at 0700 at daybreak today as this would be another windward passage. Though we thought it would be on the nose, we could do sailing and motor sailing for most of the 22 nm trip. Lots of big boats out here; and a gazillion charter boats. These guys are everywhere. Once we got in the lee of Virgin Gorda, the seas settled down but the wind would gust, veer, and back due to the mountainous terrain.

We passed Mosquito Rock at 1100 which begins our turn into the Sound. The rock looks bigger on the chart, but it signals the beginning of a really big reef. So the reef and the rock get a lot of respect. After the rock, we found the well marked channel though the reef. Then it is open water as we approach the mooring field at Leverick Bay. Yep, another mooring ball.

Tonight Michael Beans will be performing at Jumbies, so we dinghyed to shore in plenty of time to get a good seat. His show was much like we remembered his earlier performance at the Annapolis Boat show a couple of years ago. He really gets the crowd excited. Not bad but maybe two hours is a bit too short. And the happy hour was only one hour!

The marina and resort at Leverick Bay are first class acts with reasonable costs and courteous people everywhere. Not since Sint Maarten have we been so pleased with a place. We will stay here for another day and just relax. Maybe a hike around the area also. We will see.

21 Feb 2011, More Time in North Sound, 18 30.114 N/ 064 21.67 W

Three days ago we traveled 1.2 nm from Leverick Bay to Saba Rock where we took another mooring ball. Moony anchored in 40 feet of water and used most of their 330 feet of chain. We were envious of their chain until we noticed their pitching motion while going to windward several days back; it was significant and Wolfgang attributed it to the weight in the bow. Maybe mooring balls are not so bad after all. Anyways, Saba Rock is a small chunk of rock (maybe 0.5 acres) where a restaurant, hotel, and full environmental facilities were constructed. Pretty neat place!

We frequented the Bitter End Yacht Club which was a 5 minute dinghy ride from our mooring. It was more like a sports park than a yacht club but was a great place to walk. Like most places, it was rather expensive but thepeople were friendly and there was much to see. We visited Bitter End many times during our stay at the North Sound.

Sunsets here can be quite impressive. The water is clear; the terrain is typical of the Virgins, and the area is protected from the ground swells. Not bad. Boat traffic is mostly charter boats and they stay only one night. If a boat stays more than a day, chances are it is a cruiser. We talked a lot about chartering and decided it as not for us; trying to cram too much much in too little time; plus you have all that writing on the boat!

On our many walks at the Bitter End, we cam across a rock 'bridge' where underneath was a place to sit. We were relaxing when a a kind young lady offered to take our picture. Turns out the lady is the wife of the room manager. The picture turned out pretty good and it may well be the last picture of Jule and Moony together for quite some time. But that is another story.

Bocce time. We got the plastic bocce balls out of storage and played several games on both Saba Rock and Bitter End. We chose to continue the guy/gal duet that we started in Fort Pierce 5 years ago. So the outcome was the same. Guys 3; gals 0. The games were very close but Wolfgang's masterful bowling brought the guys their victories.

Poor Ann always takes the pictures so she is not usually in them. Today she attempted to remedy that by taking a self portrait with her Blackberry. It actually tuned out pretty good. Not bad, Miss Ann. The weather at North Sound was usually quite good. However, we always had to prepare for the occasional ran shower. We always closed the hatches before we left. Cat litter and a closed bost were not always the best combination.

Saba Rock has a pretty good Happy Hour so we spend many evenings at the Rock. On weekdays, they would have fish feeding where restaurant scraps were fed to the waiting tarpon. Tomorrow, we will head for Peter Island which is about 13 miles south of here. Should be fun. But we had to first say goodbye to the local pirate at the Rock. An impressive fellow but a little rigid.