Captain's Log Page 19

Tideline Yacht Sales
17 Lockwood Drive
Charleston, SC 29401

PHONE: 843.813.3711
FAX: 866.467.8840
Email: glen@tidelineyachtsales.com

      Red Hook proved to have a very nice store that had any foodstuffs one could want. Although it had been enjoyable for us to experience local culture and cuisine, it made us realize we are fundamentally Western, and it was most gratifying to be able to buy what we wanted whenever we wanted to. There was even a mall in the middle of the island that had a K-Mart!

We spent a few days at Red Hook, as well as at an adjoining island called Christmas Island. It is literally around the corner from Red Hook, but away from the ferry terminal and all the lights one associates with any human habitation. At this stage we were usually in bed by 7 pm, and asleep within 30 minutes. A full day of sun, swimming and sailing will do that to one. However, I don't require as much sleep as my wife, and I would tend to get up around 3 or 4. I would read in the salon until I was tired again, and go back to bed. I read thirty books in 2 months!

We returned to the BVI for a short period, deciding to clear in at Jost Van Dyke, home of the famous Foxy's. We anchored at Great Harbour, the main "town" on the island. Foxy's is to the right, as one faces the island, and the anchorage was very full, by my standards. We went ashore to clear in, and the office was closed. After waiting about 30 minutes, with all the other cruisers, a fisherman asked me if I would run him out to his boat. I explained I was waiting for the office to open so I could clear in. He told me that the office would not be opening that day, because, like the schools and all other government institutions, everything was closed because of the eclipse that had occurred that day. I gladly took him to his boat, and went back to mine and watched all the cruisers with as much bemusement as the locals!

By that afternoon the anchorage REALLY started filling up. I ended up sitting on the rail on my pushpit, and could have just about reached out and touched the 45 foot Beneteau anchored behind me. They had dropped anchor, and let out all their line. They could not have moved further if they had tried.

The following morning we were shown the value of choosing a place to anchor with care. In their zeal to attend Foxy's, one of the charter vessels had anchored too close to a shelf, and was hard aground. With assistance from two other boats, including a dinghy, they were finally able to get off. That took over an hour.

We returned to Tortola for a short stay, but decided to move north again before we were stuck in the Caribbean for another hurricane season. The very thought of such a predicament gives me shivers now!

We briefly stopped off at Charlotte Amalie, the capital of St Thomas, but were relatively anxious to head north. Our next stop was Culebra, an island between Puerto Rico and St Thomas. continue to page 20 >>