Tortola 4/27

Our last morning aboard Seabbatical.

It will be a busy day, so we are up early for breakfast. We hoist the dinghy and then quietly slip off the ball to shoot across the Drake channel to Fat Hogs Bay. Surprisingly there is no wind, so we just motor (slowly). Delaina says goodbye to one of her coconuts and sets it free.

We called David while motoring over, and he is waiting on the dock when we arrive at Fat Hogs Bay. We pull into a slip near the fuel pumps and top off the tanks. We start unloading gear, but there is another boat coming in for fuel, and we need to move to another spot. David moves the boat over, but its a tight fit and take three of us on the dock to pull lines to work him in. I’m actually glad I didn’t have to be at the wheel for this. The new spot is right up at the base of the dock, and makes unloading much easier. David has to leave to help out another boat, so we begin the unloading process and final cleaning. Even though we did a lot the night before, it’s still a lot of work. Its amazing how much hotter it feels here in the marina with no breeze. With the work done, we say our last goodbye to Seabbatical.

 

Soon the van arrives to take us over to Maries by the Sea, our hotel in Roadtown.  After the ride over in the hot van, the air conditioning in the hotel feels great. The kids don’t want to leave, but we’re hungry and I want to head over to the moorings base to check out the catamarans in brokerage.

We are able to tour a couple of 47’s, 43’s and 46’s. The 47 is exactly like seabbatical, with a slight larger swim platform. The 43, very similar just a little smaller. Before the cruise I thought the 43 would be our perfect boat. Its still high on the list, but they all pale in comparison to the 46. This is a great boat, with lots of room,a great layout, and  low beds that are easy to get in and out of. (don’t underestimate the importance of this!) We saw a lot of these cruising the BVI, but they all have at least one more year before coming out of charter. We will be watching closely to see where the prices are when they hit the market next June.

We have a quick dinner at the hotel, and make it an early night. We are all tired from a long day, and we have to leave early get to our flight.