Trellis Bay

Dawn came early on the boat, and I was up around 6:30 checking things out. Lowering the dinghy was a little noisy, but it  helped roust the rest of the crew. Boat is even better with the dinghy out of the way, as it clears the back swim deck and adds even more room to roam about. After breakfast we dive in for our first swim, taking the traditional lap around the boat. The water is about 16 feet deep, but we can clearly see all the way to the bottom.

More work checking out the systems confirms that the DC compressor for the fridge is not working. We need to run the port engine to keep it cool. Also notice that while running the engine the port battery doesn’t seem to be charging, dropping down to about 11 volts.  David shows up with our dinghy anchor, and checks the water level on the battery. Its low and he fills it, but believes it needs to be replaced. He’ll get us a new battery and have a fridge guy on the boat next week, so we need to schedule time back on Tortola to get that done.

Enough work, time to head in to shore and check things out. A nice stroll along the beach, climbing over rocks, finding shells and starfish, and then lunch at ‘Da Loose Mongoose’.  Delaina befriends a little dog that follows us the rest of the time on the beach until we get back in the dinghy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Weather forecast is calling for thunderstorms on Saturday, so rather than be stuck here in Trellis Bay for a third or fourth day, we decide to head out and try Leverick Bay at the north end of Virgin Gorda. Drop off the ball around 2, and manage to get the sails up for the first time. Like the boat, the main sail is huge and is a lot of work to hoist. I miss our roller furling main on Island Sol. Sails are up, motor is off, life is good. There is a huge cruise ship anchored off of the south end of Virgin Gorda near the baths, so I’m glad we didn’t there today. On the way we think we spot a large sea turtle and pass by Maho Bay.

Not as lucky with the mooring balls at Leverick Bay, the sloop that motored past us as we cleared the reef went in and took the last ball. Fortunately there is a lot of room for anchoring, and gives us a good chance to figure out how to run the windless. Bit of a learning curve to get everything set, but no real problems. Noah and I dove on the anchor, but were a bit disappointed, the water was very murky and with the setting sun we couldn’t see anything. We backed down pretty hard, and are confident it is set. I guess we’ll know for sure later tonight.  

Sometime after dinner, I looked off the back of the boat and see what looks to be a beach house a couple hundreds yards away. This is a surprise because the nearest shore is probably a mile away. (at least it was when we set anchor). The beach house is actually a huge motor yacht. I can’t wait to see this in the daylight.