April 24, 2008
Well things did not get off to a rip-roarin’ start on day one of the “shakedown cruise. We were having breakfast at the hotel restaurant when a phone call came in from the front desk saying our taxi was waiting for us. That was during the middle of a delicious omelet. We just had to have him come back at 9:00 when we were ready. Cooper did just that and we were on our way except it’s Carnivale down here and downtown is closed! We had to go up and over the north side of the the island around the east side of the island and back to the west and to VIP yachts.
Arriving at the boat, only the food was on board. The sails were still being rigged and low and behold so was the alternator and some batteries! We met “Chuck” who did the install on the electronics and we went through things as best as possible. He actually did an incredible job on the boat with all of the mounting and all. It is up to us to find out how to operate things. That shouldn’t be too hard.
By 1:30 PM we were on our way…..well sort of. The channel had shifted and I ran us aground in the muck. VIP came to the rescue in a driving rain, freed us and pointed us in the right direction. We probably entered the Caribbean around 3:00 and now it was obvious we were not going to be able to clear customs today.
Clearing Current Cut we tried to set the main sail but everything was working against us. The seas were high, the wind was weak and with no wind indicator (don’t worry I ordered a new instrument) it was hard to hold the boat into the wind. We abandoned that and set the headsail. With probably 10-15kts astern the GPS was indicating 4.3kts with just the headsail! That was a thrill to see.
Playing with the new chart plotter/GPS was terrific! It’s a very easy system to understand and really does not suck up a lot of battery power. The GPS lead us right to Little Harbor on Jost Van Dyke but there were no mooring balls and some of the reliable anchoring spots were taken. Great Harbor was full, White Bay was full and so was the far east end of the island. We had no choice but to fire up the motor and head for Lennister Bay back in the USVI! We hustled across the channel to get to Lennister and we were met with a selection of three mooring balls. At that point we needed to get hooked up. With sunset at 6:39 PM, we hooked up at 6:30! It gets dark real fast down here.
We grilled steaks, veggies, potatoes and had some cold veggies as well. With no light….not even a flashlight, we were forced to not only cook in the dark but eat in the dark as well. Right now we don’t have any external lights at all! Meet one not so happy camper. Oh there are multiple other small things wrong, all of which will be fixed before heading out into the Atlantic on the 3rd of May.
We’re all just relaxing this evening and maybe doing a little unpacking. I have no clue how we are going to fit everything in this boat. We’re provisioned for three people for six days and while there are still some free spots remaining, it is going to be tight!
Tomorrow we’ll clear Customs, probably in West End Tortola and then head on up to the east end to meet Rusty! I think we’ll sleep well tonight despite the thunderstorms to the northeast of us.
Pete
