This morning I awoke this morning to very heavy rain again. If the ocean was empty the night before, it wouldn’t be after this storm. In fact, I was wetter standing under the deluge on deck than I would have been in the shower. Peering out from under the bimini, I could barely make out the faint outlines of the boat moored on the next mooring ball, only 100 feet away. But the rain is so warm, and the boat decks are very clean.
With the tropical depression hanging around one last day, the winds were still a bit too heavy to sail. Looking for a little change, we motored a mile or two over to Leverick Bay on the other side of North Sound. Winds were running 37 mph apparent on the port beam as we headed over, and that’s after being blocked by Virgin Gorda. I suspect the winds are quite a bit stronger outside North Sound.
Leverick Bay is much smaller than Bitter End Yacht Club, but there’s a nice feel on shore. The buildings are tucked quaintly into the hillside: a couple restaurants, a nice fuel dock, Pussers store, grocery store, and a small swimming pool that is free for use by sailors moored in the bay. I don’t understand the appeal of a pool next to an ocean. Pools are tiny, chemically sanitized, and in a word, boring, while oceans are so vast, unbounded, and in a word, explorific.
With heavy winds out of the south, we picked a mooring closer to shore, sheltered behind the steep hill above Leverick Bay. In most BVI anchorages sailors can pick moorings and not worry about swinging into a neighboring boat. Leverick Bay’s moorings are closely spaced like its buildings on the beach, which works well enough for the sailors sleeping on shore. However, once moored, we realized that the 50′ Beneteau nearby was swinging to within 30 feet of us. In the lee of the hill, it would be possible that boats could swing around, potentially hitting each other. So we dropped that mooring and moved to one further out where there would be no chance of hitting another boat.
We picked up ice cream sandwiches at the grocery store while the kids swam in the pool (pools next to oceans are so enticing.) We are the ice cream sandwiches in the rain as we motored back to the boat. Snorkeling was uninteresting this far offshore, so we spent the late afternoon in the galley watching Pirates of the Caribbean on the laptop, then had dinner.
After dinner the kids went out on deck for diving and swimming practice as night fell. I found my #5 kid sick in his cabin – temperature of 102 and a stomache ache.
Tylenol for the fever, but no meds available for the stomach ache. As the kids went to bed tonight we quarantined the sick one to the galley couch. He had napped for 2 hours and was feeling quite a bit better already. Hopefully this passes by morning, but in this humid air and all living in the same boat, I’m trying to minimize exposure and praying for a speedy healing. We gave the boat a thorough wipe-down with clorox handy wipes, which are a great thing to bring along on trips like this. Keeps the boat clean and the staff from staph, so to speak.
Tomorrow the winds will be down in the upper teens, so we’re planning to refill water and diesel at Leverick Bay (100 gallons of water free with mooring) then set sail for Monkey Point on Guana Island for snorkeling and lunch. Afterwards, we’ll sail for Cane Garden Bay. Our goal is really Jost Van Dyke, but winds and waves are supposed to run southerly tomorrow, so north-facing Cane Garden Bay is going to be the calmer anchorage. Waves will shift to northerly the following day, which should be perfect for the bays on Jost van Dyke.
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| (Not my feet…) |
And now a quick sidebar to record some hopefully handy anecdotal information. The following capacities may be helpful for future planning. As of bedtime we have been aboard for Saturday evening, and all day Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. We have used 86 gallons of water for a crew of 8 family members. We are not drinking water from the boat’s systems, but are drinking bottled water and juices, so drinking is not included. This is for showers (several quick on-deck showers each per day as kids get back from swimming and playing in the water.) Also from on board showers (not all are showering every day – depends on how much time they spend in the water.)
We have run the generator a lot on this trip to charge batteries and to run the air conditioner. The weather has been hot and humid, so the air conditioner has been run quite often. We have used 17 hours on the generator. (838 – 855 Generator Hours) At least, it seemed like a lot to me, but when I got back at the end of the week Conch’s staff commented on how little we’d run the generator compared to most charterers.