I got going just as the schooner Roseway did and once her sails are up, despite it being a very lengthy and arduous process, she does have a turn of speed and I had been motoring past her with the intent of turning upwind to raise my sails but rather than cross her bow I did a 360° turn to get behind her in order to turn myself from a powerboat into a sailboat. I only put up small sails for the short run across the wind to Great Harbour on Jost van Dyke. Once there, I proceeded to anchor – a process that took a very long time today. The first time I found an area of only 20 feet depth behind another anchored boat way outside and, despite having 80 feet out, could feel the anchor bouncing and scratching merrily along the bottom with nary a chance of catching hold. I raised anchor and tried again in another shallow spot with the same marked lack of success. The third go I decided that the top of a dead read wasn’t going to work for me and dropped anchor in 30-40 feet and at first I thought I’d have to to try again as the anchor dragged but then it held and in the end I put out 200 feet of chain just to be on the safe side, since dragging would put me on the rocks on the western edge of Great Harbour
Once firmly anchored I put the dinghy together (tying the engine on securely with line) and, kill-switch attached to wrist for the first time, I went ashore and disposed of my garbage and then proceeded to get some bread, milk and yeast. The bakery was closed because the owner wasn’t feeling well that day, but the little grocery store had hot-dog buns for my dinner, some UHT long-life milk but no yeast. They said I would have better luck at Rudy’s store which I then visited and not only got yeast but an ostensibly better bread recipe from the saleslady, who said no good bread could be made without Crisco – so rather than dispute the matter I now have a new recipe that includes said magic ingredient.
I stopped off at Corsair’s bar to say hello to Vinnie and had a one two three beer beers which had a powerful effect on me, despite a short burst of adrenaline when I saw that my boat was dragging anchor after beer 1. I ran to the dinghy and puttered out towards the boat with decreasing speed as I realized that I hadn’t dragged anchor, but that the boat anchored next to me had raised anchor and taken a mooring about 200 feet upwind, making it look as if my boat had moved 200 feet downwind towards the rocks…
Back aboard I napped for a bit aboard and gathered my energies for dinner – Corsair’s has my favorite pizza in the BVI but the meal is quite heavy and I’ve never come close to finishing the whole thing. This time was no different despite giving away two slices and leaving one on the plate; but the pizza was great and when I left at 21:00 the business at the bar was picking up. My neighbor at the bar, Art, came down on his boat in the Sawlty Dogs Rally and he had the largest, most succulent, bone-in Ribeye that I’ve ever seen and I will make sure to have that when I next dine at Corsairs’s!
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