I thought crossing the ocean would be the scary part of this sailing adventure, but it turns out anchoring in the Caribbean is much scarier. We had an early morning encounter with the Sea Legend that left us shaking all over. I am not talking about some mythical sea creature who swallows sailboats whole, I am talking about a very real threat to cruisers that is  currently roaming the Caribbean. Sea Legend is a 115ft motor yacht with a scarily incompetent captain and crew, that nearly ploughed into us TWICE while we were at anchor this morning. They  were anchored next to us overnight, then when the wind picked up in the morning, they swung around, coming to within ten feet of hitting our bow. All they had to say  to me was “get out a fender”! When it happened a second time, we shouted at them. The captain assured us there was no need to get excited, he was a qualified 50-ton captain and he had it all under control. To which all we could say was “if you have it under control, why are you within 10 feet of my bow, AGAIN! Fortunately, we weren’t actually hit, but we watched vigilantly as they executed the sloppiest departure we have ever seen.

This is what Sea Legend is supposed to look like:

And this is what she looked like to us when we were standing on our bow:

Way too close for comfort!

(note: photos are from their website – we were too busy saving our boat to take our own)

And that was our second near-miss encounter with a charter yacht this week. While we were anchored off Anegada, a large catamaran came charging into the mooring field after dark,with all their lights ablaze, including the ones in the cockpit. We were sitting quietly in our cockpit enjoying our after-dinner drinks when we realized he was headed straight for us – did he not see us? Our anchor light, high on the mast, was on, but no interior lights as we had been sitting up in the cockpit since before dark. As I saw his navigation lights bearing rapidly down on us I jumped up and turned on our cockpit lights, at which point he executed a sharp  90 degree turn, narrowly avoiding us. That captain had obviously not seen us, probably blinded by his own lights. Another close encounter with a scary sea monster, a.k.a. Charter Yacht. 

Cruisers Beware!

 

While it’s true I have been “retired” for a whole year now, it is finally starting to look and feel like the real thing.

As Matthew mentioned in his post “Being Here”, we have been working on this big project called “sailing off to the Caribbean” for several years, and this past year was an especially busy one with all the preparations. The stress of that took its toll on me, and by the time we were done with the rally, I was pretty much “done” myself. So we took some much-needed R&R, tucked away in a secluded little bay in the North Sound off Virgin Gorda. Surrounded by forested hills on three sides, and nothing but the ocean all the way to Africa on the open end, we had this lovely piece of tropical paradise to ourselves, the only boat in the bay. We slept, ate, swam and read – just what was needed to re-charge our batteries.

I am finally feeling retired now, and am ready to start reaping the rewards of all that hard work.

A short dinghy-ride to stretch our legs on the beach revealed that there used to be a resort here, but it is now closed. Interesting to go for a walk and poke around in the abandoned beach bar. Falling down umbrellas and palm-frond littered the beach. The beach toys are all still there, volleyball net, boules and a surprisingly intact chess set – very odd indeed. 

The dream to live on a boat and cruise the Caribbean is a big dream and like most big dreams takes a bit of organizing.  The last 2 years have been a whirlwind, work, boat, family, house and boat again to prepare for this trip.  It is all to easy to forget that the goal is to slow down and live a simple life in the warmth of a Caribbean winter.  

First time marathoners often have the post marathon blues, their goal achieved by dedicating their life to the required training, they feel lost and deflated when the glow of finishing the marathon is gone. Once the ability to go down a flight of stairs has returned there is a sense of deflation and listlessness that is hard to explain.  The passage to Tortola was our marathon and I have been having some difficulty with slowing down and getting into cruising mode.  We have spent the last 10 days in the North Sound of Virgin Gorda.  The North Sound is a happening place, superyachts, cruisers and lots of charter boats flock here. Luckily we had a recommendation of a nice quiet spot – Deep Bay (don’t tell anyone!) just past Saba Rock.  We spent a few days adapting to the heat and the pace and we are now relaxed and not overheated.

We decided to try a hike to the top of Virgin Gorda – Gorda Peak.  We moved the boat to the an anchorage off Prickly Pear Island, we happened to drop the hook next to Caffe Latte.  We had a catch up with Jean and Yolène, they were hosting friends from Montreal.  This was a gentle reintroduction to a more social life we expect for the rest of the trip.  

The next morning we took the dinghy across the sound to the village of Gun Creek, the closest part of the sound to Virgin Peak.

As we left the village and started the steep climb up North Sound Road we found ourselves in the company of another couple. Dan and Sarah from Calypso introduced themselves to us.  Cruisers from Oregon, Dan and Sarah are like us starting on their cruising life and we had lots to talk about on the hot climb.

           

We eventual reached the trail head at the edge of the Gorda Peak National Park, the trail was a bit muddy from recent rain but it was shady and quite a contrast from the road on the approach.

We climbed through the trees and Kathleen had a Rocks and Trees and Water moment as we could have almost been in Canada, but the lovely smell of the flowers gave it away as a tropical island.

The top of the climb is a lookout tower, tall enough to see over the forest with views of the entire island and the Francis Drake Channel.

The way down was easier and the views were better

On the way back to Gun Creek we stopped at Hog Heaven where the photo at the top of the page was taken.  The views are amazing, Hog Heaven is above Leverick Bay with views over the North Sound to Anegada and Richard Branson’s Bond Villain lair, Necker Island.  For somewhere with “Hog” in its name, they had a couple of good Veg options, Dan and Sarah had the ribs which were good.

Our first hike was a total success, we met new people, had a great walk with great views and the reward of a nice lunch.  We are adapting, being here is a long way from getting here.