Hiding Out

Over the last couple of days the trade winds intensified and so we decided to sit tight at The Bight on Norman Island on the BVI.

We pulled in on Sunday morning and quickly discovered that the eastern corner just off the beach had become the "Canadian Corner" with three of us anchored, each in front of the other just begging to get to know each other and share a few sundowners. On top of this, we were sitting in one of the most popular locations in the BVI with not one, but two bars: Pirates and The Willie T.

As we weathered through the 25-knot squalls, occasionally hitting 30 knots of blowing wind and rain, we were quite content in our cozy little spot and very happy not to be out sailing.

Another bullet blows through the anchorage.

The rain is so intense it bounces off the water, making it look like fog rising.

Sunday morning saw Rick and Christina from Da Life arrive to complete the handover of our old / new to them dinghy. Treated to Mimosas and swapping a few good stories, we then handed over the "key" and waved goodbye.

Handing over the keys to the new car.

And away she goes, thankfully between squalls.

Once that order of business was concluded we set about meeting our neighbours. The Gulfstar 36 just behind us is sailed by Gerry and Dawn from Alberta, and just behind them is Cat Tales, a Tobago 35 sailed by Laurie and Dawn from New Brunswick. The Tobago is the predecessor to our Mahe in the Fountaine-Pajot line of catamarans with theirs dating from the mid 90s, and so we were each quite curious to see each other's boats to note the changes. There are definitely some design improvements in the Mahe, but the Tobago is a great boat that definitely feels more than 35', and Laurie and Dawn had some great tips for making the boat both more secure and more comfortable.

On Monday we had everyone over for sundowners and I cooked up the St. Feliciene cheese that Alex had recommended we buy in St. Martin. Now I am definitely wishing we'd bought more than one and will be looking for this on the cheese counter of any French island we visit. So yummy as a hot dip with crackers.

Tuesday saw a little reduction in the wind and amount of rain so we worked on, and completed the move of our solar panels to the middle of the bimini. Wires all rerun we are now cranking up to 13 or 14 amps into the batteries with full sun on all four panels. Work done for the day we set off on a hike along the western arm of Norman Island which afforded us some wonderful views, most noticeably back down into The Bight.

The Canadian Corner with Mowzer at the front and the others on the left.

Windswept and dry on the south coast, but just over the hill it was steamy and tropical after the rain shower.

The Bight: Pirates with the blue roof, Willie T in the foreground and Mowzer too right.

Stunning views over to Tortola, Jost Van Dyke in the far background and St. John on the left.

Finally had to clamber down from that hill with the wonderful views.

Today we are heading back into the USVI where we will return to the CYOA dock to swap out our batteries and then we will be picking up and heading west. Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic lie on that horizon.