We finally had to tear ourselves away from Cane Garden Bay. The fish had taken up permanent residence under the boat, each with their assigned duties. The ones at the stern were silver blue about 3 inches long and frenetic. We had 6 black ones that hung out around the chain, presumably monitoring any tendency to drag. Then we had the millions of little ones that hung out in the shadow and the big boss fish in the center of the boat. Sad to break up the newly developed ecosystem but we were running low on groceries so off to West End (Soper’s Hole) for a quick provisioning stop.
After provisioning we enjoyed a close hauled sail from there back to Norman Island for a peaceful night at the Bight. However, we don’t like all the mooring balls so the next day we went around the corner to Benure’s Bay. We loved it there.
Just a few other boats at anchor and tremendous snorkeling in clear water – not to mention the wind protection was even better than the Bight. One day we set off on a hike, missed the trail, and in true bushwhacker style G, Charlie, and I clawed our way up a steep 120 meter hill. We knew a jeep trail ran along the ridge so we just had to keep going up. The jeep trail was much easier walking so we hiked across the island back to the Bight with some gorgeous sights along the way.
After 3 days, we were getting comfortable again but lacked provisions so we had a quick beam reach sail over to Road Town on Tortola but not before stopping at the Indians for some morning snorkeling. Finally was brave enough to take my camera swimming. It was beautiful but we definitely preferred Benure’s and the caves for clarity and variety of fish.
Then it was on to Road Town and a heavy duty stock up grocery shopping plus propane and some fix-it items. It was just a lot of grunt work collecting all we needed and haul it to the dinghy and back to the boat. Transferring it onto Blue Sky in two foot steep chop with the occasional ferry wake much bigger proved to be a tremendous workout. Happy to say everything and everyone made it to the boat with with no one/thing going for a swim.
The next morning on the 18th was a bit more resupplying followed by a great sail back to North Sound on Virgin Gorda. The wind gods nicely moved the east wind to the southeast about 1/2 hour into the almost 4 hour trip which meant we could sail direct, albeit close hauled. We are now happily anchored and will be celebrating G’s birthday today. More on that later.
Norman Island, home of Pirates Bight Bar, Restaurant, and Gift Shop, is perhaps most famous for being the inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel, Treasure Island. However, Norman Island also has a rich documented history of acting as a hiding spot for Pirate booty.Documented history for the island dates back to the early 18th century when a Spanish galleon called Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe buried 55 chests of silver coins after the crew mutinied aboard the ship.