Friday, November 11th - Monday, November 14th

Fun in the BVI

We are at rest.  Over the first days, I can feel the attentiveness of the passage draining away.  After clearing in, we dinghy to the BE for a cool drink and a meal and I nearly fall over climbing the steps to the Crawl Pub.  The BE appears to be largely populated by Dawgs.  We seek out and meet the crew of the boats that lingered near us on the AIS.  The Dawgs gather at 4:30 each afternoon, at Saba Rock, the Crawl Pub and, finally, a dinghy raft up off the stern of "three buckets."  Someone cuts us loose and we drift towards Vixen Point, drinking and passing snacks and stories from dinghy to dinghy, until a shower hits and we dissolve into individual units and race back to our boats.  I've been to the North Sound many times, but never with this experience.  Molly, Kala and I paddle board to Prickly Pear while Baxter and Scott kite board, and we are hailed from boats by sailors we know.  The rally is community.

It's hot, in the 90's.  We clean up Terrapin with our free day at the BE slip.   Baxter and Molly take us on hikes above the BE that Francine and I have not yet discovered.  I take the jump I cherish, off the side of a boat and into the cooling Caribbean water, as often as I like.  Molly cooks a meal with Scott's mahi-mahi.  We have fun and work the passage out of our minds and muscles.

But it's time to return home.  I miss Francine terribly.  And, it's time to let Baxter and Molly complete their transition to island sailing, sending the passage crew home.  Terrapin ferries Scott and me to Trellis Bay for our flights out.  We leave Baxter, Molly and Kala to their return to boating life, beginning with Aragorn's fire balls blazing to a super full moon.

Thanks to Baxter, Molly, Kala and Scott for the trip of a lifetime.