In our last blog about our time on St. John USVI I got a little ahead of myself and described that we left the USVI and moved over to the BVI. Our first island was Jost van Dyke and I described our lunch and party at Foxy. I also described that we took the next day to do some maintenance work and relaxed afterwards. While we were on way to the fuel dock with the dinghy we saw a large beautiful ship flying the Dutch flag laying in the cove and we decided to pay a visit on our way back. We met a very nice Dutch couple Hidde and Bep de Vries from Utrecht. Since I went to school in Utrecht and graduated there we had a lot to share besides sailing stories. Hidde and Bep are sailing a Hallberg Rassy 54 for the last 5 years. They keep their boat in the Caribbean, sail for 6 months in the winter and then fly back to The Netherlands for the summer. They have an apartment on the Oudegracht which for non-Dutch people is one of the most historic locations in The Netherlands. Their apartment is in an old converted catholic church.

The next morning we were planning a nice Sunday morning breakfast when we discovered that one of our propane bottles was empty and when I tried to exchange it I found out that our entire propane system was corroded including the solenoid. Since this is a big safety issue needed to be addressed. At the same time our generator did not want to start so we had no ability to heat or cook anything except using the grill. Since we needed parts we released the mooring buoy and sailed to Road Town on the island of Tortola. In the Sir Francis Drake Channel we had a nice brisk wind that allowed us to (finally) use the sails. We chose to go into Village Cay Marina that is directly next to the marine store. Unfortunately Monday was a national holiday so everything was closed. But it was not a lost day since we had many administrative issues that could be done with fast internet service. The next day we purchased all the necessary, very expensive parts, (3 times the cost in the US), installed the new system and we could cook again.

Since the roads around the bay are very flat we took our bikes to do all the shopping and started some sightseeing. We paid a visit to The Moorings, one of the largest boat charter companies. This is a very impressive operation with a very modern marina with hundreds of boats. Directly outside the roads along the bay the mountain starts and every road represents a very stiff climb. There was no way that we could go over these roads on our little folding bikes. We came on a road repair with a flag man who directed all the traffic to take a detour to one of these steep roads. In despair I cried "You want me to go up there???" and the entire road crew started laughing, stamping their feet and clapping their hands but they let us pass.

Watching from the boat the surrounding mountains in Road Town are very impressive with a lot of vegetation, nice buildings and at night the lights are beautiful. The city itself did not impress me until we started using the bikes and drove through the old historic parts. Narrow streets with a lot of old buildings most of them in bad condition but quite a few are nicely maintained. We had lunch in a small restaurant above a very nice old fashioned bookstore. The name of the restaurant is "Ruby the Roti Queen". The food is indeed "Royal". This was the best roti I had since I left Suriname in 1979. Ruby made it very "pedis" (=spicy) for us, even Dorothy 'cried' and that means something.

Before we left our son Rob gave me an iPhone without a SIM card. We went to a store operated by two beautiful girls who gave us the best customer service you can ask for. The end result is a working unlocked phone with all the apps I would like to use.

The next morning we left for Norman Island where we are at this moment. We are anchored in "The Bight" which is famous for the old 100 ft. schooner that is converted into a bar and restaurant. The schooner is named after the US Capital building architect William Thornton and many people can tell you stories about wild nights and parties aboard. We did not experience this and that is reflected by the fact that around 12 midnight Dorothy and I woke up and heard them playing a song from the past, Nancy Sinatra's "These boots are made for walking". When we were young that was maybe wild, but currently it reflects our age.

Just south of the bay are caves and a great place to snorkel along and in the mouths of four caves. It is advised not to feed the fish, but a commercial boat came in with many people and the tour guide started feeding the fish and we were surrounded by thousands of the most beautiful fish including barracudas.
A very strong storm in the Atlantic Ocean has created the largest swells this season that are predicted to arrive tomorrow and these will influence the seas in the BVI until next week Wednesday. So we have a wait and see attitude for the next few days and since this is a retirement trip this is a good thing to do.