Having no wine on board is indeed a serious problem! There was no hesitation, or maybe just a little, that the only solution was to head to a marina in Road Town, the capital of Tortola, to replenish the cellar, let alone the pantry and fridge. The skipper had quickly formed the view from his trips over the hill to Road Town, that it was a bit of a 'gritty' place and that it would be best to get in and out of the marina, with a minimum turnaround time.
The anchor chain had gone under a small bombie and the guys had dived to check out the lay of the chain. With that picture clear in their heads, the skipper and navigator deftly raised the anchor, weaving port and then starboard a few times without a glitch. Once out of the bay, the main and headsail were set for a beam reach, but the the wind soon became light and eventually the motor was turned on. The fishing rod was deployed, but as there was a lot of ferry and speedboat traffic in the narrow passage between Tortola and Saint John Island (American Virgin Islands) at the southern end of Tortola, the line had to be hastily rescued from being fouled by a passing prop.
By early afternoon we were berthed at the Village Cay Marina, one of many marinas in Road Town Harbour. There was a flurry of getting work done....laundry, grocery shopping and some cleaning. The sky was looking like there was rain on the way and so the majority of the washing was sent to the local laundry. There were a few maintenance items to be done and the guys spent time making up the list for a visit to the chandlery. Dinner was at the marina restaurant which was being blasted by a headphone wearing DJ, who had no idea what pain he was inflicting on the poolside patrons, let alone the restaurant guests. We complained to our lovely waitress about the noise and she totally agreed with us, pointing to her frazzled head. It was great to be understood and to get the volume turned down!
The rain set in next morning and for the first time on the whole cruise we had a steady day of rain. There had been increasing passing showers over the last few days, but this was incessant rain all day. The locals were pleased as the island was very dry and lacks its own fresh water supply. While the guys visited the chandlers, the girls amused themselves happily. Road Town has some beautiful old West Indian buildings, complete with red tin roofs and Victorian dado work around the porches. A walk down Main Street, a one way narrow back road behind the main traffic thoroughfare, was great to take a leisurely stroll along, even in the rain. We enjoyed browsing in the Sunny Caribbee Spice Co and Art Gallery store, where they had a whole wall of bulk purchase spices, quality artwork and craft items. Our best find however was Hucksters Island Roots, a charming cafe in the old Customs House. For the first time on our journey through the Caribbean, the barista not only understood flat white, but served freshly ground locally grown coffee and the result was absolutely delicious. When we met up with the guys who had resounding success with the spare parts, we all enjoyed toasted sandwiches and real coffee for lunch.
The afternoon disappeared while the rain continued with a relaxing time taking photographs, shopping in Pusser's Company Store and Pub and replenishing the precious alcohol supplies while Sue and Ros went to the hairdresser. The rain stopped by evening and after we all freshened up, we walked back along Main Street to a French restaurant called Dove, for a very lovely meal together. Beef Tenderloin with truffle vinaigrette, Crispy Skinned Duck with creme fraiche and baked fondant potatoes and Snapper Cerviche were all washed down with a memorable Chilean syrah called Montes Alpha 2012.
Road Town had proved to be far from gritty, and we all felt the benefit of taking some time ashore. After a good sleep, we were ready to head out to the Channel Islands, to the south of Tortola.
This was definitely pirate turf!