Part 5: Trellis Bay to Jost Van Dyke
We made our way through the Camanoe Pass under power and mainsail. Around noon, we stopped at a National Parks mooring at Monkey Point on Guana Island. I put together a tuna pasta salad for lunch while the boys snorkeled. At lunch, they reported large jellyfish and barracuda in the water, so there was little desire to swim here, though the snorkeling was interesting.
At this point, Leroy told us we felt comfortable leaving us, since we had shown him we could handle the boat. Our next destination was Trellis Bay, near the airport on Beef Island. Here, Rick and Kevin would drop off Leroy, get some ice and dispose of trash during the first dinghy run ashore. As an added treat, they also brought us back Snicker's bars (the "Lite" provisioning left us hankering for junk food!). Before going ashore, we watched a mongrel dog swim from The Last Resort to a red sailboat in the middle of the harbour. The owner of the boat was an Englishman who collects mooring fees, as he did ours, and works at The Last Resort. The dog seems to have adopted him.
Later, we all jumped in the dinghy to go exploring. We docked at De Loose Mongoose, but found it was closed for the season (not to mention Hurricane Georges). We walked along the beach, picked up some grocery essentials, and had a picture taken next to a beached sailboat. The Conch Point Inn had lost its roof, and The Last Resort was also closed for the season. With everything closed and/or damaged, there was little to do ashore at Trellis, and not much of a beach. So we went two bays over to Beef Island's Long Bay for swimming. The beach was long and lovely, not to mention largely empty. We swam and had a group skinny dip, but as the sun was sinking, we had to motor back to Braveheart.
Once we returned, Anouk pulled up in her dinghy to sell her goodies. I bought a barrette with enameled sailboats and T bought some earrings. The boys bought t-shirts. After getting cleaned up, we had a dinner of veggie burgers, which we capped off with poundcake with pineapple-rum sauce. Rick and I did the dishes. Around 2030, I went below to read, but promptly fell asleep face-down in my book. Rick went below to check the weather on the radio, but also fell asleep. Luckily, Hurricane Ivan is not an issue for us, Hurricane Jeanne is expected to turn north, and Tropical Storm Karl is too far away to be an issue for us. The weather looked promising for the rest of our cruise.
Friday morning, I woke around 0715 and took my stuff off the lifelines and pumped out the standing water in our head. T and I made apple pancakes for breakfast. Today, we head for Jost Van Dyke. Once past the Camanoe Passage, we ran straight downwind to the group of islets just off Jost: Sandy Cay, Sandy Spit, Green Cay, and Little Jost Van Dyke. We managed to anchor off Sandy Spit in just two attempts, next to the only other sailboat in this anchorage. Sandy Spit is a tiny little island (which takes about three minutes to walk around), ringed with reefs but possessed of a blinding white beach, scrub, and a half dozen palm trees. Piles of shells are washed up on the shore, and dazzlingly clear water surrounds it. I swam as everyone else snorkeled, and picked up some interesting shells as I walked around. Later, Rick and I skinny-dipped. Around 1330, we returned to Braveheart for a sandwich lunch.
We set sail for Great Harbour on Jost Van Dyke. However, since Foxy's was closed, we decided to turn around and try Little Harbour instead (which also had moorings, unlike Great Harbour). We sailed close-hauled to Little Harbour, dropped the sails, and grabbed a mooring. A Sunsail yacht was already there, and a Moorings boat would arrive later. We went ashore to check out Harris' and Sidney's Peace and Love on the west side. The t-shirts we saw hanging from the ceiling at Sidney's were neither for sale nor signs of activity; they were left behind by other visitors. Sidney's and Harris' were both closed, but we were told that a return of electric power was imminent.
We chatted with a very drunk Sidney, Jr. He summoned his father by blowing through a conch shell, told us about his current girlfriend and 700 former ladies (life as a former gigolo), and how
how he spent all of Hurricane Georges drunk Sidney Sr., grey -bearded and stocky, came down to tell us that he would be open tonight, and to let the other boats in the harbour know this. Afterwards, we dinghied over to Abe's by the Sea at the other end of the harbour. They had generator power and a little more action. Nippy was very skeptical that Sidney would have power. We promised to return later for drinks.
We returned to the boat and had a swim off the bow, and cleaned up afterwards. There is nothing quite like the feeling of having taken a fresh shower after a hot day of sun, sand, salt and sunscreen. I mixed up a few rounds of green flashes (ginger ale, lime and rum) and we all snacked on trail mix and nuts. For dinner, we made grilled chicken with cheese, and pasta with tomato sauce, onions, green peppers and broccoli.
Having dined, we returned to Abe's for a few rounds of drinks. Our choices were limited because they had only minimal electricity. The bar area was illuminated with a gas lantern. So we had rum punches with Mt. Gay rum and margaritas on the rocks. The frozen drinks Kevin craved could not be had for love or money! After the resultant silliness, we stumbled back to our dinghy and returned to Braveheart. We played a drinking game called "I Never," which led to some interesting revelations. I retired around 2230 or 2300. and the rest soon followed.
