Dogs and Cats

 

Friday May 19, Cooper Island à North Sound (Bronny)

Another lovely day dawned with dramatic cloud formations. Everyone arises when they please and gets their own breakfast. By 8:00, all are fed and ready to set sail. Today the itinerary included sailing in fine fresh winds (15kt, gusting to 20). Erika set a new record for boat speed while at the helm, breaking 10 knots. The crew women, Lisa, Debbie, and Erika have been impressive in their competence in performing many nautical tasks, including taking the helm. Alan is our salty skipper, assisted by first mate Ryan and champion winch-grinder Kyle. Grandma Bronny mostly watches everyone else working and enjoys every moment.

Today’s first destination was The Baths at Virgin Gorda, a popular spot for exploring an enormous pile of huge rock formations, formed deep in the earth millions of years ago. We had to swim from our dinghy a fair distance to shore while trying to keep our stuff dry. Once ashore, we waded through tunnels and over crevices until we eventually came back out at the shore.

After leaving The Baths and enjoying lunch aboard, we sailed onward through The Dogs, a formation of small uninhabited islands north of Virgin Gorda. At Christmas Alan’s mom Linda had given the whole family matching Hawaiian shirts featuring their dog Dante. With Erika at the helm, we passed the Dogs, aboard J-Dog, all wearing our dog shirts, posing for pictures and thinking both of Dante and Erika’s beloved Sokka. Shortly after this was when Erika set her record.

Then it was on to the North Sound. There are channel markers that indicate the entrance. Ryan, who had taken over for Erika, asked “where are Los Gatos?” “Huh?” we all said. Not knowing the Spanish word for “channel marker”, and having just been to The Dogs, he decided to use the word for “cat” instead. Before long we found the red and green cats and safely entered the sound.

A short while later we arrived at the famous Bitter End Yacht Club on Virgin Gorda where we docked at about 4:30. Ryan distinguished himself with his skillful job of backing our 48-foot monohull into a slip in tight quarters. We learned that bow thrusters can be very handy!

Just as we finished tying up there was a brief downpour as a small squall blew through, a frequent event here in the islands. Then we enjoyed the luxury of showers ashore, followed by cocktails aboard. A water taxi picked us up for a 10-minute ride to the North Sound Bistro, a wonderful little restaurant built into the cliffs.

Back to the boat. As I write this, Ryan is strumming the guitar and some of us are singing. A great day altogether!

J-Dog steaming along

Taking a Bath

Competent Crew

Old Dogs

La Gato Rojo



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