Things that go bump in the night.  I thought I would never go to sleep last night.
WHIRRRR - the wind whirs in the shrouds.
Whirrr, SLAP - the water slaps against the dinghy.
Whirrr, slap, RIPPLE -the smaller waves ripple against the boat.
Whirrr, slap, ripple, BONG - the ropes bong against the mast.
Whirrr, slap, ripple, bong, THUMP - Will’s door thumps against the latch.
Whirrr, slap, ripple, bong, thump, SNORT - After failing to breath for sixty seconds, Andy gasps for air with a loud snort.
Whirrr, slap, ripple, bong, thump, snort, CHUNG - the main boom swings from side to side.
Whirrr, slap, ripple, bong, thump, snort, chung, SWOOSH - the two gallons of remaining water swoosh from side to side in the front water tank.
Whirrr, slap, ripple, bong, thump, snort, chung, swoosh, SNORE - Andy rattles a big snore as he breathes.
Whirrr, slap, ripple, bong, thump, snort, chung, swoosh, snore, FLAP - the windsock flaps in the breeze.
Whirrr, slap, ripple, bong, thump, snort, chung, swoosh, snore, flap, LAUGHTER - the drunks are singing and laughing as they return from The Last Resort.

Finally I fetch ear plugs from my bag and shut out the myriad sounds of the night and drift off into a well-earned sleep.  The ear plugs would later prove to be my undoing.

After our typical morning ritual of coffee about 6:30, and about two hours of cockpit sitting and watching the tropical island begin to stir,  Pat, Sarah, Will & I went ashore for provisions.  (You don’t get groceries on a boat, you get “provisions” which is also called “provisioning.”)  We walked along the palm lined road to the market which had several chickens roaming the front yard.  And we discovered that The Loose Mongoose is more correctly named “De Loose Mongoose!”

We left Trellis Bay at 9:30, motored to the Baths by 11:15 where we snorkeled until 1:50.

The Baths were incredibly beautiful.  The weather was just perfect.  About seventeen boats were tied up to buoys there, but we had no trouble finding a relatively deserted area with house-size boulders.

The Baths are really a jumbled pile of granite-like boulders with a sandy bottom, coral heads here and there with fish swimming through the grottos.  Some are as high as forty feet, and they make unique formations with tidal pools and sheltered swimming holes.  Where the sea rushes through the rock formations, pools of crystal clear water shimmer.  These rocks are not indigenous to the Caribbean.  Some say they were carried down from the Carolinas during the glacial age.  Others that they are the result of cataclysmic volcanic action.

Will found a couple of really neat caves with private pools of clear water and one with a crevice that spit the water at you when a wave crashed against it from the other side.  Sarah slipped on a rock as we were leaving and fell on her bottom, but luckily was unhurt.

Will writes:
“I went to shore and got some groceries and went back to the boat and had bagels for breakfast.  Then I left to go to the Baths and swam.  When I had lunch (a turkey sandwich) I threw a piece of bread and a piece of turkey into the water and a bunch of fish came out from under my boat and fought over the bread and turkey.  After lunch I went around to Virgin Sound.  Not much to talk about in Virgin Sound, but I will have more to talk about tomorrow because I’m going to stay here all day and night tomorrow.”
(But regretfully he got too busy to write anymore in his journal.  We may never know the end of the man with the green and gold ink pen!)

Andy:  “The baths were very pretty both above and below the water.”

Then we motored past Spanish Town and decided not to stop because we were afraid it would put us too late coming into Virgin Gorda.  I had promised Sarah and Pat a hot shower at Spanish Town, so when we reached North Sound we let them splurge and use the scarce boat water for their hot showers.  That turned out to be a worthwhile morale builder.

Put up sails and sailed close hauled straight for the Seal Dogs, tacked once back toward Virgin Gorda, then one long tack way out to sea, and one long tack to the entrance to North Sound.  We had to run the motor about two minutes to clear the red buoy just off the Calquhoun Reef and Mosquito Island.  We put down the anchor off Prickly Pear Island about 5:00.  I was a little disturbed that we were having to anchor so close to other boats, but we let out plenty chain in only 15 feet of water.  When we settled back on the anchor, we stopped several boat-lengths in front of Seven Seas when I had expected to settle between that and another boat.

It was an absolutely glorious day of sailing!  Cloudless sky.  No rollers!  The wind was coming over Virgin Gorda so there were very few waves.  The wind was not too strong, not too light.  We had the best of both worlds - fast sailing without tipping the boat too-too much.  I was pleased with the pointing ability of the Benetau 38.  I unzipped a little curve of the bimini just above me so that I could get a good view of the main to keep pointing in the best possible direction for the set of the sails.

Nobody got the least sick, although Sarah did go downstairs and slept when we were “tipping the boat too much” for her.  Will and Andy were in the best mood of the trip.  Pat thoroughly loved the day’s sail.  It was thrilling to sail so far out to sea - almost like sailing around the world.
 

Darl’s Journal (It only consists of one solitary sentence for the whole trip.): “How much did you say that cost?”

End - Day Six - Motherofallvacations Vacation