Not The Last Resort: From The Bitter End to (Sugar) Cane Garden Bay

Monday morning, after the last post, we continued to relax at The Bitter End for awhile. While Amichai and CG took a nap on the hammock, Yoni, Ben, and I relaxed on chairs by the beach, and Sammy took care of some emails. We had a late lunch back on the boat. Then it was time for sailing.

Since The Bitter End is towards the east-most area of the British Virgin Islands, we had to begin sailing west. The trade winds here come from the east, so we had to sail downwind. There are two options for sailing downwind: going northwest, then southwest, then northwest, then southwest, etc. That is the easier way. The second is sailing directly downwind, with the jib and and the mainsail pointing in opposite directions. Guess which way we did? The much cooler, faster, and harder way:

Sailing with the wind behind us was a lot less rocky than the time before. We could be traveling very fast, but almost not feel it at all. The boat did not keel so much either. That is not to say we didn’t have any incidents - at one point Ben accidentally unwound a very tight jib sheet and Yoni just managed to survive.

The real problem that could occur with this method of sailing is if the wind dies on you. This happened and in order to get to our next destination in time, we had to motor-sail. Finally, we reached Trellis Bay, where we got our mooring for the night.

Amidst the motor yachts, catamarans, and other sailing boats was this vessel. I wished I could have gone on it:

Before going ashore, I looked for my water bottle. I checked the fridge and lo and behold - the fridge didn’t seem cold. The freezer area was not frosted. Our refrigerator was not running.

Then a dinghy pulled up, offering to sell us ice. We declined, thinking we’d buy some ashore. Although it was a bit mysterious how they showed up to sell us ice so quickly...

We docked our dinghy by the Artists’ Colony, which had an internet cafe next door. Farther down the shore was another cafe and a supermarket. But the supermarket was closed.

We explored the area near the artists colony:

We had just missed the Full Moon party, where they light up the huge fireballs. Oh well.

In the internet cafe the guy at the counter was...interesting. When Sammy walked in he asked what Sammy had on his head. Before Sammy could respond, he asked if it was a spaceship. Then he told Sammy Jews were the first aliens and they all have circular landing pads for spaceships on their heads. Noticing Sammy's discomfort, he changed the subject and asked if Sammy had been to Jerusalem. Then he asked if Sammy had seen the icons in Jerusalem and informed him they were connected to London. Sammy asked how he knew this, had he ever been to Jerusalem? No. Had he ever been to London? No.  He told Sammy the politics there were too crazy and he didn't want to talk about it anymore. Sammy bought an ice cream bar.

When I went in he asked if we were hasidic. I said no, but you could say we’re Orthodox. Then he turned on a microphone and said “Trellis Bay welcomes the Orthodox Jews and their satellites.” I signed the guestbook.

There were even sculptures in the water:

This was one of the most relaxing spots we had been to. The Artists’ Colony store was very cool and filled with gorgeous (if expensive) objects, and we went back to it the next day.

Near dark, we dinghied over to the very small island in the middle of the bay, home to The Last Resort, a restaurant. When we walked in we seemed to have crashed a small family reunion. Undeterred by the many people around us that knew each other but not who we were, we began to play foosball on a table that was actually somewhat broken (have you ever played foosball on a table where it slopes towards the middle?). Here Sammy bought us a bag of ice to keep in our fridge. 
Normally they wouldn’t sell a bag of ice, but once Sammy told the sob story of our broken fridge, the guy broke down and sold it.

Trellis Bay is by Beef Island, which is connected to Tortola by a bridge. Even so, we had chicken for dinner. It was already defrosted for us. Yoni and I just popped it into the microwave (CG had cooked it back in NY). We also made some french fries (chips) and stir fry. There were no more plastic knives, so we ended up eating with our hands. It was quite delicious. That night some of us watched a movie, then went to sleep.

Tuesday morning TMM sent a fridge repairman over and our fridge became fixed! We also had a defrosted-then-heated pumpkin pie for breakfast while this happened. Then we relaxed and read a bit before heading back to shore. We continued to relax onshore, went shopping, and got groceries. Then it was time to head out again.

Our first stop was the beautiful snorkeling at Monkey Point. It was really, really nice. I used on of the underwater cameras I brought to take photos this time. No photos yet for here though - it’s a film camera, so I’ll get them eventually. There was lots of coral of different types. There were some very pretty fish (in rainbow colors, yellow and black stripes, bright blue, bright blue and black, some that looked like a mosaic of colors, white, and one that I took a photo of that was camouflaging on the seafloor). As I snorkeled from the boat over to where most of the coral was, I passed a much larger fish that could have either been a barracuda or a small shark. I think I got a picture of it, but I was also sort of freaking out, so I’m not sure I caught it.

The land jutted out here in a narrow point, which meant that there were two beaches on either side. Two thirds of the way through snorkeling, Ben and I got out and walked a bit on the double beach. That’s when I discovered the rock formations. By rock formations I mean lots of stones set out on the beach in the shape of hearts, BVI, LOVE, anchors, whales, etc. It was cool and I took a photo or two...on my underwater camera. Then I snorkeled a bit more and headed back to the boat.

While I was snorkeling, Amichai and Sammy brought the dinghy closer to the snorkeling area and actually did some rock climbing! (Possible movie upload later.)

Then we sailed to Cane Bay. I even steered us into the bay!

As we tried to pick up the mooring though, the stick used to lift it out of the water broke. Ben valiantly dove in to try to get it, to no avail. We had to take the dinghy out to pick up the mooring rope and then hand it up to tie it.

A broken staff.

According to our guidebook, "To experience a sunset at Cane Garden Bay is nothing less than a special magic that creates an unforgettable memory."  Here is the sunset.

It was pretty okay.

We then made dinner (hot dogs, stir fry, fried peppers, corn). Then Yoni, Ben, CG, and I took the dinghy ashore to check it out. We walked along the beach for awhile and then a downpour started. Really quickly. We scattered in different directions for shelter. I ended up crouched under a juice stand. Literally crouched. It was the only way I fit in. When the rain let up a bit, I joined Ben under a large umbrella area.

After the rain, we stopped at Quito’s, a bar where everyone else got some drinks (I am still on an antibiotic for my mysterious bug bite). They had a performer there. There was also a middle aged couple that danced! They were pretty good.

We then dinghy-ed back. Sammy and Amichai were going to sleep. I showered and read while the rest watched Death at a Funeral.

As we davened on the boat this morning we got some stares from the neighboring catamaran. Maybe we looked a bit different than normal with our tefillin. They didn’t ask us any questions though. They just stared. A lot.

Ben wanted to be onshore by 10 because of an expected important phone call that he was told would take about a half hour. So we tried to eat breakfast quickly before taking the dinghy ashore. His call came at 9:50. We turned off the engine (we were charging the battery) and got very quiet. His call was over after about 2 minutes. Why? The caller knew he was on a boat and said they’d discuss the rest at a later time. We all felt that it was a bit anticlimactic.

We actually did go ashore though, after breakfast. We sat and read awhile in a restaurant overlooking the beach before finding out there was a laundromat nearby. Since it’s been a week and a half since we got here, we figured this was a great opportunity. So Yoni, CG, Sammy, and I took the dinghy back to gather laundry. As we got to the boat we realized Ben had the key to unlock the area with our quarters. No problem! Our top hatch wasn’t locked from the inside, so we just turned the handles from the outside and I let myself in through the hatch and unlocked the doors from the inside. I guess you can say we broke into our own boat.

Back ashore, after finding a place to get quarters and with detergent bought, we put our laundry in. Based on how the place looked, we weren't entirely confident.  This place would make our clothing clean??

I asked around and was told it should take about 20 minutes to wash. And we waited. And waited. Eventually we found out the machines were broken. By the time we left to go back to the boat with our (possibly clean? I still had some stains) laundry, we were 2.5 hrs behind schedule.


There was something wrong with the rinse and spin cycle:

A little bit of rust never hurt anyone:

And it's a super-hot muggy day. In any event, after making it back and having lunch, we refilled on water, and then headed to our next spot at Great Harbor, Jost Van Dyke.