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.

To the Bitter End

Sunday morning we showered onshore again. It's become a bit funny to us how something we generally take for granted during the rest of the year becomes something we look forward to and anticipate here. Besides showering, some more groceries were bought. That is when Ben and CG discovered saltfish.

In an effort to find out what this was, they asked a local guy about it. He said, "If you saw this fish you wouldn't want to eat it. It is like the woman (now looking directly at CG) once a month (motioned his hands downward) , it is moody, like the woman."

Ben and CG bought it.

Once everyone was back on the boat, we all ambushed Sammy with water guns! Happy Birthday to Sammy! He quickly retaliated by opening up a bottle of water and splashing all of us. And a good time was had by all.

Then we left the dock. Here are a couple of photos I took at the last second before leaving; one has the supermarket in the background, the other has the Swiss ship that was anchored there. We're still puzzling over how a landlocked country has a registered ship.

As we were leaving the dock area another boat kept cutting us off from our escape, motoring backwards and forwards in front of us. From their movement it wasn't clear if they were going in or out, then Sammy asked if they were going in or out and they said in, giving us a dirty look. Then they proceeded to motor backwards, almost into our boat, and Sammy shouted "WATCH OUT!" But there was no collision. Sammy called out "Have a nice vacation!" I'm sure that smoothed things over.

Our sail for the day was VERY choppy and windy. We went pretty fast, but the boat was often keeled over very much to the side and it could get quite rocky. We often sat at the edge of the boat opposite where the boat leaned, to counteract with our weight.

But I steered part of the time!

I'm looking up in the photo because that is what I was doing quite often. It was to check the angle of the sail in reference to the wind. It was important to keep it at a certain angle so we could travel. Steering was both my high and my low of the day. High because it was amazing (and harder than steering a car), low because I was afraid I was going to kill everyone. The winds were very strong.

Other notable moments of the trip (which were too hair raising to take photos of):

• The knot in the jib furler that Ben caught as we tried to furl the jib. Everyone needed to help because the tension was so strong.
• When the jib sheets were ripping around where Amichai was standing because they were loose and Sammy shouted to CG to "Pull for Amichai's life! Pull for your husband's life!"
• When the wind blew off the metal lid of the BBQ grill and it flipped around on its thin metal string, making a huge racket

But we finally arrived at our next destination, which was at the top of the island of Virgin Gorda. One of the first things we noticed was as we moored, which was lots of blue jellyfish in the water! It was both very cool and very creepy.

The wind blew a towel off our boat, but Sammy managed to fish it out before it sank. Then he and Yoni wrung it out.

Yoni: I feel like I’m killing a swan

After lunch, this lady showed up:

Yes, that is a lady that pulled up alongside us in her dinghy, selling jewelry. She was French-Canadian. Ben talked to her a little bit about Montreal, then CG bought some earrings.

It was time to go ashore. This is what awaited us:

The Bitter End Yacht Club. It was nicer than we expected, actually quite a nice place. Since we've recently become accustomed to judging places not only on their outside appearances, but by their bathrooms as well, I can testify that this place also had air conditioning in their bathroom, and the walls and floor were made of dark wood. So it's pretty nice.

The lady at the front desk when we arrived was Kasheema, of the Green Eyes. Green eyes that Ben complimented her on, only to find out from CG later that they were definitely lenses. In any event, Sammy got a $10 discount for our mooring because it was his birthday!

Then we went off to enjoy ourselves. Sammy and Yoni went kiting:

The rest of us went to the beach a short walk away. It was a really gorgeous beach, with palm trees, beach chairs, thatched roofs over the chairs to shade from the sun, and the softest sand ever. It was perfect for walking on - it sank in just enough to feel amazing, but it was firm enough that you could walk without slipping back and forth. I admit, I walked back and forth several times just to experience it. Then I went into the water, along with Ben and CG.

There were no jellyfish.

Sammy and Yoni came back and we sang Happy Birthday to Sammy again. Then we bestowed our gift upon him: a massage at the spa, on us. Since the spa was closing soon, he got the massage this morning instead. He said it was very relaxing and quite oily. But good. And then the people chased us around for the money, but Ben (who had the money) had gone off searching for iguanas. But we're not up to that yet.

Yoni and I began building a sand castle. Since the tide was coming in, it was important to build a defending wall around the castle, which would also form a moat. Yoni guided me, and CG as well, from his years of experience building sand castles as a child.

Yoni: This is a grown-up's beach; no one else is doing this.

The castle looks like a tower-lump, but Yoni assured us that there were actually castles that looked like this in the 11th century. We also added a staircase to the castle tower, which made it look somewhat like a ziggurat:

Sammy: Yoni, that’s quite phallic of you.

Nearby there was a hammock, which I went to relax on. The Birthday Boy joined me.

Amichai, Sammy, and I then went over to the restaurant/bar which had WiFi, where we checked email and relaxed. Ben relaxed on his own in his island paradise

while Yoni and CG made a golem.

So maybe it was sand, not earth and clay. But Yoni and CG made a large sand woman.

CPR:

Then CG destroyed the sand woman, which I took a movie of, but it may be too violent for our readership. Then Ben, Yoni, and CG joined us at our table. CG got a Bushwacker, which was basically an alcoholic milkshake, Ben got a Malibu Bay Breeze, and Sammy got a 7&7 with too much 7. We also got free popcorn!

We took the dinghy back as it began to get dark and realized that it seemed as if the same loud Puerto Ricans had come from Spanish Town and moored nearby. But our focus was on dinner, which we needed to use our BBQ for.

The wind was so intense sparks from the grill were flying all over and we were afraid some would land on the dinghy and the petroleum would catch fire. We frantically moved the dinghy to the other side of the boat.

Then we began cooking, to the music of the Beach Boys and The Shins. Dinner was Ahi tuna, corn on the cob, salad, and...brownies for Sammy's birthday!

Our experimentation with timed picture-taking, count down 10 seconds:

It was also the first meal we had on the boat that was downstairs.


There was a bit of disagreement between CG and Amichai on how to draw an anchor:

 In the next campaign, be sure to Support the Bottom.

After the meal we talked for awhile and then went to sleep.

This morning we had croissants for breakfast! Sara Lee frozen products, everyone. We then dinghy-ed in for Sammy's massage and other activities. I've been working on gathering photos and writing the blog, Amichai did some work he had to catch up on, and Yoni, CG, and Ben disappeared in a search for iguanas.

Until next time!

Ain't Gonna Work on Saturday

The six of us had a very nice Shabbos/Shabbat here at the docks in Spanish Town, Virgin Gorda. Shabbos comes in and ends earlier here than back home - around 6:45 and 7:30, so as I type this many of you are probably just coming out of Shabbos.

Obviously there are no pictures, but I'll try to describe the scene. We are in a slip (a spot on the dock) several boats away from shore. Around us are other sailboats and some larger motor yachts. Apparently this is a very popular time to come to Virgin Gorda and the British Virgin Islands in general because of Christmas in July, a yearly festival. A lot of Spanish-speaking people are here on surrounding yachts for this, many of them from Puerto Rico. They have been having a good time.

But Friday evening was nice and quiet. After showering (onshore!), we dressed up (a little, it is the tropics. I wore a white polo shirt) and went to the front of our boat, where we sat and sang kabbalat Shabbat together, and part of maariv (such as v'Shamru). Kiddush was on some Kedem grape juice I brought from home. For dinner we had brussel sprouts, rice, and red snapper! It was very good (thanks to Ben and his beloved cayenne pepper), but the interesting aspect of all of this is the fish. We had thought we would be eating fish a lot here in the islands, but as it turns out, there is a toxin in a lot of the fish around here that makes local fishing pretty much impossible. So this fish was from the supermarket (a supermarket in which Yoni was dismayed to find that there was more readily available kosher food than in the stores he frequents in London). We did highs and lows of the day again. Ben told us the story behind the seltzer he bought (what he considers the "champagne of seltzers"). The rest of the meal was filled with zemiros.

After dinner Yoni, Chana Gila, Ben, and I played a card game called Loke, which is similar to Spades and Bridge. Sammy and Amichai read. Then we all went to sleep. And boy, did we sleep! It rained much of the night and was still cloudy and rainy throughout the rest of the day (and is now pouring again as I type this). I slept later than I expected, but it was one of the best nights of sleep I got the whole trip so far (it was also a cooler night than most). After getting up we davened and had kiddush (grape juice and some Sara Lee pecan coffee cake and some Verona cookies). Then we either fell asleep again or read, until lunch in the early afternoon.

Thanks to the weather, it was a much cooler day, which we were very thankful for. It can get really, really hot here and I hadn't been looking forward to a sweaty, disgusting Shabbat. But it turned out really well. It was also good timing with the rain, because any other day of the week we can't sail in the rain anyway! During the rest of the afternoon we hung out, read, and tried learning to play bridge. While Yoni and I dominated the Loke game the night before, Ben and CG got back at us today with bridge (or at least Ben's admittedly own version of bridge).

By the afternoon, another yacht that had showed up right next to us started playing lots of pop and dance music. They and another boat or two seemed to know each other and they were quite loud. Christmas in July, everyone! We davened mincha inside the boat, where it was quieter and then had a quick seudah shlishit upstairs. We wanted to sing the regular tunes for seudah shlishit, but couldn't because of the music alongside us, so we walked over to a nearby field and sang. Some mosquitos really loved our singing and kissed us all over.

Maariv was said inside the boat too, as was havdalah.  Then it was time for onshore showers again and other motzai shabbat activities!

Shavua Tov!

Yesterday was Thursday, Thursday / Today i-is Friday, Friday (Oh, and I guess Wednesday is there somewhere as well...)

Wednesday morning we woke up at 7 something, davened, and ate delicious fried bagels and scrambled eggs, cooked by Ben and Amichai. At 9:00 we brought Gerry (I spelled his name wrong before) over with the dinghy to start our second day of sailing tutorial.

First we refueled at a refueling station nearby, so Gerry could show us how. Then we headed back to TMM to get our batteries checked and to refill with water. We all showered on land at TMM to conserve the water on the boat.

Our destination for the day was Norman Island, named for someone named Norman. This someone was a pirate and there are still rumors of buried treasure. We didn’t find any though.

Some poses while sailing, guess which of the three is a typical pose and which are acted:

At the island we went snorkeling! It was my second time ever and Chana Gila’s first. I kept getting salt water in my snorkel, until I figured out how to breathe correctly. It’s important not to use your nose at all.

While chasing a school a fish, I pushed off of the rock and coral before hitting it head-on. As I turned right, I suddenly felt a burning on the back of my left calf. I headed to the small beach to check it out. I thought I scratched myself, but it turns out I got stung by something. Possibly fire coral, or maybe a jellyfish. My skin was slightly reddish and it looked like I had goosebumps. I felt the slight burning sensation for awhile, but it eventually went away. CG and Yoni also got stung and their reactions also didn’t last very long.

The snorkeling spot also had some caves which were explored. Due to my personal investigation of my sting, I didn’t get as much of a view as planned, but I was told they were really cool. In the inside of a cave I did go to, the rocks looked purple! I think it was something growing on the rocks.

We went back on the boat for lunch (chicken-flavored Tradition soups). While waiting for the water to boil we snacked on some Chips Ahoy we had bought at one of the local stores. That is, we snacked on the cookies until Yoni noticed a maggot on his. Then we stopped.

Our next destination was Peter Island, again, where we said farewell to Gerry (who took a ferry back to Tortola). With still several hours until nightfall, all of us but Sammy headed to the island to look around (Sammy stayed back to take care of some things on the boat). We took the dinghy ashore and cut through with a path to arrive at a resort. It was pretty nice.

On the path through:

This was the nicest thing about the resort:

AIR CONDITIONED BATHROOM!

We also walked to their beach. It was beautiful white sand, dotted with beach chairs and topped by palm trees around. We realized it was pretty much the island paradise people always talk about. We even saw a couple take a long walk along the beach. We just sat on the chairs.

A view of our boat at sunset, while we rode the dinghy back:

For dinner we had chicken, rice, and salad. As we ate we went around the table saying our highs and lows of the day, a tradition on vacation in both Ben and Amichai’s families.

After dinner we laid down on the deck of the boat and stargazed. I saw a satellite travel across the sky. Sammy identified the North Star. Ben told us his theories about constellations. We then watched Little Miss Sunshine.

During the night, it rained.

Sammy woke up Thursday morning to find that our boat had drifted during the night. Apparently our anchor was not as secure as we thought and due to the storm, we had moved. After moving the boat back and a quick breakfast of cereal, we all boarded the dinghy to go to Peter Island and to hike the Sunset Loop (which took us up the mountain, past homes and parts of the resort). Amichai, Chana Gila, and Sammy ran most of the way, while Ben, Yoni, and I walked.

Views from the hike:

The sign said it was a loop, so we all assumed it would take us all around the island. Well it did loop - the hike took you to a small area where you looped around - and then you had to go back the way you came!

The day was a scorcher and we were hot and sweaty. When we got back to the resort area we of course showered in the air conditioned bathroom! It was a fantastic experience. We used our own shampoo and soap, but we were able to save water from our boat.

We had lunch on the boat and then set out for our next destination. It was a four hour trip. And the first all on our own! 

There are moments when smiles just come to our faces. This was one for me.

It was a four hour trip. In between helping with the sails, we listened to lots of music and read books. I finished rereading The Little Prince and then went back to The Art of Biblical Narrative, Yoni read Fahrenheit 451, CG read The Scarlet Letter, Amichai read Don Quixote, and Ben read The Sabbath. During the trip we also passed a huge cruise liner. At one point we thought we might get too close, but it all worked out.

We passed by the islands Fallen Jerusalem and Broken Jerusalem - appropriate for the Three Weeks. They are named as such because of the huge rocks that are on them. They are very small islands, but Fallen Jerusalem did have some large boulders on top that were very similar in color to Jerusalem stone.

Getting to these islands had been something we had talked about for awhile, not only because they had Jerusalem in their names, but because of the time period of the Three Weeks (between the fast of Shiva Assar B'Tammuz and the fast of Tisha B'Av, the ninth of Av) which are in memory of Jerusalem being sacked and the burning of the Temples. There are many customs, especially among Ashkenazi Jews, for the Three Weeks to show that one is in mourning. One of these that is done in my family is refraining from shaving, so when when you see my face in the photos to come, know that it’s not just me being lazy (although I am on vacation).

But our final destination for the day was The Baths! Situated southwest on the island of Virgin Gorda, they are home to huge granite boulders and amazing snorkeling!

We first tried to swim there - but a third of the way there we realized it was farther than we thought and against the current. So we took the dinghy instead.

There were beautiful black fish with bright blue fins, a shark or barracuda that really made us nervous, crabs (Amichai chased one), long fish with needle-noses, zebra fish, urchins, and coral. I was literally in the middle of a huge school of fish. It was incredible. We plan on going back again early tomorrow morning.

There was also a sign warning us about the possibility of jelly fish, but we didn’t see any.

We moored by right by the Baths - there are no other boats here. It’s not clear why, but assuming we’re allowed to moor here overnight, they all probably went to Spanish Town, nearby, for dinner and the harbor.

Dinner was spaghetti. Music by Louis Armstrong serenaded us before, during, and after. After dinner people checked email, read, or wrote things down. But everyone but me was in bed by 10:15. I stayed up a little later to type up much of this, but as you know, I didn’t post it then. I was tired too. I stopped typing at 10:15.

This morning, Friday, we got up around 7:30. We took our time with davening and breakfast, then took the dinghy closer to the Baths to go on a short hike through the boulders to another beach.

A happy couple in an island paradise:

The boulders are made of granite, which is unusual for this area of the world. And they are HUGE! We had lots of fun wading around and climbing.

The boulders were no match for these guys:

Even if sometimes you can be stuck in between a rock and a hard place:

Amichai scales a wall backwards, and Yoni scurried up a huge boulder in no time:

The boulder that looks like it could fall on me was too huge to fit in the picture:

Sammy uses his rock climbing skills:

In the water off a beautiful sandy beach at the end of the hike:

We then took the dinghy back to the boat, had lunch (bagels, pita, chummus, and scrambled eggs), and motored over to Spanish Town, Virgin Gorda. After some minor inconveniences getting in, we docked. Groceries were bought, water was refilled, and shore power was plugged in. I headed over to a local clinic to make sure a bug bite I got wasn't too bad (it's not) as well as to check out my left foot, which I banged on the boat's steps. For the foot I was prescribed the biggest pills of ibuprofen I have ever seen.

Anyway, now we're all busy cleaning, cooking, showering, and updating the blog. Here at the Marina's dock we will spend Shabbos. So from Spanish Town, Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands, a Shabbat Shalom to you all!