Friday, January 8, 2010

By the time morning came around the heavy swell and crosswinds had settled, but I was still rather groggy with just a couple of hours of very disturbed sleep behind me. The fenders and various lines held up through the night and the weather forecast was much better, but I decided that I'd had enough of life at the docks and headed out of Leverick.
I once again thought that I'd visit The Baths but - how could it be otherwise - the red flags were up once again so I continued down the Sir Francis Drake Channel and into The Bight at Norman Island for my last day/night sailing Zanshin I on this trip. The sail was another nice one with fast segments at over 8 knots and then a long slow one down the channel, but I wasn't in any hurry and anywhere away from the dock was good enough for me.
I made an early dinner of the final thawed steak aboard the boat and then caught a ride to the Willie T's bar for a couple of Carib beers before hitching another dinghy ride back and getting a solid night's sleep.

Despite deploying all the fenders I had aboard, the night was rough and I hardly got any sleep due to the rolling and bouncing against the dock. [18°29'52.99"N 64°23'8.85"W ] Fenders at Leverick

On this trip I sailed past the Baths on Virgin Gorda several times and each time I saw the red flag; meaning the beach is closed due to dangerous surf, waves and the resulting undertow [18°25'50.73"N 64°27'25.97"W (facing E)] Closed beach at the Baths

The renowned Willie T bar, seen from a safe distance during the day. The original boat sunk, and this steel boat isn't going to make many long-distance voyages either, but the food at the restaurant portion is plentiful and the bar is to be experienced. Depending upon the crowd and state of inebriation, the bartenders choose the musical theme and usually it ends up being loud with lots of dancing. Oh, and rumour has it that ladies who jump off the back in the nude get free drinks. [18°18'57.98"N 64°37'5.18"W (facing S)] The William Thornton