When we left Houston we thought we had a date
with Hurricane Emily... BUT She passed
well south of the British Virgin Islands.. They did get some much
needed rain.
It turns out we gave birth to TS Foxy which NOAA later
renamed Franklin.
But I am getting ahead of myself.
Our Plans involved meeting at the Footloose Dock in Road Town, Tortola,
BVI on the morning of July 16. JJ Wallace arrived the night
before, Gary and Juli Graham arrived by High Speed Ferry from St.
Thomas, USVI, Marion and I took the first Morning Flight from San Juan
and a cab ride from Beef Island. Luke Sterling and Linda Fuel
would join us a day later.
We pooled our milk money and went to the the Rite Way Supermarket to
buy provisions.
The Boat we had chosen was a Moorings 505 Sloop with four staterooms
and an extra dungeon in the fore peak for storing Luggage and Prisoners
of war. The boat has dual steering stations, Full Battened Main in a
Lazy Jack pouch, Roller furling Genoa, Twin Lewmar 66 winches for the
headsail. The sail controls were all in the cockpit. the only things to
go forward for were operating the Anchor and raising/lowering the main.
The Perkins Diesel performed flawlessly throughout our cruise. The
sails had been replaced in 2004, but the rest of the gear was showing
signs of wear. You Pay less for the older boats. The main things
were Excellent... she would sail as fast as you could stand it.
JJ immediately traded up the 8 foot dinghy for a 10 footer with an 8 HP
engine. For this initiative JJ immediately became Captain of the
Dinghy. With that rig JJ could handle all seven of us on our shore side
excursions..
Everyone who wished to, could be Captain of the Day. Several got the
duty/honor more than once.
The Bight at Norman Island July 16
Gary was captain for the first day. The destination,
Norman Island. is about 6 miles South of Road Town. The
previous renter had left a double reef in the main. The winds were
above 15 Kts as we left the harbor so we rolled out 75% of the Genoa.
We were all keen and excited. The boat was moving well on a broad port
reach.
"There's a boat in the water ahead," Marion called back to Gary.
"It may be in trouble."
We were about half way across the Frances Drake Channel. The small
rowboat had two men aboard and they seemed to be struggling with the
motor.
" Let's go check them out," I said, "They are a long way from
home."
Gary came up about 20 degrees to make a closer pass.
JJ called out to them, " You guys need help?"
"Yeah, Mon, Motor not working."
We buzzed by them at 6 kts and had a conference about how to help
them.
"I'll tow them to shore in the dinghy, and come back to meet you,"
offered JJ. He was ready to do a good deed in his new role as
Dinghy Captain.
"This boat can tow them just as well," I argued.
"You will have to turn around," JJ said as he was climbing into the
dinghy. Before we got turned around JJ was under way and had them in
tow.
For the next hour Gary tacked back and forth along the course to Norman
Island. We shook out the reef in the main and let the genoa out
full. Gary had the boat moving close to 8 kts. The Big
Lewmar 66 winches make a cheerful ringing sound as you come about and
we did several high speed tacks without loosing much speed. We were
tracking JJ as he towed them into the harbor at Nanny Kay.
Later Gary would claim that the sail that afternoon was the best he had
on the Cruise.
William Thornton
The boats at he Bight ==>
We picked up a mooring ball several hundred yards from the William B
Thornton. It's a famous restaurant and bar aboard an old ship.
The restaurant is amidships and the bar is on two decks aft. Jumping
off the stern without clothing earns one a free T Shirt.
Sunset at Norman Island.
After sunset we all went to The
Thornton for Dinner and dancing... JJ was buying the drinks and
teaching the bartender to make them His Way. Gary and I suffered
the most but I clearly got the Grand prize when I fell head first into
the dinghy and just laid there until Juli righted me by my belt in the
back side.
Convinced I had Lost my credit card and wallet, I made a midnight Call
to Chase and canceled the credit card.... We would be on an ATM Card
for the rest of the trip. The next morning I found the wallet right
where I usually leave it. My head was clearer and I remembered
purposely leaving it behind and relying on cash. That is the last
time I got really drunk.
When we left Houston we thought we had a date
with Hurricane Emily... BUT She passed 
