in immediately on arrival. On politely enquiring, we were told that their rules say you have 24 hours to check in, so I was only getting screamed at unofficially.
Don’t go to BVI. I might have mentioned that already.
Snottiness and disdain from locals everywhere we went. Charter customers in clean clothes had no interest in socializing with us live aboard plebs in our scruffy shorts, long hair and sandals.
We had to get the fuel tank cleaned. Apart from that we wanted nothing more to do with that place and decided to get out of there as fast as possible. Every bay we passed was packed, wall to wall charter boats. Unable to find anybody to polish our fuel, we emptied and cleaned the tank ourselves, recovering as much fuel as possible by letting it settle in jerry cans for 48 hours then through a baha filter back in to the cleaned tank. About 10 gallons were too filthy to keep, so paid the fuel dock to dispose of it. They probably filtered it and sold it.
This was over Christmas too. The one saving grace in Sopers Hole was the excellent Indian curry restaurant. Avoid the famous restaurant at the marina full of snotty servers and stuck up holiday makers.
It seemed like we waited forever for a weather window. The trip South from BVI crosses some pretty windy stretches and you need to pick your days. We went island hopping from there, it is pretty nice when you sail out in the morning and you can see your destination rising out of the sea on the horizon. Saint Martins, Antigua, Guadeloupe, Martinique and all kinds of lovely places all the way back to Grenada. Very often we would meet old friends and make new ones.
After finishing up in Grenada we put the boat on the market, sold her for a bit less than what we paid and flew home, almost exactly 2 years later.
Sometimes I look back and wonder if I would do anything different and the only thing I wish I had done was put in a water maker. Most anchorages are clean enough. Perhaps I should have spent a bit more on a boat that needed less work. Perhaps I could have
Goodbye EmJay.
been less anal about things being perfect, squeezed a little more life out of the old dinghy and outboard. But I think we did ok.
I also have a list in my head of things I did not do during those 2 years. They include;
• Wearing socks, shoes with laces or long pants
• Having a hair cut
• Having a long hot shower
• Wearing a watch
• Driving a car
• Having a sleepless night (except night sailing in thunder storms!)
• Watching television
• Having tan lines.
Here is a final picture of EmJay, taken from my friends dinghy as he took me with my luggage ashore on the last day. I had tears in my eyes.
PS. Canadians sometimes ask me what SWMBO stands for. It is a British term of endearment. It is an abbreviation of She Who Must Be Obeyed. Happy sailing! Carpe Diem! –Martin and Swmbo Hill