Soggy BVI arrival

Dawn found us approaching Round Rock Passage as planned and we passed into Sir Francis Drake Channel between the main British Virgin Islands just as the heavens opened necessitating the donning of full wet weather gear for the first time since European waters.

Unable to speak to the Customs on the phone, the marina assured us that it was perfectly acceptable to moor in the marina prior to ‘clearing in’. I didn’t get off on the right foot with customs as I was chastised for dripping on their dry counter and attitudes didn’t really improve after that. The on-line clearing forms that I had completed didn’t work because of a ‘technical glitch’ (again) so it was multiple forms which ended up rather soggy – because of dripping on their counter…….. Anyway, rather than the horrific costs described on the sailing forums, I paid $4.25 at one counter and $1 at another – $5.25 in total – result!

With rain all day and recovering after the long night watches it seemed prudent to stay put in Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbour, rest and use up the roast chicken planned for the night before.

With no sign of the weather breaking, mails were sent to bring our Nanny Cay arrival forward by a day and Suzie has come up trumps, securing 5 diesel cans to complement the 3 we already have. This together with the 80 litre bladder (kindly loaned by Barry), should take our diesel capacity from the installed tankage of 500 litres to a total of 750 litres which should extend our motoring range to an acceptable 1500 miles.

No excuses for Barry, he just won’t write !