March 15, 2006

BVI - Tortola, Soper's Hole

Map of Tortola, BVI
We were awakened quite a bit too early for my comfort by a series of excited roosters. Still, it was a beautiful morning and we were soon ready to go. Here's a morning view of the marina from the balcony of our hotel.

Soper's Hole marina, Tortola, BVI
We spent the day acclimatizing to the sun and the warm and exploring the little town of Soper's Hole, perched on Frenchman’s Cay and the nearby main island. We found the two groceries, checked in with the charter, Barecat Yacht Charters, and discussing our plans. There were a number of little shops and restaurants and quite a few people about, so it was interesting to just watch people go by. And, frankly, that's about all we had energy for this day.

The Captain and the Librarian and I had breakfast the Blue Parrot. I had the full English breakfast (of course), but the others ordered the rum French toast. All of us were surprised by what it turned out to be – French toast with a shot of syrup and an accompanying shot of rum. When they say rum around here, they mean it!

The Captain likes to find a local soft drink to take along, to keep the body hydrated and the blood sugar going. In St. Vincent, it was Bitter Lemon. He couldn’t get it here (he tried before we left), so here it was Ting. We bought four cases. We also bought a couple of cases of Red Stripe beer, another fine, Jamaican product.

We finished the evening on the deck outside our hotel rooms watching the sun set on Little Thatch Island, outside the harbor.

The next day we got serious about provisioning for the trip. Prices were what you'd expect in a small town on an island with two stores that cater to visitors who can afford to charter sailboats for a holiday. That helped us to avoid a repeat of the over-purchasing that went on in St. Vincent. The Captain and the charter owner went through the orientation while I listened in, while the rest lugged everything to the dock. About noon, the Captain fired up the motors, we cast off, swung downwind, and headed out of the harbor.

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