In my first blog I said, “The weather in the BVI is said to be nothing but sunshine and temps in the 80s with reliable easterly trade winds.”

Wrong.

Today it was cloudy all day with rain off and on, heavy at times, winds gusting from the southwest and west up to 23 knots. Not at all what the BVI Chamber of Commerce promised. But, as they say, we made lots of really good lemonade out of the mess.

To start, the winds were very favorable for sailing. So instead of heading to Salt Island for snorkeling over an old ship wreck, we hoisted sails and set course on a beam reach (wind perpendicular to our course) and sailed just for the fun of it. We could see rain squalls in many quadrants so it soon became a game of dodging the rain. In all, we put in a good three hours with the sails full. Eventually Captain Jeff assumed command position next to Nana on the upper deck lounge chairs, directing Carter and me as we manned the helm and trimmed the sails. A great time was had by all.

Eventually the wind started gusting and the rain started catching up with us so we dropped sails and set off toward Salt Island. Conditions improved and once again we opted for sailing rather than motoring. Eventually we did get to Salt Island where Carter and I, now experienced hands at dropping anchor, learned the technique for picking up and attaching a mooring ball to the boat.

By then it was lunch time so I boiled up some hotdogs and we had a dog-and-chip meal in the boat’s cabin with the air conditioner running. 

Rain squalls continued to hit us now and then, becoming fairly steady by 3 PM. Jeff, Carter and I set out in the dinghy to snorkel the wreck of the RMS Rhone. She was wrecked off the coast of Salt Island in the British Virgin Islands on 29 October 1867 in a hurricane, killing 123 people. The Rhone was a two masted, iron-hulled steam-sailing vessel that served the Southampton-Brazil route. The wreck is submerged in 50 feet or so of water but much of it is visible from the surface. Today it is one of the most popular dive sites in the Caribbean.

Jeff and Carter made the swim; I elected to stay in the dinghy given the strong current and swells and also given the fact that I forgot to leave my glasses and hearing aides behind. Ah, the agony of old age.

Afterwards, the question was whether to take off in heavy winds and strong rain or to hunker down hoping for better weather. Our overnight goal: Spanish Town on Virgin Gorda island. The weather radar on my phone showed no break in the storms for some time so off we went, this time under motor power. An hour of cruising in heavy rain and seas later we arrived in only light rain and not-to-bad winds and dropped anchor along with others. The rain has let up, the sun broke through a while ago and so we’re going to set off for dinner ashore.

The trip to the restaurant was quite pleasant early evening sunlight. The climb up from the dinghy to the pier was a challenge but we made it. Dinner was great: Asian food with a steak for Carter. Nice sunset. Then back down into the dinghy, motoring through the dark to Casbah III right where we left her. 

Now for some games and sleep. We’re getting our sea legs; the rocking of the boat is quite relaxing and I swear, the restaurant was rocking back and forth even though it’s on solid ground.