Today was another day when things didn’t go according to plan but that turned out great after all. We pulled up stakes this morning and headed for The Baths, a cave structure that can be explored on foot and snorkeling. We arrived around 9 AM only to find that all mooring balls were occupied. This is a day mooring field, meaning that all dozen or so balls had been claimed early. Anchoring is not allowed. We and another five boats circled like SUVs at the mall on Black Friday hoping someone would pull out. After a while it became clear that no had the slightest inclination to leave so we executed Plan B.

The weather forecast called for winds of 5 to 10 MPH, not ideal for sailing in the Casbah III but in fact we found winds in the 10 to 12 MPH range, adequate for some fun so up went the sails and off we went Great Dog, and island an hour or so distant. The Dog Islands were so named when someone mistook the barking of seals for the barking of dogs. Go figure.There we found mooring balls available. We donned flippers and masks and went for a swim. It was maybe 50 yards to the rock-bound shore. There we found interesting marine growth on the bottom and a fair variety of fish. I tried firing up my underwater iPhone rig which proved to be, shall we say, a learning experience. No, I didn’t get the phone wet but we’ll wait for next time for pictures.

Next, a combo sail and motor run to Saba Rock resort. Saba rock is an acre-and-a-half island in the middle of a large bay that has a few hotel rooms and a very nice restaurant that served as our lunch stop. The resort was destroyed by Hurricane Irma in 2017 and reopened in 2021 completely rebuilt. It’s a fun destination.

Again the winds were favorable so we headed off for our evening stopping point at Scrubb Island, a small island within sight of the Tortola airport on Beef Island. The island sports a nice harbor with $40 per night mooring balls and a Marriott restaurant. We begged the Marriott folks to rustle up our dinner which, for modest fee, they did.

I’m not sure how were going to get a good nights sleep tonight. The waters in this harbor are calm and the boat is handling rocking at all.