But as you know from our last news, this follows a period of 'not so plain sailing' ...
We have somewhat recovered from the torrid time we had spent living in the boat yard where a number of additional bumps have been gained ... to our skin ... from the mosquitoes ...
We had left Wickham Cay for Deadman's Bay off Peter Island where we lazed around to the motion of the ocean and enjoyed the cool breeze flowing through open hatches.
The season seems to be warming up for a 'busy one' as there are many yachts out on the water already (following hurricane season ... well yet another 3 weeks to go when it officially ends) ... turtles have returned in full swing from laying eggs on far away beaches. Ana and I have observed some really small turtles no bigger than a small saucer ...
I cannot tell you how happy we were to be back at our beautiful Deadman's Bay off Peter Island ...
We could feel the odd tug at the anchor and it seemed we were in for some weather ... a bit of rain ...
We had Chris, Jules and the two children come down and visit us for an afternoon ... Chris is an ex-South African managing all things technical on Peter Island and is a super friend to us!
We had a good chuckle as, despite the rain they dived from Impi and swam about in Deadmans Bay and of course the kids were having great family time with mum and dad!
We smiled as the kids ran about and jumped in the water before becoming 'pirates' swinging from anything resembling a rope on the boat ... something I think they learnt to do from the Fehrsen kids on board Champolion.
Ana kept her eye on the situation as with rain and slippery decks things can get out of hand pretty quickly ...
As the late afternoon held off evening, we observed beautiful rainbows as sunlight dazzled a blizzard of colour off the moisture in the atmosphere ...
Evening came too soon and rainbows were replaced by the rising of a beautiful moon which sported it's magnificence as it glistened and dazzled rays off the water
We also thoroughly enjoyed meeting up with a fellow cruiser who we had previously met at the boat yard with his catamaran 'Living The Dream'.
It was fantastic to be socializing, eating and drinking away the evening together.
Joel lives part time in the USA and part time at cruising and is an incredibly interesting fella who is returning to complete his very exciting project which at this stage remains 'Top Secret' ... a flying car! Hang on South Africa, if this is successful in the USA I am keen to be involved in the distributorship of this baby there!
Anyway, Deadman's Bay has now been a bay where we have met many, many great people ... let's not forget our new and good friend John Perry sailing these waters on his catamaran 'Stingo' ...
John is as interesting a fella as you will find out there ... he sails solo with his cat and has been working on his website 'Desperate Sailors' which he hopes to become a truly interactive site for cruisers to share skills and hook up with one another.
We will be leaving these islands later this month ... for the Bahamas, so we decided to make the most of our limited time here and sail around the various islands of the BVI's again. We lifted anchor and set sail for Sopers Hole to fill up the diesel tanks ... we find the diesel is far cheaper here than in Road Town.
Having filled up with diesel and stocked the boat with some essentials we headed out for the beach we absolutely love ... White Bay off Jost Van Dyke.
The beach is magnificent ... of course there is the famous and friendly 'Soggy Dollar Bar' which makes this place incredibly busy, but in the evenings we find the anchorage vacated and are generally the only boat left to spend the night here ... the mornings are also pretty quiet.
Late this afternoon Ana and I packed towels and a change of clothing as well as the cameras and swam from Impi to shore as we wanted to celebrate Millie's (daughter) birthday at Soggy Dollar Bar.
Knowing Millie, this would definitely be the place she would hang out with her friends being the social butterfly we know her to be. We really missed her company but know that she is in good hands with her friends in Leamington Spa in the UK.
Soggy Dollar Bar is always such a jovial place offering many varieties of drinks as well as their 'Painkiller Rum'. These concoctions run at about $6.00 per drink and judging by the many visitors who took us in as instant friends, they are pretty lethal!
Ana missing raises a 'glass or two' on Millie's birthday ... missing her a lot !!!
So ... Millie ... if you are reading this news just know that we thought of you all day today ... we swam to shore, dried ourselves with towels and dressed on the beach so we could spend many an hour celebrating your day! When darkness fell we ventured back to the sea and swam back to Impi in the darkness of night ... quite something for mum who usually won't set one toe into the water after dark because the fish tend to be feeding at that time ;)
I took this photo just as the sun had caressed the day into the history books of time ... taken from Soggy Dollar Bar
We are happy to be cruising the BVI islands yet again ... I think we may stay another night or two at White Bay ... it really is a beautiful place ... especially when one wakes in the morning to the sound of birds and the hiss of water as the ocean rushes up the beach and pauses a while before retreating back into the turquoise blue!
Impi at anchor just off the beach at White Bay this morning
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