Boat Shopping in the B.V.I. Part Three: How a broken fridge led us to our new boat broker!

Waking up to the cool morning air and the gentle lapping of the water on the shore was glorious. I was getting ready to pour my mug of coffee and go sit on deck to enjoy that cool air (because that doesn't last long in the Caribbean), when Jared asks "Hon, do you think the creamer is ok"? Wait, what?
Turns out, the fridge was not cold at all, meaning that we had lost all of our perishable provisions. Not the best thing to wake up to, especially when one is looking forward to that coffee! Jared can drink it black, but not this girl. I need my creamer.

We pulled everything out of the fridge and tossed it into a garbage bag to dispose of once we made it to Nanny Cay. Let's just say that the odor of spoiled fish stuck with that fridge for the remainder of the trip. It was foul!

The charter company said we would need to run our engine for 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the evening to keep the fridge working. We did more than that and it still didn't work. I think it was dying anyway, so no matter how much the batteries were charged, it just couldn't keep up with the heat.

We pulled anchor shortly after a quick breakfast and pointed to bow towards Tortola and Nanny Cay. Yes, the fenders were out because I like to get everything ready before we enter the channel. That's just the teacher in me I guess, always planning ahead.

 An hour or so later, we radioed the marina and received our slip assignment, B6. Once Amethyst was secure and hooked up to shore power (yay for AC), we checked in at the marina office and then headed over to BVI Yacht Sales to meet with a broker who would show us one of the boats on our list.

We liked this guy immediately. Clive knew exactly what we were looking for, has helped other families find their cruising vessel, and despite our current broker not confirming anything with him, he said he would work with us and get us on at least one boat while we were here (we have since decided to work with Clive instead of the original guy, who by the way we STILL have not heard from since before our trip). 

As we were chatting, it started to rain pretty hard. Jared and I had become used to these small squalls and knew they'd pass over in a few minutes. We decided to head out into the boatyard anyway, because you tend to dry off pretty fast in this heat, and the rain wouldn't last too long.

We wound our way though boats up on the hard (stored for hurricane season) and came upon our first boat, a 2009 Leopard 40 catamaran. Leaving our shoes on the wet grass, we climbed up the ladder into the cockpit. It was in ok shape, but turns out, it was an owner's version. Owner's versions only have 3 cabins, and we need 4 (these are called Charter versions). At any rate, it was still fun to tour the boat and get a feel for the size, see how much storage there was, etc. By the time we were climbing down off the boat, the rain shower had turned into quite a downpour. The broker took us over to another boat to stand underneath, but since we were wet anyway, we thanked him for his time and headed to re-stock our provisions and get some ice. We also wanted to check out Island Roots, where we heard was the absolute BEST place to get coffee on the island. Well, who wouldn't want to check that out?

The grocery store is tucked amongst a few small shops near the marina, and we tried to shake off as much water before walking inside. Fortunately, they are used to cruisers coming and going, so we didn't look too strange. We loaded up our packs and headed out to grab a coffee on our way back to the boat. Once we put everything away (we avoided the fridge), into the ice-filled cooler, we headed out with coffees in hand to explore a little more and hopefully find something to bring home to the kids.

We ended up going back to Island Roots. Not for a second coffee, but to purchase these adorable handmade necklaces for the kids. They were little turtles made out of a tree nut, woven string, and beads. Super cute and we always prefer to support the local economy when possible.

It was sprinkling as we walked back to the boat. After checking out of the marina, we untied the dock lines and set sail for the island of Virgin Gorda. Our destination: The Baths. This was our view as we left Nanny Cay. We sailed a route to skirt around the rainstorm and into some sunlight on the other side of the Sir Francis Drake Channel.

En route to Virgin Gorda (leaving the storm behind us) Yes, it seriously was this dramatic of a difference:

The water was like glass...

Approaching The Baths was a different story. Once we were out of the lee of the islands, the swell from the open Caribbean Sea was quite large and we definitely felt a change in the waters. The forecast was large swells for the next few days. As we approached, we noticed the huge surf crashing upon the shore. Guess we wouldn't be snorkeling into the baths from the boat after all...

Note: there was only one other boat moored here. They tried to dingy over to the mooring closest to the entrance, but ended up turning around due to the rough surf.

Jared and I decided to head to Spanish Town and take a slip for the night at the Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbor. It was really rolly out on this mooring and we didn't want to spend the night like that. Of course, we were about to have the scare of our sailing lives entering that harbor...