Log of the s/v Pure Indulgence
January 12-19, 2002


January 12

	Tammy Ender, Brian Proctor, Jean, Alec and I met Sara Werner
in Chicago and flew on to Tortola on our most uneventful trip to the
Carribean so far even though we were subjected to multiple searches
and Jean had her corkscrew confiscated.  It was odd to arrive in
daylight!

	We boarded our boat, another Jeaneau 52.5, named Pure
Indulgence and found her already stocked as we requested.  She's a
newer boat than the one we chartered last year and better rigged.  The
charter base is quite busy with perhaps 10-12 boats leaving tomorrow
morning.  We need our boat and chart briefings, to provision, and we
should be off by noon.

January 13

	Sunsail is indeed busy this week -- there were 24 people at
the chart briefing.  Their busyness slowed us down a bit in the
morning, but Sara and Tammy had time to go grocery shopping, Alec
McLube'd all the tracks, and we had a cursory boat briefing.  The
stove is hard to light but everything else (but the speedo) seems to
be working fine.

	We left Maya Cove reaching toward Ginger Island while Alec
worked on sail trim.  We tacked only once across the east end of
Tortola with Brian practicing his driving.  Jim's navigation nearly
put us on the rocks west of Marina Cay, so he jibed the boat
(accidentally) and we made for Trellis Bay where we needed to pick up
Brad Ender and Laura Lashley anyway.

	We dinghied ashore to find that the Last Resort was closed,
there was no place to watch the Packer game (Sara was disconsolate),
and Brad and Laura's bag hadn't made it from San Juan.  Thank God!  A
trip starting without any travel/luggage hassles would have been a bad
omen.

	Needing to find a place to eat dinner, Alec and crew took our
yacht over to the moorings behind Marina Cay while Jim and Brad waited
for luggage and had a wet dinghy ride across.  Alec found the last
available mooring ball which was surprisingly close to the reef.

	We had two for the price of one Painkillers at the hotel bar
(which I think is in the original building described in My Virgin
Island).  A fine dinner followed, and we all made it safely back to
the boat.  Alec taught Sara how to play 500, but most of the crew
retired by 10pm.  Our mooring proved to be a bit rolly, but everyone
must have slept alright because I'm the only one up to see the dawn!
(Alec has decided that every boat needs a designated "old guy" who
gets up too early).

January 14

	We breakfasted on eggs, sausage and potatoes prepared by Brad,
who may become the designated "Wendy" on this trip.  Sara has proposed
an old nickname, "Sadie", but otherwise whe haven't assigned any
pirate names yet.

	We had a leisurely departure around the reef at Marina Cay and
reached up and around the Dogs.  With Brian at the helm and Alec
tweaking the sails we got this tub moving at over 9 knots!  We picked
up the only National Park Bouy to be seen on the west side of George
Dog (and it had a badly frayed painter) and dinghied around the point
to a nice beach with great snorkeling in the lee.  The coral was
exceptional and small fish abundant.  Tammy also saw a big parrot fish
and yellow sea fans.  Laura fixed sandwiches as we sailed to the North
Sound.  We motored in since the course of 145 degrees magnetic was at
the limit of our pointing ability.  Our mooring was waiting for us
near the "Fat Virgin".  The burgers, drinks and prices were as good as
Alec remembered but the showers were a big disappointment.  We all
coped and everyone slept better.

January 15

	Today was a lay day.  Brad and Laura took a "resort course" in
SCUBA diving at the Bitter End.  Jean and Sara took the dinghy to Gun
Creek to reprovision.  Jim and Alec rented Lasers to sail around the
Sound.  They were a blast and we both got very wet -- Alec claims he
was faster and dumped fewer times and he may be right.  We both looked
more competent sailing in than going out.  In the afternoon, Brad,
Laura, Brian and Tammy did a shallow (40') dive off Seal Dog.  It was
Laura's first time and she enjoyed it very much (and she may have
earned herself the pirate name "Bubbles" since she kept floating to
the top).

Other pirate "nominations":

	Brad -- "Goldy" for his personality's resemblance to a golden
		retriever;
	Jean -- "Tiller the Killer" after bruising Sara;
	Sara -- "Sadie the Scavenger"

	Alec and Jim attended the Anegada flotilla meeting and then we
all used the ferry to have dinner on Saba Rock.

January 16

	We were off our mooring by 8am this morning but were unable to
get water or croissants from the Bitter End because they don't open
that early.  We rendezvoued with Cpt Glen from Sunsail (his motto:  "I
never drink on land") and nine other boats to form a flotilla for the
sail to Anegada on a course of 10 degrees magnetic.   The sail was
uneventful and the entrance to the harbor clearly marked, but you must
stand off to the west to enter safely even though (especially because)
you see the east end of the very flat island first and the reef
extends a long, long way out.

	We again found a mooring and Alec stayed behind while the rest
of us took a jitney across the island to snorkel at Loblolly Bay.
It's a beautiful long beach of white shell sand, but the surf was
crashing over the protective reef enough to make swimming a challenge.  

	We had the obligatory lobster dinner at the hotel and agreed
on an early start the next morning so Tammy and Brian can dive on the
Rhone.

January 17

	We were up and out of the harbor before 7am this morning
despite Jim's experiment with plowing sand with the keel.  We didn't
have as much wind or boatspeed as yesterday as we reached along at 210
degrees to meet the dive boat off Cooper Island.  They wouldn't wait
for us, but the day was saved when we sailed directly to the Rhone at
10:15 and they weren't even in the water yet.  Brian decided not to
dive out of concern for a bruised and cramping leg, but Jim and Brad
snorkeled over the wreck.  While we were there, several other dive
boats arrived which made the hassle of scheduling even more
frustrating.

	Our plan was to meet Tammy back at Cooper Island and that was
wise because we found the last mooring bouy just before noon.  The
afternoon was for beach time although Jim was still too antsy and
rented a kayak to snorkel from Colision Point back to the boat.  Alec
was even more ambitious, inventing a drink the mental health
professionals dubbed "Alec-othymia" -- one drink and you don't feel
anything!

So Jim said I needed to write about my diving on the Rhone -- so here
it is... WOW!

We descend to the bow and she resembled something the size of a truck
tipped on her side and we moved along her stern -- encrusted with 100+
years of coral; she resembled a wall similar to those deep walls in
Cozumel.  About where she broke it obviously appeared to be a great
opening with many parts of the superstructure fallen dwon within the
"disco".  The mast lay to the north and appeared to go out to infinity
with a diameter of five feet (?).  We then swam to the stern portion
which because of the boiler explosion that sunk her seemed to be in
several LARGE pieces.  I did several swim throughs many filled with
schools of jacks, trunkfish and the largest Queen Angel I have seen
yet (almost as big around as the mast where she was seen).  At one
swim through my dive master pointed out below me the propellor -- at
this point in total shock at it's size (about 20 feet) I dropped my
jaw in shock -- of course the regulator fell out -- this has never
happened before, folks.  Our swim throughs continued and the boiler
appeared to be the size of the salon in the 50' boat we are in.  We
saw an assortment of wrasse, barracuda, jacks and other divers -- we
ended the 80+ foot dive ascending after about 50 minutes -- truly one
of the most remarkable dives for me to date -- one to do again and
again....

Video to follow!

						
January 18

Thursday night in Manchoneel Bay was rainy with heavy, hard showers
that drove Alec from the deck to the saloon.  After breakfast on
board, we reached toward Spanish Town.  I couldn't reach the marina by
VHF but we decided to go in anyway.  Just as we were furling the
mainsail, another heavy shower blew in soaking all the deck crew.  We
were assigned a slip and everyone seemed to enjoy the luxury of being
able to step off the boat whenever they pleased and to go their
separate ways.  Jean went shopping while Sara and I followed Brian,
Tammy, Brad and Laura to the Baths.  The beach was a little crowded
but calm -- it would have been the place for Jean to get more
snorkeling experience.  Brian was a little hesitant about the hike
through "the cave" to Devil's Beach, but everyone agreed it was
worthwhile.  There was also general agreement in appreciating the
shower facilities -- the best we've found in the BVI.  Brad and Laura,
Tammy and Brian opted for romantic dinners a deux, but both couples
ended up at a place called "The Rock" while the remainder of our crew
walked down the street to "Chez Bamboo."  Unfortunately we were all
too tired to enjoy it or any of the many other places offering live
music on a Friday night.  On the whole, Virgin Gorda seemed greener
and the flowering bushes more luxuriant than on previous visits.


January 19

We left Spanish Town about 7:30 this morning, unfortunately too early
to get fresh croissants for breakfast, but our charter ends at 11am
and we hadn't confirmed flights home yet.  We broad reached under
genoa only and made good time.  After Jim dropped (and recovered) a
fender, we found the Sunsail marina as busy as we'd left it.  As a
result our exit briefing was even shorter than our orientation, but I
told them of our two problems and they gave me the deposit back.  We
made it to the airport in plenty of time which was a good thing since
I left my portfolio with this log and other important documents
(passport, traveler's checks and plane tickets) at the Sunsail office.
They and our cab driver were very efficient getting them back to us,
but the crew is saying that Pinktoe is getting too senile to plan
another cruise!


Well, as predicted, I refused to have any fun.  One must immediately
discount, of course, diving with Tamara and her brother and Laura on
Brad and Laura's first dive.  And of course the beautiful weather
(most of the time, anyway).  Surely the numerous excellent meals are
just a ploy on the part of the Captain to force us into confessing a
propensity for enjoyment of this trip.  Likewise the sailing,
especially getting the Pure Indulgence up to 9.2 knots on a starboard
reach.  Then, if one must, toss out the snorkeling on George Dog and
watching the various flora and fauna there.  After rejecting all of
these annoying intrusions, I can honestly say that I kept my goal of
not having any fun.  Brian