Aboard Dignity (Lagoon 420) Blog

Category: Cruiser Connections

  • Day 3 – The Baths and North Sound

    We got up with the sun this morning so we could get to The Baths in good time. We reached The sailing was awesome. We were achieving 8-9 knots while regenerating 10A (at 72V) per motor in about 20 knots of wind. I am in love with this boat. It’s not the fastest one around but she shifts in the wind.

    We did the usual crawl through the rocks at The Baths then climbed up to “The Top of The Baths” a restaurant with the most awesome views. There we had a late breakfast which was simply delicious. It’s easy to think it doesn’t get better.
    We decided not to snorkel around The Baths as we’d all done that before and preferred to wait til later when we could snorkel Eustatia Reef. We therefore sailed all the way to North Sound and eventually moored off of Saba Rock. Again – awesome sailing in 20knots of wind.
    Soon after mooring Tony, who we’d met the previous day, met us at the boat in order to show us where to go on Eustatia Reef for the best snorkeling. We sorted ourselves out and spread ourselves across the two dinghys. With the wight balanced we were both able to race out to the reef planing over the water. The reef was a great location to snorkel with plenty of fish, challenging swell with some interesting objects to spot : we saw a large anchor and an old canon. Makes one think of past times in the Caribbean and how different it all was.Today I conducted a very successful test of my wifi antenna achieving a signal significantly better than ever achieved before with my Belkin antenna. What’s more, I was using my omni antenna which meant the boats motion had no affect. We were moored 1,200 feet off of Saba Rock and I was able to video Skype my parents with no problem.We were due to eat with Tony and his wife Sue but unfortunately Sue hadn’t been feeling too well so she was resting. Tony came over to Dignity at 6pm which we had arranged earlier and we shared a couple of beers.We then had dinner at Saba rock. We all chose the “All You Can Eat” buffet. Good deal for them as our appetites were subdued.

    After dinner we dinghied over to the Bitter End Yacht Club to catch the end their live music and have a bit of a dance.Another great day.

    Day 3 Google Earth Track

  • Day 2 – Scuba & Happy Arr

    Monday morning saw Anne, John and I (Steve) going off scuba diving with Paradise Watersports out of Peter Island. Helen dropped us off in the dinghy and got some good practice with it getting back to Dignity. The two dives we did were called Angel Fish and Pelican (something) both either just off or close to Norman Island. Both were coral dives. The highlight was seeing a seahorse which is very rare in the area.

    After our dives we quickly ate lunch then headed off to Cooper Island for the evening. Unfortunately (or fortunately) the moorings at Cooper Island were all taken and we couldn’t find anywhere to anchor. So we went over to Marina Cay and found that all taken so we went around the corner to Cam Bay where we’ve been before and anchored for the night.John and I took the Dinghy back to Marina Cay to make dinner reservations. We decided to take a look at the bar and found that cheap drinks were only there for another 5 minutes so we figured we should get two each. Then live music started which a guitar playing chap who was very entertaining. Having glugged our beers we went back to fetch Anne and Helen before the live music finished. We found time to polish off a bottle of wine on the boat.

    Back at the “Happy Arr Bar” we were able to see the last 30 mins. We met up with a couple of cruisers, Tony and Sue, whom we got to chatting. We found be were both heading to North Sound the next day so we agreed to meet up for dinner at Saba Rock.
    Dinner was delicious. We had a seat by the balcony overlooking the sea. Perfect.

    Dinghying back and fro from the boat gave us wet bums. Who cares.

    Day 2 Google Earth Track

  • Day 1 – First full day aboard. Peter Island.

    I woke up this morning with the realization we were finally aboard Dignity – our future home. The weather was looking a little miserable but that didn’t matter. While I waited for everyone else to wake up I Skyped my parents who are currently living in South Africa. Video conferencing is a great way to stay in touch. Even better when you have the BVIs as your background.


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  • Day 20 – Peter Island, Willy T’s

    We decided to go to Willy T’s a day early and spend our final night in Marina Cay so there is no rush Saturday morning. We sailed from Cane Garden Bay to the south side of Norman Island. This involved going out into the unprotected seas which we first did back in the USVIs – a long time ago it seems. We didn’t like the look of or the approach to the beach we were heading for so we skipped it and headed to White Bay on Peter Island. This trip blew our previous record out to 30 miles for a single trip. All accomplished in under 4 hours. We ate lunch here, snorkeled and walked the beach. On the way back to the boat there was some interesting sea life to observe. There was a large barracuda skulking beneath the boat – John saw two more nearby. I saw the biggest Eagle Ray I have ever seen. There was also a battalion of squid hanging out nearby. Around 4 we motored round to The Bight in Norman Island. Checking in with Willy T’s we discovered they were only taking cash that evening. We therefore went to Pirates on the other side of the bay for cocktails and appetizers. We then dinghied back to Willy T’s where we had main course, more drinks and dancing. Don’t know how it worked out but we didn’t quite run out of cash.

    While aboard Willy T’s we met Bonnie and Brian from Radio Flyer. An interesting couple.  Hope to meet them again sometime.


    Ben lost $25 over board of which he was able to rescue the $20 by diving in. He also lost a tee-shirt which he could not recover. We have planned a search and recovery mission in the morning for the missing tee-shirt and possibly even the $5.