We learned a lot of lessons today – mostly involving diesel. Our plan for today was to head back to the BVIs. If the evening forecast was good we had an option to go to Great Tobago where we had an uninterrupted view to the west. We would have a chance to see a sunset over the sea and perhaps a green flash. The weather forecast wasn’t good so we changed our plans to stay at Soper’s Hole on Tortola. To check out of USVI we had to go back to Cruz Bay. We decided to top off with water and diesel, drop off our trash and pick up groceries before checking out. First stop was the fuel / water dock. I bear full responsibility for what happened next. What I wanted to happen was that, in an organized fashion we’d fuel, put on water and drop off the trash in a quick fashion before leaving the fuel dock where we could anchor then go get the groceries. I didn’t brief everyone on what I wanted to happen so what actually happened is everyone went off doing their own thing. While I struggled to get the things we needed done, done, I took my eye off the diesel going into the boat. The next thing was that we had diesel spurting all over the cockpit floor which got everywhere. We then spent a lot of time cleaning up diesel from the boat and the water. Helen’s view was that I simply should have kept my eye on the nozzle. My view was that I should have made sure everyone knew what they should be doing. Both views are right of course. The sail back to the BVIs was upwind but we polished of the miles in good order.
Soper’s Hole was quaint but we decided to eat over the bay in a restaurant called The Jolly Roger. We had a waterside table and fed ourselves as the sun went down. There was live music and Sam got an opportunity to play on the keyboard for the guests. He was frustrated by a lack of a pedal but did a reasonable job of it.
