Summary: We had rough seas and forgot to close the forward hatches, so our bedding got wet.

Monday, May 6th: We couldn't get either burner on the stove to work, so no coffee this morning. We took the dinghy out to the dive site we found the previous evening. We wanted to see where they dove. We never did figure it out. There was great snorkeling there, but we didn't really see where anyone would want to dive. Deeper, a little off the reef, was just a sandy bottom. I fed more fish, but there weren't quite as many in this spot.

We went back to Baby Blues and sailed to Cooper Island Beach Club to moor for the night. As we were getting ready to go ashore, Carl found that we had taken on lots of water in the forward cabin and soaked the bed. This then became �laundry day� as we put all the sheets, bedding and towels on deck to dry.

Then we found that the domestic water wasn't working properly. It would splutter with air in the lines. We tried to switch water tanks, then to switch water pumps. While playing with the water pumps, we heard a lot of sloshing water. It turned out to be the water in the bilge. Apparently, the automatic bilge pump wasn't working either. Later Carl used the manual bilge pump to get the water out. Carl called Tradewinds for help with the water pumps, but they just told us stuff Carl had already tried and said the chase boat wasn't available. Oh well.

We were ready to get on with having fun, so we went ashore to check out the Cooper Island Beach Club. This is a great little place. We thought about staying there, but the ferries don't go all the time. We ended up doing other things, but it's something to think about for next time.

We snorkeled Cistern Point in Manchioneel Bay. This was a really great spot and I fed lots more fish. I really enjoyed playing with the fishes. We got a picture of the Tall Ship anchored near us. I had a really short shower with sputtering water, hoping it wouldn't quit. Carl fixed dinner, a great salad with all the leftovers. No seasickness at all.

"Home" was Baby Blues.

Tuesday, May 7th: We took Baby Blues back to the marina. We had no coffee and Carl took a spluttering shower. Carl used the manual bilge pump again. All the bedding had dried the previous evening, but the floor was still really sloshy. We used towels to get it as dry as we could. Even though Carl called in that we were coming in, nobody was there to meet us and help. The sump pump in one shower was broken, the windlass was intermittent, the domestic water was out, the stove was out, the automatic bilge pump was out, the wind indicator was OK or 180 degrees out, the sheaves were stiff, but other than that we had a great time sailing the Sir Francis Drake Channel. We didn't have to pay the extra 4th day because of the problems. Scott was really embarrassed. He gave us great service, but nobody else there did. We should probably have gone with Sunsail. Lesson learned for next time.

We didn't have a place to stay that night yet, so we got in the car and went checking things out. We drove towards Beef Island and checked out Trellis Bay where at the beginning we were thinking of taking some windsurfing lessons. There wasn't much at Trellis Bay, very primitive.

We worked our way around Tortola Island trying to find a hotel and motorboat charter. We checked at Moorings for motorboat (no luck) and for sailboat next time. Moorings recommended Wickham Cay, 36 ft Benneteau, 3 days minimum, no hotel, airport to boat. We went back to Village Cay in Road Town and found Maria's By the Sea again. We had had breakfast there earlier (2nd day at Prospect Reef). We called M&M Boat Charters (recommended by several people). They had the same price as the Malcolm who had chartered the boat to Bob, but M&M had better boats. We arranged to get a 21 ft Contender with a 150 HP Yamaha for the next 2 days. We got the key that night so we could get an early start the next morning. No seasickness at all.

"Home" was Maria's By The Sea.