10th epilogue

10th Epilogue
That was the best swim, and the best shower I have had on this trip. The water, the climate, has been getting warmer as I move west. As we moved across the Atlantic it noticeably got warmer, and it is warmer here than Antigua and Saint Martin. Here it is summertime hot. The deck can be hot enough to be too hot to stand on barefooted. The water is 81 degrees, really nice. I am the world's biggest wimp when it comes to getting into cool water, and this water is great for swimming. And then the shower: Most boats have a water heater in which the engine cooling water heats the boat's shower water. A year or so ago I removed that water heater because it was more than 10 years old, and if it failed I would lose cooling water to the engine. What I have now is a garden hose laying on top of the engine. It works so well I am thinking about ways to make it into a permanent installation. But with the ocean water at 81 degrees a "hot" shower is not really necessary.
And this is also the best anchorage I have had on this trip. I am tucked in behind Mountain Point, north of Spanish Town, Virgin Gorda. There is no wind, and there is almost no boat movement, and no current. I guess all that is what made the swim so good. I am sharing it with two other boats, a French sailboat smaller than Advent, a charter boat a little larger than Advent, and a catamaran mega-yacht sailboat that must be 100 feet long. It is calm enough to wash the boat hull (topsides)and remove the inevitable rust stains. This is the kind of anchorage I have been wanting for the past six months.
Reef Early
Bill Doar
s/v Advent II