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We headed East, up wind, in the morning. See the daily map.
After a short sail, we loitered for a bit on the West side of Salt island, the wreck of the RMS Rhone site. There were several dive boats tied up and plenty of traffic, so we decided to leave and continue on to Cooper island. The wreck is really too deep to be seen by snorkelers anyhow. We arrived at Cooper island, tied up for the evening, and went ashore.
Looking North, we snorkeled in the rocks at the far end of this point.
Looking South. Some of our best snorkeling was in some rock formations at the end of this beach.
Cooper Island Beach Resort has very nice facilities, including homemade ice cream which we all sampled, a nice shop where June and Sherlyn bought new snorkels. After a couple hours of snorkeling, we...
...lounged in the late afternoon sun...
...took showers on the transom...
...and went ashore for drinks and dinner with Peter and Sofie.
Later, we would invite them to our boat for more drinks and conversation comparing the relative life styles in the US vs. Belgium.
The following morning we had a short sail downwind to Tortola harbor and Sunsail base. We all fretted a repeat 'pinball' performance entering the busy harbor. Just outside the marina, I called base on the VHF and told them we would like valet service into the marina. They told us 'meet at Dock C'. As planned, we approached Dock C and found two young men waving us to pull alongside a beautiful long yacht, where they would jump aboard. Steve motored in gingerly, they jumped aboard, and our sailing adventure was over. These guys put on a show for us, (thrusting, backing, docking) like they were born to it, and they probably were. True professionals.
We cleaned up, carted our left-over provisions to Gambus, said our goodbyes, and eventually boarded the taxi and ferry to St. Thomas where we would spend four more nights.
Videos:
Last Sail - to Tortola from Cooper Island
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Miscellaneous
Onboard Sightings