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DATE: November 30, 2006
LOCATION: Little Harbor, Peter Island

Left Sophers hole this morning in a 30 knot easterly to meet Quest at the south side of Peter Island, a little cut called Little Harbor, not to be confused with Little Harbor on Jost Van Dyke. Sophers hole was colorful, busy, and manufactured for the tourist, not my kind of place but it is what the Caribbean has become. At least anyplace in the Caribbean within a cab ride of where the cruise ships can get to.

It would be unfair and inaccurate to dismiss places like Sophers hole as Ònot localÓ Tourists including me are on an eternal quest to find the good ÒlocalÓ places. Well, it seemed like all the shops in Sophers hole were at least managed by the locals and probably a good many of them were owned by local interests. Cruise ships disgorge 3 or 4 thousand people a day in this part of the world. The locals saw a gold mined and set about mining it. So what's local?

Later in the day I closed on little harbor with my sharpened anchor wondering what I was going to do if it wouldn't set. Luckily Chris and Louise met me in their dingy and took a stern line to shore while I backed down on the anchor, praying it would set before I backed all the way into the rocks. Wonder of wonders the thing grabbed, swung the boat to the anchor and after a little fiddling with the stern lines all seemed well. Later I put on snorkel and fins to inspect the anchor and found that the useless hunk of metal was snagged precariously on some light line, a quarter inch of old nylon was holding me 15 feet from serious trouble.

I quickly jumped in the dingy and motored out with a too small Bruce anchor that is most often used as a Òlunch hookÓ I pulled hard on the rode and it felt like the little Bruce set immediately. Its still blowing 30 over the tops of the hills in this little cove and occasionally a gust will spill down the hills and swirl around like crazy. Wont be much sleep for me tonight, single-handed anchor watches can be a bitch. I know one thing for sure as soon as I get back to Road Town I am going to buy that little Bruce's big brother.

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