Savannah Bay
We anchored in a beautiful spot. Savannah Bay, Virgin Gorda. Entering the bay has to be done cautiously, because a huge coral reef forms a horse shoe shape and many of the coral heads come within a couple feet of the surface. Because of the shallow reef, beautiful waves swell across the bay and empty out onto the 3 gorgeous beaches.
We found the perfect place to go sledding…Caribbean style…
It’s amazing the speed one can reach on a slick boogie board.
Luckily the crash site is the beautiful cool water.
Each of us climbed the dune and took the plunge, raising the board slightly in the front, leaning back and flying down.
Mycah timed it perfectly and hit an incoming wave that sent her airborne.
Aidan tried surfing down. He did well…until he didn’t.
What a beautiful place to enjoy a quiet Saturday. I did laundry, scrubbed my berth and head, and we all worked on projects around our home. There’s always more to fix and more to clean. After playing at the beach I noticed that a black blanket I had washed and hung out to dry, had been blown into the ocean. Mycah and I went looking for it and found it perfectly spread out on the sandy bottom. She wore it as a cape and became Aquagirl!
Jude and I snorkeled the reef for a while. There were so many sea fans. She took this photo of a purple fan next to a healthy crop of fire coral.
We also came across a peacock flounder. I love the way they try lie still, look at us from the side and pretend we don’t see them.
Toward evening time we felt the wind pick up dramatically and some huge swells started coming in. Tanda Malaika sat at anchor in the current at an angle that placed the swells on our beam, and all night long we were rocked like babies. We did let more anchor chain out as the storm grew, just for extra safety sake, and all was well. That doesn’t mean I didn’t wake up every hour to check on things and make sure all was fine, but we were protected and taken care of. I love the app on my phone that tells me if the anchor is dragging. It’s appropriately named “Drag Queen,” and saves me a lot of head ache.
This morning we decided that perhaps it would be a good idea to move to another location that was a little more protected, and sailed around to Prickly Pear Island. The bay here is calm and beautiful.
We explored in the dinghy, and found all sorts of quaint places.
We tied up at the dinghy dock and treated ourselves to lunch.
Bitter End is pretty much just a yacht club and resort, but it was fun to check it out together.
When we returned to where we had Tanda Malaika anchored, we swam in to the beach and while Jude and Mycah did yoga, the twins and I collected shells and played with a ball in the water.
A young turtle surfaced right by the boat. His shell was about the size of a dinner plate.
Tomorrow we will check out of the BVI with customs and immigration, and early on Tuesday morning will begin the 77 nm sail to St Martin. With some luck, Danny will arrive there a few days after we do. We can’t wait to see him.
Adventures of a Tribe 