Sunday
Skipper Jason made this cool panoramic photograph with his drone during our first swim! Thanks, Skipper!
Almost every other year we’ve run trips in the BVI, we get on our yacht in one of the several marinas in Road Harbour. It’s a busy, industrial hub, and the water quality deep in the bay shows it. This year, however, we embarked from Scrub Island marina, a short ferry ride from Tortola. It made provisioning a bit more complicated, but the water quality there was amazing. In fact there was a swimming beach right next to the docks.
Zack and Miriam went shopping for perishables back in Tortola while the rest of us prepped the yacht for guests. I installed our “spliterator” in one of the staterooms, a combination of foam and boards that turns a queen bed into 2 twin beds, one 5” higher than the other and separated by upholstered bumpers. The whole thing packs into a large suitcase with the use of vacuum seal bags. We are very proud of this little invention.
No matter how much we do on Saturday and how much time we think we have on a Sunday morning, we are always running and busy every minute of it and suddenly it’s go time. Guests! First Celine, Genna, Tara, Paul, and Lisa. Then Miriam and finally Susie. Five returning guests and 2 new friends. There’s a lot of information to provide, so we space our talks out over the whole day so as not to overload them. Boat safety, seasick avoidance, typical day talk, and swim safety. I used to have to refer to notes, but after 11 years and over 30 trips, we’ve got it down.
Pulled chicken salad on croissants appeared with a lovely spinach salad. We steamed out of the marina and headed to Monkey point, Guana Island. Our new starting location will change our whole week around from the route we normally take, a welcomed change for us.
Two guides in the water swimming and one on the stand up paddle board with 6 guests (we have 1 non-swimming guest which is pretty typical), we swam along the shore for about 30 minutes before turning back. Captain Jason flew his drone and got some cool aerial shots of us making our way. Celine saw a Southern stingray, harmless and lovely, in deep water, I think she’s going to be our wildlife spotter this week. (Quick note here for Celine’s Mom - her travels were fine and she’s safe and sound with us!) As I watch over everyone from atop the SUP, I see all strong swimmers, a good sign for the week ahead. We climbed back aboard our yacht Barlow after several attempts to retrieve a pair of sunglasses dropped overboard, ending with success as Zack snagged them at a depth of about 35 feet. A quick steam to Muskmelon Bay, still on Guana Island, for our overnight anchor.
Fresh off of SwimVacation Greece, I (Heather) made for a cave across Monkey Bay to check it out. Celine and Zack set to climbing in no time.
Some more cool drone shots from Jason!
The Painkiller is a kissing cousin of the pina colada and the official drink of the BVIs. It served as our happy hour drink, along with pimento cheese and crackers. Dinner was pork loin, broccoli and sweet potatoes with apples and cinnamon, and guests, crew, and guides slipped into beds, bunks, and hammocks for a stormy night.
The rain was on and off, which keeps everyone up a little, closing hatches then reopening them. The stiff breeze was cleansing though, and we woke to the kind of moody morning that Muskmelon so often decides to give us, as it reserves its right to beat us with sun or storm or both in an hour’s swim. That’s just how this bay is. The only thing we know for sure about this morning’s splash is that it will certainly be an adventure, the kind that only Muskmelon can offer.
After watching them yesterday, I think this group is game and ready for it.
Hopper
