Thursday: Discoveries

 

Breakfast is a light affair on SwimVacation, leaving room for big swims and the occasional gulp of saltwater. We didn’t want to push our luck with Muskmelon Bay again, so we decided to drop the mooring ball and head east, back to Virgin Gorda. Captain Laila had suggested Savannah Bay for a swim. It’s about half way up along the west side of the island, between other swims we’ve done, but for some reason we’ve never considered this spot. We wouldn’t scout a new swim with just any group, but this one has the mettle. I think they’ve also gained our trust by now, so we plotted a course into the unknown and shoved them off the boat. Circling the bay, the lead group quickly hit a dead-end, where the water gets too shallow to swim. They reversed course, swam back to deeper water, and tried again. And again. The following groups did the same, and for the entire first half of the swim we generally probed the shoreline for clear routes. Our guides mentally map the bay for future swims. The beaches have bright white sand and the reef has some great fish life.

Building off yesterday’s connective swims, many of us teamed up in 2s, 4s, and more for short and long stretches. We lingered in the water, but frittatas were waiting for us aboard. Pulling the anchor, we set sail for the first time this week. Up till now, we’ve been travelling upwind, and motoring everywhere. With the engine off and a breeze behind us, we had a comfortable sail to Norman Island, where we had a surprise planned.

We didn’t arrive in Privateer bay until about 4pm, which would have squeezed us for time if we did a daylight swim, so we planned a dusk swim into the Norman Island caves. We have these little waterproof green and red blinking lights that fit onto goggle straps, which are perfect for this kind of thing. With a couple of waterproof flashlights, we swam deep into the 3 caves as the sun sank beneath the horizon and darkness swept over the bay. We all stuck pretty close to each other and got back to Promenade with another unique swim behind us.

The obligatory frozen cocktail appeared, music played, conversation filled the cockpit. All week we’ve had both vegetarian and omnivorous options at all meals, I can only speak for the omnivores: the grilled pork loin was delicious.

All this sun and swimming is catching up with us, and most guests are on their pillows before 10. A small crew party enjoyed some Moscow mules. Some hearty souls hit Willy T’s, the notorious floating bar. We’ll see how they look in the morning……

- Hopper