March 28: Day 3
We woke up anchored off Anegada this morning, a gentle breeze blowing for the first time in 2 days. The water here is a little hazy, the price we pay for the very fine white sand beach. We often skip the swim on Wednesday mornings to let our guests recover a little, but decided a brief swim would be a great chance to work on the concepts guide Dave introduced to them last night. He prescribed four trips to the beach and back to the boat, each with a different concept to think about: balance, streamline, propulsion, and the last one all of them combined. Improvements are immediate.
Guest Carol (we have 2 Carols this trip) is a former olympian. She swam for the Canadian team in the 80s as a sprinter. As with most olympic swimmers I have met, she is very modest about her achievements, so it takes some coaxing to get her to tell us about her olympic experiences. She's working on lengthening her stroke up a bit after years of sprinting/pool swimming. Carol and I have been trading emails for 4 years, and she finally pulled the trigger. In part to celebrate a major birthday, Carol enlisted her friend Janie to join her on this trip. Janie didn't come down here to swim; she's not a competitive swimmer, nor does she routinely swim for exercise, but it seems like
every time I jump in the water, there she is swimming next to me with a mask and snorkel. Both Carol and Janie lend this relaxed, ready for fun and adventure presence aboard.
Carol & Janie try to have a good time...
Pancake breakfast post-swim, then we set a spinnaker and sailed south. While underway, we trolled with 3 fishing rods. Almost all at once, all 3 screamed as line spooled out with fish on the hook. The first caught was a black fin tuna. Second was a beautiful mahi-mahi, iridescent green and full of fight; it almost knocked guide Heather down as she was taking photos. Third was a barracuda that was quickly released.
Mahi mahi catch, bonito sashimi. A good day of fishing under weigh!
We stopped for a brief and spectacular dive / snorkel on the Chikuzen. Dave & Carol get up close to a barracuda.
We sailed to the Baths at Virgin Gorda; an iconic SwimVacation location where we swim between giant boulders that line the white sandy shore. Even thought the water was a little bumpy, our guides expertly led our guests through the bubbly crevasses.
Spinnaker run from Anegada to the Baths.
Back aboard for Painkillers (local drink) and sashimi made from the tuna we caught earlier, followed by a dinner of the mahi-mahi we caught. We're anchored just off of Beef Island tonight, the breeze gently rocking the boat, the boat gently rocking us to sleep.
-Hopper