Forecast: ENE Winds 11-16 knts, seas 5-7’ in NE swells, scattered showers.
I realized that I have been posting the marine forecast each day but it does not include the temperature. So, for those of you that want to know, the forecast temperature is provided for sea level and then for higher elevations and comfort is completely dependent on whether you are in the blazing sun or the ocean breeze. So, the forecast for today was 30C (85F) and we had both, sun and breezes, but no rain whatsoever; another glorious day in paradise.
We got up to this view this morning. There is no cruise-ship dock at Spanish Town so they get to anchor out with the rest of us.
Today was a ‘stay-at-home’ day in that Mowzer didn’t leave the anchorage. We started off early this morning, this time to explore the southern end of Virgin Gorda. We definitely got to see both sides of this part of the island, from the back road tip/excavation pit in the east overlooking the airport to the beautiful palm-tree lined beaches and estates of the getaway homes on the west side of the island. No matter where you look though, giant boulders – some the size of apartment buildings – are scattered all over The Valley (the southern end of VG), and in this case I guess the boulder just couldn’t be removed.
We walked all the way out to Copper Mine Point which was originally excavated for (surprise, surprise) copper by the local natives in the 1400s and then by English (Welsh & Cornish) miners in the 1830s. It is now a preserved ruin but offers stunning views of the much unseen east side of Virgin Gorda.
Walking up to the mine we passed the ‘Home of the world famous sunset’ bar & grill and mini-put. Given the view we certainly understood the bar & grill part, but with the state of the fairways we decided the mini-putt wasn’t going far.
The Baths offered up the usual stunning scenery but was full of two cruise-ships’ worth of French and German passengers which is just too much for this small space.
We made our way on down to the next bay still surrounded by the giant boulders but amazingly there was no-one on the beach there. Just glorious!
Back in Spanish Town we found The Mermaid where we were super-ready for lunch and had the added bonus of watching the water-taxis from the cruise-ships loading up folks to return to the mother-ship. From the guy with the sparkly gold aviators and lace-up Speedo, to various forms of artificial enhancement on the women, to lots of folks just enjoying themselves we quite enjoyed the people-watching while we quietly relaxed on our own schedule at the bar.
Back at Mowzer this evening, we enjoyed our sundowners and waved goodbye to our neighbours. I have a new favourite concoction for just this occasion: Cruzan coconut rum (not Malibu) mixed with half diet coke and half mango-peach juice – yum!
All told today we covered over 10 miles and I can officially say that I am looking forward to a day on the boat tomorrow, with no walking!
With that in mind, the plan is to head up to Anegada tomorrow so we most likely won’t be able to post to the blog until we’re back down this way again. There was no wi-fi when we were there previously but who knows what is there now since both Earl and Irene have been through and I’m sure there has been some rebuilding.
