We keep getting ready to head into the BVI but we've been in a bit of a social whirl for the last few weeks. We received word that Dave (on Banyan) would be celebrating a birthday in Maho Bay, so off we took ourselves to the North Shore. On the appointed weekend a good number of crews convened and the birthday celebration, including painkillers on the beach and a competitive round of bocce ball ensued.
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| Maho was picture perfect for a birthday celebration. Cheers Dave! |
After a few days of lounging on the beach we were in need of some more "leg-stretching", so we headed off with Banyan back to the south side. First stop was an overnight in Hansen Bay followed by a visit to Salt Pond and a hike up to Ram Head. We even fit in another visit to the 'grotto' on Drunk Bay.
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| Mowzer & Banyan rolling in the swell of Salt Pond. |
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| Alex & Dave checked out the cobblestone anchorage as the wind attempted to blow us off the cliffs. |
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| Henry say, "Yep, it's a long way down". |
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| Beauty and the beast. |
Right behind Salt Pond Bay is (surprise, surprise) a salt pond. The hike to Drunk Bay takes you right around the salt pond and this time I took more note of the pond itself. The tell-tale smell that gets in the back of your nose is typical of all salt ponds, the red colour is from an algae that grows in the pond, and the bird life is quite different in this protected area compared to the rugged seashore.
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| The red colour was as intense as any of the blues we see in the ocean. |
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| This little wading bird stood on the rock bobbing his head at us... |
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| ... And then he was gone. |
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| This time in the grotto, we found an anatomically correct mermaid. |
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| And a dinosaur dog? |
The winds have been blowing pretty relentlessly for the last few weeks and one particular morning I noticed our flag at the back of the boat had tied itself up in knots. Time to change out our colours and look a little more respectable.
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| Off with the old, faded with tattered stitching and frayed corners. |
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| On with the new - looks much better. |
Dave and Alex have introduced us to a new game of Wizard so we have enjoyed our evenings battling it out over a deck of cards. Henry happily took his first game last night but I, as with most card games, am still on the learning curve. Not to be outdone, we dragged Dave & Alex over to Lameshur Bay and up to the top of Bordeaux Mountain. "Sure Dave, we're almost at the top," became the mantra, but we did get to enjoy the view and a cold smoothie once we'd climbed up the Reef Trail to the Centerline Road.
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| A yummy mango smoothie with a good dollop of whipped cream - did we earn it on the hike today? You bet we did! |
Now, we bid adieu to Banyan and we turn our sights onto the wind predictions for the next couple of weeks. There has been talk of a moderation in the winds on Monday/Tuesday for making the eastward hop to St. Martin but to be honest I just don't see it right now. We're going to keep our eye on that little patch of blue that is poking its head up around the 20th and hope that it stays in the forecast for us. That looks like a much more comfortable way to travel 80 miles dead to wind.
