Today, we had booked a boat trip with Day Trips BVI, about 10 minute's drive over to Soper's Hole Marina.
It was a beautiful morning to enjoy the view from the bathroom. Both bedrooms on this side of the villa have a "Sea View Shower". Not everyone was a fan of the concept. 🤷♂️
The weather on our side of the island was decent, but there were cloud rolling in as we left just before 9 AM.
Over at the marina, it was starting to drizzle as we found our captain for the day, Kina, heading back up to the office.
The boat trip includes an optional snorkeling component, which piqued the interest of four of us; we had to get fitted for fins, first. Incredibly, they had sizes ranging from "Sabrina" to "Steve", and everything in between.
We all huddled under the bimini top to receive the safety briefing, which included memorable parts like "under there is where the electrical bits are", "if you see me put on a life jacket, that means you should too", and "if for some reason I'm not in the boat and you need help, we use channel 16 on the radio in BVI".
Having learned all that we needed to know, we launched out of the marina just after 9:30 AM, heading for Jost Van Dyke. This is the island that we can see across the water from the villa.
We quickly left the rain behind, and had beautiful weather ahead.
Our first stop was in the bay between Jost Van Dyke and Little Jost.
We docked at the pier in front of Foxy's Taboo around 10 AM, "for a short hike" as Kina put it.
Just a short way down the coast from Foxy's, we found the... mural sign? I'm going to call it. It seemed like a perfect place for a group photo, and Kina was happy to play photographer.
Our destination was the Bubbly Pool, near the reef that connects Jost to Little Jost.
The rough surf of the open Atlantic spills over the rocks at the opening, sending a frothy wave through the pool (making it "bubbly").
Jeanne and Kina supervised from a safe distance, yelling as us to not go too far out.
We pressed our luck, but didn't get knocked around by any huge swells. They're violent enough to be heard coming up the small canyon, giving us plenty of time to retreat.
After spending about 15 minutes at the pool, we turned and headed back to Foxy's Taboo. Along the way, there were some goats. They didn't seem concerned as I approached, at all.
11 AM seemed a little early for a refreshing adult beverage, but the sun was already brutal, and we'd been sheltered from the breeze for a bit of the walk back. When in BVI, one must have a Painkiller.
Back at the boat, we boarded and set a course for White Bay, where we could get some lunch.
En route, we did a float-by of the tiny Sandy Cay (another island we can see from the villa),
We discussed a quick swim to the beach, but Captain Kina deemed it too rough to be worth the trouble. No other boaters were daring enough to try, either; the beach was empty.
Over at White Bay beach, we anchored and prepared for a swim to shore.
The "swim to shore" part is what gives the Soggy Dollar (bar) its name, and it was our first stop, just before noon.
Another round of Painkillers for me and Steve. Rudy had an elaborate Bloody Mary.
The freshly-ground nutmeg is serious business, here.
After quenching our thirst and exploring the gift shop, we sauntered over to Hendos Hideout for some lunch. The service was slow, but the food was good. As we had done on previous trips, everyone had Mahi, and I had a burger.
Next up, we sped around the western tip of Tortola (below), past the East End of St. John (USVI), heading to Norman Island for some snorkeling.
Some billionaire (or at least his boat) was anchored just off Treasure Point.
The attraction for snorkeling is the reef/wall along the bottom of this cliff, and the three caves.
Sabrina, Rudy, Steve, and I flopped over the side of the boat for some underwater photography. Jeanne and Lauren decided to sit this one out, and enjoy Kina's company instead.
The area around the cave mouths had the usual variety of corals and tropical fish.
There was also some unusual, purple... algae? in one of the caves. And a spotted eel, peeking out from under the ledge.
I later asked our captain what these blue/purple and orange fish were; she knew, but I forget what it was. [Edit: she called it a fairy basslet]
There were several large schools of fish roaming around, eager to get away from snorkelers.
Steve and I explored all of the caves.
More purple algae.
This was my view, as I followed Steve out of the cave. If desktop backgrounds were still A Thing, I think this would be a nice one.
This was the first time I'd seen an "underwater scooter" in the wild. I heard it before seeing it; they make a high-pitched whine. The thing was hauling two passengers through the ocean at a decent speed.
The coral was much better here. Steve and I did a lap through the reef and around the islands.
There were some sheer walls on the far side from where we started, but the visibility was worse over there.
We found a school of fish that was not shy at all (I think they're Bar Jack); it felt like we could almost reach out and pet them. Steve may have tried, in fact.
I like to think that this one looks like the fish are attacking him, and he's fleeing.
And then in this one, he's about to catch one of them.
We might've only spent an hour in the water, but it was strangely exhausting.
We got back to Soper's Hole just after 4 PM, having spent almost 8 hours exploring the waters around Tortola.
There was a small grocery store at the marina, so we stocked up on a few more essentials, and then headed back to the house.
After unloading the car, our wet.. everything, and the groceries, I strung the hammock up between two posts on the roof deck and had a quick nap.
Not really wanted to venture out again for sustenance, we cooked a small meal for six at the house and had a late dinner.
After dinner, Rudy needed Lauren to feel how hot his head was. He wasn't allowed to wear his hat for most of the boat trip, because it would have blown off immediately, and had gotten sunburned.
Thankfully, Steve had a home remedy for just such an occasion, involving a damp paper towel and the freezer.
Rudy decided that he needed to wear a bandana to keep his head out of the sun, tomorrow, so Lauren helped him tie it properly. You just can't make this stuff up.
Tomorrow, we're thinking about heading over to Cane Garden Bay in the morning, and then continuing to the east end of the island (technically Beef Island to catch an afternoon ferry over to Virgin Gorda for a few hours.
No comments:
Post a Comment