Virgin Gorda and the Baths

Since I don’t have access to our blog right now I am not exactly sure where we left off but I am going to assume you knew we had arrived at Virgin Gorda after a great sail from Norman Island, during which the pictures of our boat “on the high seas” were taken. Anyway, we anchored on arrival in Thomas Bay, which is outside the Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbour (VGYH). Water was clear and warm and although we were anchored in 20’ of water, it looked to be about 5’ deep (thankfully it wasn’t – our keel is 6’). We dinghied into the harbour to check it out but since it was Sunday it was fairly quiet. We did find out that Monday was a holiday so that helped in our planning since we wanted to find someone to go up our mast (I would have gone – honest – but we don’t have a bosun ‘s chair yet!!!) Our anchor light had stopped working and we also needed our steaming and spreader lights checked.

The anchorage was quiet although a bit rolly at times. We stopped over at a Canadian boat from Toronto during our time there. Nice people who come down during non-hurricane season and sail the Caribbean. They say they have been doing that for 4 years and still have lots to see so have no intention at this time in going elsewhere.

Tuesday we moved into the marina and made arrangements to have the work done. The marina is one of the nicest we have seen in our short time on the briny. It had grass fields and lawns bordered by well-kept rail fences. The prices were much better than Nanny Cay and making arrangements for work was a dream in comparison. There was one person we went to who would arrange anything you wanted, whether it was work done by the boatyard or from outside workers. We also decided to have all of our engine fluids changed by someone. I could have done this myself but since it was first time, I would likely have had to have the manuals open beside me and besides which there are always tricks to learn about easier ways to do these things. And yes – I can spell rationalization!! Come on, I’m retired!

So, by Thursday, all was shipshape and we decided we would go to The Baths on Friday. We had been doing some local sightseeing by going for walks and exploring the countryside but The Baths are something that we couldn’t leave without seeing. So bright and early – well, later and glowing – we took an open-back truck/taxi to The Baths.

In order to get down from where we were dropped off, we had to walk a 350 yard path that was really quite attractive. It meandered through boulders, some as high as 3-4 stories but had lots of vegetation and interestingly shaped smaller rocks.

On reaching the bottom, the choice was to go to Devil’s Bay through the Caves or go directly to the Baths. The Baths, by the way, turned out to be an area of the coastline where there were lots of huge boulders rising out of the seabed causing the waves to break around them and creating lots of foam and water patterns.

We chose Devil’s Bay as our first destination and off we went. The sign at the beginning says be prepared for crawling, climbing ladders, walking with the aid of ropes fastened to the walls and wading through water to get to Devil’s Bay. It also said just follow the small cairns of rocks you will see as you go. Well, they were right about all of it except the small cairns of rocks. We only got lost twice until we ran into a man and his 10/11 year old son. They too were confused – well, I should say the father was confused because he had been leading them. He let his son lead and we all followed him directly to the Bay. It was actually a fascinating trail, around, over and sometimes under huge boulders lining the shore and through grottos. And it was much easier and seemed shorter coming back. Devil’s Bay was beautiful and swimming in and around the boulders in the turbulence produced by the waves was great fun.

After leaving Devil’s Bay we went to the Baths but it was a little disappointing. Whether because the seas were down that day or perhaps the advertising was “overdone” the “bath” effect of lots of foam and bubbling water was missing. It was still a nice beach to relax on and read for a while between dips in the sea. We left about 4:30 and went back to the boat.

After lazing around for a while, we called it a day with the intention of getting lots of rest since we expected to be up all of Saturday night. Of course we had not taken into account that it was Friday night, we were close to the Bath and Turtle (the marina outdoor bar) and the bar outside the marina but directly across the road had their BIG night on a Friday night, outdoor speakers and all. Add to that the Baptist Revival tents that were set up not far from the other bar, also with outdoor speakers on indirect competition with the bar and as you can imagine, not much sleep was gotten until after 2 in the morning. Not looking good for being well-rested for the overnighter!!!

Just to finish – the revival meetings had been going on all week and although they were loud and the solo singers were a bit tone deaf, the minister really got going on his sermons and at least they were normally done by about 9 PM!!

Saturday morning was last minute prep time – grocery buying, custom clearing, paying the marina, get fuel etc etc, but we were out of there by 13:30 and WE’RE OFF.