In the water 24/7

So tomorrow morning we leave Virgin Gorda and sail to Anagarda, at the moment james is desperately trying to tune a television into the six nations but I don’t think he’s going to win this battle, the children are snorkelling off the dinghy dock and I am broken from an exceedingly challenging stand up paddle, including one child between my legs and a very strong head wind. We’ve had a fab week here it’s flown by filled with water sports and meeting new people, Royce’s boat has been full with a variety of people. We’ve had a drone flyer, an astrophysicist, a professional kite surfer /free diver, another professional kite surfer and us. The children have loved all the drone flying and then the footage from them, Heath even got to tow surf with the drone following him and this morning they got to wear goggles and go on a 3D journey around Necker island, flying through the restaurant,off the cliff all over basically and the noises that came from them and the way they kept spinning around and waving their arms, well I think they enjoyed it.

We’ve raced the dinghy all around Virgin Gorda to Spanish town (7miles) just to do some grocery shopping, we also stopped at The Baths which is a beautiful spot, white sand beaches dotted with palm trees, alternated with huge granite boulders that only a giant could have put there. We’ve fed the Tarpon off of Saba Rock and met the helicopter pilot who lands his helicopter on the tiniest outcrop of rock, transporting guests back and forth from this tiny island. We’ve surfed a gorgeous right off of mosquito island , stand up paddled everywhere, trekked up and over prickly pear island with no casualties, done ALOT of snorkelling and jumping from higher and higher spots off Brisa. Heath would have tow surfed the whole week if allowed, we’ve been up before 7 o’clock and in bed by 9 but it’s been good.

We have spoken to a number of pilots and through Dave (the helicopter pilot) flight towers up and down the coast giving a description of Dove II, we also spent the day over at Tortolla meeting up with Natasha. Now Natasha has been awesome, she has kept us motivated with  encouraging messages through the blog, she has spread the word all around the BVI’s and she had offered us her boat as a place to stay if we made it to the BVI’s. She has lived here her whole life, though was born in Cornwall and returned there for college, she lives and works on boats and has been a huge help at spreading the word about Dove II around the islands. We had a great day, just getting there involved a dinghy ride, car ride, ferry ride and then walk to a little cafe on Trellis bay to meet her. We talked about what our plans were, she showed us her boat Puffin, a 43ft yacht and again said we could stay aboard, no problems. It was a gorgeous boat and you could tell it belonged to a girl as it was full of cushions and comfort, plus an excellent kitchen. The kids were super excited as just next to the mooring was a huge floating trampoline and slide, well that would keep them busy. We left the boat and headed across the island to Josiah bay, Natasha pointing out useful tips, best stop for groceries, good beaches, walks etc along the way. At Josiahs bay we were hopefully meeting Steve, he had spent some time in Cornwall lifeguarding and now ran a surf school here in the BVI’s, we had been contacted by his friends a couple in Brazil who had shared our story with him and who had offered us use of some boards and a little respite by spending the day in the water. Well what a great spot, beautiful beach, loads of boards to play with and great waves, it was heaven and put the biggest smile on my face. Steve was a lovely guy, super chilled and it was an emotional moment when after I’d asked if any boards were for sale, he offered a gorgeous, super gorgeous longboard to me to take on our trip to Anagarda. It was mine as long as I needed, I think at this point I did a little dance, I definitely bounced around a lot, he kitted me out with leashes, fin, boardbag and some portable roof straps. So, if you fancy learning to surf with an awesome guy on a beautiful beach in paradise then  this is the one, a gorgeous atmosphere surrounds this spot and the waves are just ……so much fun! We went for food with Natasha and then headed back for the ferry, it was an awesome day and I’d like to thank both Natasha for looking after us and showing us around and Steve for the respite and the board aahhhhhh.