Todd was up first and found his spot on the back lounger. So I made my way up to the top of the boat with my devotions and journal in hand. I wrote in my journal “Let us enjoy the day and see you in each experience.” Before I closed the cover, I heard a splash and turned to the sound only to see a spotted eagle ray make a second jump from the water and dive back down. Thank you God!
Scott joined me soon after with coffee in hand and was surprised by the captain of the boat next to us, walking around above board, completed naked. It was fun to start the day with the giggles.
We had breakfast a little early so we could prepare for our trip ashore to visit the Baths. It was a beautiful spread with fruit, sausage, 3 types of French toast, scrambled eggs and more.
Kids went ashore in the dinghy first, followed by a second trip with the adults. We waited only like 5 minutes for the free ferry to take us from BitterEnd across to Gun Creek. The Sweet Iced Willy (the best taxi in the BVI) was waiting to pick us up and drive us up and over the island to the National Park.
It was a 20 minute ride over to the other side of the island with incredible views, steep hills and lots of bumps! The music selection was so funny… all very stereotypical American pop mostly from the 90s. All really loud. But the best part was each song only played maybe 45 seconds and then moved on. This cab ride was one of Luke’s favorite parts of the trip.
Once at the Baths, we followed the path, and climbed the massive rocks on shore. We didn’t realize it, but three cruise ships were in port and several large groups were ahead of us so there was a bit of a hold up at the start. But God brought a little shower to keep us cool and it was amazing! Thank you God!
Because of the delay, we were going to miss our cab ride so we rescheduled for the next ferry. Unfortunately they skip an hour for lunch so we had two hours to kill. So we found a little bar that served food and ate lunch… nothing like what Karen serves. After lunch we stayed cool in the water and some of the kids explored the nearby rocks. When it was time, we headed back up the hill to our pick up location.
We did the whole trip in reverse… back of Sweet Iced Willie’s cab, ferry ride, dinghy ride and back to the Blue Pepper where K had two kinds of warm brownies waiting for us.
We repositioned the boat to Long Bay which is just around the corner still at Virgin Gorda and anchored for the night. We enjoyed some great snorkeling and B brought out the underwater scooters to play with.
Sammy took some time to work on her choreography for Annie Jr.
And we all enjoyed the beautiful views.
Dinner was Chicken with a Parmesan Artichoke topper along with rice. It was a delicious and very filling option. During dinner we saw a small bat fly in over the table and as it flew out Sammy watched it go. When she said “Is that a shark?”, no one really believed her but looked anyway. There had been a number of tarpon gathering at the back of the boat, attracted to the glow of the underwater lights.
But Sammy was right. It was a great hammerhead shark. We all got a look at it and shortly discovered a second. The largest of the 2 was easily 9-10 ft. It swam in circles around the back of our boat before heading further out of view, coming back just long enough for B (who didn’t believe us either) could confirm. It was amazing! Thank you God.
With all the excitement, it was hard returning to our meals. We keep close watch off the back hoping to see the sharks return. B&K said they’ve been doing this for 3 years aboard Blue Pepper and have never seen a shark. Wow!
We spread out again as has become our nightly routine. The kids played cards at the table, Annie and I helped Sammy with her script, Scott and Todd rested while they enjoyed the night air.
A great way to end another fabulous day. God showed himself over and over again and I am just so grateful!
