Forward Port
At around 6 o'clock on Wednesday morning, we arrived at the British Virgin Islands. During the approach, we passed Fallen Jerusalem, an island that looks like an old ruined city when the sun rises behind it, although breakfast was more important to us at that time. Having dropped a couple of our crew off Spanishtown in Virgin Gorda to clear immigration, we headed around to the top of the island to Gorda Sound, where we anchored at approximately 10 o'clock.
We took the boats out to Leverick Bay in the morning, where there was a rum distillery and a bar, perfect for a light lunch and a drink or two. At 14:30 the boats came back to pick us up, and headed over to the other side of the bay, to Bitter End. Again, there was a bar, so a few more drinks were consumed and a reggae bend played Bob Marley in the background. For dinner we had a barbecue on the boat, although the barbecues were out of action so it was cooked in the galley.
Thursday morning was a busier morning, with a nice refreshing swim in the Caribbean. Lenny took part in a sponsored swim around the boat in aid of the JST and cystic fibrosis (to donate, visit
www.justgiving.com/lennythompson2) which was completed admirably. He then took part in an assisted climb up the rigging, so it was a tiring morning for him overall.
Before lunch, we left Virgin Gorda, and began the long journey to Nassau. We hope to stop at San Salvadore on the way, but we need to average 6 knots on the journey and even with all sails set we are only managing 5, so unless the wind picks up it looks like we'll struggle to follow in the footsteps of Christopher Columbus.