Day 3 of our trip was our first major day at sea. By this point I hadn't taken any Dramamine yet, but I knew sailing to Anegada we would be out of sight of land for a little bit, so it was time to pop that pill! We left for Anegada from Trellis Bay, which is where we picked up Pedro, our captain/adviser for the next two days. He helped us hoist the sails for the first time, and advised Kyle's dad on how to best navigate to Anegada. He was a cool dude and it sure was a pleasure to have him on board for the 3rd and 4th days of our trip! It took us about 3 hours to get to Anegada from Trellis Bay, and along the way we got to enjoy this beautiful scenery:
On the way Kyle and Jenny occupied themselves with setting up the fishing lines, and once we got closer to the island we found that Jenny had caught some kind of jack fish. We weren't going to be able to eat it or use it for bait, so we gave the fish to Pedro who took it with him when he stayed the night with some friends on Anegada.
I didn't know this before our trip, but Anegada is the only coral island in the otherwise volcanic chain of islands that makes up the British Virgin Islands. It is super-flat compared to the mountainous terrain of the other islands. Basically it's the red-headed stepchild of the BVI. But a pretty one at that! (Excuse my crappy pictures, they don't do it justice).
Once we were anchored up for the day at Setting Point, Kyle, Jenny and Zach took Pedro to shore on the dinghy so he could spend the afternoon with his friends at Potter's by the Sea, one of the few restaurants on the island. They also tried to find a dive shop to get suggestions for a good dive site near the island, and made dinner reservations for us at Potter's. Most restaurants in the BVI require advance notice that you are coming, and sometimes they even need to know your order, so they can make sure they have enough ingredients for the night. Understandable, especially if you want fresh seafood!
After Kyle, Jenny and Zach got back to the boat with no luck finding a dive shop, we decided to take a taxi to the other side of the island and snorkel around in Loblolly Bay. We rode in another open-air taxi on the way there, but this time it was in the back of a very small pick-up truck, squished together with 8 or 9 people total. I didn't bring my camera with me on this little excursion, but I wish I did because Loblolly Bay was such a beautiful beach! A few hours later, when we got back to the dock at Setting Point, we found that Fred and Christina had successfully made it over to Anegada on the ferry (I don't want to even know what that ride was like!). After a quick catch-up chat on the dock, we got everyone back on the boat to clean up for our lobster dinner at Potter's. We had no idea that we were in for such a treat!
Now this is what I call a lobster dinner! They took the whole lobster and cut it in half, grilled it and served it with melted butter, salad, baked potato, and vegetables. Jenny and Zach, our resident marine biologists and experts on all things seafood, said that it was safe for us to eat anything inside the lobster, including the eye. While I did pass on the eye, I ate pretty much anything that had meat in it and it was truly the best lobster I ever had. Every lobster I eat from now on will be compared to this, and I'm guessing nothing will ever measure up. It was SO good!
Here's our whole group (minus me taking the picture) together for the first time. Another thing I loved about Potter's is that we got to dine with our toes in the sand, as you can see at the bottom of this pic. It was all-around a great night, and it wasn't long before we were all passed out in bed from stuffed bellies and a full day in the sun.
Up next, the first dive of the trip and Jost Van Dyke!
No comments:
Post a Comment