Super hike to the top of Virgin Gorda! We paddled in together on “Sarah’s” almost  sinking SUP!!.. to begin our journey to the top of the mountain. We ascended 1300 feet but it was a little less steep than our previous hike on Jost Van Dyke, however still a great work out!. We made our way to the road via the beach that was full of beautiful black sands, coral and shells. Then found a small path that lead to the road that switch backed with a wall of mountain on one side and views to the anchorage and VG sounds as we came around the mountain! It was 3 miles literally of UP to reach the trail head. On the way we passed a beautiful bar and restaurant “Hog Heaven” that overlooked Virgin Gorda Sound with views to Anegada. Spectacular! Not long after passing this I about had a cow.. literally. There was a GIANT bull just laying on the side of the road chewing away. Reminded me of hiking in Yellostone and seeing all of the Buffalo.. He stopped chewing as we passed by and we did not have to run for the hills! lol Continuing up we finally arrived to the trail head. It was a short half mile that was full of hiking perfections: boulders, rocks, wild orchids, wild bromeliads, wild century and pineapple plants. It was my hiking heaven! Arriving to the top was non climatic since the lookout tower had been destroyed by the last year’s hurricanes. There was a lone ladder that we climbed and scaled some boulders looking for our “surveyor collection” photo! We did not find one nor a view, but the flora definitely made up for it. Once back on the road backtracking our steps all I could think about was whether Mr. Bull was still there. He was… except this time standing on the other side of the road. I’m hoping the video will upload, as we walked by I told Jim “Don’t look at him..” hahah The bull kept turning his head toward us as we walked by!! whew.

Seven miles later and 3 hrs of hiking in the heat of the day felt like a marathon. We stopped a lot to admire the views and take photos as well.  Once back to the boat we quickly secured everything and had a quick bite to eat before pulling anchor and heading to Anegada for our friends Aida and Loredana’s wedding! We knew sailing over that there was a chance that we might not get in due to the shallow depths but would at least make an effort. The sail over was blissful and fun beam and hearty reach for a couple of hours! Our Grand Soleil 46LC handles the wind and seas so well and is super fast! We sailed over with a reefed main and still making over 8 kts!

As we approached the channel we turned on the Volvo and dowsed the sails. We draw 7.5 ft and decided our “go around” would be at 8.5 ft since it was fairly rolly. We made it to the farthest red buoy and depth went from upper 8’s to 7.5 in an instant. We didn’t touch the sandy bottom but I turned her on a dime and got the heck out of there. I don’t think I’ve ever clinched my butt so hard!!! We then decided to try another anchorage around the corner. Decent water, but had to dodge some coral heads to make our way in there. Winds were nuking and it was even rollier. We went as far as we could and had to make another “go around” as even had we been able to get in it would have not been a great anchorage, especially in light of the wind velocity in our 48 forecast from the little cat I storm S of us “Byrle”.. So we bailed and sailed back. You can see our GPS track.. the little jog is where we raised the main and started sailing. We thoroughly enjoyed the sunset sail back and picked up a ball West of Saba Rock. Showered, dinner, talked with Savannah and bed!

Savannah said her fever broke twice in the night. I spoke with her this AM and she said she is MUCH better and her day was amazing. They did a lot of volunteering and she was in charge of recording weight and height, followed by pizza on the beach and swim. She’s about to write in blog now for today’s (yesterdays..) events! She was able to post in the blog yesterday as well and I will add the link here! Photos below are photos she sent via WhatsApp. :)) http://theyoungleader.experiencegla.com/bali-global-health-initiative-june-29-july-19-2018/

Things of interest I forgot to add yesterday.  We used 36 gallons of water in 7 days and 12 gals of diesel..!  The little birdie in the photo sailed with us for awhile from Spanish Town to Long Bay! Was he a hitchhiker or a messenger..?? :))

Note I was wearing my favorite shirt EVER in honor of our new hero and celebrity Jerome Rand!!!.. for completing his solo circumnavigation of the world aboard the “Mighty Sparrow”! We were fortunate enough to see him come through the North Sound on his journey a few weeks ago. His mother Irma was so kind in sending our family the official shirt of the “Mighty Sparrow”!!! We are wearing them proudly here in Virgin Gorda. Thank you sweet Irma!!!