After being returned to the water back in Virgin Gorda after work done to the boat, we sailed directly to Jost van Dyke.
Today we are in White Bay, and still on our first cup of coffee. There are Bar Jacks jumping, Frigate Birds circling, and pelicans diving. Pretty much the day here starts with the decision about who gets breakfast and who is breakfast. The small boats left during the daylight, so only we and a few giant charter cats stayed, with their guests and crews. The busy beach we walked yesterday is empty except for a couple of people who swam in for a morning walk. It's a beautiful quiet moment.
White Bay has a big reef to stop the larger swells from making real havoc, but the long white beach is still steep and the waves hit pretty heavy, making dinghy stops and launches often rough; so it is a beach to which most boaters just swim ashore. Anyway, there is a tiny hotel here called the Sand Castle Hotel, with a bar called the "Soggy Dollar Bar". (some of my money is drying in the kitchen right now) They insist they invented the "Painkiller", back in the day. Boats bring hundreds of people to the beach. Some come around the corner from Foxy's area, some are little charter boats smart enough to miss the reef (one didn't yesterday), and many sail and motor over from the USVI, an hour away - making it a great people-watching spot as well.
We have been watching a really unique cruise ship called Sea Dream Yacht Club. It is a compact version of the big girls we see down here and is able to gunk hole with the rest of us! Apparently it's an all inclusive and only carries 100 guests. If you book a year in advance, they give you a nice discount. We spoke with 2 separate groups of people yesterday on the beach asking how they were enjoying their cruise and they raved on and on and on about it. You might want to google it and try it out sometime. Might be something we'd be interested in doing in the summer or fall to the Mediterranean or some place different! They anchored off the "Baths", then off Soper's Hole. After that they were just outside the anchorage at Foxy's and yesterday they were right here in White's Bay for the entire day!!
Well, that's it for Jost Van Dyke for this year. We're heading off to Norman's Byte today to snorkel and booty hunt on the beach!
