Sat, Sun & Mon - 22^nd , 23^rd & 24^th March

Saturday saw us sail up to Cooper island where we picked up a mooring buoy to avoid the worst of the swell there and to be close to the dinghy dock for dinner in the evening.

The peace was shattered by the arrival of two huge catamarans packed with 20 somethings on day one or two of their one week charter. Not a great experience for their neighbours apart from when they rigged up a very ingenious motorised rope swing. This involved tying a mooring rope to a halyard attached to the top of the mast with the other end tied to their fast dinghy. The dinghy then roars off out into the bay so that the line between it and the top of the mast goes tight – and hanging onto a loop halfway up this line would be one of the party who would then let go at the top of the ‘swing’ and plummet, or dive, or crash painfully into the sea below. Quite spectacular and being Americans, not quiet.  Nobody hollers quite like them!

We enjoyed an outstanding meal in the Cooper Island Resort restaurant which was a relief as they can be a bit inconsistent.

On Sunday morning we went to Monkey Point, on Guano island (this is near the attractively named Cockroach Island) and picked up a free day buoy so that we could have an hour or so of snorkelling. It is a fantastic spot and although you are not permitted to stay overnight, we recommend it for a quick swim during the day. Sarah met rather too many tarpon who were generally larger than Ewan which is always a worry even though they really cannot harm humans – much.

From there we made our way into Trellis Bay so that we would be close to the airport for Ewan’s flight home.  We had barely arrived when Steve and Jenny McMullen came over to say hi.  We met then in 2010 in St Lucia and it was fun to catch up. They are staying in the area so we might bump into them again soon for a longer chat. We also met up with two American yachts who sailed down with us from America last November. We ate out (again!!) in the Loose Mongoose and had a wonderful barbeque and were entertained by a terrific guitarist/singer who seemed to have a playlist based on my IPod.

Monday started with the alarm going off at 0445 hours so Ewan could have a quick shower on board before we took the dinghy ashore and walked with him to the airport to check in at 0545 hours. His flight home is set to be long and tedious as he flies from here to Barbados via various smaller islands, then after a 6 hour wait in Barbados he flies to Gatwick scheduled to arrive at 0630 on Tuesday morning (UK time).  And then directly to his office – they will be thrilled to see him!

We made our way to Bitter End, Virgin Gorda to take advantage of the strong free wifi for a couple of days before we head back to the USVI and beyond.  Here we met ‘Lady’ and enjoyed happy hour at Sabre Rock with Charlie and Jenny and some friends of theirs.