Virgin Gorda

Wandering Dream
Steve Litson
Mon 2 Mar 2015 13:28

18:27:3N 064:26:5W

Spanish Town, Virgin Gorda (Fat Virgin), BVI British Virgin Isles
16th February 2015

Permit Expires
Our permit ran out at midnight, so as it got dark we moved on. Knot Bill would have been proud of me...it was Sunday when we left Anguilla and no shops open, we were out of bread. So as Denis guided us to Prickly Pear Cays I set to and baked a loaf, we still had all the necessary left over from the Atlantic crossing. Bill, was our baker then and my culinary talents were not put to the test.

Clearing in
At ten this morning we arrived in torrential rain at Spanish Town. We waited for a lull in the conditions to dinghy to shore and clear in. We were charged the princely sum of ten US Cents  each for the forms at Immigration. We had not got any US Dollars yet, so Denis went in search of an ATM.  While I progressed on to Customs who rolled their eyes and gave me the twenty cents needed for immigration. We finished most of the bread with sandwiches for the night sail, so more was needed. We shopped and then waited a good three hours for the rain to stop so we didn't get drenched on the return to WD.

Fat Virgin - Virgin Gorda... Why?
Apparently, Columbus when he discovered the islands here, on his second trip to the Caribbean, was so impressed with the number of little islands, he named them after the 11,000 virgin followers of Saint Ursula (martyred 4th century). Viewed from the sea Virgin Gorda resembles a fat lady lying on her back. Luckily, we were spared this spectacle due to the rain, enough large nude women were seen on the nudist boat that decided to follow us to Prickly Pear Cay.

Pirates
This was also the home to the most notorious of all pirates, Blackbeard (Edward Teach) and Captain Kidd. They were based here as it was a great place to nip out and grab a Spanish Galleon full of gold from the New World. Neither Denis nor I would pass as Blackbeard now, far to much salt in the beards.