THURSDAY
14 NM TRAVELED
MOORED IN GREAT HARBOUR ON PETER ISLAND
SUNRISE: 6:42 AM
SUNSET: 6:23 PM
Whew! I get tired just thinking about all we did today.
Having been intrigued by lovely Sandy Cay, we took the con-Quest over and swam ashore. Perhaps a little more than we bargained for but Robert, Steffi and I made it and did a bit of walking about. It was ‘Dan to the rescue’ when he brought the tender in closer to shore for our swim back.
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| ROBERT TESTING THE WATERS ON SANDY CAY |
The next step of our adventure brought us to Soper’s Hole on the southwestern shores of Tortola. We borrowed a mooring ball while we perused the fabulous provisioning store there, stuck our noses into the cutesy shops and stopped for lunch and a Pusser’s Painkiller at the famous Pusser’s Landing.
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| SOPER'S HOLE ON THE WEST END OF TORTOLA |
I think we passed on the tale of Pusser Rum and the British Royal Navy when we were in Annapolis at one of their restaurants but I will hit the highlights again for you.
Way back in 1640 Great Britain’s Royal Navy began to issue a daily rum ration, known as a ‘tot”, to its sailors. This ½ pint in the morning and ½ pint at night of the unique Navy Rum was sometimes called Pusser’s. This was corruption of the word purser, the naval officer in charge of doling out the daily rations of rum. This long running tradition which continued until July 31, 1970 was altered slightly in 1740 when Admiral Vernon attempted to reduce the “drunkenness” by diluting the rum with water and allotting them a bit of lime and sugar to make it a bit more palatable to the men. Needless to say, this didn’t go over well but the“grog” became the first mixed cocktail. www.pussers.com
Having decided not to spend the night in Soper’s Hole we headed out for an anchorage. Our first choice was The Bight at Norman island but it looked much like a shopping mall parking lot that we just sailed on past.
At Peter Island’s Great Harbour we managed to stake out a spot, juggling positions with two other approaching boats. At last, everyone had their anchors down and was satisfied with their positions in the harbor. I’m telling you, the Virgin Islands makes the Exumas look deserted. Robert and Steffi were able to take the tender out for a little island exploring before the sunset and then returned to give the Quest a light bathing. Now she is salt-free, at least until we travel again tomorrow!
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| STEFFI AND ROBERT EXPLORING THE AREA NEAR PETER ISLAND |
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