Day 3 - Virgin Gorda (Gorda Sound - Prickly Pear)

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Geo: 18.5026, -64.3681

After a fairly rough night at sea, travelling 78.6 nautical miles from Anguilla, we arrived at Virgin Gorda around 9 am. For a lot of people this was a relief. The trip last night was a choppy rockin' and rollin' one .... and not the good rockin' and rollin'

Heather and I were top side for the arrival. What a spectacular experience. I really had to make a conscious effort to not talk like a pirate while we came into port ..... It was harrrrrrrrrrrrd.

But here we were ... Virgin Gorda:  <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgin_Gorda" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgin_Gorda</a> 

 Virgin Gorda is the third-largest (after Tortola and Anegada) and second most populous of the British Virgin Islands (BVI) with a population of around 4,000.  Virgin Gorda covers an area of about 8 square miles. Christopher Columbus is said to have named the island "The Fat Virgin" because the islands profile on the horizon looks like a fat woman lying on her side.

Upon returning to Italy, he was called into the HR office and given sensitivity training.

Once Cpt. Brunon Borovka skillfully maneuvered the Star Clipper to anchor for the day, the shuttles began running people to shore.  

Prickly Pear Island is where we were spending the day.

I got the pleasure to sit next to Todd on the tender, which I used to fire off a few more questions. I hope I'm not being too annoying.  You know what I mean ... I'm just amazed at how normal every one in this band is.  It was like sitting next to ... anyone ... except that anyone just happens to be a freaking amazing musician who brings enormous amounts of happiness and joy to so many people.  

After hoping off the tender I took the opportunity to grab a selfie.  I then proceeded to wander the ground photographing anything and everything ... Oh look .. There's a lizard ......

The Sandbox was the beach bar there, however the cruise planned for a beach BBQ and they brought the ship bar to the beach.  Basically, The Big Head Todd Big Caribbean Cruise took over the beach .... and take it over boy did we ever!

What a place to spend the day.

Chris, Kim, Heather and I snorkeled for about an hour. It was ok but not the best snorkeling in the world. Tomorrow at Norman island will be much better ... So I've heard.

At 2:30 the big event for the day began. Big Head Todd and the Monsters live on Prickly Pear Island, Virgin Gorda Sound. They played for about 2 hours while us cruisers hung out in the sand and collectively wondered ... How the hell are we going to handle the real world again after this??

They started the set with "Sister Sweetly" followed by "Juliana" "Blue Sky" and "Josephina." 

Here's a combo for you ... "Dirty Juice" back to back with "Vincent of Jersey" and "The Leaving Song" .... This is what I call a Trifecta of Awesomeness!

While BHTM rocked the hell out of Gorda Sound, our musical tropical playground consisted of white sand, blue sky, turquoise water, and cold fruity drinks.  Seriously, someone pinch me or slap me or something.  I swear any minute I'm going to wake up in a meeting with corporate buzzwords zinging past me like soul sucking hornets ..... not this week folks. Maybe in a parallel universe but not this one pal ... Not yet at least ... Yeaaaaa us!

"Please Don't Tell Her"
"Conquistador"
"Cashbox"
"Black Beehive"

As the band played, and ship after ship pulled up to enjoy the show, you could see the sweat just pouring off these guys .... But did that stop them?  Hell no it didn't ... "Dinner with Ivan" "Broken Hearted Savior" and "It's Alright" began the inevitable wind down of this most incredible day of sun, fun, music, and friendship.

It was an amazing intimate performance with band and fans interacting throughout. You hear a lot of musicians give lip service to their fans .... These guys? They truly are friends with their fans.

During one of the breaks in the show, a representative from the Robinson O' Neal Memorial Primary School came on stage to thank us for participating in the Pack for a Purpose campaign. The general idea of Pack for a Purpose, is to use available space in your luggage to provide supplies to communities you visit. One of our awesome cruisers administered this drive.  I can't remember her name and that's horrible of me.  Everyone on the BCCIII rose to the occasion and we collected alot of really great stuff.

As with everything good in life, this day too had to end. Soon after the show, and the game of Caribbean Sea catch with a coconut shell .... we tendered back on to the boat. The night was fairly uneventful, because for many of us, that day was blissfully exhausting!

Smoking a nice Cuban on the sun deck while listening to some music under the stars was a perfect ending to a damn near .... No .... To a perfect day.

I can't even describe how blessed I feel.

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Photos

The Tender
aka how we get back and forth from the boat to the shore

Prickly Pear Set List
Thank you Karen Dunlap for this photo