BLUE WATER RALLY - TOBAGO CAYS TO UNION ISLAND
12.35n 61.24W Tobago Cays – we sailed here in two and a half
hours from Bequia, dropped the anchor between two small uninhabited islands alongside
many other yachts and catamarans and bingo, there were Zipadedoda and Spectra
beside us! Yachts at anchor between the islands…… We couldn’t wait to take the rib to the beach to snorkel and see
the turtles in their ‘protected’ sanctuary. To the uninitiated,
Tobago Cays are tiny windswept islands surrounded by treacherous reefs south of
Bequia. The anchorages are extremely crowded with literally dozens of vessels
just a few meters apart and the wind howls non stop! The area has been
designated as a nature reserve so there is no litter and yes there is a certain
desolate wind swept charm about it all with the boat rangers keeping an eye on
us - but quite what the attraction is to draw so many hundreds of people here
was a little lost on us…. .. Relaxation at last………. David and Jennie on Zippy invited us on board for dinner with Andy and
Becky from Spectra so we all got ‘blinged’ up and motored over in
the rib at 19.30. Well!! You cannot imagine what was in store for us all
– remember we are at sea, in a windy anchorage, in the middle of nowhere
with no shops – and there was their saloon table beautifully set for
seven with china plates and wine glasses with all the cutlery in place. Fresh
prawn salad with avocado and orange (yes avocado!!) to start and……
was that roast lamb we could smell?? Yes! With roast potatoes, boiled
potatoes, carrots, beans, cauliflower, gravy and fresh fruit for dessert
– the woman is a magician!! What a fantastic evening….. yum yum!!
The worrying bit is how to return the honours! Sadly in the morning Andy lifted up the floor boards on their boat to
retrieve some tools and their son Luke fell down the hole and practically
garrotted himself – knocking himself unconscious. We radioed for a doctor
in the Cays on the VHF to administer help but nobody answered, so they sailed him
around to the hospital on After all the drama we sailed to Palm Island for lunch – here there
is a five class establishment (resort) and the stunningly beautiful beach is
manicured to perfection – and then across the bay to Union Island where
we can check out of the St Vincent and Grenadines islands (which are all one country)
at the immigration office before sailing to Bonaire. Stunning And a chance to wear my million dollar bikini Christmas present! The mooring buoy here is 60EC Dollars – twice the price of Bequia
– and the water taxi to shore and back to the boat was 175EC Dollars!!! For
a five minute ride each way!!! It was only 40EC Dollars return in Bequia.
Obviously we have the choice to take our own dinghy to shore but then you worry
about theft all night – ‘you pays your money and you takes your
choice’! We had another lively evening at Bougainvillea Restaurant
– I think it will be quite a while until we dine out again….. Bennett with his friend Inis and David and Jenny from Zippy Lots of news over the SSB of the other Rally members….. most have
already set off for Bonaire and some have arrived already……..we
might stay one more full day and set off on Tuesday 8th January. We
have heard about a popular ‘jump up’ in Chatham Bay tomorrow
evening run by a local guy named ‘Shark Attack’…….. sounds
too good to miss! |