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 Union Island where he was given 8 stitches in his neck – poor chap.  We had all done the medical course but when it comes down to it you want a hospital if you can get to one. Once again my medical prowess has eluded me – my automatic medical skin stapler was declined.

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 Palm Island…..

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 8^th 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!