12:37.86N 61:21.44W
20th March 2012 – Tobago Cays
So, we left Petite Martinique after a very good lunch on Friday
16th March. It was only
an hour’s sail over to Clifton
Harbour in Union Island. En route we passed Petit St Vincent and
Palm
Island – both privately
owned very upmarket resorts costing around $1,800US a night. Cheap as chips, huh? In contrast, our mooring off Clifton
costs us $20US – that doesn’t sound much but we had made the mistake of being
persuaded by a boat boy that the anchoring was not good and that we should take
one of his moorings. And, we didn’t
negotiate a price beforehand. But,
y’know, we’d had a good lunch and sunset was approaching – so difficult to
identify the sand patches, as opposed to the coral, in which to anchor. We’re now pretty sure the mooring was
nothing to do with him as he said he didn’t have a receipt book and he didn’t
pitch up the next evening to sting us again when we decided to stay another
night (the truth is that having been asked by Carol to issue a receipt he
probably reckoned he’d been rumbled.
Had he pitched up for a further fee the following night he’d have been
unlucky – Ed)
We moored just inside the reef and had a grandstand view of the kite
surfers having a whale of a time.
Some were better than others and managed to tack quite effortlessly and
return on the reciprocal path.
Others didn’t get it quite right and found themselves weaving in and out
of the moored yachts. It seemed
that it was luck rather than judgement that their kites didn’t get tangled in
anyone’s rigging. On Saturday
morning, the Optimists, sailed by 8-11 year olds, came out to play – they were
quite as voluble as their cousins on the Lymington River and a delight to see.
Clifton is a bit of a sleepy place – literally
in the case of the shop assistant in the small supermarket! The locals have set up a very colourful
market square along the lines of traditional chattel houses. All were bursting with much appreciated
fruit and vegetables. Very
determined ladies vie for business.
Sadly there are too many to make purchases at each
stall.
Jon & Bob paid a visit to a remarkable man-made island on the end of
the reef. An enterprising local
built the island entirely out of conch shells. Now known as Happy Island, its bar blares out Rasta music at
top volume and attracts an eclectic clientele. Whilst they were there a boat boy from
the Petite St Vincent resort brought across two Venezuelan guests (one, enormous
and in Speedos; the other a decade younger and in trendy sunglasses and little
else. You can probably guess that they were not of the same sex. You may even be able to guess which was
which) who needed to top up their supplies of tobacco alternatives. The spliffs were rolled in the bar and
inserted into a pack of Marlboro before being presented to the couple. Nobody batted an eyelid. If Jon & Bob had stayed any longer
they would have been as high as kites without the assistance of surf
boards.
Blowing a hooley around Happy Island
We departed for Tobago Cays mid morning on Sunday 18th March
and about an hour and a half later anchored inside the reef. Our guide book had warned that the
Tobago Cays was likely to be packed with yachts and so it was but there was
enough room to anchor and despite the numbers it was a very peaceful place. Sadly, the weather was rather grey and
the wind didn’t let up. This meant
that snorkelling was a bit of challenge but we were still able to see several
turtles in a corner that is buoyed off to help protect them. Elsewhere, there were a myriad brightly
coloured fish swimming amongst the coral reefs – much reef was damaged in recent
hurricanes but there is still plenty of it in good condition and new growth is
occurring.
Looking towards the Tobago Cays from
Union
Island
We met up with other boats we had first met in Grenada and we’re
beginning to see what circumnavigators Miles and Beryl Smeaton said when the
referred to the long distance sailing community of fifty years ago, as a “floating village”. Despite having satellite communications
and Wifi widely available at almost every landfall, one of the real pleasures of
this cruising life is face to face contact and sharing a sundowner or two with
new chums. Jack and Jo Brinckerhoff
, whom we’d met in Whisper Cove dinghied past to say “Hi” after an afternoon’s
very adventurous snorkelling and Kit Grundy and Vanessa Alexander, whom we’d met
on Hog Island, did much the same and insisted we pop by for sundowners that
evening. Tough
decisions!
Having spent two blissful nights at the Cays we planned to depart for
Bequia on the morning of Tuesday 20th March.
