Chatham Bay has been a lovely experience, as we had hoped. There are turtles popping their heads up around the boat from time to time, the snorkelling is directly from the boat and there is a vast range of reef fish and we have also seen squid, barracuda and lobsters. There are uninterrupted views of the glorious sunsets from our boat. The clean white sand beach is long and has a rather upmarket bar at one end, with a good dinghy dock, that provides us with ice and wi-fi. The other end there are some rough and ready bars (a couple of huts really) and a few fishermen’s huts in the middle. But there is seldom any noise at night – just a couple of times there has been some reggae in the background. There are relatively few yachts in the large harbour and most only stay for one night on their way to other places.

 

We have bought fresh fish several times from the fishermen – tuna and dorado (mahi mahi) – but Ross and Oliver’s attempts to catch dinner have so far resulted in nothing big enough to eat (much to the relief of Jenny, who is a vegetarian).

One day we had a lunch at one of the barbeque huts on the beach provided by the master of the beach barbeque ‘Shark Attack’. This was lobster and fish grilled on a barbeque with various vegetables and, of course, rum punch. So we ate the 3 lobsters and 2 fish while Oliver played in the sand and swam in the clear blue waters.

Also, we decided to walk across the island from Chatham through the main town Ashton and then to the harbour at Clifton. The walk took all morning - about three hours – and along the way we saw some interesting wildlife – land turtles (tortoise), lizards and a snake that caught and ate a lizard for our entertainment. We inevitably met some interesting characters along the way as almost everyone says hello and some like to engage in a conversation.

The only equipment hiccup has been a horrible squealing noise that came from the engine one day. Fortunately Chris was able to diagnose the problem as a loose drive belt (that drives that alternator for charging batteries and the cooling pump – similar to a fan belt on a car) and fix it fairly easily but it was a slightly worrying experience for an hour or two.

 

We have stayed in Chatham Bay, Union Island for a week and in the Grenadines for a month now. Our one month cruising permit and visas to stay in the Grenadines was due to expire today. but we all agreed that staying a bit longer in this great anchorage was preferable to moving back to Grenada immediately.

Therefore Lynn and Chris walked to Clifton in order to extend the visas. It is an interesting, if hot, 2 hour walk  After three hours of visiting customs in the harbour then walking to the airport to see immigration and finding that we had to go back to town to get some stamps from the post office and then taking them and the 15 forms we had completed back to the airport to immigration, we had our one month extension. Pity we can only stay for an extra week!

By taking a taxi back we were able to stock up on some shopping – essential items like rum and gin and fresh vegetables – and reduce the experience to only 7 hours. But it was well worthwhile to be able to spend longer in paradise. So it is back to the daily routine of swimming, canoeing, snorkelling, yoga/running/exercise (for some), baking bread, eating fresh fish, .......etc, etc.