Placencia and civilisation.

We have had several wonderful days at Glovers Reef or Isla Marisol (which we have renamed Isla Measles because the sand flies and no-see-ums were so bad everyone looked like they had caught Measles) having passed the time with wonderful diving, snorkelling and good company, but it was time to move on. So at 06:30 this morning, we upped anchor and set off on a 10 hour sail to Placencia.

The sun was shining, the wind blowing 15-20 knots and the seas were 6-10ft. It was the perfect sailing day. Rob & Sheralee, now having acquired their sea legs, settled down to enjoy the sail.

We were bid farewell by a lone dolphin  that swam alongside a short way before heading back to the reef.

15 miles south of Glovers Reef Rob noticed a dorsal fin about 30m from the starboard side of the boat, his first thought was dolphin, but then, lo & behold, not 1 but 4 whales surfaced alongside us. None of us had a camera handy, but we didn’t care, it was a wonderful treat. Although we are quite sure they were not the whale sharks that people on the island had been paying US$175 to see, we were very impressed.

The day continued to surprise us when Sheralee said ‘I think we’ve got a fish, yes FISH’.

If you recall Rob hooked a big Dorado on the way to Glovers Reef but we didn’t react quickly enough and he ran out of line and lost the fish.

This time was different, the team sprang into action just as  Roger had prepared us;  I took the helm and brought the boat up to wind, Rob grabbed the rod, Roger furled the sails, hardened the main then got his gloves and gaff ready and Sheralee took photos. They brought in a beautiful 3 ft long Dorado, Sheralee passed Roger the winch handle and Roger ‘did the biz’.

So now, instead of me racking my brains as to what to feed the crew (we are short of fresh veg and I had been considering Corned beef hash and chilli beans) we are going to have have grilled Dorado fillet with rosti with salad. Oh yes, and a bottle of chilled white wine…….yummeeee!

We dropped anchor in the bay of Placencia and I am just typing this while waiting for the sun to set, as tonight’s cocktail is Pina Colada!!!!! WHAT A DAY!!