Position           12:36.31N 61:27.06W

Date                2359 Local - 31 December 2010

(All times in this entry refer to local time, UTC -4 unless stated as UTC)

It was a short sail from the Tobago Cays across to Clifton on Union Island where we went ashore for some shopping and to clear out of St Vincent and the Grenadines for Customs and Immigration.

Clifton is a bright town built around the harbour and very much orientated towards yachtsmen.  There are poignant reminders of the oppression of slavery on the monuments in the central square.

Clearing as usual was fun and involved walking out to the airport to find the duty immigration officer, the office in Clifton being closed, we assume for the New Year.

Another short sail took us to Chatham Bay where we arranged to have a New Year Eve barbeque on the beach organised by one of the well known local characters “Shark Attack”.  What this lacked in creature comforts it made up for with the quality of the food and we ate very well on barbequed lobster, pork and chicken with backed potatoes, spiced rice and coleslaw, all washed down with a dangerous rum punch served from a 2 litre water container.

Fortunately Shark Attack’s two communal tables were sheltered by roofs as the evening came to an end with a torrential downpour.  We enjoyed the company of a family who live in  Venezuela but with a varied North American background and with sons at University in the USA and Canada.

Old Year End, as it is referred to here, was piped out in due form, despite the rum punch.