We spent our time doing boat projects, snorkelling and having the occasional nanny nap in the afternoon. John re-installed the water maker but was unable to produce water although we identified several air leaks which were rectified. The “new" membrane was nearly 2 years out of shelf life and baking on the boat most of that time, so no real surprise. We at least know the system runs and with a new membrane should be able to produce water again. The fresh water system was not kicking in until there was just a slow trickle coming out of the tap so after finding/borrowing a bike/tyre pump and giving the accumulator pump a pump or 3 of air and screwing the pressure switch in and out on the water supply pump the pressure improved downstairs in the bathrooms but the sink was still a dribble. It dawned on John that perhaps the tap was to blame and sure enough the filter was clogged. Cleaned and all fixed!!

Coral, grass and sand seen through aqua water as we approached the southern end of the island

We visited the island to say hello to the caretakers. John and Darryl welcomed us as did ‘Eco’ the part mastif dog who just wanted to be patted. The guys climbed a coconut tree, picked 2 green coconuts, took the tops off and we sat in deck chairs, slurping coconut water/milk straight from the coconut and taking in the view across the water. We also felt the sandflies biting, but felt them more when they itched for the next week! Rule #1 - Hat, Rule #2 - Sunscreen, Rule #3 - Insect Repellent. We gave the guys BZ$10 for the coconuts.

Sipping on coconuts and taking in the view.

Caretakers will stay on these islands for between 2 and 4 weeks at a time, living quite a subsistence life. We saw Darryl spear fishing for several hours one day and there was a small veggie garden with watermelon and okra growing. The whole island had been raked clean of all leaves and palm fronds (I have a feeling that not a blade of grass would be allowed to poke it’s head out of the sand). Caretaker John was fogging for mosquitoes and house flies, which are problem at this time of the year. We had noticed a few on the boat.

Not a leaf on the ground.

There are 2 Palapas standing in shallow water on the northern end of the island. These are used by the day visitors who come to the island to snorkel the surrounding reefs.

Five Islands at anchor off North Long Cocoa Cay.

The snorkelling was really nice with reef all the way around the anchorage in 2m of water. Lots of colourful tropical fish, a couple of nurse sharks, an octopus who kept shooing a small fish out of his shelter and the largest crab that either of us have ever seen. No photos as the underwater camera isn’t that waterproof any more. John hand speared a meal of fish which were sooo good. Have i mentioned how much we liked this place.

To our surprise and delight a large (1m long) barracuda took up residence under our boat. John called him ‘Boris’. It turns out that ‘Boris’ was the anchorage pet as he/she would wonder from boat to boat seeing if anyone would through some food to eat. When Eli & Marla started feeding ‘Boris’ chicken, he switched alliances and took up residence under their boat. Fickle creature.

Boris the Barracuda

Boris lying to the right of the dinghy (dark line) to give a better idea of how big he/she was.

Eli & Marla joined us for 2 nights. We ventured over to Rendezvous Cay by dinghy to take the ‘adventure dogs’ for a run and dig in the sand with the occasional chase a bird thrown in. They just love it and when Eli & Marla came over to our boat for dinner that night, they slept the whole time (the dogs that is - just plain worn out). We keep up to date with the weather by listening to Chris Parker on the HF/SSB radio each morning at 0700 and he was predicting a frontal system with squalls gusting up to 40 knots. We all made the decision to head back into Placencia on Saturday 2nd April and back onto the dock to wait it out. The island runs Nth-Sth so no protection at all in a norther. On the way home we went through a humidity/mist phenomenon. It was like travelling through hot grey mist that blotted out the sun. Really weird. Docked behind ‘Iguana Dance’ made some Skype calls to Australia, downloaded emails and saw our grand daughter make her first steps and wait for the storm which never materialised.