Position 12 37.78N 61 21.46W Tobago Cays

Friday 2^nd May

On Monday morning, we retraced our steps back to Hillsborough to pick up Geoff and Val from the Osprey ferry. They arrived in Grenada on a cheap flight with XL the previous evening, spent the night on Grande Anse Beach, allegedly in a hotel, and caught the nine am ferry from the Careenage in St Georges. The ferry takes around an hour and a half for the thirty five miles, speeding along at some twenty five knots. Add a fifteen knot headwind, and it was hardly surprising that they arrived fairly windblown, and with more than a passing resemblance to a couple of Larsen hounds, hair and ears pinned back by the rushing torrent of air. The Filipino crew heaved the bags ashore and then the large catamaran quickly roared on towards Petit Martinique. On shore the fish market beckoned, and a medium size tuna was selected from several on the block, before being whisked away, returning as ten fresh, juicy and rather bloody steaks. Retailing in Cariacou is somewhat haphazard with a plethora of small variety stores each offering, as the pilot says ‘it’s owner’s ideas of what sells in Cariacou’. This can be frustrating but is also full of delightful surprises and everybody’s desperate to help. Ginger was a requirement for the tuna marinade, but oh dear, none to be found. ‘None on de island now’ explained one stall holder, but a young lady heard our request, pointed over the road and we purchased half a kilo from a huge pile in a little kiosk. The anchorage was pretty lumpy, so we repaired to Tyrel once more, and hooked in not far from the shore, then settling in until the Angel’s Rest beckoned for a sundowner.

Geoff dived on the Sisters on Tuesday morning. These are a couple of twin islands a quarter of a mile off shore, with steep sides dropping twenty metres or so to the sea floor. It was a two tank dive led by Connie formally a tax official in the East German regime but now a dive-master running Arawak Divers with partner George, also a German. The coral was very pretty, and there were numerous barracuda, but the dive failed to reveal any of the sharks that normally feature. Most of the excitement was on the surface, where Kenny the boat guy was sure he’d spotted a whale shark right alongside the dive boat. Connie had never seen one, and was sceptical, until computer enhancement on shore revealed a fifteen to twenty foot specimen of this large plankton feeder.

The peaceful, attractive scenery coupled with the local charm also captivated the Pringles, but after two nights it was time to move on to Union Island and the Cays, last visited as a foursome nearly six years. The weather has been perfect, still hardly any showers and the trade wind now down to between twelve and fifteen knots. This gave an easy and relaxing sail to Union, anchoring briefly to clear in before sailing up to the Cays and in through the southern reefs.

Today the win has gone right down, and the boat is anchored in a hue azure swimming pool. The visibility for snorkelling is fantastic, a number of southern electric rays and a whole host of squid providing the main attraction. The place is not really busy, and the boat boys are few and far between. Most of them have now seen the boat so often, that they just pass by with a cheery wave and a ‘Hey, Irie’.

On the little island of Jamesby we spotted a number of iguanas. One large specimen with a dragon like serrated comb was aggressively pursuing a smaller chap. He’d stand, legs spread wide, rapidly raising and lowering his head in an arrogant display, before his victim turned and rushed away at remarkable speed with his tormentor in hot pursuit. On up the hill a bright green variant was idly sitting high in a tree – clearly not yet ripe.

 Lean and mean