After a wonderful month anchored off Charlotteville, Tobago something just told us it was time to move on..... it must be that there’s a little element of gypsy in our souls.....all long distance sailors seem to suffer the same problem.   One day all is fine, you are enjoying a cold beer whilst regarding the surrounding tropical paradise with awe and the next morning it’s ‘click’, it’s time to move on.

 

Of course there’s always a downside, this time it was Noel, a local artist who we’d befriended.  We’d just returned with him from an all night party (yes at our age) in Bucco when we announced we were clearing out and leaving for Barbados the next day ....... you could see he was rightfully hurt but he understood ...... and it hurt us to do it. 

 

Our last few days in Tobago were topped by a walk we made into the tropical rainforest. Following a weak trail crisscrossing a mountain stream we came upon a spectacular waterfall that we guessed to be around 60 metres high, the only way to get close and sit under the rainbow crossing the pool was to wade and swim in the cool mountain water.

 

When you clear out of a country the authorities ask for your intended destination and port ...... unfortunately we never get there ( for Salvador we arrived in Recife, French Guiana read Trinidad, for Guyana read Tobago ) so that when we checked of Tobago we said Grenada and we arrived in Barbados just as planned ... it worked!

 

The night before leaving Tobago I was struck down with a very upset tummy and in the morning I felt washed out but there was one of those rare winds in the right direction so we just had to take it.  Bridgetown was only 120 NM so I could deal with that however I felt.....wrong!  Three hours out of Charlotteville I crashed into my berth and left dear Claire to handle the longest watch of her sailing career with me comatose in the saloon.  She made a brilliant job sailing to windward in the 15 knot breeze under full sail arriving spot on where we’d planned off the south coast of Barbados and also shaved four hours off our passage plan.  By then it was clicking into place in mind that a mosquito bite that I’d received in the tropical paradise had probably left me with Dengue fever or Chikungunya (both rampant out here), my temp of 103F and influenza like symptoms indicated to the ship’s doctor something was seriously upset– in either case I was going to take a while to recover.   So we’ve been here moored off sunny Bridgetown, Barbados for nearly a week, rolling the mast (and my guts) out of the boat in the heavy swell praying for things to improve and today I finally enjoyed a little breakfast and lunch so I’ve turned the corner and the gypsy will be soon rearing his head again!