It was not early to bed for me after all our exertions on Boo Boo
Hill as I had to take advantage of our internet connection and work.
However I was allowed a lie-in the following morning so it wasn’t all bad. After
a leisurely breakfast, during which a big ray swam past the boat pursued by a
hopeful photographer in a dinghy, Rosemary and Peter went ashore in search of
the elusive hutias, while Ted and I tried to do some planning for the summer
section of the cruise. The time passed all too quickly and the shore party
returned without seeing any hutias (apparently they should have taken lettuce to
lure them from their burrows) and it was low water and time to go snorkelling on
the reef.
On the way to the snorkelling spot two large rays were spotted so
with some trepidation we tied the dinghy to the small buoy thoughtfully provided
and Ted, Rosemary and Peter dived in leaving me guarding the boat and making
sure no one was swept away by strong currents. The snorkelers were rewarded by
beautiful and varied coral and a large variety of brightly coloured fish (but no
sign of the rays). Rosemary had had enough when Peter kicked her in the face so
climbed into the dinghy and I had a turn in the water. The wind was a bit strong
and the waves higher than I like for sea swimming although the views were
amazing so we all went back to the dinghy and headed back. When we reached the
shallow sand bank in the middle of the natural harbour we got out and
walked about in the few inches of water, towing the dinghy behind. After
investigating various drying bits we swam back to the boat for showers and
lunch. Ted took the opportunity to investigate the underside of the boat first.
The water here is crystal clear so he was able to make a good assessment of the
condition of the hull, keel, and prop.
The afternoon was taken up with relaxing, reading, sunbathing on
the foredeck, replying to e-mails, and more planning. Rosemary prepared another
delicious repast and we look forward to another keenly contested game of cards
this evening.
