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.