Date: 16-01-07     Time: 23:00 UTC      Position: 12:38.02N  061:23.86W   Name: Mayreau 

I går kveld så jeg for første gang et kjent fenomen - den grønne blinken. I det sola går under horisonten oppstår det en blink av grønt lys som varer bare noen tidels sekunder. Jeg har lenge trodd at dette var noe som er mer avhengig av antall cocktails man inntar, men nå vet jeg at det er sant. Det var faktisk en veldig fin opplevelse.

 

Det har blåst mye igjen i dag, og med litt  nordlig retning som ikke egner seg for oss å komme nordover med. Vi hadde pratet med "Dumle" litt angående reservedelene som kommer med Nigels foreldre, og hadde litt lyst til å prate mer med dem om dette. De lå her ved Mayreau som er litt under en time nord-øst for der vi lå ved Union Island. Vi hadde vinden rett imot oss og nokså krappe bølger, men motoren hadde godt av å jobbe litt og vi kom hit rundt elleve-tiden. Mayreau er en liten og fattig øy med bare 300 faste innbyggere. Det er tre hoteller men disse er av den mer beskjedne type. Øya har ikke flyplass heller - som kanskje forklarer hvorfor det ikke er mange dyre hoteller på en ellers nydelig øy. Vi ligger i en bukt som heter "Saline Bay", men beskyttelsen fra dønningene er dårlig og vi ruller en god del. Lenger nord er en perle av en bukt som heter "Salt Whistle Bay", men dette er kjent for å være populær og også noe utsatt for dønningen når vinden er fra nord-øst. Vi gikk i land og gikk langs øya over til Salt Whistle Bay - en fin tur på en halv time. Litt bratt opp til en flott liten kirke med fantastisk utsikt over Tobago Cays. Salt Whistle Bay var sannelig et flott sted - men smekk full av båter - stort sett katamaraner og charter-båter. På veien tilbake stoppet vi på en av de mange spisestedene - Dennis' Hideaway - som er øyas beste restaurant, men allikevel forholdsvis billig for å være i Karibia.

 

Vel tilbake i båten var det på tide å kjøle seg med en svømmetur for kveldsroen senket seg. Dessverre var det skyer på horisonten og den grønne blinken uteble. Dagens bilde - Saline Bay.

 

As the sun went down yesterday evening I saw for the first time a phenomenon known as the green flash. As the sun drops below the horizon there is a short but intense flash of green light - emerald in colour I would say. I have heard of this but never seen it before, believing it to be dependent on a considerable number of Sundowners being consumed before hand. I can only confirm that it exists and is well worth seeing, even if it does only last for a few tenths of a second.

 

We have had another windy day, with a lot of north in the wind - which doesn't suit us very well at all. We chatted with "Dumle" yesterday about the spare parts which Nigel's parents are bringing out with them and wanted to have a longer talk about the timing of this with them. They were her at Mayreau which is just a short hour's sail from Union Island - and the only island in the St. Vincent part of the Grenadines which we have not visited yet. We had the wind and waves dead against us but the motor needed a good hard run to burn off any carbon deposits on the valves, so we made a reasonably early start, getting here at about eleven. Mayreau is a small island, pretty poor with just 300 inhabitants. With no airstrip the place has escaped much of the tourist development of the larger islands, yet is small and safe with no problems of criminality. The three hotels are all of the modest variety. However there are plenty of opportunities to eat at restaurants and buy T-shirts. We are anchored off the beach in "Saline Bay" which is the where the ferry calls and the locals live. The bay is rather exposed for swell and we are rolling a fair bit more than we are used to from Union Island. A smaller bay just up the coast is known as one of the pearls of the Caribbean - Salt Whistle Bay - but is just as vulnerable to the swell as here when the wind is north of east. This other bay is also very crowded. Rather than visit by sea, we walked the 30 minutes it takes along the island - a bit steep at first - to this gem of a place with a narrow isthmus of sandy beach separating the windward and leeward shores - all lined with coconut palms - only marred by the T-shirt sellers and the congestion of catamarans and charter boats. On the way back we stopped at the Islands best restaurant for lunch - Dennis's Hideaway - which was still very reasonably priced in comparison with other islands.

 

Safely back at the boat a swim was needed to wash off the sweat from our walk. Unfortunately the clouds on the horizon prevented us seeing the green flash today.