New Year’s eve was preceded by some wonderful sailing in and around the Tobago Cays.  Palm Island Resort, twinned with the famous Peter Island Resort in the BVI’s acted as a backdrop for a couple of hours of lazing and swimming before we motored over to Union Island to take a buoy in the early afternoon for an overnight stay.  Paul, Val, Tim and David, all very much into the holiday mood, explored ashore, with Paul particularly excited at the prospect of visiting the little post office to add a selection of colourful stamps to his enormous collection.  Ryan and I bumped into them at the Anchorage Yacht Club, with its famous shark pool, where they were partaking of a leisurely lunch.  We then visited the market for fresh fruit and veg. and an outstanding local restaurant for a fish fry, before staggering back to Oboe to freshen her up before picking up the Howes late afternoon.  Union Island was much as I remember it, friendly, colourful and languid and definitely worth the visit.  Next time, however, we will seek to nudge further into the harbour and drop anchor, as our mooring rocked and rolled all night with the occasional bounce as ferries and fishermen drove noisily past at speed well into the night.

On 29 December we slipped out of Clifton Bay, Union Island and made for Mustique.  Oboe sailed perfectly in calm, turquoise waters, upwind all the way and by 1300hrs we were once again moored up off Basil’s Bar, enthusiastically encouraging everyone to walk off too much sitting around and snacking and explore the island on foot.  However, the lobster and fries proved too enticing for some, who shall remain nameless and we all ended up in Basil’s for a late, leisurely lunch with an unusually high tide and onshore winds driving huge waves under the floor of the bar and shaking its very foundations!  We went our separate ways in the afternoon and enjoyed the island’s little hilly roads on foot until the heat got too much.  Cocktails and dinner at the Firefly for the guests – chips and dips washed down by a couple of beers for the skipper and mate, with the skipper (me!) collapsing to his cabin well before the return of the contented Howes family.

The 30^th arrived and, as planned, we sailed early for St Vincent for Tim to catch a plane home to celebrate New Year with friends.  With Tim successfully unloaded into Charlie Tango’s pirogue and transferred to Robert’s taxi, Oboe sailed for Bequia – now home from home and the long anticipated start to the New Year celebrations.  These started with a sneaky beer or two at lunchtime in the Frangipani bar, a few animated chats with locals, by now familiar with Oboe and her crew.  Time slipped by, dusk fell, the Howes’ friends, the Wallaces (all 11 of them on the one charter catamaran!) arrived jovially noisy as usual and soon the party began.  The resident steel band wound up the volume, more people piled into the beach bar and the party was well underway with 5 hours still to go to midnight.  Of course, midnight arrived in Europe at about this time, with the French and Germans setting off emergency flares to light up the sky.  An hour later and the Brits, more reservedly attempted lines from Auld Lang Syne (spelling?), with a lone , drunken Scot in a kilt providing much amusement for the locals.

All then seems to have faded into a mist ...

Happy New Year was wished liverishly the next morning and an empty champagne bottle was hurriedly secreted away to make room for a light breakfast in the cockpit before the packing began and Oboe, once again, ploughed a course for St Vincent and the fond farewells of a holiday over.

Goodbye Paul, Val, Tim and David.  Thank you for being such gracious and generous guests and Happy New Year!

Nigel