We set off from Canouan as soon as we got back aboard, motoring through miles of light green coloured seas, as you’ll see from the photo blog. I decided to motor the six miles there as the wind was, for the most part, on the nose, then at the end there was by Caribbean standards a little bit of tricky navigation to get us into the Cays, which by the very nature of the place is strewn with reefs. However, the five mile journey proved not to be too arduous on the navigator and by ‘Tinkers Hole’ standards, the gaps between rocks, reefs and sandbars were colossal. We sailed SSW for about three or four miles until about one quarter of a mile north of Mayreau then turned SE (left) onto a transit lining up Catholic Island, with Petit Rameau. About two miles out the water suddenly became flat as we entered the all protecting arms of the reef.

Tobago Cays is a national park which consists of a group five small islands that are uninhabited. They are the ‘Utopia’ of Caribbean cruising, with palm tree lined white coral beaches and light green water that is absolutely crystal clear. They are sheltered from the large powerful Atlantic swells by an all encompassing reef to the east called ’Horseshoe Reef’ which is an apt description as it virtually surrounds the islands. The islands consist of Petit Rameau, the most northerly with Petit Bateau to the south, the two divided by a small channel. Baradel is to the east of the two main islands and the smaller, Jamesby to the south of Bateau. The last island of the group, ‘Petit Tabac’ is actually outside ’Horseshoe Reef’ but is protected by it’s own system of coral reefs. If you can find the area on Google Earth, I think you will be rewarded by the beauty of the place, even from a satellite.

We motored into the channel between Petit Rameau and Petit Bateau and dropped the hook in a little bay to the south of Rameau. Despite seeing open Atlantic as far as the eye could see upwind of us, the anchorage was filled with flat calm crystal clear turquoise water. About a mile away to the east the reefs were identified only by the crashing white water as the power of the Atlantic swells were spent on the protective reef. There is also no shelter from the Trade Winds, so we constantly had a 20-25 knot cooling breeze blowing over and in through the boat.

‘Doody II’ was soon inflated and launched and we motored over to the tail of Baradel, a white sandy beach with the requisite palm trees, swept at it’s southern end by converging wave patterns from the east and the south. We lifted the dinghy up the beach and went for a swim in the lovely cooling water. I should add that five adults is possibly too big a load in a three man dinghy and that on the way across we were swept by a couple of choppy waves, which washed over the tubes and part filled the boat with water.

The Cays are the breeding ground for turtles which are protected here and therefore have no fear of man. We had a swim on the choppier east beach to see if we could see any but it proved too rough to stay out there for long. However, when a few hundred yards from the beach, you could take a break from swimming and simply stand on the sandy bottom, the water was only about four feet deep.

We returned to the beach and  Bev and I climbed the  hill on Baradel to get a view of the Cays from one hundred feet up. The view was quite  superb and I am sorry now that I didn’t take the camera, as I can not now reproduce that amazing sight. After we were all swum out we motored back to ’The Wing’ but this time taking two trips. On the first with Bev and Sheila, we were rewarded by a pair of turtles swimming close by us. I cut the engine and let them swim past. They seemed unconcerned at our presence and swam across our bow before taking a leisurely dive underwater. It’s quite amazing the feeling of wellbeing you get at the sight of such magnificent creatures.

After a pleasant evening on board we set sail the following morning to return north, as time was running out for our guests Duggie and Sheila. We set off in a stiff easterly breeze,  retracing our steps out along the leading lines and transits. We sailed past Canouan and on to our beautiful Bequia where we anchored in our old spot next to Adolf. Despite some stares and glares from Helga, nothing was said. We later learned from friends who were anchored ahead of us, that an Australian yacht had anchored in our place during our absence and that Helga had come out shouting and swearing at them. No such fun this time!!

We are now back in Rodney Bay St. Lucia, having decanted Duggie and Sheila from ‘Stinky Peak’ or as our dear friend Kenny Gilchrist called it, ‘The Vomitorium’, into the lovely Seagrape Apartments ashore, and picked up our daughter Sarah and her boyfriend Will who are our next set of guests. Our plan is to travel from St. Lucia to Antigua, visiting and in the cases of Dominica and Martinique, revisiting, all the islands in between. As this is some ground that I have covered already, Sarah will do the blog for the next fortnight giving her take and photographs of the voyage on the good ship ‘Swiftwing’.

For those sailors who may be interested, the winds here are fairly constant at the moment of between force 5 and 7. However, to the north and south of these tall volcanic islands (Dominica 5,000 feet) there is wind acceleration zones where gusts often reach 40 knots. On our return trip we turned back at the north end of St. Vincent in 35 - 40 knot winds because when trying to reef in the headsail the 18m sheets whipped into a fankle preventing us from rolling it up.

I bore off downwind to take the pressure off the sail and we eventually got it rolled up nice and tight. We returned  toWallilabou Bay where we picked up a mooring and spent the day taking off the ’Twizzle Rig’ (Twin matching headsails on one foil) and leading the sheets for the staysail which has never been used; the wind never having been strong enough. We set off at 0600 the next morning with two reefs in the main and the staysail set. At the north end of the island as the wind met us we surged off at 7 - 8 knots with this rig but the wind wasn’t as strong as it had been the previous day and by the time we got to the Pitons in St. Lucia, we were back up to full main, full jib and mizzen. We eventually had to motor the last ten miles into Rodney Bay.

Douglas.