Grand Turk
Lynn & Mike ..around the world
Mike Drinkrow & Lynn v/d Hoven
Thu 30 Apr 2009 01:10
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21:28.14N 71:09.09W Cockburn
Town, Grand Turk
Yesterday we sailed the 23nm up to Grand Turk from
Big Sand Cay. The wind was still strong but we were keen to get moving. Just off
the south east of the island we hit a powerful squall than managed to snap
our foresail sheet (the rope that holds the front sail to the winch).
The rain was pelting down, but we quite quickly furled the sail and managed to
anchor at the south dock with no further problems.
As we had been unable to raise the harbourmaster on
the VHF radio, I had eventually phoned the tourist office from my cell phone to
confirm the check-in procedure. But what a pleasant surprise we found at
the dock - the tourist office had called the customs official, and he had driven
down to the pier meet us. He then drove us to his office to complete all the
formalities which were simple and easy. Now that is service!
We are now anchored off Cockburn Town, the capital
town of the Turks and Caicos islands. We took our dinghy across
the beautiful blue reef to town, and walked around a bit. Grand Turk is
only known for diving and international banking services, and while the water is
spectacular, the land is pretty uninspiring. This was made even worse in
September last year when they were hit by Hurricane Ike, a category 5 hurricane
with sustained winds of 260km/h. Many of the old buildings were totally
destroyed, others had roofs blown off, electric poles were snapped and there is
still debris everywhere. ..as the customs official told us " It sounded
like horses galloping on the roof".
We initiated John into island cuisine with a lunch
of cracked conch (battered strips) at a beachside restaurant.
We are still deciding on our next stop and our
course ...should we take a few days and go south across the Caicos Banks or
should we go north, around Provo, sailing overnight directly to Mayaguana,
Bahama's?? Time will tell ....
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