Grand Caymen
Lynn & Mike ..around the world
Mike Drinkrow & Lynn v/d Hoven
Sun 15 May 2011 00:48
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19:17.95N 081:23.34W
George Town, Grand Caymen
We arrived in George Town late Friday morning after a
peaceful overnight sail. We tied up at the local dock to check-in, which
was easy and quick. We did declare a freezer full of crayfish and hand over over
spear poles/ gun , as very strict rules on any kind of weapons here.
We were then directed to a free mooring ball, close to town where we have been
moored for the last two days. we are right on top of a reef in the clearest
water I have seen in ages. It is so clear that in 6 m of water, you
can see the bottom . ..at NIGHT!
We met up with Mike Binckes and Alexa who moved
here about 6 months ago from Johannesburg. Mike is the cousin of our
friend Sharon Thomson. We had drinks with them on Friday night at a local
beach bar called Rackhams. On Saturday Mike B was kind enough to drive me
to the local supermarket to stock up on fresh fruit and veggies. The risk of
scurvy was getting serious! Fabulous supermarket - very good stocks, even
though quite pricey. Grand Caymen is supposed to have one of the highest
standards of living in the Carribean, and so of course, more expensive.
There are a fair number of South Africans living here, and there is even an SA
food section in the store, where I managed to get some Wellington's Sweet Chilli
sauce and some droe wors...yum! We are enjoying good internet access right
on the boat, which has allowed us to see pictures of Mike's gorgeous little
grand-daughter Kate, born in Cape Town earlier this week.
Although Grand Caymen is famous for banking, what you
see are lots of very nice beach hotels and a very busy cruise-ship destination.
They can have up to 5 ships on one day at the busiest times. There was a giant
one (3000 passengers) here on Friday, but nothing more until Tuesday. Sunday is
taken very seriously and everything is closed and then tomorrow is a public
holiday, so most things will be closed again. As a result, we
have been lucky enough to be close to shore, but with little
disturbance. There is fantastic diving and snorkeling right here off the
back of the boat - the wreck of the Cali is found only 75m from
our boat. Our plan at this point is to leave early on Wednesday for the 2/3 day
trip down to Providencia.
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