24/12/2016 10:05 11:56.7N 61.31.5W

This is the furthest south we have planned to be.

We did consider visiting Tobago, 120 miles south-south-west of Barbados and 50 miles further south than we are at present, and then heading north from there. However, primarily because of security concerns, we decided against it.

While Tobago itself is considered a relatively safe cruising ground, neighbouring Trinidad has an altogether different reputation (over 400 murders this year so far and counting) - and neither are very far from an increasingly lawless Venezuela. The added danger for cruisers in these waters is piracy with two reports in each of 2015 and 2016 of yachts being boarded and robbed. The advice for cruisers leaving Trinidad includes filing a passage plan with the coastguard, leaving at sunset, preferably on a moonless night, with a strong breeze and “big” seas to make boarding difficult, sailing in company, keeping radio contact to a minimum, switching off AIS position transmission, and, most controversially of all, sailing without any navigation lights.

We are using the Caribbean Safety & Security Net (https://www.safetyandsecuritynet.com/home-4/) to find out which islands and locations are best avoided and what we need to do to stay safe wherever we are. We have also filed a report (https://www.safetyandsecuritynet.com/date-2016-12-14-country-name-barbados-location-detail-bridgetown-careenage-event-vandalism/) following an atypical incident in Bridgetown - Touch of Grey is yacht B2.

So, instead of Tobago, we are heading for the south side of Grenada where we will spend Christmas and the New Year.