One of the things I omitted to mention in the last blog was the fact that this area has lots of famous boats. You read all about the stunning J class boats in Yachting World, but then you hear names like Ranger, Endeavour from this class, plus others such as Drumbeat, Tenacious, and Maltese Falcon. All on the VHF radio, you realise they actually do exist!!  Then you get to see them in the flesh. It doesn’t seem real sometimes, but boy do they make a wonderful sight.

  Maltese Falcon in action of Bequia (later moored off Mystique)

Last night we had a fun evening with David & Sylvia from Rascal and Lee & Terri from Glendora. This was in the Saltwhistle Bay Club. The dinning table and banquet seating is made from lumps of stone cemented together, with a mini thatched roof. All very quaint. Good meal and good company, but the staff would benefit from some interpersonal skill training……………….Reasonable value at USD 50 per head for a three curse meal, with (limited) wine.

The other thing we discovered about Saltwhistle Bay is that they have the largest Hermit Crabs I have ever come across,  We found one last night that was around 4 inches from claw to shell tip. Best not to fall asleep on this beach at night!!!

Today we made the effort to get out of bed at a sensible time and walked from our bay, over the hill (puff, puff) to Saline Bay and the Islands only village. Stunning views from the top of the Island, over the Cays, to Union Island, Palm Island and PSV.

 Saltwhistle Bay from the top of Mayreau Island

 View to Tobago Cays from Mayreau

We found the people very friendly, but they do not give away smiles easily. We took that as a challenge and had some real fun…….

Jennie also went out of her way to befriend some of the locals………..

  OK what do you want?????

Then we walked back over the hill again (more puff, puff). By this time in all this heat, I had the old Humpty Dumpty, nursery rhyme running though my head. Along with the pounding heart  beat. MUST get more exercise…Aha, another New Years resolution………………

We departed the anchorage at around 12 noon and headed around the Island for Tobago Cays. It was quite a windy day, with ENE winds of 25+ knots, So we elected to anchor between Petit Rameau and Petit Bateau. As we came up to our selected spot we realised we would be “parking” next door to Spectra, another of the BWR yachts. So once anchored, we just had to jump in the dingy to say hello. Andy and Becky are very friendly, social folks. So 3 beers later we returned to Zipadedoda for a late lunch.

After a short rest this was followed by a dingy trip to Horseshoe reef. We then enjoyed a couple of hours snorkelling. Saw a turtle along the way. The water was not as clear as I remember from 17 years ago, but we did sea many varieties of fish, Cuttle fish, Box fish, Spiny box fish, Grouper, Damsel, Wrasse of several favours, Leaf fish (I love these delicate creatures) as well as Gobies and Shrimps, living a symbiotic relationship in the same holes on the sea bed.  It was great to be back in the water again “seeing” things. (All of this without alcohol….)

We plan to be a little more adventurous tomorrow and get right out to the main reef to see if the water is any clearer, and to see if we can find any more Turtles and Rays.

After that, if Anahi come in tomorrow we will probably stay another night. If not we will move over to Palm Island then Union Island. We shall see how the mood takes us. More pressure……..