Tobago Cays Grenadines

We set sail for the short trip to the Cays around 9am Saturday (7th) morning and Otahi had left about an hour earlier. Another lazy headsail only sail saw us arrive at around 11am and drop the hook in the busy anchorage. After sorting out the dinghy we all (Kat, James, Freya and I) decided to go snorkeling on the reef in (sometimes) less than 2m depth.

The highlights were swimming alongside turtles and seeing a huge Box Puffer fish (about 2ft long and wide). Also later, while sitting aboard Otahi we saw several Rays casually swimming past.

Later that afternoon while on deck, we saw a dinghy drifting along towards us, the driver desperately trying to start the engine and the three other women starting to look more than a little worried. After several failed attempts to get a rope to them it was my turn to play ‘hero’. It took a while to get them traveling in the right direction due to large chop and strong winds, with my little 5hp engine struggling to pull an additional larger dinghy with 4 people. I eventually got them back to their Catamaran where they invited me around for a ‘thank you’ drink that evening.

With deteriorating conditions (wind & waves) we decided to call on the French Catamaran slightly early and were immediately greeted and sat down to ‘drinks & nibbles’. After some introductions we learned that there was the captain (Gilles) and his wife (Nancy) who owned the catamaran and two divers (Alain & Phillipe) and their wives. Alain & Phillipe travel the world on their more than regular holidays documenting and taking the most amazing pictures of the worlds oceans and its wildlife. Their website is going live in March – http://www.subreportages.com/ .

After lots of conversation, slideshows and drinks we finally left around 8pm after being invited to visit them in the south of France for some diving. It had been a busy day and we went straight to bed.

The next morning (Sunday 8th) we were woken by the Tobago Cays Ranger who was collecting park fees and we paid our $40ec for our two nights. I was feeling really lethargic, almost like I was suffering the beginnings of a cold and so spent the day reading and relaxing on Doris. The others went for a day trip to the nearby island of Petit Bateau where they climbed the small ‘mountain’ and generally explored.

Late afternoon I received a call over the VHF that they were back aboard Otahi and I took over some sausages, beers and rum to compliment the egg, chips and beans cooked by Freya. We ate dinner on Otahi’s deck under a crystal clear sky and almost full moon.

Mayreau Grenadines

Another short and pleasant sail from Canouan took us to Mayreau where I immediately recognized ‘Otahi’ James & Freya’s steel cutter anchored in Saline Bay. Being lazy and negotiating cheap rates we jumped straight on a mooring buoy literally just a few yards off the beach.

We got the dinghy sorted and went straight over to say ‘Hi’ as I haven’t seen James & Freya since Las Palmas in the Canaries. After a short chat, Kat and I swam ashore and then snorkeled over a small reef for a short while before returning to Doris to relax and eat!

The next day we decided to go for a walk ashore and visit the small picturesque SaltWhistle Bay a few miles further north. Before leaving Doris I tied another line to the mooring buoy (just incase) and ashore we went. After tying and locking up the dinghy at the jetty, the first stop was the landfill just behind the beach to get rid of a few days worth of rubbish.

Welcome to Paradise...

We sweated our way up a steep hill to visit the local church which had direct views to the Tobago Cays and then down the other side into SaltWhistle Bay. The water looked so inviting and soon enough Kat and I were swimming in water as clear as any swimming pool over pure white sand. After nearly drowning Kat by acting out the ‘water jump’ scene from Dirty Dancing (including role reversal) we decided to indulge in a drink and some chips ashore before getting a water taxi round the coast back to the anchorage.

After a perfect day things started to deteriorate rapidly! As we walked up the jetty my heart sank as I recognized my dinghy and brand new outboard had been pulled out of the water. The dinghy was flat on one side due to a four inch rip, one of the oars had been snapped from its rowlock and the engine cover had been removed! My first thoughts were that it had been smashed up out of frustration due to it still being padlocked to the jetty.

Two locals who were sitting close by immediately stood up and started trying to explain what had happened. Apparently the swell had started to pick up and the dinghy had been washed underneath the jetty where it was turned over and then ripped on the jetty iron work. Seeing the engine underwater they had tried to pull the dinghy out.

Somewhere in amongst the confusing story the topic switched to ‘the boat was drifting out to sea’. I’m sorry? What! ‘The mooring buoy broke and your boat was drifting out to sea’. Just to really make the day memorable, the mooring buoy line had snapped and Doris had started to drift thankfully not hitting any other boats. Several people in the anchorage including James helped rescue her and re-secure her on the mooring.

After talking to one of the rescuing boats and James it is still unclear as to what exactly happened as apparently my ropes were dangling loose in the water when they got onboard. However, my two ropes were both intact meaning they must have been undone (both were cleated one end and bowline the other). Is it possible that two ropes could become uncleated?

Needless to say after all this I felt sick! I didn’t really care about the dinghy as that was my own stupidity for not second guessing the danger of the jetty that might occur if the swell increased. It was the fact that I had ‘lost my ship’ and was reliant on others to save her. I’m not sure of the legalities but someone may have tried to claim ‘salvage’?

I paid the boat boys some money to take my dinghy remains back to Doris and then pulled her off the mooring dropping anchor in deeper water. We were soon visited by James & Freya who rowed over in their inflatable canoe offering a gift of a dinghy puncture repair kit.

James and I flushed fresh water over the outboard, drained the carburetor of sea water and then sprayed it all over with penetrating oil including in the engine after removing the spark plug. After several pulls it started fine and seemed to be O.K.

After inviting James & Freya over to dinner that eve, Kat and I then set about applying two huge patches (inside and out) to the dinghy. If we cant fix the dinghy were are going to be really stuck with no means (other than swimming) of getting ashore.

We were told that people were calling for us over the VHF and for the rest of the day nobody went ashore using their dinghies, instead using the boat boys as water taxis – they made a killing!

After a ‘heated discussion’ with the guy who sold us the mooring buoy I got a refund and arranged for him to deliver beer to us as we couldn’t even get ashore – there was a deliver fee of course!

That evening James came over and explained Freya’s fear of sharks (especially at night) and the fact that they only had the canoe (due to repairs being carried out on their dinghy) where the passenger (Freya) has to dangle their legs in the water.

We had no other option other than to re-anchor close to Otahi as Freya missing dinner was not an option!

The next day we pumped up the dinghy and despite the initial appearance that the repair would not last long it remained afloat. I did take the precaution of removing the outboard over night just incase!

The next day I took the girls ashore to use the Internet cafe and I spent most of the day aboard Doris reading or closeby talking to James on Otahi. That evening it was our turn to join J&F for dinner and after James had to rescue us again! The outboard would not start and Kat’s attempts to row using one oar were futile against the strong winds – next stop would have been Venezuela! All good fun…

Canouan Grenadines

Not much to report here as we only stayed for the night after a smooth uneventful sail from Bequia. After finding the ‘anchorage’ area we decided to jump on to one of the mooring buoys where according to the pilot book we may or may not be charged depending on who notices.

There were a few other boats around but they all appeared deserted and we quickly guessed the moorings belonged to the ‘Moorings’ charter company. Mooring went smooth enough despite the gusting winds of over 25kn until we lost the boat hook overboard. With Doris secure, Kat jumped overboard to retrieve it before freaking out as she realized she doesn’t like being in the water alone!

We had some food and cooled down before a boat boy appeared. We couldn’t stay on the mooring as they were private (as we’d guessed) and would have to come on to another buoy closer to the shore or anchor. Being lazy and a bit cheeky, I simply let the anchor go where we sat and then drifted back from the mooring buoy!

Later that evening the winds really began to howl around 30kn+ and I had to get out the warp to stop the chain almost ripping the bow roller off due to the shallow depth (3m).

I also took the precaution of locking ourselves in (for the first time ever) due to being the only yacht around and the worst (rape, murder, etc) crime reports occurring in similar circumstances. There was probably nothing to worry about but I been earlier reading the online crime reports for the Caribbean to pass the timefor and had obviously scared myself!