So last you heard we were
stuck on the hard dock in Trinidad. . . I am pleased to say that we have seen
the light and the water! We splashed on the 26th of February (Happy
birthday to Captain Ian) and we were planning on spending the night in the
Peakes’ slipway, unfortunately the cleats on the dock are not mooring line
friendly, and we eventually decided to go anchor around 10 in the evening after
2 of our mooring lines snapped! We provisioned over the next couple of days . .
. quite a process and after a fairly hefty bill (food is so expensive) we were
finally set to go . . . but not before a quick trip to the duty free alcohol section
. . . Jangles booze cruise was ready to go!
We left Trinidad on the 3rd March,
heading up towards Tobago Cays to meet up with Krista and Bill from Secoudon.
On our way up, between Trinidad and Grenada we were super lucky to have a pod
of around a dozen dolphins swim with our boat for a good 30 minutes! It was
fantastic!
When we finally reached Tobago Cays, the weather
and sea conditions were superb! Once we anchored it was the first time either
my dad or myself went into the water! We swam over to Secoudon and arranged an
afternoon snorkel with them which was followed by a delicious pork fillet for
dinner onboard Secoudon. The next day Krista and I went out for a snorkel and
got to play with the turtles for 2 and 1/2 hours! Needless to say, our
backsides were roasted when we got back.
We left Secudon to head to
St. Vincent to pick up two friends who were coming aboard for 9 days, Robert
and Agnes. They arrived on board late in the evening of the 5th and
after refueling the next morning we got underway. As we were coming around the
corner to the anchorage in Bequia, the rod went off! Dorado for supper! Secoudon
was in Bequia and Krista and I had happy hour in the afternoon when we were
noodling - noodling is a sort of water aerobic exercise, which I must say was
greatly improved by a frozen strawberry daiquiri. Krista and Bill came over for
dinner and we had delicious, fresh fish.
The next morning we were off
to the Tobago Cays. We spent two days snorkeling in the Cays and playing with
the turtles before we headed off to Petite St. Vincent. We spent a couple of
days there waiting out some bad weather before it was time to head back to St.
Vincent and say farewell to Robert and Agi.
 |
| Agnes touching a turtle |
My dad and I sailed straight
up to St. Lucia as we were picking up my mom and my boyfriend, Travis, on the
17th March. Once they arrived we had a quiet dinner on Jangles with
Krista and Bill (Yes, Secoudon was there again… but we love seeing them!). My
mom’s 50th was coming up so the next night we had an early birthday
celebration with Secoudon at the Big Chef in St. Lucia. We departed early
Saturday morning and spent the day sailing to Bequia. Travis caught a barracuda
on the way, which we threw back. We provisioned the next morning and had a
drink before we left. I ordered and ice cream sandwich and literally, that’s
what I got. A piece of bread with peanut butter and 2 scoops of ice cream with
chocolate sauce plopped on top. We were all a little flabbergasted and burst
out laughing. We Left Bequia and sailed to Petite St. Vincent for my moms
birthday.
I had spent 4 days baking and
icing biscuits on a moving boat – no small feat I shall add – and made a cake
to match for my mom’s birthday. It was all worth it in the end as Travis and I
got up early to decorate the boat and my mom had a great morning drinking
champagne and opening her presents. We had planned to have dinner at the beach
bar but the weather wasn’t great so we stayed in and went the next night.
Our next destination was
Tobago cays. Travis and I spent hours in the water, snorkeling and playing with
turtles. We saw loads of rays, including spotted eagle rays and even a southern
stingray that had no barb! The one time my mom joined us we found a super
friendly turtle, which had no trouble being touched. We ended up getting some
great pictures with it.
Travis and I went snorkeling
on the reef and were lucky enough to see a nurse shark! Unfortunately the
current was a bit strong so we weren’t able to follow him to get a picture (no,
I am not lying we really did see one!).
On another one of our snorkels (we were like fish so in the water all
the time) we saw a different species of turtle, the greatly endangered
hawksbill turtle.
It was sadly time to leave
the Cays and head back north to St. Lucia as Travis’s departure was drawing
near . . . We sailed to Bequia and spent a day there. Our friends from Truant
and Jambalaya were in Bequia so we had lunch with them at Jacks beach bar on
Easter Sunday. They all spent the entire afternoon at the bar whilst Travis and
I went snorkeling (once again). We had an amazing snorkel with great sightings
. . . spotted moray eel, gold spotted eel (both in the open), a flying gurnard,
a huge porcupine fish.
We set sail early the
following morning and only arrived in St. Lucia at nightfall. The following day was a sad one
as it was time for Travis to leave. . . lots of tears again on my part.
Our next plan is to head up
to Antigua for race week. . . will keep you all posted.
