Category: Cruising

The small supermarket is extraordinarily well stocked with all kinds of goodies including French cheeses

Our new neighbour Salute arrived and the question on everyones mind was ‘how big is that?’     We are alongside Silent Wings (54ft) and next door’s mast is twice our height. Actual mast height is 237ft.                   The furling gear is about the size of a crew member if you look closely.             It is 184ft long and gross tonnage is 543 tonnes. Like all superyachts it’s for sale. Asking $35m USD.        

Back home it’s a can of pop, packet of crisps and five hours TV…..

Wednesday is the big BBQ night snd we signed up for fish and lobster skewer, spare ribs, chicken satay, coconut dumpling, pigeon peas and hours of music. Silver Slipper and Silent Wings joined us as the night rolled on. At one point my finger felt as though it were on fire so our waiter Marlin dashed into the kitchen to put it on ice. That was fantastic until it came to heating it up again. A very memorable night on a special oasis of an exclusive  little island.

We had a wander back from the airport,past the cricket ground, through the High Street,                                                             past the playground                                 and school                     beyond the petrol station             and what’s that crossing the road?                

NOT ONE FOR BEFORE BREAKFAST….. The windlass is a dangerous place. Our danger stems from the fact that our now extended 100m chain won’t stack down the hauser so on retrieval it jams up on deck. Leaving Tobago Cays the chain jumped off the hauser as the anchor and last 10m of chain were on their way home. Down plunged 200lbs of anchor and chain and my reaction was to intervene. I have no idea what happened from thereon but it hurt a bit.I looked down and checked that I still had fingers where I expected them to be.  

We rounded Mayreau and entered the Cays from the north taking the safest route in. From here we can let the pictures do the talking:

Remember when you were young granny always said that you should stay on the path. Well we had no idea what she was banging on about for all these years…until now. Yes, she was unknowingly talking about Union Island. On a late, dark, windy night to one side of the path you have the harbour. To the other side you have the yacht club pond in which there is, nailed to a small palm, a sign that reads No Swimming – Sharks. A nice little joke on the fish pond! There are a few fins milling around but were still

This is a really tight anchorage if you are deep draft. The channels are about 150m wide and the wind whips in straight across the Atlantic so it’s blowing a F5 all the time at least. The harbour depth is deep when not shallow (if you have a cat there’s plenty of choice). By the time we have run out 50-60m of chain the reef behind, complete with a wreck, is only a few moments of drift or drag behind. And I never feel that’s enough chain! But it’s a nice place although check-in with the officials is a bit