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Diane's DiaryLegacy left today for Mustique. Mustique is where the rich & famous own houses- like Mick Jagger, Princess Margaret etc. They try to discourage boaters by charging USD 18 dollars just to put your anchor down. Well, it certainly discouraged us- there are loads of places we can go to which are free & want cruisers to visit. So, we didn't bother to go. 6/9 Saturday Another part of the Tropical wave passed over us yesterday with more rain & heavy wind. Since it was a rotten day, I decided to do some baking. I made wheat bread from scratch (not bad at my first attempt. The next attempt will probably be much better. I only have a cookie sheet though & I had all 4 loaves on it. I think the problem was I needed 2 cookie sheets). I also made corn muffin mix from scratch, & cheese quesadillas for lunch. Larry went into town & I stayed on the boat since we were running the water maker. We went swimming on the beach in the afternoon. I made a shrimp dish with the last of the shrimp from Martinique. 6/10 Sunday I wanted to leave today as about 5 other boats in the anchorage were leaving. I was ready to move on. Plus, another tropical wave is going to hit on Tuesday. These waves seemed to be moving faster than scheduled though so I wanted to get to the next anchorage before it hits. We wanted to go to the Tobago Cays but it's not protected from the winds at all. Larry didn't want to leave so we didn't. A new group of boaters came into the anchorage yesterday & a bunch left today. Most people seem to stay about a week. So, I did some emails & caught up in my logs. We will leave for Mayreau in the am. 6/11 Monday We started up the engine to leave at 7am but Larry discovered a lot of growth on the chain so he wanted to get it off. The growth was so tough he had to use a scrub brush to get it off. We finally got underway with the sails up by 8am. We decided to head for Mayreau where all the other boaters were since we were due to get another Tropical wave. At first we had a bumpy ride but then it smoothed out & we had a beautiful sail. This area of the Caribbean has lots of reefs & current so we were really paying close attention to the charts & cruising books. No problems though - you just have to be careful. We got to Mayreau around 12. We had lunch, read, & wrote. At 3pm we joined all the other cruisers on the beach for bocce ball & cocktails. There were probably around 30 boaters there. Everyone had a good time. Then, since the wind was actually down for a change, we grilled a steak on the bar-b-que. We haven't had a steak in awhile & it was great. 6/12 Tuesday Most of the group left today for the Tobago Cays but we wanted to take a hike around the islands & clean the bottom of the boat. The hike was really strenuous up this huge steep hill but the views from on top were great. We had a fantastic view of the Tobago Cays from on top of the hill. The water was just beautiful. Can't wait to get to go snorkeling! We also walked down to Salt Whistle Bay- it was very small but the beach was beautiful. The water was crystal clear. The beach was everything you think of when you think of a beautiful Caribbean beach. The anchorage was very small with reefs on both sides. Saline Bay where we went was definitely a better alternative. We got back to the boat around lunchtime- tired & sweaty from our long walk. We had lunch & then cleaned the boat bottom. I made a baked spaghetti dish. I got the recipe from one of my cookbooks. It was very good & I will definitely be making it again in the future. 6/13 Wednesday We left the anchorage by 10 am & dropped the hook in the Tobago Cays by 11:30. We had to watch the reefs & set by the current going in but it wasn't too bad. The water is just beautiful - crystal clear blue water. At 2pm we went snorkeling to the outer reef with Kristali, Legacy, Avemar, Footloose, & Mutual Fun. We had a great time as we went to the outer reef. It was definitely rolly, with crashing waves & current but the reef was fantastic. The fish were unbelievable! However, everyone told us the light was not as good as the morning & the current was greater at this time of the day so we will snorkel the outer reef in the morning from now on. Afterwards, we went snorkeling on the inner reef. We saw tons of fish & it was just great. I followed a trunkfish for a while & it was fantastic. We love this place & may never leave! We wish all of the Caribbean were as beautiful as this. We are lucky that there are only about 30 boats here now. We heard at the height of the season they get over 200 boats in here! I think it would be awful! 6/14 Thursday We went snorkeling to the outer reef around 11am today. The current was not as strong & the light was good. We have an underwater camera so we have been taking lots of pictures. It's a good thing we have a lot of film- I know we are going to use lots of it here! I'm so glad we have it. With the water this clear & the reefs in such terrific shape we are hopefully getting some good pictures! At 4pm we had another cruiser get together on the beach with bocce ball followed by cocktails & appetizers. I made a new dip for me-a sun dried tomato spread I got from a recipe book. Everyone seemed to like it. We were all having such a good time we didn't leave until almost 7pm. I had made crab cakes & bread earlier in the day. The bread didn't come out great. I asked Kristali later about it & she said the water was too hot. Oh well, I'll have to try again! 6/15 Friday Today S/V Legacy had to sail over to Union Island as they were out of propane & invited everyone with them. They also volunteered to take the garbage for everyone, which was very nice. We actually had maggots in ours. It was disgusting. I had never even seen one before! We had lots of flies in Bequia so Larry thinks they came from there. There is no place to put the garbage out here so we would have had to leave also to get rid of it. Lots of boat boys here but the cruising book recommends do NOT give it to them as they dump it in the sea. Anyway, we had no more fresh fruits & vegetables or bread so I decided to go too. Larry would have liked to go also but another Tropical wave was due to come I & he was reluctant to leave the boat. The wave did come in but Larry said it wasn't too bad & it went through very quickly. The wind was against us & Joe needed to run the engine to charge the battery so we didn't wind up sailing anyway. I went to the supermarket & street vendors & bought a whole bunch of stuff. We would like to stay in the Cays as long as we can as snorkeling is our favorite thing to do but we really needed fresh produce. The prices were sky high so I was glad I didn't need much though I still spent about $60 USD. Lettuce was $2USD for a scrawny looking head, eggs $3USD per dozen, flour $2 USD for 4 lbs, $6USD for fresh pineapple. The only thing cheap was bread at $2USD per loaf. I'm glad we had done a large provisioning already. We also ate lunch out. Legacy & I treated Michael from Kristali for lunch. The lunch was $40 EC- $15USD & was only fair. Can't wait to get to Trinidad where prices are cheaper. Our friends already in Trinidad said they spent $16USD for 2 people for dinner with appetizers, drinks, main course & desert. I think I'll like Trinidad! I was glad I went with Legacy as the way is a little tricky with lots of coral reefs but now I feel comfortable with it since I know the way. We got back to the boat around 4pm. |