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Larry's LogThe next morning the tropical wave that was predicted just never arrived. According to David Jones, it just dissipated. That's fine. The wind was 10 to 15 knots, the sun was bright and we went snorkeling again. Before we left I adjusted the idle on the outboard so it didn't so rough and it seemed OK. We stopped by Kristali and said we would meet them on the outside reef. When we got there though it was too rough since the current was going out and the wind was blowing in, making the waves steeper that normal. We then went to the inside but on the opposite side from where all the boats are anchored. There were no moorings there but Steve had a large dinghy anchor with him so we tied to his dinghy. The reef there was also great, and was deeper in some spots. The highlight of that trip was a 5-foot Nurse Shark on the bottom. We didn't disturb him but after 5 minutes he swam off, fortunately in the opposite direction. That afternoon, we went back out to the outside reef but the light wasn't too good by 2:30. So we went to the inside reef since the light would hit the reef better. The reef was again really good and more new species. I'm very interested in reef fish and as a kid had almost 40 aquariums set up. Fortunately, I worked in a pet shop at the time and got fish food and fish wholesale, and just as luckily; my father was just as interested as I was. I used to even know the scientific names, but not anymore. Back at Destiny, we had an early dinner and then watched a video, "Flipper"; the original movie with Chuck Connors. Dated but cute. The next day, we went snorkeling with Kristali again. (Sounds monotonous, but believe me, it wasn't.) Well, I saw Moray Eels and they saw a large (6-7 foot) Black Tip Reef Shark. I was too far away to see the shark that was just swimming past when they called me. Oh well, I had seen one before. Back at Destiny, while Diane read, I took the camera to one of the small islands, Baradel, and explored a bit. There wasn't much but some locals had setup a tent and were living there, at least during the week. There were also some goats and birds, but some gorgeous views of Horseshoe Reef and World's End Reef beyond that. That evening Steve, Connie and Mike came over for drinks and snacks. We had decided that we were going to leave this magical place on Sunday, to go to Union Island. Although it was still an amazing place, we felt that 2 weeks was really enough. We would check out of St. Vincent and the Grenadines there and sail the few hours to Carriacou so we could check into Grenada. Carriacou is an island just north of Grenada and part of that nation. Well, we didn't leave on Sunday. The next tropical wave was due Monday and wasn't supposed to be to bad, so we stayed and did some more snorkeling, but I also cleaned the port side of the boat bottom again. It was incredible how bad the growth was here; I suppose its because the water is so clean. We figured we would leave on Tuesday or Wednesday, go to Clifton on Union Island to check out and then just go to Chatham Bay on the leeward side of Union to see some manta rays we heard were there. Then we would go on to Carriacou and Grenada. The wave came through on Sunday night at around 2am and wasn't much except a brief rain shower. Just enough to wake us up and scurry to close the hatches. Monday, though, was still breezy and overcast so we were occupied with boat chores, like cleaning the other half of the hull. Diane checked our provisions and cleaned some cans that had gotten a little rusty. I helped with that part and then cleaned the other half of the hull and the keel. I also caulked the area around the windlass to hopefully prevent any further leaks onto the v-berth. For a day that was supposed to be quiet and relaxing, I sure worked hard! Tuesday we didn't do too much. The wind was howling still and the sky overcast. The next tropical wave was also predicted to come through much quicker than originally thought since it increased its speed to the west. It was now due to hit tonight into tomorrow. Oh well. The wind today though was due to a high pressure system in the North Atlantic that created a large pressure gradient between it and the "resident" low pressure usually found over northern South America. The Caribbean, between these two systems, reacts by trying to equalize the pressure, that is, being windy. I mostly read today while Diane updated her logs and did some paperwork. Wednesday did bring the next tropical wave, and naturally, we had the first rain at 3am with gusts to 35 knots. Never fails… After that the wind subsided a bit and the rain stopped until morning but it was still overcast all day and we had rainsqualls several times. Diane continued her paperwork and I continued with Michener. We did though, bring the dinghy to the beach and clean the bottom and then brought the engine on the stern rail in preparation for moving tomorrow. We spoke to several boats that were already at Union and told them we would see them Thursday. Thursday we left and made the really long passage (of 6 miles) to Union Island. The anchor was up at around 9:30 and we were at Clifton by 10:30, motoring. The anchorage there is, I feel, not very secure since there's a large reef on the windward side, the island shore on the leeward side and another large reef in the middle. Diane suggested just picking up a mooring and letting one of the boat boys ferry her in to clear out with customs and immigration, get rid of the 2 large bags of garbage we had accumulated and pick up some groceries. So that's what we did. During our time at the Tobago Cays, we had 3 tropical waves come through with one boat dragging. We also had 2 parties on the beach, several parties on boats and a large number of snorkeling trips. We also ran the water maker every day for at least 2 hours and never had to run the engine to charge the batteries; the wind generator and the solar panels supplied all the power. I went 2 weeks without wearing even sandals, and 6 days at one point without even putting on a shirt, except for an old t-shirt I use for snorkeling (the sun is brutal). We cleaned the bottom of the boat twice and the dinghy once. I also fixed the outboard engine and enjoyed this place more than just about anywhere else. |