20 January 1994 Canuoan to Tobago Cays
We motored over to Clifton Harbour. Glenys and I went into town and did some shopping. Glenys went berserk buying frozen meat because we didn’t have any fresh food left. We then motored over to the Tobago Cays because I heard Fi on the SSB saying that they were going there. We found them anchored on the north side of Baradal. We went snorkelling with Gareth and his guests and then we moved to a more sheltered spot near Jamesby. Gareth and Fi went to Mayreau.
We are undergoing a crisis with our anchoring. Over the last week we have had a few disasters. We drop the anchor, but keep ending up too close to other boats, by the time we’ve re-anchored a couple of times, Glenys and I are snapping at each other. Glenys is losing confidence in her close quarter boat handling. This evening was the final straw – we had acres and acres of water to anchor in, but ended up about 20m away from another boat. We moved – very uncool!
21 January 1994 Tobago Cays to Petite St Vincent
We are getting up later and later each morning. I went to bed at 2045 and got up at 0900! Something is making me tired – sun, air, swimming, zooming about, rum punches? By the time we had finished breakfast it was time to go to Petite St Vincent (known as PSV). We had a nice sail to Mopion and tried to anchor off the tiny island. Unfortunately, the bottom is broken coral and I couldn’t get the anchor to hold. (Gareth says he can’t either, so he just puts out loads of chain and watches the boat).
We decided to carry on to PSV which is really nice. We went to the beach for a couple of hours and then went for an evening drink with Gareth and his guests. We met Dave and Judy on “Metani” an Aussie family with three children. They loaned their boat to Gareth and Fi to do a charter while “Dabulamanzi” was having new decks put on.
22 January 1994 Petite St Vincent
We were woken up last night by howling wind and two French charter boats motoring around anchoring. God knows what they were doing – it certainly disturbed our sleep. I bought a tin of white paint in Union a couple of days ago. I got it out to paint marks on the anchor chain and it’s light blue!
I went windsurfing in a rain squall – outrageous! The others had a beach day and then went to Dave and Judy’s for a beer. We met Chris on “Meniscus” (UK) on the beach.
23 January 1994 Petite St Vincent to Union Island
We sailed to Palm Island, another beautiful (yawn!) island. We sat on the beach and played in the sea. After lunch, we sailed over to Clifton, Union to meet Gareth. We went once around “Roundabout Reef” looking for a place to anchor. There was a nice spot on the outside reef, but we decided against it because we thought that Gareth would anchor nearer to town. We anchored off the Yacht Club and then Gareth came in and anchored on the outside reef! Gareth and Fi came to dinner.
24 January 1994 Union Island
Glenys and I went into town (I took the blue paint back!) We all then went to the small island in Clifton Harbour (Green Island) but there was nothing there except a “fisherman” who wanted £1 “because I keep the island clean”. He was living there in a hut.
We went to Gareth’s boat for lunch. I went and cleared out and then got the boat ready to leave. We all went out for a meal at the Anchorage Yacht Club with steel band.
25 January 1994 Union Island to Prickly Bay, Genada
Nice downwind sail back to Prickly Bay. It was a bit of a shock to our systems, getting up at six in the morning, especially since we went to bed at midnight last night. I cleared in at Prickly Bay and we decided to relax for the rest of the afternoon - then we ran out of water. We had two hours of frantic activity, making sure that we could get water, going bows-to, re-anchoring and tidying up. We had a quiet evening!
26 January 1994 Prickly Bay, Grenada
We caught the bus into St Georges and saw the sights. I spent £60 on photos and an album (groan!) – I’m going to stop taking pictures of beautiful beaches and anchorages. Brett, Craig and I went up to St Georges Fort, which is interesting and has a fabulous view. We had lunch at the Nutmeg restaurant which was very good. We had a quiet evening after Glenys, Ceris and Brett went for a “sundowner” at the Calabash Hotel.
27 January 1994 Prickly Bay
I rang the two dive schools in Bequia about doing a Divemaster course. “Sunsports” sounds 50:50 based on his assessment of me on a couple of dives. “Dive Bequia” doesn’t need any more help. I don’t think we’ll rush up there, just yet. We all went for a walk round to Secret Harbour and had lunch there. Ceris left at four o’clock in the afternoon and we went back to the boat to collapse. It was nice to have her here, but wearing for the last few days.
28 January 1994 Prickly Bay to Hog Island
I waited all morning for a guy from Anro Services Ltd to come and get both outboards. He hadn’t arrived by noon, so I left the old outboard in the Customs Office for them and we went round to Hog Island. The boys and I went for a walk on the island and then we had flying fish, chips and mushy peas for dinner.
Glenys met Derek and Jill and brother Doug on “Ginseng” who are some friends of Gareth and Fi and are bringing some cases of beer up from Trinidad for him. We think some are for us! Brett and I saw a stingray near the beach.
29 January 1994 Hog island
School work and tidying up. Brett and Craig went to the beach and spent all afternoon there by themselves playing with Kim and Joel. These Dutch children have been on Hog Island for 18 months and go to the local school (parents are Andy and Marilyn on “Ootek”). Grandma would have a heart attack if she saw Brett playing with a camp fire.
Glenys and I went for a snorkel on the reef which has lots of fish but the water is murky. We got four cases of beer from “Ginseng” and they came for a drink in the evening.
30 January 1994 Hog Island
Glenys listened to the local radio net on Ch72 at eight o’clock in the morning. She heard a charter boat saying that they wanted to give away all the food that they have left. She shot over and must have got £50 worth of food and drink! We went to the beach for a Sunday afternoon barbeque. I started clarinet lessons in earnest - “A Tune a Day”
31 January 1994 Hog Island
Glenys went into St Georges, while Brett and I nearly came to blows over his school work. He keeps saying “I hate writing; I’m not going to do it!”
I did some windsurfing – very gusty conditions. I went round to Secret Harbour in the dinghy – it’s great having a reliable outboard. Brett and Craig went to the beach to play with Kim and Joel – they love running wild. I rang Ceris who told me that she had rung John Day and asked him to sort out my computer!
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