The customs office in Port Elizabeth opens at 8:30 and we were in the dinghy and heading there by 8:20. Nothing like a military man who's not wearing a watch to know what time it is.
And if we weren't being dictated to by weather and our insurance policy, which by the way, we're not quite legal or legit at the moment, but shh, don't tell anyone, we would have easily stayed here for a few more days. A week, a few weeks even. This little town needed much more of our time, something we didn't have at the moment... Ahh, choices.
The choice had been made, that given there was going to be a brief lull in the wind for the next few days, we were going to continue to the Tobago Cays for a couple of days. A place that is best visited when there's a "lull in the wind".
And so sadly, Port Elizabeth was added to our list of places to come back to next season, and off we went.
A quick and effortless clear in procedure, and we hoisted our new flag.
Before we left we bought some fresh fruit and veggies from the street vendors and then headed back, where P'Nut told us we were going to be missing Fish Friday that night. Darn... we were tempted to stay... "next season, we'll be back next season...", "there will be mangos then too" I kept saying to myself... This was our mantra(s)...stick to it, stick to it.
And off we went,
idyllic and picture perfect sailing conditions, I think we fell in love with sailing all over again these past few trips.
Or at least I know I did can you tell by my grin?
We were flying along, nothing but the sound of the wind in our sails, gliding softly over the surf, enjoying the day, the sun, the breezes... WOW.
And what are these, by the way??
"Oh Dave better watch out..." says I, "cargo ship 'round the corner",
"Um, Babe, no worries"... Ok, so given some extra time, he's just as perceptive as moi.
Wonder what made this captain think he could wedge himself in there?
And so, in the midst of the ocean, in over 6000 feet of water, where just around the corner,
lies a immense shallow expanse of clear turquoise waters
surrounded by some reefs,
where the cruisers come to play, and are instead mesmerized,
and please tell us there's room for us?
"Honey, I think we found a spot..."
"Yup, indeed !? Here's the greeting committee..."
You know, we were told and we read, that we weren't likely to see crystal gin clear waters as we'd seen in the Bahamas, after, well, after the Bahamas.
Today we discovered the Tobago Cays. And proved them wrong. The Tobago Cays are the new Bahamas !!
We are anchored by Horseshoe Reef and surrounded by the Tobago Cays (a National Park), and an archipelago of five small uninhabited islands. We could see the white, and we mean white sand bottom and we could count the blades of sea grass in the 10 feet of unbelievably clear water under our boat.
"Last one in is..." says I, with a Splash.