Yesterday and today, the Trade Winds have mellowed some and returned to their usually strength of 12 to 15 knots. As result, the seas have calmed and the currents here are not as strong as they are when aided by 25 knot winds. It was the perfect time to take the dinghy around to the NW side of Petite San Vincent Island and start exploring the reefs. The cruising guide had indicated that these reefs were great for snorkeling, so we were all revved up.

We got to the first reef site that was marked as a good snorkeling site and I donned my masked and stuck my head under the water from the side of dinghy to check it out. All I saw was dead coral bits, scattered all around. Darn!

We motored up and down the reef looking for live hard coral, soft coral or even just colorful fish. Nada!

We even motored way to the west of the island to where there was a tiny blob of sand poking out of the water and surrounded by reefs. Again, all the hard coral was dead and broken into small bits. It was very disappointing and tragic. We are guessing but believe that this massive area of reef was destroyed by the two hurricanes that whipped through this area back in 2004 and then again 2005. It takes a long time for coral to re-establish themselves and there just has not been enough time to do so.

Totally bummed out from what we discovered we returned to Leu Cat and just played in the water around our boat. The water is nice and warm (92 degrees F) and clear. We have a number of large schools of small fingerlings swimming around Leu Cat. They seem to flock to the shadows that the boat casts. It is one of the reasons we see so many sea birds feasting in the waters around our boat.

Tomorrow we are thinking we will go over to the fuel dock at Petite Martinique to fill our fuel tanks and jerry jugs. At that time we may go ashore for a nice lunch and check out the sights that may be there. We shall see…

The pictures I have posted to and above this blog are of a little race that took place today. It started in our anchorage between the two islands and then they sailed west toward Union Island. They returned to finish the race about 6 hours later.