30/Jan/2010, Canouan - St Vincent & Grenadines
Fisherman Glen returns from his morning's work with Robin looking happy and cheerful. Several hours of tiring diving, in water too deep for Robin to reach the bottom, produced but a few fish. Mainly blue coloured parrot fish. Spruce bought them from Glen to make a tasty lunch for four. A shame to see the demise of such beautiful creatures but local livelihoods are dependent and they are such succulent eating.
Glen gets the medal for trust. Into the water with Robin and then he hands him a "loaded" spear gun! Wow! That is trust indeed:-)
Photo is "Blue parrot fish in blue bucket" ... no influence from Picasso:-)
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30/Jan/2010, Canouan - St Vincent & Grenadines
A chatty day on the radio nets this morning. The OCC net at 07:30 and the "Coconut Telegraph" net at 08:00. A chance to hear where people we know are now located and to follow up a little more with people that we might meet up with again soon: "Aleria", "Luturna", "Tullulah" and "Rapau". Definitely some difficulty in these islands with reception and transmission of radio signals, quite a challenge to work out whether the issue is with one's own installation or the general radio atmospherics???
Robin has taken the opportunity to go off with one of the local fishermen doing some spear fishing, hope the fish don't cost too much too buy afterwards ... the agreed fee. Sue and Susie are off to the nearby reef for some more snorkeling. Andy is holding the fort (Floating the boat?) and doing some maintenance jobs.
Starting to plan the next few days as we head north. The winds have been unusually strong for the past 3-4 days and will hopefully ease up before we sail back to Bequia and the nearby islands to make the trip a bit less bumpy for those still finding their sea legs. A picture to show the latest beauty enhancement worn by cruising women in the Caribbean... our models today are Susie and Sue:-)
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29/Jan/2010, Canouan - St Vincent & Grenadines
Last night was very windy leaving visibility on the reefs at Tobago Cays somewhat degraded due to stirred up sediment ... so onwards to the next island northwards. Canouan! A small island with only 1,200 population. However, a large part of the land has been bought up by a hotel and resort consortium, Raffles, who are turning the place into a destination for the wealthy. A variation on Mustique further to the north.
We are anchored at Rameau Bay north of the main town called Charlestown. With a name like that it harks back to the Jacobean era, English Civil War and the 1600s. A rocky outcrop with abundant coral lies just astern of us and provides a wonderful area for snorkeling. A reef lies on the edge of a steeply deepening sea-bed down to almost one hundred feet. This supports a variety of differing corals at greater depths than seen so far. Multitudinous fish dwelling on and about the reef gave a wonderful show as we swam around for an hour. The parrot fish and trigger fish, particularly colourful, permitted us to get very close before sculling away or hiding and cautiously peering from beneath broken rocks.
Just over a mile in the inflatable dinghy took us to Charlestown itself. To find supplies of food. The ferry had just docked so fresh fruit and vegetables were available. The quay was a hive of activity as small trucks danced around each other merrily unloading goods and rushing it off to the handful of shops in the town stead.
We attracted the attention of the local police who bemusedly watched us trying to chain the dinghy to a large bollard. "Nobody will try to steal it here." they assured us. Supplies procured and our trusty steed was still there to transport us back to Spruce and an evening meal of flying fish.
The picture shows Susie having a lesson in driving an inflatable in gusty conditions. The smile became a little strained a while later... after a good soaking from wind driven spray:-)
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28/Jan/2010, Tobago Cays - St Vincent & Grenadines
Two islands with resident iguana, off go the Sprucettes in the dinghy to see whether we could find the elusive critters. No problem at all! These chaps languish about in the sun laying in trees or even just on the ground ... if climbing the trees is all too much effort. Another session of snorkeling in the turtle reservation afterwards to make the most of visiting the island in windy and choppy conditions. More turtles and a Barracuda flashed before Sue's mask to give her a fright, it seems the fishy menace got a fright as well. The wind is blowing around 25 knots here today and the seas are crashing on the Atlantic side of the reef, the sediment is much more stirred up and underwater visibility greatly reduced. Spruce is tucked into an anchorage between two small islands with Horseshoe and World's End reefs off to seaward providing a sheltered natural harbour.
This afternoon another expedition ashore to gather coconuts. A successful exercise with half a dozen good sized fruit found. The liquid was delicious and the white flesh succulent, all the better for collecting your own.
We settle down to the evening with gorgeous moonlight illuminating the ribbon of sand on the adjacent island and the sandy and coral areas below the surface of the glistening water clearly visible. A beautiful end to a smashing day in the Tobago Cays.
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26/Jan/2010, Tobago Cays - St Vincent & Grenadines
A brisk sail south from Bequia yesterday with Robin & Susie on board, destination: Mayreau, an island close by leaving us poised to enter Tobago Cays.
A rude awakening from an inter-island steamer hooting away for yachts anchored in the channel to the jetty to make way. Thankfully we were moored just out of the line he wanted to take. Breakfast over and Spruce headed round Monkey Point and into the Cays, aqs we rounded the headland a vista of turquoise waters dappled with darker patches where the reefs lurked below a surface agitated into a short chop by the current and warm trade wind blowing across World's End Reef and Horseshoe Reef. We anchored in 5 metres of water, just astern of an old friend, "Amigos", and between the two islands Petit Rameau and Petit Bateau. An immediate dip to cool off and swim across and say "Hi!" to Danish friends aboard Amigos and nearby "Navigo". Then preparing Spruce for a few days at anchor... wind generators, deck awning, wind scoop ( a sailcloth scoop that catches and directs the breeze into the fore-hatch and creates a cooling draft through the length of the boat).
Following lunch an excited group jumped into the inflatable dinghy and zoomed off to a close-by area cordoned off from vessels where turtles graze on sea-grass. Snorkeling with these beasts was fascinating. Used to humans in the water they carried on grazing as we swam about. So graceful in the effortless way they glide through he water with barely a sweep of their flippers... and that solemn gaze from those large, dark, eyes. Other highlights in the turtle area were cuttlefish, a stingray and large starfish.
On to Horseshoe Reef for some more aquatic frolics. Such clear water and a multitude of colourful fish swimming amongst the coral. The largest seen today were the Parrot Fish, Trumpet Fish and a Moray Eel peering ominously from his lair. New fish identification books, brought by Robin and Susie, need some perusal to work out what types of fish we saw. At the moment they were fluorescent blue and yellow ones, silvery yellow stripy ones and pretty ones too.
We'll stay here for a few days more, until the weekend, before heading slowly back towards Bequia. Visiting various other islands en route. Hopefully this will prove to be a memorable holiday for Robin and Susie and a welcome break from London in January.
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