Still on South Caicos and we moved over to a more sheltered spot behind the reef off Long Cay when a swell came rolling in. We've still had strong winds but the reef cuts out the swell so it's been a comfortable couple of days. Our watermaker is refusing to work so we'd hoped for rainfall; We did get few drops one day and put the watercatchers up but only collected around a quarter inch before it stopped!

It's disconcerting to be in such shallow water and eyeball navigation is a must; Kit was on the bow as we came in watching out for coral heads. In the anchorage we only have 0.7 metres under the keel at low water!

Long Cay is a nature reserve and is a pristine environment for wildlife. In the evenings we see a pair of Osprey soaring over the Cay before they come to rest on rocks nearby. They are something to see with their snow white heads and breasts and appear to be very large - probably around 2ft from head to tail. There is also a small colony of pretty Tropicbirds on the Cay.

The nearby channel is called 'shark alley' so I'm a bit nervous about swimming! We did spot a large ray swimming past the boat but the water surface was disturbed so we couldn't see it clearly the first time.

However, despite the potential presence of sharks, the wonderful clarity of the water and the heat of the day won and I was just preparing to jump in to cool off when we saw the distinctive dark shape of the ray approaching again. I quickly ducked down the ladder and saw the ray close up; a huge Southern Stingray foraging in the sand -wow! When it moved off I circled the boat - with Kit acting as shark spotter !