Its that time again when we start making up lists of maintenance items that we haven’t got around to doing and repairs that we haven’t managed to yet find a part for. Still time for some socializing though…ET decided that her season finale would be bouillabaisse. So after scouring the local markets for two kinds of fish (grouper and dorado… .sadly no rascasse here in Martinique), digging out her stock of saffron, grating up leeks and carrots, boiling up the fish heads for hours, straining the fish stock, adding in the spuds and then garnishing with crab claw meat and some parsley.
In a trice (well about half a day really) it was ready to go. Sublime outcome enjoyed by our friends on Saltscar III and Silk Pajamas added to by a super sunset and a green flash or two in the last few days.
Heading back into the marina today to work through that long list…..

A couple of days of light wind winds waiting for a cold front to arrive allowed us a chance to scramble up to see this superb view of the volcanic plugs and cones on the southern tip of Carriacou. The basalt plugs all have superb columnar jointing...a thing of beauty for a geologist anyway. I passed a boat this morning, the name of which was "Kelly Down", guess I'll have to stop by and ask him if he was a driller in his former life...

Saline island overlooking the volcanic plugs and salt lagoons

This island called Saline Island is very cool, there's a tiny indentation on one side, small enough that three shallow draft boats can get in out of the channel which right now (new moon) has a fairly ripping tide running through it.Under the water there are several freshwater springs that bubble up into the bay with cold, very clear water. Lots of turtles swim lazily around chomping on the algae. But, the most unusual thing is the salt lagoon, this is about an acre or two in size, you cannot walk across it because you will sink knee deep (or worse) into stinking, black sulphurous mud once you break through the salt crystal laden surface skin. I tell ya' its gonna be an oilfield in a little while! To top all this off there are some spectacular volcanic plugs dotted around the bays and islands. The volcanism here must be very recent, in fact about twenty miles from here there is a growing undersea volcano (its called Kick 'em Jenny), it was last active in mid 2015 (that's not a typo) although there was seismicity but no surface eruption.

The Roughback Batfish in all his glory...honest its a fish!

The Roughback Batfish in all his glory...honest its a fish!