We left Blue Ground Range determined to sail somewhere, and we didn’t want to just go back down the big channel to Placencia. So we said to each other, “Hey! Let’s give North Long Cocoa another try.” We could take a new route; we could do some more snorkeling; it’s an east wind; what could go wrong?

It was a truly lovely trip – a gentle sail – some navigation to figure out – a beautiful day. We got to within a quarter mile of the cay before we had to furl the staysail, drop the mainsail and motor in. We dropped the anchor when we were in 11 ft of water over sand - NOT where we were when we dragged last time and not too close to any hazards we could see. Jim swam over the anchor. It was lying on its side. He dove down and held it upright while I backed on it. It dug in a little bit more – enough that we felt OK about going snorkeling.

We swam over to the coral heads and explored around for an hour although the sun wasn’t as high and the visibility wasn’t ideal. But I had the funniest experience - a tiny little fish decided to adopt me. He first swam right in front of my mask, startling me – and then just stayed. As I hovered around a coral head, I wondered if he was warning me off, but he seemed pretty small for that. He was about 3 inches, silvery with yellow pectoral fins and yellow tail. As I left to head back, he stayed most of the time in my right armpit! I’d peek sideways to see where he was, and he would come around in front. He’d disappear – I’d roll over to find him – and there he would be. He stayed all the way until I reached the ladder and climbed aboard, with me giggling through my snorkel. I don’t know what he was, but he sure provided the comic relief before the next events of the day.

On the swim back to the boat, we each came to the conclusion that if the wind turned north, we were too close to a shallow area on our starboard side. We contemplated re-anchoring farther to port. The complicating factor in this was that the windlass had quit while we anchored the first time. So that meant pulling up 80 feet of chain by hand. While we sat there discussing it, Mother Nature got involved. The wind came up and we dragged back! Fortunately it was still daylight and there was nothing behind us, and we dragged far enough back that we were past that shallow bit. Great!

We waited a bit and then the expert anchor diver swam over it to make sure it had caught. But just then we dragged again. He could see the anchor sliding along the bottom, so he dove down and set it upright and it dug in nicely. Thank goodness! We’ve decided that there is a deeper layer of sand over hard ground farther out from shore so although there is more fetch in a wind, the holding is better. We let out more chain to allow better scope for our new deeper depth and managed to have a decent night’s sleep. Well, I did. But I think Jim fretted all night about having to pull up all that chain by hand. What if the wind was blowing hard? And what was he going to do about that windlass? Would we be able to get it fixed in Placencia? Would we need to go straight back to the Rio?

In the morning, (really Friday the 13th) Jim offered to stay long enough for one more snorkel excursion since this might now be my last chance. We both had a wonderful hour in the water. He saw a porcupine fish out in the open and was able to confirm that is what he saw in the coral head at Carrie Bow. I spotted a bottom fish – I think it was a sand diver – that blended in so well with the sand that I would never have noticed it if it hadn’t moved while I was watching some others.

When it came time to leave, the wind wasn’t too strong, and we were able to keep enough forward momentum so Jim didn’t have to work too hard on the anchor. Point 1 for the day! We successfully negotiated the route south of Cary Cay and out to the main channel for a delightful sail all the way to Placencia. Point 2! And we were able to anchor in the corner of Placencia harbour where we won’t get too much swell around the corner if the wind comes up – which it probably will. Point 3!

One of these seasons we will go back to North Long Cocoa because it really is a lovely spot with a bit of a beach, two palapas for picnics, and fine snorkeling, but I think we are done with it for this year –Friday the 13th or Thursday the 12th or whatever day it is.