Horseshoe Reef,
Tobago Cays
12.27.838N
61.21.427W

The front finished moving through last night bringing winds in excess of 30kts. The rains that came with the squalls really didn’t amount to very much. Still we felt as if we were hanging on to the tail end of a kite. Thank heavens, no one (that I’m aware of) dragged anchor.

This morning was still pretty blustery but the guys (Dale, Roger, Bob, Tom & Don) negotiated a ride with one of the boat boys to Union Island to check out, instead of all of us having to hoist anchor, move a couple of miles, set anchor, and clear out.

When he left, Dale had balked at my idea of taking his SOSpenders (an inflatable life jacket) but when he returned he said that he had been glad he had it. He described the ride as being another of Mr. Toad’s Wild Rides. The colorful little skiff only had two speeds - full throttle and coasting up to the dock. He said that at one point they hit a wave so hard that the emergency lanyard that connects the driver to the outboard motor pulled out. When they returned, all of the guys were telling of how they were holding on for dear life for fear that the skiff would flip if it hit a wave wrong. However, they were all glad that they had cleared out without a hitch and were back in record time.

While Dale was gone, I took the opportunity to remove all of the cushions and clean the cockpit. After we scrubbed the deck yesterday, the protected area was looking a little grungy. Between the two of us, there was enough hair in the corners to make a wig. Gross!

Once the sun came out in earnest, I wanted to go snorkeling again, but Dale declined saying that the winds and waves would have clouded the water to the point where the visibility would have been severely decreased. Needless to say, the Tobago Cays are on our ‘must-do again’ list.

We spent the rest of the day reading or in my case, writing. Tomorrow we’ll head to Carriacou. We’ve heard good things about the yard there but Dale wants to see it for himself before we commit to a reservation for a haul out to paint the bottom. If that’s the case, we’ll be breaking off from the rest of the group should we decide to stay, as they have more of a time constraint than we do.