PICTURE PERFECT POSTCARDS .................

There's usually not a lot of space on a postcard, and in this case there is not really a need to write a lot ........ Five miles south of CANOUAN lies the shallow area known as ..... " THE TOBAGO CAYS " ........ A group of scattered islands with white sandy beaches with swaying palm trees and incredibly blue water that has now been made into a protected marine park ....... It doesn't get any more beautiful than this .........They have even roped off an area near one of the beaches to prevent you anchoring too close, and thus disturbing the turtles that feed on the grassy bottom .... Views to take your breath away and swaying palms to sit under, while you compile the rest of your 'bucket list' .............



Climbing to the top of the mast gives you a grandstand view of what is already a grandstand view at deck level ............... There is no way to describe the grandure of this vista ............ You just have to see it for yourself .....



And many people do, for all around us were yachts enjoying this spectacular location ........ Look closely at the photo above and you will see a large turtle coming up for air just behind the charter yacht ........ Do a double-click on the photo to enlarge it ............ Enlarge any of these postcvards to see the beauty of it all .......



And we swam with turtles, ... Lots of turtles .............. Yes, amazing to see them and to see how close we could swim with them, for they were not fearful at all ........... Large ones and small ones, just happily grazing on the bottom and digging the front fins into the ground to anchor themselves, as they pulled on the grass and bit it off ...... One of them found the lower part of mooring line and proceeded to give himself a good neck rub and then slid his shell right under the line, so as to rub off all the algae ..... Check out the underwater video that Laurie took of the 'Massage parlour' if we can load it ........



Mother rounding the kids up for 'turtle' school .............



A couple of quick breaths of air and down they go again for another bite of lunch ....



This too is a charter boat that operates out of PALM ISLAND ........ Bright pink and locally made, it picks up guests from the 'high dollar' resort and takes them for a day sail to this fabled location ....... No A/C on this trip .....
We met some of them when we took the dinghy to one of the islands to climb the hill and get even higher than our mast .......



Sometimes the sign that says 'road' should not be taken literally ........ More like 'trail' or 'track' or 'make your own' or better still 'find your own' .......



And a sudden rustle in the undergrowth makes you jump ............ With no predators the iguana didn't move very far ....... Kind of " If I can't see you, then you can't see me " .........



But the view from the top was worth every effort .............. Awesomely spectacular ...... The very reason for going cruising .......If it wasn't so hot and humid you could sit here all day in the sun and breathe it all in ..........




This cactus flower is ready to burst forth but what is interesting to see is that the spiky thorns are so much longer just around the flower than elsewhere ....... By late afternoon we moved to the shelter of Saltwhistle Bay on the island of MAYREAU, with its beautiful secluded palm-lined bay ............ Secluded may not be the right word for at one end there were some happy 'beach bars' to take your final worries away .............. "No worries mon" ........... " We have da rum " .....




By morning we are on shore again to savour the magic of the coconut palms and a walk to see the beach on the windward side of the island.......... This truly is "Paradise found" ............ This truly is beautiful ..........





No matter where we travel in the future, it is an unforgettable memory that will travel with us ...... A memory of 'white sandy beaches, of palm fronds and blue water and of clear skies and warm weather and turtles' ........ And it doesn't get any better than that .... Well, maybe it could? ............. We will just have to travel on and find out ..............

MECHANICAL STUFF .................

After five years the water maker pump started leaking ............ What can you say.... We've always marvelled at the way the belt-driven salt-water pump pressurises to almost a 1000 psi and pushes the salt water to a finely spun membrane which allows that high pressure salt water in at one end, and pushes out sweet fresh water at the other end at a rate of 20 gallons per hour ....... However, our problem is just plain mechanical and fixable ....... That upside down barge we mentioned previously however, is another story ....... It seems it was being unloaded unevenly in Kingston harbour in St. Vincent, when it 'turned turtle' ....... They then towed it upside down to BEQUIA with a tug, a distance of about 10 miles and then anchored it in the shallower water at both ends of the barge ...... Then having filled it with even more water, and set a sling in the appropriate opposite corners proceeded to roll it over in the water ..... Great in theory ...... Damn difficult to do in practice and with only one anchor really holding and the whole lot slowly spinning in a circle ....... And the tug pulling for all it is worth ..... I mean, this barge is as long as a football field ..........



But never say 'Die' ........ Relentlessly they kept at it until it slowly, and ever so slowly, rolled over and stayed at an angle .......... O.K. now for pumping out the water and wait to see what happens .......



I mean it is not as though this barge is small and anyone who has worked with boats will tell you that anything that floats is hard to control .....



And so our morning's entertainment at BEQUIA ended with the barge finally upright and everybody happy ........ A great achievement in salvage, for these barges that carry sand and gravel between islands are not cheap .......



The roads in town are virtually golf-cart size and at midday the streets are almost deserted as everything closes from 12.00 to 1.30pm ...... Most people seem to walk in the shade of the trees ....... Not like us 'white folks' who are 'trained' to walk on paths and streets ...... So once more we headed to the fruit market .......



Passion fruit and pumpkins and bananas ...... The little fat ones are called 'Lady fingers' and very sweet ...... Now why would anyone call those 'Lady fingers'? .... They are sometimes called 'figs' ..... And the longer ones are plantains, used only for cooking and very starchy ........



Lots of ginger in the market and these beautiful mangoes, you might say ' an embarrassment of mangoes' for there is nothing nicer on a hot day than refrigerated slices of golden mango ........ There were three types here, and all ready to eat even the green variety ........



Oh well, ..... What can I say ......... Life on the ocean is good, as is the end of the day when it finally cools down and we can sit on the 'back porch' ...... We refueled alongside a tugboat/service vessel that picks up its fuel direct from Venezuela and Trinidad and sells it here in BEQUIA at a much lower price ....... By anchoring in the middle of the bay with plenty of fenders, the approach and docking is usually flawless for all yachts who can approach either side of the vessel and straight to windward ..... The best type of fuel dock ever .....



And so on south to the next island of CANOUAN .......... A passage of 18 miles of boisterous water where the current flows strongly against the prevailing wind and we actually passed a catamaran going the same way under sail ....... Now that is something that doesn't happen very often .........



Went snorkelling with Mark and Willie from the yacht "LIAHONA", who are also anchored in CANOUAN and then for some more exercise we walked to the top of the island to see the spectacular views on the windward side ......



The fragrance and perfume of the frangipani flowers is everywhere ....... Lean a little closer and just smell them or do a double-click on them if that doesn't work for you .......





Water is at a premium on the island and everybody has rainwater tanks that can also be filled from a communal supply when they run dry ....... Some have concrete catchment areas built alonside their basement cisterns, like this photo (right) where the house is yet to be built on top of the cistern ..... Others have their tanks secured inside the little shack inside the walls of their house under construction ..... Water is precious and it is under lock and key........ We know all about that now that our water maker is out of action .......

No, it is not what you think ......... That's the "Queen of Florida's" comb holding her golden curls together, because it is 90 something degrees and 100 percent humidity ....... There's got to be a better word than ..... HOT ... or ----ing HOT