Tobago Cays Birthday

Tucking into Salt Whistle Bay (Carnash Bay) at the northern end of Mayeau we discovered another slice of paradise. A beautiful protected bay just outside the national park zone so no overnight fees. Palm trees lined a narrow sandspit sheltering the bay from the waves but allowing a cooling trade wind to blow through.

 

And a nice spot for a hammock…

 

The windward beach was a long sweep of sand to stretch our legs on.

 

Black Boy, yes he calls himself Black Boy, and his family cooked us an amazing lunch in their beach bar!

 

 

When a boat moved out of the corner of the bay we quickly snagged their spot. Tucked right in close with enough breeze to keep the mozzies away. Lovely!

 

Things are not always peaceful in paradise. A crew was gathering rocks from the old breakwater in the corner of the bay. Ah, you know your business is based on having a lovely sheltered bay and the little sand spit protecting it looks pretty fragile so taking a boatload of rocks out of it may not be your best idea…? Some other locals got very upset at the activity and much shouting and gesticulation between them and local constabulary arriving. We were not very comfortable having an up close front row seat so tried to be undercover when taking this photo.

 

A few hours after the place had calmed down we went for a hike up the hill to see their famous church.

 

Inside they even had bats! Little cute ones flying around and roosting in the rafters.

 

Stunning view from the top of the hill.

 

Looking south over Clifton and to Petite Martinique.

 

I loved being able to see Drakkar tucked into the corner of the bay.

 

Real life shot of what we slogged through to get to the view point. Kids were not so impressed with another view of Drakkar.

 

Typical local scene.

 

Ah, downhill on the way home!

 

The kids spent hours playing on the iconic palm tree fringed white sand beach.

 

 

 

Amelia got an early birthday present when we met Mary-Ann, a veterinary lecturer who had worked at NZ’s Massey University. She was on the island to check on the local animals and was happy to teach Amelia how to examine then as we tagged along.

 

The very young kittens looked scruffy and I had not let the kids play with them so it was good to hear that they were actually surprisingly healthy. All the animals were very well behaved and put up with some pretty hard prodding to find lymph nodes and strangers handling them. Good to see them well treated and loved, if the dogs are perpetually Caribbean skinny.

 

Happy Birthday my stunning Daughter, Love you SO Much!

 

 

Dawn to dusk shift…

 

 

Amelia back patrolling the beach and looking after the gang of kittens. It was great to hang out in the beautiful bay for several days watching the charter boats rush in and out.

 

Time to head south again to meet the survey date in Grenada. Mary-Ann came with us for a lovely day sail back to St George, Grenada.

 

 

Weather forecast was rats for the next couple of days. Ironically the buyers were flying in the next day to be here for the survey. Oh Dear. We had one go at heading around to Prickly Bay but gave it up as a bad idea in this weather. Friends were saying Prickly was ROLLY!

 

The next day was not much better with heavy squalls running through and some of the highest winds we had on the whole trip as we motored into it to get to Prickly Bay. Urgh. Very happy to have a couple of big Volvo’s to push us into it.

 

 

Tanya and Damian turned out to be awesome people and we stayed up till midnight chatting. Their first night on board was pretty unflash with an uncomfortable swell rolling around the corner of Prickly bay and big rainy windy squally running through. If this doesn’t put them of, then nothing will! A pretty good hard test of the boat.

 

 

Thankfully the head of the bay was a little more protected from the weather as Drakkar is a tight fit into the slip of the yard back at Spice Island Marine… Here we are lifted for the underwater sections of the survey.

 

The next day we re-convened for the rest of the survey and sea trial. Weather was improving and I had to laugh on their comment that their hotel room on the second night leaked more than Drakkar did on the first night. Max rpm engine test was not my favourite time but a necessary part of the survey. 11 knots leaves a wake you could surf on.

 

A sad goodbye to our new friends Tanya and Damian and its starting to hit home that we are about to leave Drakkar and this stage of our adventures. Another lovely round of afternoonsies making the most of catching up with our friends from Mahia, Sea Monkey and Nahanni.

 

Going to miss you guys!

 

Even the Caribbean seemed to be saying goodbye with a green flash to top off the night!

 

Mary-Ann also volunteers at the local SPCA and kindly took us through, much to Amelia’s delight. I had to check her bag in case she tried to smuggle a kitten or puppy on board.