Tobago Cays

Despite my worries, we had no problem getting into a nice anchorage in the Tobago Cays via the southern pass. Kathy's waypoints and our Navionics electronic charts did the trick. The cays are a huge reef system and marine park east of Union and south of Mayreau islands in the Grenadines. Except for a few visible low islands, it looks like you're exposed to the whole Atlantic Ocean to the east, but the reefs break the swell, and it's really quite calm. We found a spot near the turtle area around Baradel Island and enjoyed two nights there.

Solstice at anchor

Catamarans anchored in shallower water

We hadn't been anchored long before Walter, a local fellow, found us and offered to deliver banana bread and baguette in the morning at 7 o'clock. It was a little early and a little expensive, but Walter's wife bakes the banana bread herself, and Walter says it's the best, so we went for it. The baguette didn't last long, but the banana bread was a tasty investment that we enjoyed for several days, ending with banana bread French toast in Bequia. Decadent!

The snorkeling wasn't great, but we didn't try all that hard. There were a few fish in the grass and sand, but the really cool part was swimming with the turtles. We had to dodge a couple in order to get to the beach and land the dinghy, and we followed a couple more around for awhile.

Later, closer to sunset, I took John ashore with his camera so that he could get some photos of what he found when he climbed the island. As always, he got some great shots.

Thursday morning we made our way back out and fought the wind and currents to get to Bequia and rendezvous with Salt Dragon.