Goin' home

After the lonely beaches of Anguilla, we've come to the last stop of our Caribbean circuit. Very touristy, with hundreds of charter boats. We manage to squeeze into anchorages, albeit sometimes a bit awkwardly. The beaches are fine, the sailing excellent.



The first items on a list of things to do before we leave for the Azores are being tackled. It isn't a very long list, we've been doing this for a while now. Just a few more days of cruising, relaxing and sampling the local cooking and we'll be heading across the big pond again.

The crew has smoothly filled up and we'll be crossing with the five of us. We're preparing for the extra people on board. The last few bouts of snorkeling and some more turtles, rays, lobsters and barracuda. One evening snorkel with my dive lights we had an eagle ray whizzing by at very close range.



The BVI is a very nice cruising ground, something to come back to. So many bays to be explored, so many islands. They'll have to wait for us to come back one day, perhaps chartering out of Road Town or a nearby place.

So we head for Village Cay Marina, where we'll pick up our crew and get supplies, and seek that weather window that sets us off across to yet another string of beautiful islands, much closer to home.

Snorkeling

Awe

First I was stunned. I was looking at a huge fish. It was 1.5 meters long and it was floating in the water. We were snorkeling off Creole Rock in French St. Martin. There was a good deal of coral and many schools of fish, angelfish, sergeant majors, surgeonfish, the works. Then I stared at its head as I circled it slowly. It was a barracuda.

Anxiety

It was not just a barracuda, but the biggest monster I have seen to date. It was floating about 30 cm below the surface and it was so big I squeezed Ingrid's hand and whispered "barracuda" in my snorkel tube. We positioned ourselves to its side and a bit further away, to get a good look and also not to attract attention to ourselves.

Escape

The head of this fish was so big, my whole hand would fit in its mouth effortlessly. I imagined it was pure luck that it wasn't feeding or we may have suddenly become prey. We watched it intently for a good ten minutes as it seemed to rest between the coral heads and apparently unaware fish swam around it. After a while I figured it wasn't going to attack us, or it would have already done so. So I started backing away slowly, holding hands with Ingrid as we exchanged glances while keeping an eye on this monster of the seas. We successfully got away and regretted not having brought the underwater camera Ingrid's brother had bought just the day before.

Antigua

Leaving Guadeloupe was harder than getting there. We left for Antigua on Monday morning. The wind decided otherwise though, and we had to turn back or spend an uncomfortable night in Montserrat.

So after two hours we were back in Deshaies for another attempt the next morning. This time, the wind was more favorable, although it turned again in the afternoon and the last hour was again spent motoring.

But we got to English Harbour before nightfall and anchored in the mangroves. Next day was spent clearing in, shopping, and having a nice time in Falmouth Harbour in the next bay.



The third day in Antigua we left for Jolly harbour after an excellent lunch in Johnny Coconat's bar. The Island atmosphere was getting a firm grip on us again, so we stayed for two nights with a shopping day in between in the Epicurean super market. The name says it all, no need to elaborate on the fine foods we bought.



Another day and an hour in the pouring rain to reach Deep Bay with our anchor dropping just as the rain stopped. Well, no good continuing now, there's some good snorkeling on the wreck of the Andes freighter.



Then onwards, to Boon Channel and the North East. A maze of reefs, islands and perfect anchorages. Three days and we're not thinking of leaving, although...



The next day we're still anchored at Redhead Island where a large colony of pelicans is nesting and a lot of young are making a racket every morning. We already spotted a large Sting Ray while snorkeling the reefs on the East side of Redhead island, and the numbers of lobsters, lambi shells and coral fish are staggering.



Finally, we're starting to feel there is more to explore and we head for Parham harbour to clear out. A last night at Long Island and perhaps tomorrow we'll head for St. Kitts and Nevis. But who knows what tomorrow brings?

Whales

Sometimes in life you get lucky. It happened to me yesterday, when we were motoring in dead calm from Gomera to Tenerife. I spotted a large group of whales right in front of the boat. We'd been snorkeling at noon in a bay off Gomera and so it took 2 minutes to stop the boat, don the gear and dive in.

It was a group of about 20 pilot whales, Globicephala melas, with some three young. They were sleeping or resting so it was easy to swim among them. I could see them perfectly in the crystal clear water with the sun filtering through. I managed to stay with one group while another smaller group dove a couple of meters. When the others turned around, I positioned myself in front of them so about eight of them swam past me at less than one meter. Had I wanted to, I could have touched them.

They were swimming in pairs or threes, beneath me, next to me on both sides, sometimes turning slowly. They didn't bother with me or check out what I was,being, after all, less than half their size.



The person on the right in the picture is me, before the group on the left catches up with me.

So, was this a life altering experience? Let's say it was very relaxing and I was very relaxed observing the whales, never feeling any kind of anxiety or fear. I didn't go too close to the young, even though it might not have been dangerous doing so. The tranquilness of swimming with these cetaceans is something I'll never forget. Humans aren't sea animals, but to get the opportunity to swim this close to large friendly whales is a once in a lifetime thing.

To do it from my own boat on this journey, I now profoundly and fully appreciate all that's made me be here now.