It is really off-season down here. The customs office did not 
even have $3.50EC in change for me when I paid my fees. The good news was one of my favorite fruit stands was open and she had local pineapples. We talked for about thirty minutes. She was a happy lady. She had traveled to Canada for about two years and we were talking about the weather. I told her I was Colorado and that it had snowed there already this season. She was very against cold weather.
I usually don’t go swimming in working ports as the water is not the cleanest, but where I am anchored, there is a beautiful reef that protests the whole harbor. I went swimming on the reef and was amazed at the amount of fish. There weren’t many big fish, but plenty of small fish. It was like swimming in an aquarium. On the way back to the boat I spooked a spotted ray. It had about a four foot wing span. It was a pleasant surprise to see it there.
10/14/2009 Today I went for a swim again and took my camera with me. Here are some pictures of the reef. This time I spotted a small grou
p of 
young squid on the reef. Later in the afternoon I toiok No Rush into the dock and topped off the water tank. I then sailed up to Tobago Cays. This 
may well be my favorite anchorage of all time. The anchorage is not too busy here. Again this is really off-season for the area. I talked with one of the other cruisers that has a boat in a charter program and they were told that one of the major charter programs on has 4 scheduled charters this month and only six next month. I sat and watched another great sunset.
10/15/2009 This morning I woke to an issue with the electrical system. I knew there was an issue coming up as the batteries were not getting topped up from the generator. This is an issue I have seen in the past. I just had to take all of the cab
les apart from the batteries and clean all of 
the connections. After that all is well again.
I went for a couple of snorkels and hikes today. First I went back to the turtle area to see if there were any turtles around. I was afraid they may not be in the area because of the time of season. No problem. They were there. I know I saw at
least four, but I am sure there were more there.
I then took the dinghy over to one of the remote islands. I walked around a bit there. They must use this area for parties and gatherings as there was an area with tables on the other side of the island on the protected beach.
Later that afternoon I made it out to the reef and started to do some snorkeling. I tried a couple of 
different areas. There was plenty of current out there today. I don’t remember that from the last time I was here. It could be caused by all of the weather we have been having here just pushing the water. I leave you with these pictures. For Father’s Day I was given a digital underwater camera. I thank Carolyn and the kids for the gift.
10/16/2009 We are having plenty of stormy weather here. We had thunderstorms all evening and night last night. It did clear enough to go out for one more snorkel this morning. I decided not
to sit here through all of the weather and I would move north. I did get some more pictures to go with the ones from yesterday. 
Unfortunately no pictures of any sharks. I did see a shark here when I was here in June.
I sailed off the anchor this morning. With the weather the winds shifted a little more to the south that made
for good conditions heading north. I was watching as the squalls were rolling in. The first one was 
south of me and I knew it would not be a problem, but there was a good one coming in ahead of me. I was hoping it would pass before I arrived, but not this time. Just as the wind started to hit, I decided to reef the main. It is the first time I have reefed since being back on the boat. I put in the second reef and we kept sailing along with no problems. Conditions were great. I was sailing 7.5 to 8.5 knots and no problems.
A second squall blew in and as before I did not see any winds above 25 knots. With the reef in No Rush just galloped along in all her glory. I had seen a sailboat on the horizon. Of course No Rush had to go after her. We ended passing the other boat within the hour and put another 45 minutes between us by the time we turned the corner to head into the bay at Bequai.
I am going to spend the weekend here and the plan is to take off Monday morning after clearing out with Customs and Immigration first thing in the morning. From there we will head north to St Barts, moving quickly. I do expect to night stop along the way.
even have $3.50EC in change for me when I paid my fees. The good news was one of my favorite fruit stands was open and she had local pineapples. We talked for about thirty minutes. She was a happy lady. She had traveled to Canada for about two years and we were talking about the weather. I told her I was Colorado and that it had snowed there already this season. She was very against cold weather.I usually don’t go swimming in working ports as the water is not the cleanest, but where I am anchored, there is a beautiful reef that protests the whole harbor. I went swimming on the reef and was amazed at the amount of fish. There weren’t many big fish, but plenty of small fish. It was like swimming in an aquarium. On the way back to the boat I spooked a spotted ray. It had about a four foot wing span. It was a pleasant surprise to see it there.
10/14/2009 Today I went for a swim again and took my camera with me. Here are some pictures of the reef. This time I spotted a small grou
p of 
young squid on the reef. Later in the afternoon I toiok No Rush into the dock and topped off the water tank. I then sailed up to Tobago Cays. This 
may well be my favorite anchorage of all time. The anchorage is not too busy here. Again this is really off-season for the area. I talked with one of the other cruisers that has a boat in a charter program and they were told that one of the major charter programs on has 4 scheduled charters this month and only six next month. I sat and watched another great sunset.
10/15/2009 This morning I woke to an issue with the electrical system. I knew there was an issue coming up as the batteries were not getting topped up from the generator. This is an issue I have seen in the past. I just had to take all of the cab
les apart from the batteries and clean all of 
the connections. After that all is well again.I went for a couple of snorkels and hikes today. First I went back to the turtle area to see if there were any turtles around. I was afraid they may not be in the area because of the time of season. No problem. They were there. I know I saw at
least four, but I am sure there were more there.
I then took the dinghy over to one of the remote islands. I walked around a bit there. They must use this area for parties and gatherings as there was an area with tables on the other side of the island on the protected beach.
Later that afternoon I made it out to the reef and started to do some snorkeling. I tried a couple of 
different areas. There was plenty of current out there today. I don’t remember that from the last time I was here. It could be caused by all of the weather we have been having here just pushing the water. I leave you with these pictures. For Father’s Day I was given a digital underwater camera. I thank Carolyn and the kids for the gift.10/16/2009 We are having plenty of stormy weather here. We had thunderstorms all evening and night last night. It did clear enough to go out for one more snorkel this morning. I decided not
to sit here through all of the weather and I would move north. I did get some more pictures to go with the ones from yesterday. 
Unfortunately no pictures of any sharks. I did see a shark here when I was here in June.I sailed off the anchor this morning. With the weather the winds shifted a little more to the south that made
for good conditions heading north. I was watching as the squalls were rolling in. The first one was 
south of me and I knew it would not be a problem, but there was a good one coming in ahead of me. I was hoping it would pass before I arrived, but not this time. Just as the wind started to hit, I decided to reef the main. It is the first time I have reefed since being back on the boat. I put in the second reef and we kept sailing along with no problems. Conditions were great. I was sailing 7.5 to 8.5 knots and no problems.A second squall blew in and as before I did not see any winds above 25 knots. With the reef in No Rush just galloped along in all her glory. I had seen a sailboat on the horizon. Of course No Rush had to go after her. We ended passing the other boat within the hour and put another 45 minutes between us by the time we turned the corner to head into the bay at Bequai.
I am going to spend the weekend here and the plan is to take off Monday morning after clearing out with Customs and Immigration first thing in the morning. From there we will head north to St Barts, moving quickly. I do expect to night stop along the way.
2 comments:
Bill,
Good to hear you are back sailing No Rush again. We enjoy reading your blog. What are your plans for the winter season?
We are now working our way south through NC on our way back to the Bahamas after a summer back in MD.
Double-Wide
Incredible pictures. Wish I was there. Winter Storm Warning for Colorado thru Thursday. Thanks for sharing Bill!
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