Tobago Cays and Union Island - More Beach Bars - Go Figure

Imagine warm crystal blue water, pristine white sandy beaches, palm trees and turtles, and you can imagine the Tobago Cays.  The Tobago Cays (different than Trinidad and Tobago) are a small set of uninhabited islands surrounded by Horseshoe Reef, with nothing else between you and the open ocean.  This is a marine sanctuary so, whether you are mooring or anchored, the charge is $60 EC per night, plus $15 per person on board.  If you stay three nights, you get a fourth free, however most people come in and out for one night as they are typically charter boats on a schedule. Roger and Pirate on the other hand wanted to stay there forever. 

When you arrive, one of the 'boat boys' is assigned your boat in order to assist you on to a mooring ball.  We were assigned Mr. Confidence.  If there is anything else you need, then he will help organize it.  A lobster dinner at the beach BBQ was most certainly in our future. 

We had a mooring ball in the cut between the two islands which are the entryway to the marine park.  We were very happy with this anchorage because it cut down on the waves and winds compared to those who chose to moor out closer to the reefs.  We were also close to a little beach where Pirate could swim ashore with Roger to do her business.  Unfortunately, she was not welcome on the main beach during the day as the park rangers had poor experiences with dogs in the past who were chasing the iguanas.  However, after the park rangers left, the people managing the not so crowded bar, told us that Pirate was welcome to join us. Yes we found yet another "bar at the end of the world". This one did not even have electricity.

The only power on the island is by generator, and this is not turned on until after dark in order to power a few lights for the beach BBQ.  All the boat drinks are thus blended with 2 battery powered Ninjas that the bar owner and her boy-friend take to the mainland every night to recharge.  Guess what we need on the boat next year 😁 After a couple of cocktails we were in full swing.

This was such a beautiful anchorage that we ended up extending our stay here to 5 nights.  The benefit of this was that we got to meet some of our sailing neighbours.  We had cocktails with our new friends Peter and Ninka from Double Dutch who had sailed over from Holland.  Roger also chatted with the crew from Daggers Down, a boat which seemed to be following us over the course of our entire 3 month journey.  Ben and Kitra, from Texas, ended up inviting us for a lovely dinner aboard their 47 ft catamaran they have been living on since just before Covid.  Kitra has a website with their travels and even a Christmas wish list of what to buy for the cruiser in your life.  Their site is http://daggersdownsailing.site/ and it puts my blog effort to shame 😀

The anchorage was great for swimming, however you did have to watch the current which could be significant during certain stages of the tide.  

We went for a hike to the other side of one of the islands, and Pirate got to swim in the waves.  

Roger and I also went snorkelling on the barrier reef and saw lots of fish, including a trunkfish which is one of my favourites, as well as some very healthy looking elkhorn coral.   

After the Tobago Cays, we headed to Chatham Bay on Union Island.  This was our last stop in the Grenadines, before heading to Grenada.  Chatham Bay was a lovely protected anchorage with a few fun beach bars and some good snorkelling.  While the water was a little murky, there were amazing vase corals everywhere as well as quite a number of lionfish.  

After we anchored, we observed Double Dutch was already there and ten minutes later Daggers Down pulled into the bay.  We were all running low on supplies, so it was easier to grab a drink and dinner ashore.  There was no usable dinghy dock so Soggy (our dinghy) had to be beached.  

After a lovely dinner ashore, and perhaps a couple too many cocktails, it turned into a dance party, and I was of course, all in.

After dinner, the BBQ chef came out to help us drag Soggy back into the water for the ride home in the dark. The stars were amazing. 

We had seen a few other Canadian flagged sailing vessels in the anchorage. Roger and Pirate typically putt putt over in the dinghy to say hi. However this time they were beaten to the punch. Bruce and Liza, a couple we had met back in Bequia, who are from our old Yacht Club in Toronto, EYC, came over to invite us to a Canadian gathering on one of the other boats in the bay. We accepted and the evening descended into a disgraceful game of Cards Against Humanity, which neither of us had played before.  Roger and I were each tied for first until the final round. Go figure.  I think it was Roger's mother's goofy paper folding game, consequences, that got us ready for this.

Next stop Grenada, our final country on this crazy adventure.