Grenada to Los Testigos, June 15 & 16, 2008

On Sunday, June 15, Mike went to the customs office to clear out, that required activity when leaving a country. Two hours after getting there, the customs officer showed up--unfortunately, a big waste of time for us with so much to do in preparing for an overnight crossing. However, we were able to get our chores done, moving the boat to a calmer location so Mike could clean the props and sail drives which he does underwater. That requires the use of our Brownie, known as a Hooka, which Mike hooks up to a belt worn around the waist and weighted down to keep him underwater and a face mask to which he attaches a hose that provides oxygen pumped from the motor in the Brownie on board. This allows him to work for extended periods of time underwater. We also spent time putting things away that might come loose and getting other things like life vests, jackets and snacks prepared for easy retrieval when needed. The weather reports indicated that seas were fairly calm and the wind would be favorable for a crossing.
At 9 p.m. we pulled up the anchor and carefully motored outside the bay to set our sails. It was a beautiful night with an almost full moon. The seas were somewhat lumpy but not objectionably so although I felt best wearing my life vest. We saw seven other boats at various times through the crossing, a good many more than we usually do on night crossings. These boats did not appear to be sailboats, rather a couple of freighters and work boats, three of which were anchored.

We arrived at Los Testigos at 11:30 a.m. Just as we were preparing to lower our mainsail, Mike began to pull in our Cuban fishing reel, when he noticed something shiny and silveryon its end. A bottle? A can? Suddenly, he realized it was a fish, a tuna! We were so excited. Hadn’t realized we had a fish because the reel didn’t snap as it is supposed to when a fish grabs the lure. Working quickly because of our need to douse the mainsail to prepare for entry into the anchorage, Mike poured rum (cheap rum) into the fish’s gills thus settling it down to its then calm demise. Ahhh… a great fish dinner long sought was in store!