Even though our crossing had been 14 hours and we needed some rest, we had to check in with the Coast Guard. Unfortunately, we could not find the papers clearing us out of Grenada--a must-have in order to clear into the next country. Mike went over anyhow, not knowing what else to do, while I tore our "house" apart. (We have heard tales of other sailors who have not supplied exactly the right documents who had to sail back to the previous port in order to clear out "properly. This was not an attractive option for us.) Finally, in thinking through more carefully where Mike had been when clearing out, I located the documents in the bag he carried fresh ice back to the boat! For whatever reason they simply were not put into the correct place. However, Mike was thrilled to hear me radioing him the good news. Of course, that meant a long dinghy ride back to the boat through a strong current, then back again to the Coast Guard. Mike enjoyed talking with the customs official who said he was a "subofficial". In fact, Mike spent two hours as the subofficial asked many questions in Spanish and Mike tried to understand and answer in broken Spanish. Mike was there so long that when a coworker brought in some pumpking cake, he even gave Mike a piece.
As we were pulling in and anchoring, we saw one of the other three boats waving and welcoming us. It was 'Ti Punch, some French friends we had met in St. Lucia. They invited us over later that evening where we had a nice visit and a tour of a French boat. Although Mark speaks pretty good English, Evaline does not. However, she and I enjoyed trying to converse with my broken French and lots of sign language. It was fun.
We snorkeled around a small island the next day and enjoyed another evening with fresh tuna and Mark & Evaline. Then we moved on to the next bay, Playa Real. There were a few more boats there, but there are no restaurants or homes outside of two or three shacks that seem to provide nothing more than shelter from bad weather. It was a beautiful island.
The next morning we wanted to set out for Margarita early as we knew we had an 8-hour sail ahead of us. What we hadn't banked on was the Coast Guard's not being available until 8 a.m. So, we cooled our heels for an hour attempting to call them repeatedly as we had to let them know we were leaving. Finally, underway at 8, there was hardly any wind. Finally, Mike turned on the engine. Haven't had to do that in quite awhile. The trip was still a slow one although we were entertained by a school of dolphin who played alongside us for about 15 minutes at noon.
As we approached Margarita, a cloud of haze shrouded the anchorage. It was the result of Saharan dust! Fortunately, we were able to anchor with about 60 other boats in a protected area. We were anticipating a tidal wave with some big winds and waves, but fortunately we haven't had much to worry about.
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