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Saturday 12 January 2013

Tobago Cays

Near the southern end of The Grenadines lies the jewel that is Tobago Cays. The Cays are a marine park and under special legislation. They are remote and beautiful, and a magnet to cruising yachts and dayboats.
Our neighbours in Tobago Cays
We had heard nothing but praise for this patch of coral. It can be tricky to navigate in, as you need to use eyeballs to avoid coral heads, so we delayed our arrival until the sun was high. The morning, we moved from Canouan to Mayreau where I dived on a small wreck off Grand Col Point. Again, the coral was thriving and fish abundant. My highlight today was a large barracuda skulking in the lea of the ship’s boiler.

We then sailed off the anchor for the second time today and headed for the Cays. James used a GPS fix to back up the visual lead lines and we carefully sailed hard on the wind towards the lea of the islands. On arrival, we had planned to tack round the northernmost island and anchor in Jamesby Bay, but the bay we arrived at seemed so inviting we decided to head up, drop the main and anchor there. I get the impression we were the only ones to come in entirely under sail for some while by the head-turning we caused.

We are anchored off an idyllic white beach, fringed by palms then rainforest , with gentle surf dipping into turquoise seas. There are turtles and rays below our hull and our neighbours include a three-masted schooner and a super-yacht complete with private helicopter on deck.

After lunch (of more successful bread and French pate from Cipango), we took the rib round to the next island, Baradel, for a spot of snorkelling, as recommended in the guides. This anchorage was heaving with the plastic flotilla, upwards of 100 boats jostling for water and far more than the twenty in the whole of the Cays shown in the photo in the Pilot – we were glad to have stopped where we did. The island beach here pierces the coral and ends in a slither of white sand, tops with the tenders of the yachts. The lagoon here is buoyed to protect swimmers and had several large turtles.
Turtle at Tobago Cays but little coral
On the beach, a large sign declares the rules of the marine park – no fishing, no discharging, no litter, no diving without a licensed guide etc. Unfortunately, the story below the water is somewhat bleaker. The lagoon waters are murky green and slightly foul-smelling from the island run-off but mainly from the effluent from the hundreds of visiting yachts (we use our holding tank at anchor). This has flooded the sea with nutrients which means the corals have long since been choked by sea-grass and algae. The outer reef must still be healthy as there are plenty of juvenile reef fish living among the smashed remains of hard corals, and the turtles appear to love grazing the marine vegetation. It reminded me of some of the top recommended snorkel and dive sites we visited in the Whitsundays, Australia, only to find that their popularity had also been their demise as the reefs became choked with vegetation. I am encouraged, though, at the healthy state of the ‘undived’ sites I have seen, showing that if an area can be left alone it can flourish. The sea also needs wilderness.

1 comment:

  1. truly this looks like paradise - especially as we are freezing in the snow.love mum xx

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