Wednesday January 31
We were delighted this morning when the wind conditions allowed ALL the sails to be raised as we cruised towards Chatham Bay on Union Island, also in the Grenadines. What a beautiful sight. We had hoped to go out in Zodiacs to photograph the ship from afar, but we were going faster than the pace of the Zodiacs ( which would make photography difficult not to mention getting back on board!). We also enjoyed watching a Brown Booby roost on a yardarm of the foremast, and Masked Boobies and Sooty Terns fly around the bow.
Union Island is only three square miles, so it is well off the path of larger cruise ships. As we approached the island the sails were struck. Watching the sailors setting and striking the sails is fun - there is an incredible amount of activity and coordination. We had a beach largely to ourselves to snorkel for the afternoon. We saw a number of beautiful fish. The lighting was terrific which made the viewing excellent and made for much better underwater photography. At one point we looked above the water to find both a Little Blue Heron and a Yellow-crowned Night-heron standing on rocks at the waters edge.
This evening there was a rum tasting before dinner ( the winner, in our estimation, was a local rum from Bequia). After dinner the crew assembled to lead a sing-along of sea shanties. Many of the crew (including kitchen and housekeeping staff as well as sailors) are from the Philippines; it was great to hear them sing a shanty in their native tongue. Then there was a dance party— the slight roll of the moving ship made that interesting (or maybe it was the rum punch).
Pictures: lionfish ( yes evil but lovely), another fish, sailors raising the sails, Brown Booby on the yardarm
No comments:
Post a Comment