Suliere's Blog

10 May 2013
We left Rocky Point at 8 am in good weather but better than that -the storm hadn’t blown a hole through the boat while we slept!   We had a great  sail hoofing along at 8- 9 knots most of the way with Main and Genoa up but both feeling very tired after last night getting very little sleep until 4am when the storm abated but then awakened at 6 by a wonderful dawn chorus.

At 3pm we arrived at Flamingo Cay, we could see three other masts along the island but all appeared to be in a bay of their own. There was also a fishing boat called Double M  at anchor.

Flamingo Cay, Two Palms Bay, where we found only one palm!

Fishing boat Double M

We had chosen a spot in Two Palms Bay and headed in finding ourselves in the  same bay as a yacht called Gillean as there was plenty of space though we could only spot one palm not two, this was something of a mystery to us!

Gillean, our companion Doug’s boat.

We were just setting the bridle up when we heard a voice calling to us,  it was the guy from the other  yacht who introduced himself as Doug from Gillean. We chatted for a while and he invited us to join him for a bonfire on the beach later at dusk.

The Lion of Flamingo Cay

Back at Suliere we launched  Splish and Splash and paddled ashore with our snorkel gear at to explore the rocky  undercut of the island and the shoreline.  As mentioned Lesley is not a great swimmer but found some confidence to take off her float aid and dive to pick up Sand Dollars from the bottom which felt like great progress. In such a beautiful bay we couldn’t help but play around and explore.

We Kayak ashore to explore

We wonder along the shore and find some amazing fossilised conch shells  perfectly preserved and wonder how old they might be.

On the beach we find fossilised Conch shells

Mystery solved! We find the second palm of Two Palms Bay but sadly it was no longer standing.

Mystery solved! We find the second palm of Two Palms Bay but sadly it was no longer standing.

Around 7 we joined Doug on the beach for the bonfire taking a few drinks with us.  We soon got the bonfire going, Lesley got busy collecting sticks and tending the fire, said it bought out her Girl Guiding instincts, unfortunately we had no marshmallows to toast!  We sat around chatting  and sharing our travels stories until late.  3 shooting stars dazzled us with their brilliance and made the day complete.  Sigh!

The sun goes down on Flamingo Cay

Bonfire with Doug

11th May 2013

We head off in Slurpy to explore a little more of this stunningly beautiful, unspoilt uninhabited island.   We saw a huge turtle who came quite close but then d0ve down and we lost sight of him as we headed towards  a rusty ship wreck that probably had a tale to tell.  Beautiful beaches in every cove and  pristine snorkelling everywhere.

Sunken ships to intrigue us.

The cruising guide had mentioned a cave, so we set off to find it.

As we head along the rocky coast line we find the Cave we had been hoping to explore.

Light filters into the cave through rocky windows

We head inside the cave to explore

The cave or rather grotto was wonderful inside like stepping into a forgotten world, cool and shady with windows that let the sun come gleaming through. Paul took a video of our exploration, wouldnt it be wonderful if video could also capture its redolence.

Large birds of prey wheel about overhead curious but untroubled by our presence.

Paul had obtained his diving ticket in Grenada last year and very much wanted to teach Lesley the basics before booking her on her course.   In order to make this happen we purchased a full diving outfit for her in Ft Lauderdale at the end of last season.  We then wanted to find a quiet or better, deserted beach with a gentle slope into a few feet of water to familiarise her with the gear and today was the perfect first chance to do just that.

So, after all this careful planning what can go wrong in just a few feet of water with brand new scuba gear? Answer is very simple, the BCD (Buoyancy Control Device) leaked!  Whats more, even with ignoring the small leak in the few feet of water and adding up to  16 pounds of weight Lesley could still not submerge.  Lesley removed the BCD and even then we could not submerge it with all that weight on it.  And so it was that our first attempt of  getting Lesley into Scuba had failed leaving her exhausted  after hauling around the tank heavy weight in the shallows! She had been really looking forward to it too especially encouraged by the amazing underwater life we had seen when snorkelling.  Now it was a case of waiting until next year to try again.

We called at the fishing boat Double M and asked if we could buy some fish, they told us they don’t sell fish…….  but that they would give us some, how kind is that.   Gave us a heavy ziplock bag of skinned filleted Snapper  that had been caught earlier that very morning.  We had clearly been given a generous portion so we called at Doug’s boat Gillean and offered him fish too which delighted him, so much so he insisted we try some of his  chicken Tandoori in exchange,  this was so very kind of him to and we enjoyed a Surf and Turf supper!

Back on board Lesley cooked blackened snapper with jacket potatoes green beans and spicy coconut rice.  the fish was the best we’d had yet.  After watching another episode of  ‘Earth Flight’ we sat out and watched the stars.  Saw the dark side of the moon, 5 shooting stars and 3 satellites!  Time for bed feeling relaxed and happy with some many new experiences to top up the memory bank!