Tuesday 9th January 18
Rabbit Island
As Ian put it the chart around here looks like someone sneezed over it. The sea is littered with reefs more or less visible. Making our way to Rabbit Island requires a bit of caution and we pay cloe attention to the chart and the colour of the water around us. Still despite all of this we managed to get in a very, very shallow patch of water. With less than half a metre under us when the chart are showing over a metre. A bit concerning. Fortunately, the catamaran in front of us signalled to follow us. Obviously the skipper is familiar with the area and keen to help. Makes a nice change. Glad he was there. The wind is still quite strong and our projected anchorage off Great Bird Island is busy and not that sheltered. So we follow Christine who once again has cut corners (lifting keel!!) and is already anchored up in the lee of Rabbit Island. And a good choice it was too. As soon as we are under the cliff the wind actually stopped. The sea is so flat that we actually go and do some snorkelling along the island...perfect sea, perfect visibility, no wind...amazing. The fishes and corals are colourful and plenty. My favourite are the star fishes though, as big as dustbins lids and coming in shades of blue, green and red! There are also a huge number of enormous conch shells lying at the bottom. Brilliant.
Scott from Sealife comes to borrow some eggs for tomorrow’s brunch in late afternoon in his aluminium princess (he has painted some teeth on it, think it will need to change its name to something more scary!). He mentioned that he has found the place where they have the rays tour further along the reef. Not missing a beat, I said that in this case he’d better take us there tomorrow morning before the tours starts. Much to my surprise, he agrees. I am so excited. Since we have been in Antigua I have been wanting to go and see the rays. Sue and Ian went for his birthday and they recommended it but at $100 each it is a big chunk of money for us. Can’t wait till tomorrow!
The evening entertainment is provided on Christine, cinema night, we provided the chocolate and popcorn. It was nice to see a movie (“the girl on the train”) even if it was a bit scary in places.
Wednesday 10th January 18
Busy day today, woke up at the crack of dawn, Scott will be picking us up around 8am to go and see the rays. Still fizzing with excitement. Plus I having a ride on the nippy aluminium boat with teeth is appealing. The weather is settled so it should be fine. As good as his word, Scott turns up at 8 and we circle the island crossing the mangrove bathed in beautiful morning light. It takes us half an hour to reach the pontoon. Big sign on it “keep out!”, hopefully we won’t get caught, the first tour will not be there before 10am. The area around the pontoon is cordoned off but it is just a floating line, no nets and no rays to be seen. I send Ian in first to see if he can attract them. They are obviously used to being fed at certain time and roam around the rest of the day. Within minutes of Ian being in the water, he beckons me in. One is circling around him. I get in the water too, look around me and see the biggest ray ever. It is way bigger than me and moving in a silent and menacing way. What really freaks me out is the eyes, perched on its head and just not losing sight of me. The circling is quite unnerving too! In short, I was out in less than 10 mn, too spooky for me! Glad there were only 2 of them around! Ian stayed and made the most of it while I sat with Scott regaling me with even more scary stories of rays incidents. I was definitely not going back in there after he told me what they do with their stings! Still it was an experience.
We went home following the reef and slalomed around all the islands, it was brilliant.
We spent the afternoon on Sealife and what a nice afternoon it was too. Loads of stories, and we met the cat at last. Their adventure is amazing, from getting a boat that was barely seaworthy to what it is now. Scott is obviously a very useful person to have around for anything boat related. As for Caroline, she is the perfect hostess. Both of them can tell a story... we had a great time.
