Grenada to Los Testigos

Wednesday 13th August 2008
There were so many little last minute jobs to do in preparation for the trip, unfortunately Daniela was poorly and we ended up having to take her to the local hospital, following the usual 3 hour wait, then tests, then waiting again it turned out that all was OK. With Danni feeling better we had no reason to delay our departure. As we said our goodbye's to everyone at Le Phare Bleu and motored quietly out of the harbor at 5pm, it felt as though I was leaving home. I'll never forget my stay here, or all the wonderful friends I made. We motored around to Prickly Bay, and dropped anchor amongst the other boats that were sailing with us.
I made my Hot & Spicy Shrimp for dinner with Green Rice, and then we worked until midnight completing last minute tasks.
At 45 minutes past midnight we were the last of the fleet to leave the bay (nothing new there), but as Daisy was the largest and fastest of the boats we had no problems catching up. During the entire trip we had to go slow to stay with the fleet, Bob was concerned about running the engine so slowly, but unless we wanted to leave them all behind we had no choice. It was a lovely trip, the air was warm with light breezes, and calm sea (my type of perfect sailing.
Danni and I took the 3am watch until Bob relieved us at 6am. After breakfast we were able to raise the sails and turn off the engine. It was a really beautiful morning, clear blue skies, calm seas and around 7 - 9 knot of wind, not much, but in the right direction enough for us to maintain a steady 5 knots of speed. Danni put the fishing line out, but didn't catch anything, I don't think we have the right lure, although, having said that I wouldn't recognize the right lure if it was put in front of me. I made a mental note to learn more about fishing.

Later while I was on watch, and Danni and Bob were taking a nap, I was surprised and delighted to see two False Killer Whales swimming alongside Daisy, gracefully leaping out of the water together; this is the first time I have ever seen these magnificent creatures, I was thrilled. They leapt out of the water alongside the cockpit, and I would swear I made eye contact with one of them, it was one of my most exciting experience ever.

False killer whales can grow up to 19 feet in length, they have long slender heads and slim bodies. The dorsal fin looks like a young Orca's - prominent and curved back and not wide at the base like a Pilot whale's. The flippers are quite unique, they have a prominent hump that resembles an elbow halfway along the leading edge of each flipper. They are extremely fast acrobatic swimmers, acting more like dolphins than whales, they are sometimes referred to as "Blackfish" which is quite extraordinary because while they certainly appear to be black, they are not fish.

As we approached the islands of Los Testigos, enormous flocks of Frigate birds, and Boobies circled overhead fishing in the waters around us. The Frigate birds don't actually fish, unless they can carefully scoop a fish from the surface of the water, without getting wet, they are unable to dive for their catch like other birds, and if they should accidentally end up in the water they would probably drown as they are unable to take off if they happen to accidentally land on the water. Their general method of feeding is by steeling fish from other birds, they have often been seen catching a bird by its tail and shaking it mercilessly until it drops its catch. These incredible birds can have a wingspan of up to 7 feet. The females are recognized by their white throats, while the males appear totally black but have a bright red throat that they blow up like a huge red balloon when attracting a mate.