Sunday 18th July

Location: Los Testigos to La Blanquilla

We weighed anchor at 4:15am, and set off in total darkness. There was zero wind, giving us no option other than to continue under motor. The sea was totally flat, and Bob was praying for wind so we could sail, but I was thoroughly enjoying the peace (aside from the engine noise) and gentle movement of the boat. The shooting stars were absolutely spectacular, I saw one that was quite the most incredible I have ever seen, it was huge, about 50 times larger than the usual stars you see, and it had a long thick trail of stardust behind it.
At 9am we encountered a group of Atlantic Spotted Dolphins, (Stenella frontalis), about 30 or 40 of them, they swam in front, alongside, and behind us for about 10 minutes. I grabbed my camera, but as always when trying to take photographs of the dolphins I seemed to be always pointing the camera in the wrong place, and only got a few photographs. Because they were swimming so close to Daisy it was very easy to identify the species.
A couple of hours later we came across another group, this time I identified them as Clymene Dolphins, (Stenella clymene). Bob and I were on the fore deck leaning over the pulpit watching them swim in front and alongside Daisy, again I took photographs. They didn’t swim with us for long they were obviously busy fishing, and enjoyed swimming in our wake for fun, but were unwilling to leave their fishing activities for long.
Midday, and still no wind, I’m sitting on deck working on my computer, sipping a beer, and listening to music, there’s absolutely no rolling, as the sea is still totally flat, but we’re continuing to make a consistent 10+ knots as we have the current with us.
As we approached the Los Hermanos rocks, a squadron of brown booby’s flew out to escort us past the islands. They circled Daisy flying in all directions swooping low to look inside the cockpit as they passed. Gradually the squadron dispersed leaving a single Booby circling the boat like a sentry left to ensure our departure.
La Blanquilla is just visible on the horizon as you pass Los Hermanos. About 5 miles from the island, 3 Bottlenose Dolphins swam alongside, but only for a couple of minutes. We dropped anchor at 2:30pm at Playa Yaque, possibly the most un-spoilt beach in the Caribbean. Beautiful powdery soft sand, littered only with sea- shells and crystal clear water. We immediately dropped the dinghy and went ashore to snorkel around the coral and rocks off the beach. I took my camera and took dozens of photographs; this is such an amazingly beautiful beach, totally un-spoilt by man and not an item of trash anywhere. The swim was lovely, really refreshing after our long sail. Back on board, showered, rested and relaxed we sipped cocktails while we watched the sunset, then an early dinner as we plan to head out at 10pm tonight for Los Roques, another all night sail, ugh!