Tuesday 26th December

Attwood Harbour
Lady Slipper Cay

22 44.20 N
73 53.20W

Up before the sun and hauled the anchor, we motored out of the anchorage sniggering as we went at the luxury cruiser rolling around in the swell, yes I know that it’s petty but you would have done the same if you had seen it! As seems to be the norm for us the wind was on the bow making it difficult to sail however as we turned towards our heading we were able to fly the jib and motor sail most of the way to Attwood Harbour. We only saw one other boat all day and it wasn’t going our way. We were a little surprised on arriving at Attwood harbour to find it totally empty. It’s not a “real” commercial type harbour, just a natural horseshoe shaped bay which is supposed to be a good anchorage in all but Northerly winds. We slowed right down going through the entrance as it is reef and rocks – where isn’t around here?, passed a landmark rock named umbrella that lived up to it’s namesake only when the tide went out and approached a totally empty tropical paradise. A couple of dolphins appeared alongside our boat and acted as guides into the harbour, they played ducking and diving under our boat, leapt across the bow wave and then followed behind surfing in the small amount of wake we made until we dropped anchor, they then did a couple of rounds of the boat and swam off back out of the harbour. They were a very entertaining welcoming committee, I managed to take a couple of pictures which don’t do them justice but it set the right mood for a lovely overnight stay. The one down side was the appearance of flies and mosquitoes as the sun set - plenty of bug repellent was needed oh and rum! We spent the evening discussing options for the next day’s travel, we had a couple of alternatives but it would all depend on the weather forecast in the morning.