Tobago, West Indies
The Caribbean sun rose like a bright flame in a clear sky as we approached Tobago. We were fortunate in that we had a fresh breeze of 22 knots from the east northeast which helped us as we sailed on our south southeasterly course. Tobago rose up from the sea almost 5 thousand feet above the sea and it was a lush emerald green. The name Tobago is fascinating. No one among the islanders I spoke with knew the likely derivation of the name. It certainly was spotted when Columbus named Trinidad in 1498. It may have come from a Spanish misunderstanding of the Arawack word for the plant which we call tobacco, but this is a conjecture.
Emma gave us our Zodiac briefing at 10am and we had the great fun of a swim off the Sea Cloud II. We were all bobbing up and down in the emerald water looking up at this majestic ship. The ocean was brisk but not cold. The salinity of the water kept even the least good swimmers amongst us afloat as if we were Olympians. After a fabulous buffet lunch on the Lido deck we boarded Zodiacs for the short ride to the picturesque village of Charlotteville. The inhabitants of this hamlet are chiefly fisherman and that is largely a self-sustaining industry with little evidence of much in the way of commercial success. There we boarded mini-buses for our 10 minute ride across the steep hills of Tobago to the Blue Water Inn, a delightful inn in a lush tropical harbour. We had the option of snorkeling or viewing the reef and its rich array of tropical fish and coral from glass bottomed boats. The sea life was dazzling, fish of every color from parrot fish to angel fish to a bewildering variety of wrasses were everywhere. The enormous fan coral and the dead man’s fingers moved effortlessly in the gentle currents. The massive giant barrel sponges were intriguing to watch as they filtered water feeding on microscopic plankton. Once back on shore we were treated to a steel band, rum punches, beer and soft drinks. What an incredible day. We arrived back on the Sea Cloud II passionate about the day, a tad tired but anxious to do it again!
The Caribbean sun rose like a bright flame in a clear sky as we approached Tobago. We were fortunate in that we had a fresh breeze of 22 knots from the east northeast which helped us as we sailed on our south southeasterly course. Tobago rose up from the sea almost 5 thousand feet above the sea and it was a lush emerald green. The name Tobago is fascinating. No one among the islanders I spoke with knew the likely derivation of the name. It certainly was spotted when Columbus named Trinidad in 1498. It may have come from a Spanish misunderstanding of the Arawack word for the plant which we call tobacco, but this is a conjecture.
Emma gave us our Zodiac briefing at 10am and we had the great fun of a swim off the Sea Cloud II. We were all bobbing up and down in the emerald water looking up at this majestic ship. The ocean was brisk but not cold. The salinity of the water kept even the least good swimmers amongst us afloat as if we were Olympians. After a fabulous buffet lunch on the Lido deck we boarded Zodiacs for the short ride to the picturesque village of Charlotteville. The inhabitants of this hamlet are chiefly fisherman and that is largely a self-sustaining industry with little evidence of much in the way of commercial success. There we boarded mini-buses for our 10 minute ride across the steep hills of Tobago to the Blue Water Inn, a delightful inn in a lush tropical harbour. We had the option of snorkeling or viewing the reef and its rich array of tropical fish and coral from glass bottomed boats. The sea life was dazzling, fish of every color from parrot fish to angel fish to a bewildering variety of wrasses were everywhere. The enormous fan coral and the dead man’s fingers moved effortlessly in the gentle currents. The massive giant barrel sponges were intriguing to watch as they filtered water feeding on microscopic plankton. Once back on shore we were treated to a steel band, rum punches, beer and soft drinks. What an incredible day. We arrived back on the Sea Cloud II passionate about the day, a tad tired but anxious to do it again!
