Like every day, I’m up first doing my exercises on the back of the boat. Great way to start the day – quick swim after and Laura has the coffee ready to go when I’m done. She and Greg also drink coffee and the 3 of us often sit on the fly bridge early in the morning before the others arise.

Forgot to mention anywhere the kite surfers here in SVG. They’re all over the place but really keen in the Tobago Cays and a few other places. Think we might try it off Cherry Beach this summer.

Today we’re going to make a couple stops before anchoring again in Chatham Bay behind Union Island. First we stop in Clifton Harbor on the east side of Union for some supplies (well not just booze this time, there is some banking done and Greg gets some fresh water).

Then we’ll take the short cruise over to Umbrella Island (1 mile?) which is not really an island but a sand bank somebody stuck an umbrella on.

The Lunds and Christy snorkel over, I front crawl, a challenging but enjoyable swim in the choppy seas. A group of French sailors is a little surprised to see me surface but we chat amicably in my broken French and their broken English. They give me a cookie. It’s a big overcast and unless you’re a kite surfer not much to do on Umbrella Island so soon enough we swim back to the boat.

Next stop is our old friend Chatham Bay – scene of my scatological adventures last week.

We anchor there, the girls go SUPing, Laura and Greg visit friends onshore, Dave and I chill on board. After a while we wonder what is going on and can see the girls lounging on beach chairs in front of the Sunset Cove, Greg and Laura also there. “Looks like they’re waiting for us”. Not sure if that is a question or statement but serendipity strikes and a vendor selling fish comes by and we accept a ride to the beach. As we’re riding in, Laura, Greg and the girls pass us going out. Well, I guess we’ll have to have a drink at the bar while we wait for them to join us.

Sacrifices have to be made.

Eventually Greg brings the girls in to join us for dinner and we have another standard SVG meal and a couple of bevvies. We always think we’re not going to drink much …

After dinner we’re waiting around, kinda curious what is going on. I take a walk around the back of the place, exploring a bit in the full moon – it’s pitch black otherwise. (Supposed to be a bonfire on full moon nights but I don’t see it.) As I am walking back to the beach I see a frog man come running out of the surf with just swim trunks, flippers and a mask. Don’t see that every day. It’s Greg and as he passes me he says quickly “the dinghy is lost”. Ok that’s not so good. He’s running to get help with someone else’s boat. They give us a ride back to the Pura Vida and we watch their headlamps go criss-crossing the large bay searching for the lost dinghy. Before we left the bar the locals said, “no worries, the current and wind will stop a dinghy – it will never leave the bay”. Get the impression this isn’t the first time a dinghy was lost here. Still, I have the feeling that if they don’t find it tonight it will be halfway to Grenada in the morning.

Laura is very concerned. She knows Greg will have to replace it if lost and that’s probably close to 6 month’s income for him.

The first rescue boat breaks down and Greg gets his good friend Brian – captain of Sondra, another charter from Barefoot to help him look. We watch the searchlights go back and forth. Next thing you know we see a light coming toward us. It’s Greg in our dinghy and everyone breathes a sigh of relief. Turns out it was right where they thought it would be but it’s dark, the dinghy has a navy top and they missed it twice looking in that spot.

Maybe I’m just bad luck in this bay.