The Imperfection of Describing Perfection

I feel like this post is going to be hard to write...and yes I write out my thoughts as I have them. Literally.

I feel like the Tobago Cays one of the most beautiful places we have ever been and to talk about it, share the experience with you, and keep a record of that experience is going to be a literary challenge. Not using "really" a bunch of times or "beautiful", "spectacular", "breath-taking", or any other platitudes that would only vaguely and incompletely explain our feelings.

For the most part I will let the pictures tell the story; however, the Tobago Cays deserve an attempt at a more thoughtful reflection. So here we go.

The gang looking out over the Cays from a vantage point on neighbouring Mayreau…what we are looking at is in the pic to the right —>

Matriarch, L’Achimiste, and Bliss tucked in behind a Mayreau Gardens reef with several of the Tobago Cays in the background.

Dominica and Tobago Cays were our only 2 first season "bucket list" items...everything else was bonus fries (you know, those fries you find at the bottom of the bag that probably fell out of your fry container but feel like extra bonus fries...if you don't know, I'm sorry that you have not had this experience).

So in the new world of COVID-related travel restrictions I find it a little ironic (and amazing) that we ended up spending 1/3 of a year in Dominica and now we've been able to traipse around the Tobago Cays like we own the place. Usually you get a few days in the Cays after nosing in with the typical 100 or more boats that usually grace the scene, or even just 1 day if you are on a charter boat. So far we've had 11 days and might try and get back for a day or two more before we head to Grenada. And we've spent several more weeks on top of that on islands just outside of the Cays still surrounded by the same type of reef system and associated wildlife. Sooo ya. It's been pretty great to spend basically 6 of the first 12 months of living on Matriarch in our top two destinations ;)

The bird life had almost no fear, landing on the boat and even making their way down into the galley to pick up any scraps of food! We all freaked out until it made it back to the cockpit :P

Lots of iguanas chillin’ out in the branches, casually observing the hikers down below. Once one dropped out of a tree and scampered right in front of our toes making angry sounds…they are cool but I wouldn’t really want to make toe-to-toe contact with those claws!

So what are the Tobago Cays you ask? Well for anyone who has sailed down this way, you already know. But I know lots (in relative terms) of people read this blog who are not sailors or haven't sailed down here so I will take a moment to explain what makes them special. The Cays are actually the Tobago Cays Marine Park and started as a conservation area as part of the Fisheries Regulations of 1987, and expanded to full marine park regulation in 1998. Interestingly (she learned from www.tobagocays.org) the marine park was privately owned until 2005 when it was sold to SVG for well under it's market value (sold for just over 1M USD) with the understanding that it remain as a marine park in perpetuity. The marine park is 50 square kilometres of ocean, sand, reef, sea grass, mangroves and islands including the reefs on the windward side of Mayreau, and the salt pond in Mayreau. It's a SUPER popular destination and not just for sailors. Every resort or island service offers rides out here for just the day (no camping on islands allowed) and cruise ships bring tenders here for sometimes as little as 3 hours just to tick the box (no judgement, it is what it is).

So all around this area are extensive and well-developed reefs...making for spectacular (there is that word) diving and interesting navigation. I have said it before and will say it again but I CAN'T IMAGINE navigating around the Caribbean without electronic charts.

The reefs are just part of what makes this area of SVG so special. There is something about anchoring in a spot where your view isn't an island but it's the ocean. I mean, 99 times out of 100 you are anchoring in the lee of an island // land for protection from the wind and waves of the Atlantic. As the wind clocks around between north and south you typically seek different anchorages that provide the protection you are looking for. Rarely do you anchor on the windward side, and even more rarely do you anchor just...out there.

The view facing east from off our bow. The next land in this direction is Africa.

Nothing like relaxing in a beach chair on the foredeck just taking it all in.

Yet in the Tobago Cays you are surrounded by Horseshoe Reef, Worlds End Reef, the Mayreau Gardens and others such that you can follow a VERY specific channel in and find yourself anchored in 3.5m of perfect sand dotted with turtle grass, excellent holding, and a view of....the ocean. On windier days you will see the waves breaking over the reef but that only adds to the view of the water. Alive and ever changing. Yet you watch comfortable in the knowledge that this huge reef protects you from rough seas, while providing you access to trade winds...essential both for comfort and charging the batteries with the wind generator ;) Rarely does the sandy bottom get murky with churning waves. Always is the water under your boat and all around you filled with curious and peaceful creatures who obviously have gotten accustomed to being safe there because they are happy to approach you or let you approach them.

In our time exploring just the waters around our boat (not the reefs mind you, just clear water with a sandy bottom) we have been treated to dozens and dozens of huge sea turtles, big Stingrays and even bigger Spotted Eagle Rays as well as many many many Trunk Fish (adorable fish that blow bursts of water at the sand to stir it up and hopefully uncover a bite to eat) and other cool fish that like to hide in little sand holes. You also often could find the odd Flounder or Flying Gurand (Google them! They are both very odd fish...spoiler, a Flounder looks nothing like Flounder from The Little Mermaid). And many more that I don't have names for would swing by en route to so fish-related appointment. So ya, that's just around the boat!

Turtles, turtles, everywhere! We could just sit on the deck and watch them for hours.

When the larger turtles come up for air beside the boat, you can clearly hear them breathing.

Then of course we get in the dingy and head out the dingy pass to snorkel and dive along the outside wall of Horseshoe Reef...holy shit. The best place we found (best being defined by not too intense current for parents and kids, no big crashing waves and yet tons of life) after swimming the entire length of reef one afternoon dragging the dinghy with Greg and our underwater archeologist friend, Harry, was actually right at the buoys for the dinghy pass itself. Ironic after a 3 hours exploration, nevertheless very convenient as we could just tie the dinghies up there and the kids could easily experience the wonder that a big reef wall has to offer. Honestly, this is where Disney got it right (sort of) in Finding Nemo...the completely organized chaos of the life on a reef is so mesmerizing. One large school of little fish heading this way, another small school of big fish heading the other way just below them, the odd lone Giant Barracuda (effing scary looking things) slowly patrolling the outside perimeter waiting for the urge to hunt, lobsters and crabs and all sorts of things to be seen as you look down from the surface through the layers of fish, or better yet, take a deep breath and dive down to gently tickle them out of their hole. The coral itself is most colourful and interesting between 3 and 15 meters probably (very generally speaking here) and that means the kids can see lots from the surface or with fairly shallow free dives and the adults can dive down far enough to see some more of the variety up close without having to be experts.

The Harris Crew is off for another snorkel and beach excursion with Matriarch in the background.

We perfected the beach-shelter setup and made good use of it with our friends from S/V Bliss.

And I haven't even mentioned the short hiking trails on all of the small islands. One is a nesting site for hundreds of sea birds. Another is where you can find many iguanas climbing in the trees looking down at you. On yet another you can watch hundreds of hermit crabs emerge from the bushes and scour the beach for food once the sun goes down. Good times.

Short hiking trails criss cross all the little islands and the girls loved just setting out to explore.

It was a bit of effort for them to find a way to get to the top, but they were super proud once they did!

We spent a day on Petit Tabac, another place where scenes from Pirates of the Caribbean were filmed. We took over the place with all our hammocks.

Hermit crab races after a nighttime beach BBQ. There were hundreds of crabs that came down from the forest to forage on the beach.

One of our boat kids just living his best life.

A beach day would’t be complete without building a sweet sandcastle!

Ok so after writing this I know it sounds like every snorkelling experience probably...what makes this extra special maybe is the scale and variety of places to go and things to do that don't involve buying food or spending money of any kind (other than a small park fee of 10ec per adult and 5ec per kid per day). It's not just the better than real-life aquarium by the dinghy pass but it's the fact that if you want, you can have a picnic on a deserted island, have the beach to yourself and snorkel the small reef just off the beach, see 3 sharks and do that in between having a beer and building a sandcastle. Forget something? Not problem because your boat is a mere 2 minute dingy ride away. Oh and maybe you want to then hop over to another deserted island to watch the sunset over Union Island on the leeward side? No problem...grab a drink and dinghy over there. Oh today you want to check out the fabled white iguana or see the nesting birds? No problem we can do that before lunch and still have time for swimming with turtles for hours.

Beach, sunset, and not another dinghy in sight. Pretty much sums it up. Perfect.

This place for us...so much to do but no appointments or pressure to do it; so much to see but without the complicated logistics to get there to see it; so much beauty as soon as you open your eyes in the morning...we would stay for months more if not for hurricane season and boat jobs. Truly, as much as I enjoy an afternoon at a local snackette...my preference is and has always been solitude with my family and nature. Fucking perfection. Our time in the Cays has reminded me of the obvious. IT IS SO G.D. IMPORTANT TO PROTECT SPACES FOR NATURE TO JUST DO IT'S THING. I need to think more on this point but for me it's the main take-away from this pleasure.

Please please someday go to the Tobago Cays if you can. I'd love for your eyes to rest on the impossible blues and your heart to slow to an impossible pace. I'd love for your mind to be overwhelmed but at peace at the same time. And truly, don't be scared of the sharks. You are much bigger than the fish they want to eat and probably taste like crap to them ;)

Much love, M