83. Governor's Creek

Seven Mile Beach (north end)

I feel a lot more secure in Governor’s Creek – here there’s a lot more protection from a hurricane. The creek is actually a small man made lagoon ten feet deep surrounded by mangroves. A long narrow channel leads to North Sound – another shallow lagoon with small channels to the sea. So I should be fairly protected from waves. There aren’t many sailboats here, which is good, although that may change if a hurricane looks likely to hit. Danny fizzled out, now there’s Erica, although the models are predicting a path north to Cuba, missing the Caymans. My plan would be to wedge Sonic Boom as far as possible into the mangroves, drop both anchors and tie up with mooring lines, take everything down – sails, lines, dodger, and hope I don’t get hit by debris, or boats that have come loose.

West Bay

I managed to do laundry, and met a couple of old pirates living next door to the launderette in West Bay.  They told me old stories, one reminded me of Jock – got caught smuggling conch and lost his boat. The other was called Owen Evans – definitely a distant past Welsh connection. Afterwards I headed to Seven Mile Beach, just a short walk from the Yacht Club, and one of the most beautiful beaches I’ve ever seen. I walked along the northern part and went for a swim. To the south are the luxury hotels and George Town.

Seven Mile Beach

Later I met up with Lanny and Ginger from Swiftsure, and we went for a beer in Morgan’s bar just across from where I’m anchored. They motored pretty much the whole way and averaged five knots; their passage had taken 16 hours.

Morgan's

http://morganscayman.com

82. Grand Cayman

The sail to Grand Cayman was an adventure. I went with Swiftsure to clear Cayman Brac customs and immigration, but two dead bodies had been found in a boat that morning and were being brought to shore, so Scott’s anchorage was taped off like a crime scene, and we were trapped in. They let us out, but then not back in again so we could get back to our boats. Not a good start; it meant I was delayed a couple of hours, so I stopped in Little Cayman that night.

Dolphins

The next day there was very little wind, it took me two full days to sail the 90 miles. I didn’t want to motor all the way, which is what Swiftsure were going to do. On the first night I dropped the sails and went to bed. Sonic Boom just drifted in vaguely the right direction.

Lots of dolphins

It was so incredibly hot, I kept having showers until my water ran out. The deck was too hot to stand on, inside was like an oven, outside no shade. I threw up over the side, I've never done that before, and seriously thought I might get heat stroke. I actually jumped off the boat to cool down – a very dangerous thing to do. The boat was still moving about two knots so I hung on tight. In the afternoon I saw loads of dolphins, which cheered me up. They stayed with me for an hour or so, jumping out of the water and blowing air. They’re so quick, they’re very difficult to photograph.

Finally I arrived in Grand Cayman. First I took a buoy by the channel into North Sound and jumped in again to cool down. I called Port Security and asked if I could check in at the Yacht Club in Governor’s Creek. They said yes so I went there. Immigration and Customs were annoyed. Really I should have gone to George Town, but luckily they’d been listening to my talk with Port Security on the radio, so they weren’t angry with me so much. Anyway I cleared in without being fined, went and anchored as near as I dared to the docks and went to bed.

Anchored in Governor's Creek