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