August 2-3, 2010... Union Island

Short downwind sail from Tobago Cays to Union. Managed to do it in the hour between a morning squall and a major downpour. No sooner was our anchor down in the island's west side Chatham Bay when the skies opened sent us scurrying below. It rained for the next 2 hours straight, then on and off all day long. The runoff from the land spread over the bay like a brown plague. The winds howled as they came over the mountains -- but only in short gusts.
By the next day, all was settled. We kayaked to the beach and Eldon, one of the fishermen who lives in the fishing camp, showed us the way to the track leading to the road. Up the muddy track to the concrete road we went. We figured a short two-mile walk to Clifton, the main town on Union. We didn't account for the climbs up and down the mountains and when lucky enough to have them, the distance added by the switchbacks. So, an hour and a half later we arrived hot and tired into Clifton. We opted for a nice waterside lunch, did a little provisioning (didn't want to carry much back the way we came) and started back to Chatham. Everyone we spoke to thought we were out of our minds to have walked to town, and looking back on it, yup, guess so. But it was nice to get that idea of what Clifton and its harbor were like so that when we went there to check out of customs and immigration we would know what to expect.

Chatham Bay, Union Island: +12° 36' 12.48", -61° 27' 0.00"