Our Journey: Caymans to Mexico...

Our trip from Cuba to Grand Cayman was only overnight,

however we had confused seas, aft of the beam which meant it felt like we were in a washing machine, for the first time Richard felt off…

Pleased to arrived in the Caymans,

was a shock to the system after 6 peaceful weeks in Cuba…

There are between 2 and 7 cruise ship here (just about every day)...

thousands of people, bars, restaurants, supermarkets that sell everything!..

We caught up with Bill & Gene (Out of the Bag) and hired a car and circumnavigated the island,

we can now say we've been to "Hell" and back…

Being back in a first world country meant to obtaining parts was as simple as a phone call via Skype,

We had been having problems with our water maker,
Spectra were fantastic, we received our part within 2 days from USA.

We had also been having problems with the generator,

so with Richard spending a full day in a very cramped space, fixed both of these,
the cruising life would be somewhat constrained if you couldn't fix things yourself!

Richard gave Gene (Out of the Bag) an introduction to Scuba,

We also caught up with Sue & Brian (Sea Rose, who we first met in South Africa),

Sue came for a dive with us, while Brian snorkelled above…

We checked out the Botanic Gardens…

The reason for coming to the Caymans was for the diving…

Richard dived walls, wrecks, reefs with names like "Kittywake, Aquarium, Eden Rock, Devils Grotto, Orange Canyon, Blackies Hole, No Name Wall, Pinnacle Reef" and many more
(I joined him for some of the dives)…

We went to "Stingray City" where there are literally hundreds of stingrays…

At one of the dive sites, we saw a huge turtle - about 4 feet long and 3 feet wide…

Bill and Gene (OOTB) were leaving for Jamaica, so we went to join them and Sue & Brian (Sea Rose) for ANZAC evening - far too many Bundabergs (Aussie Rum) was consumed…

We were thrilled when Michael & Rebecca flew in to join us,

Michael fit straight back in… and Rebecca found her favourite spot early on

and took to Our Rose like a fish to water, easily relaxing…

Our trip from Caymans to Isla Mujares (Mexico) would take 4 nights,

a whole new experience for Rebecca and Michael.

We prepared Our Rose, adding extra safety lines along the sides of the boat and also across the back…

We had a very mixed bag of weather, from very calm to quite bumpy.

On my shift, there was a large pod of dolphins (dozens), so I woke the others up to experience this…

We arrived at Isla Mujares and were so happy that "Free Spirit" Belinda and Ken

and also "Romone" Ron, Simone their 3 year old Kim and their beautiful dog "Skipper" were all there.

We cleared in (which took a few days in total) and enjoyed our first of many Margueritas…

Rebecca and I went to do some provisioning and somehow got lost at our favourite bar…

arriving back to Our Rose a bit later than expected...

I continue to love some of the street art we are seeing in the different countries…

and loved the paint job on this VW

Our first catch up night with Belinda and Ken was very memorable,

with our evening beginning very civilised...

then leading to this…

then after many wines, out came the Tequila and the Cuban Cigars, ending with this...

The holding at the anchorage at Isla Mujares proved to be questionable, when a monohull dragged into Our Rose - this is much better explained by Michael, whose post I will add after this.

We had Free Spirit, Romone, Sundowner and Kas join us on Our Rose to go to snorkel the statues.

Dani (Sundowner) explains the day here:

www.sundownersailsagain.com

We had a BBQ onboard when we arrived back at the anchorage

and as it was Dani's birthday I made her a cake.