Our favorite anchorage in the entire Caribbean

Barbados was great, but Tobago Cays kept calling, "Zen....Zen....come."

Winds favored our departure from the ritzy Port St Charles. A mere 10-15 knots blew us here, almost directly downwind, to our favorite anchorage in the entire Caribbean. There are tons of pics, but we are anchored in 7 feet of crystal clear water, behind a reef, with a few little uninhabited islands surrounding us...in other words, no high speed connection for Photo Gallery transfers.



When we cruised in 2001, we anchored here for what we thought would be a few days. It quickly turned to a few weeks. What is the big attraction? There's winds, coming right at us, down our hatches, blowing any insects into oblivion while keeping us cool. It's flat waters, giving beautiful views of sea turtles, manta rays, and the coolest fish with wings and "fingers".

And...there's no civilization whatsoever, except for a passing "boat boy" coming by with fresh bread, fruit or fish for sale from his colorful dory. There's time, and plenty of it, to get inspired, creative, or inventive.

This is what sparked the Tobago Treasure Hunt. After having enjoyed a star-filled overnight passage from Barbados, playing with our new Code-Zero sail for the first time, (thank you Kenny Read and the guys at North Sails Portsmouth...we love it!) you'd think a nap would be in order.

Tom, maybe over-tired and punchy, came up with a plan to keep himself awake for dinnertime. He hatched the idea of the Tobago Treasure Hunt. After 90 minutes of dingy trips, a few ziplocs, a hand-held GPS and some cryptic notes, hidden all over the surrounding 3 islands, he returned to Zen, sandy, sweaty and very ready to see our little pirates try to follow his trail.

The morning brought plenty of energy and ambition. Kids, armed with the GPS, started at the given waypoint and successfully hiked, traversed and swam their way to the list of ziplocked clues.

What was the big treasure, you might ask? We have a few buddahs on Zen, of course. One is a small 4" ceramic Buddah sculpture, purchased in Nantucket, that holds herbal oil. He is the boat's good luck charm. The winning pirate, Cole, gets temporary possession our lucky buddah until the next "Hunt".

Unfortunately, I don't think we'll stretch our stay for weeks. Weather is coming from Africa. There are conflicting reports. We may stay another few days, but it may be anchors aweigh Grenada-bound for some tropical cyclone protection. In the meantime, we'll float here in the outrageous turquoise waters eating the local treasures (lobster l'americana....think butter, sherry, tarragon, garlic...of course). As I've said before, "It's all about the food!".