After a couple of nights at Low Bay, we moved around to the beach we'd seen on our tour at Coco Point. It was quite a windy day, and we had over 30knots of wind on the nose at times. In one squall, whilst we were approaching the reef, we lost all visibility, so anchored on the spot to wait for the sun which is essential to see the reefs! It soon returned but not before Mandy, Anthony and myself had got soaking wet in the rain. We were soon dry though :)

Coco Point was lovely, easy to get ashore though not much there. We did see lots of turtles though. From Coco Point we had a great sail back to Antigua. We thought that we might have to go into St Johns to sort out my watermaker spares parcel, but we finally resolved that with the aid of an agent. So we headed to Great Bird island. Once again we were reef dodging - this time around the Diamond bank and the Boon channel. When we approached the anchorage, things got very shallow and we felt our way into 2m of water, right off the island. You can see where we anchored in this photo: The anchor and chain are in the sand, so no damage to the coral at all. We needed the sun in the west to allow us to see the reefs, so we arrive late in the day. We were the only boat there, but we were soon joined by others.

Our generator had started playing up at Coco Point. The initial fault code was a bit misleading, but subsequent errors pointed at the raw-water side. We were getting water output, and the pressure switch was closing, but there must have been transient spikes, as it was still shutting down. We had the chance to have a good poke at it as the sun was still high enough to see well in the engine bay. Sure enough, the impeller was toast. We replaced it with the only spare I had and we do need more, but they retail at $77 each! However, extensive investigation shows that the pump on the Onan MDKAU generator is a Sherwood G8002 pump for which the impeller and O ring can be had for under $20. Just need to source a supplier in the Caribbean now!

Next morning, Barry and I headed off in the dinghy to find snorkelling sites and found a really nice place by the far end of the island with lots of interesting fish and brain coral. Nearer to the boat, Anthony spotted some rays in the water, so guided by him I jumped in with the GoPro and was rewarded with some nice video of a number of rays. Ashore on the island, we saw some turns and the blowholes that drop from the cliff tops to the sea, 100 feet below. This has been a great anchorage, but we move on tomorrow to find more places to snorkell and swim. Maybe we'll even find some wifi! :)