Mission Ocean: Cayman Islands stopover
by Mission Océan 18 Sep 2019 12:12 BST
Just one of our cruise ship neighbours © Mission Ocean
We awoke to a weird thrumming sound that seemed to vibrate through the whole boat. We had arrived into Georgetown, Cayman Islands, late the previous evening after a long, slow sail from Cienfuegos, Cuba. Our arrival had been complicated; it was a pitch-black night and we found it very difficult to read the lights, both onshore and within the anchorage, as we approached the island. A recent nav refresher course, coupled with our enthusiastic RYA instructor crew member Jake, allowed us to spot the light signals of a grounded tanker and two separate towing operations that were under way... But a host of other lights had us all scratching our heads.
If you have read our previous article you will know that we were running on just one sail drive, and so I radioed ahead to "Georgetown Security" to request exceptional permission to anchor rather than attempt to pick up a mooring ball in the dark. We had read that every effort was made in the Cayman Islands to protect the stunning sea bed (including free moorings for cruisers), and the last thing we wanted to do was to plough through protected coral with our anchor.
The very helpful, friendly officer gave us GPS coordinates for a shingle spot where we could anchor, his accent a charming mix of Jamaican lilt and Oxford English. After a bit of wrangling with our various GPS systems to locate the exact place, we crept our way in through the maze of lights and tentatively dropped our hook. A couple of tries told us that the anchor was not going to set (this may have been the first ever time that our trusty 25kg Spade had refused to hold), and with midnight fast approaching we decided to be brave, and try to pick up a nearby buoy. With just one engine, this proved to be a rather delicate operation and it took me two attempts to get us lined up, only for Jake (who had joined us a few days before in Cuba, and was not yet familiar with the boat) to pull on the wrong line and let slip the mooring. A couple of attempts later, we tied off and collapsed into the cockpit for a celebratory rum before bed, glad that our next stop was the shipyard in Panama to resolve our sail drive issues and regain our manoevrability. Little did I know that six weeks later, I would be helming Contigo through the Panama Canal, still with only one engine...
Whilst we had been wrestling with mooring buoys, the VHF had crackled into life to announce the imminent arrival of a cruise ship, and I remembered some friends posting photos on social media of their trip to Georgetown on a small German cruise liner earlier that year.
"What a funny coincidence," I thought. "It must be the same ship."
We turned down the volume on the VHF and headed to bed for some well-earned kip.
Imagine our surprise as we stepped into the cockpit the next morning to find not one, but four ENORMOUS cruise ships lined up just a few hundred meters astern of Contigo. They had crept up on us in the small hours as we slept the sleep of the dead, and three had dropped their huge anchors in what we can only hope was a coral-free spot. The fourth was holding itself stationary using dynamic positioning (clever technology used on cruise ships, research vessels etc. to remain in one place using engines and thrusters, without the Captain having to sweat over the controls). This was the origin of the strange vibrations we had felt in the cabin, and also a large fog of exhaust fumes that were hanging over the bay. Our hopes of a couple of days playing tourists on the island were quickly dashed, as we calculated that there must have been upwards of 10,000 visitors, probably more, and the chances of us getting a spot on one of the tours were non-existant. We ate our breakfast in silence, staring up (and up, and up a bit more) at the floating skyscrapers complete with flumes, outdoor cinemas and... was that a golf driving range?!
We might have stayed there gawking for the whole morning had another warm, singsong voice full of sunshine on the VHF not brought us to our senses. The Georgetown Security boat was on its way to pick us up and escort us to Immigration. And fortunately so, as the little office stood in the midst of the thousands of cruise ship passengers who had been freshly carted ashore in little ferries. We must have looked quite a sight, as we had not yet had time to shower or even brush our hair since leaving Cuba (now that I think about it, I don't actually remember changing out of my pyjamas), and we were carrying our spearguns, which had to be surrended to the authorities for the duration of our stay. I wonder how many holiday photo albums we made it into ("Look, dear, do you remember those pirates we saw in Georgetown ? Didn't they smell funny !")
In spite of our appearance, we received a truly wonderful welcome from the authorities, and had nothing to pay for the trouble - a big change from the expensive bureacracy that we experienced in Cuba.
We actually spent quite a pleasant couple of days in Georgetown, cafe-hopping and snorkeling on two great spots (one wreck, one reef). We quickly learnt that the cruise ships depart around 1700 each day, and a sort of calm settles overs the island. All the duty-free and souvenir shops close, and chilled out happy hours begin for the dive instructors, ferry captains and gold watch vendors who live from the madness of the tourist industry.
We were also very impressed with some of the environmental efforts made on the island, with clear, visible recycling systems, advice on what to do should you accidently hook a shark, and even special bins for disposing of fishing waste.
But the best thing by far was the exemplary service that we received from the Georgetown Security team, who went out of their way to ensure that we had a safe and enjoyable stay. We radioed in to ask where the best spot would be to leave our dinghy on our first trip ashore, and the security boat promptly turned up to help us scout out the various docks and landing beaches. We had an issue with our autopilot on departure and had to turn back, upon which we received a shower of offers of assistance over the radio. And a little after we did finally manage to leave, we received a very kind follow-up call, just to make sure that everything was OK.
The presence of so many cruise ships was a surprise and a disappointment to us, and meant that we saw very little of what is supposed to be a beautiful, unusual little island. Perhaps the other islands might not suffer from the same mass tourism and therefore be more accessible to small boat cruisers like us? I regretted not having the time to find out, but we had an appointment with a man with a tape measure in Panama, and a whole new adventure was awaiting us in Central America...
Mission Ocean is proud to be supported by: Boero, Doyle Sails Palma, Rotary District 1730, Navigair, OctoMarine, Battery World Service, Victron Energy, Sovedis Aquatabs, Spade Anchors, SeaTech & Fun, Plastimo, Furuno France, Pejout Marine Services, Lyvio, Storm Bird, Aethic, Corsica Yacht Services, Astrolabe Expeditions, AGL Marine, and Sail-Worldcruising.com
Mission Ocean is Laura Beard and Henrique Agostinho. Their three year plus mission is to share their love and respect for the ocean with others, through education and scientific research. Neither is a stranger to the water, so they have combined all their skills and passions in this bold, courageous and inspiring project. Sail-Worldcruising.com is delighted to be with them for the journey of their lifetime.
You can also find out more on their Facebook page and Instagram account @missionocean06