A Morning in Mayreau

“You can hold my hand.”
I looked up from the dinghy to see a young boy leaning over the edge of the dock with his outstretched hand.  He must hardly be more than 10 years old, I thought, his thin arms though confident of its purpose. We had sailed into Saline Bay in Mayreau that morning, and after anchoring decided to take our dinghy into town while it was still on the cooler side of noon. As I motored to the jetty, we saw 4 boys of about the same age doing cannon balls into the water.  They watched with interest as we approached slowly, looking out for other small humans that may be swimming around.  Too late we noticed their fine fishing lines over the edge of the dock.
“Oh I am so sorry“- I offered.  “I didn’t see your fishing lines.“
The little face looked back surprised
“No I am sorry to disturb you” he said. 
And there was this other arm reaching over to help me out of the dinghy.  I had to smile and take the proffered limb, being careful to support myself so I wouldn’t jettison this well-meaning kid over the edge with my weight.
“What have you caught this morning” I asked.  They rushed over to show me their catch of 6 very dead looking fish.  Rigor Mortis had set in several hours ago. 
“Don’t you need to take those back home before they spoil?“
They looked unconcerned, dismissing my question with no response. There was so much fun to be had and the list did not include going home before that task was exhausted.

They had to show us their head-first dives, then their back flips, then their cannon balls-starting from the beginning, one by one, then all together.  We video recorded them with our phones, then played it back to their satisfaction, then a few more redoes and we were off to our next destination- The Salt pond across the bay.

A large salt pond makes up the middle of the island and is a source of salt for the islanders

We walked through town to the top of the hill where we came across a catholic church with neat and well tended grounds and an exceptional view of the Tobago Cays.

Tobago Cays in the distance is a national marine park

Being low season, all the restaurants in town were empty. Some like the one in the picture below have interesting and quirky décor fashioned from flotsam and jetsam found in the ocean.

Village cemetery with a view of the ocean

Salt Whistle Bay

The Salt Whistle Bay has a narrow neck of land that separates the Caribbean from the Atlantic side of the island. We stopped here for a few hours on our way to the Tobago Cays. It is still as beautiful as we remembered it from our last visit in 2020. The local economy depends on sailors, but there is no hard hustle. As we enter the bay, Kendrick approaches in his fishing boat but keeps a respectful distance waiting for an indication if we need help. He is glad to taxi us in his boat to the beach for a few ECDs.

Mayreau is a special place with friendly people and extraordinary beauty. Our visits here never get old. We will be back again some day…