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From Conception to Provo, Turks and Caicos

On Thursday night there was a tremendous lightning show right across the northern horizon. At one point on Friday we were accompanied by a family of dolphins, including babies not more than 4' long, having fun leaping out of the water beside us.

Later the same day a small bird arrived on board. He hopped around, not at all phased by us, even walking right over us as we sat in the cockpit. He flew away a few times but came back. No land in sight so had selected us as his nightstop. We fed and watered him and he chose our vegetable basket as his nest for the night, leaving us just after dawn on Saturday, just off Provo.

On Friday evening the wind had dropped so we motorsailed for a while. If we had continued we would have arrived in Provo in the dark, so in absolutely calm seas we switched off the engine and just drifted for a few hours. The sight was amazing. Out in the North Atlantic, sea like a mirror, no moonlight and every star reflected in the sea.

By dawn on Saturday, the wind had picked up and was blowing 18 knots by 8am. By 10am 29 knots as we hit a squall. The sea went from millpond calm to 8' peaks within no time. And it rained. We were drenched. Had a rough ride for the last two hours until we turned into the shallower banks south of Provo and headed for Sapodilla Bay. We anchored there and went ashore to clear customs and immigration.

All of Turks & Caicos is in a building boom. Resorts with hotels, condos for sale or rent and areas with large private homes on hills, or with marina or seafront positions. We looked at a townhouse overlooking Turtle Cove Marina with a private dock big enough for Dream On. If we had had $1 million available to us we would have bought it! But we are just sailing paupers so drooled and dreamed for a while and walked away.

French Cay

The following day we moved out to the mooring buoy for the dive site called "DD". This was a good introductory dive with very tame and curious fish. Full dive details on our Diving page. We stayed on the mooring overnight.

Wednesday 3rd May, still at French Cay. Moved to another mooring buoy at the site called "G Spot!" Made two dives here. On the second we saw two Caribbean reef sharks and a loggerhead turtle.

We then moved on to the west coast of Provo to do the same. On the way, our starter battery overheated, (we had suspected it was a gonner), and had to do a nifty and funky rewiring job while sailing on the genoa to get the engine started again.

Stopped off the western shore of Provo at the "Tiki Huts." The site of a French reality TV show some years back. Now converted into a luxury resort, "Atlantic Village." Had lunch there then completed our dive buoy logging and moved around the north of Provo to head for the infamous Sellars Cut, a narrow channel between coral heads that leads into Grace Bay and Turtle Cove.

The plan was to anchor in Grace Bay, much closer to town than Sapodilla Bay and obtain our immigration extension. As we approached Sellars Cut, with a heavy northerly swell still running we decided to change and go for the safer, wider but longer Stubbs Cut. Good decision, as we heard on the radio the saga of a French Catamaran that had misjudged the entrance to Sellars Cut in the swell and ended up hard on the reef with waves breaking over the boat and the youngest members of the family being evacuated.

We found our way through Stubbs Cut and into the reef strewn Grace Bay. We anchored as soon as we found a clear area and watched the beach activities of the various resorts and condos into the evening.

The following morning, we moved the boat closer to Provo, then dinghied into Turtle Cove. Found a lift to town and visited immigration, to be told that we had to visit three different offices for signatures and had to pay $50 each for a 7 day extension! Now why can't the T & C do the same as Bahamas, where on arrival, you are issued a long immigration stay, a one year cruising permit and a fishing license? No, the T & C, (British, alas!), has to do it the hard way by surprising the boater with new additional fees. And you have to pay another $15 for leaving!

The dive buoys have supposedly been placed by the Government and can be used by private boats provided priority is given to commercial dive operators who we believe are asked to maintain the buoys. Whether in French Wells, NW Provo or West Caicos, we always stayed out of the way until a mooring was free and were prepared to move if required. Only once, at French Cay were we requested to move to another buoy by a live-a-board dive operator, but received some free local dive site information in return.

Dived the "Tiki" site. A bit disappointing and quite shallow, but we found the large metal cage that was erected for the original French TV show. Contestants had to dive down into the cage to find certain items. If they ran out of air they could obtain air from tanks in the care of a group of "mermaids." Alas, Geoff could not find the mermaids.

Moved Dream On to "Black Forest" dive site. Very nice wall dive, best dive in the T & C so far. 1 hammerhead shark. strong current.

Left NW Provo and headed for West Caicos. On the way we received a radio call from "Changes in Attitudes" last seen in Georgetown.. They had planned a stop in the T & C so we could meet up but were many days behind us. As the weather was good they decided to continue past the T & C to the Dominican Republic, the next stop south and called us on the off chance we might be in range. Just saw them on the horizon some 7 miles ahead of us but on a parallel course south.

Dived "White Face" and "Driveway." At Driveway, we saw a shark patrolling the coral heads under the boat as we started the dive, then a large loggerhead turtle on the wall.

Kayaked ashore and scrambled onto the rocky shore by timing the waves. A bit precarious but worth the trip. Fossilised sea life in the old coral. Some sea glass in the rock pools, but because of the difficulty of getting ashore, no foot prints.

As there was still a swell, we decided to move Dream On overnight into the unfinished Ritz-Carlton marina basin. It is a very large dredged area but not yet a marina so can take half a dozen boats at anchor with good protection from swell.

On 8th May we moved out of the marina to "Brandywine." One dive there then moved again to "White Face" for our second dive. Back to the marina development overnight.

9th May - Moored on "Elephant Ear. Canyon" 1 dive there then to "Driveway" again for the second dive. Returned to the marina, then dinghied out into Bernard Bay on the north coast of West Caicos and walked the very nice beach. This area is being developed by Ritz-Carlton and is the site for very exclusive private residences.

10th May - Moored at "Gullies." Fantastic site. 1 dive there then moved to "Stairway to Heaven" a vastly different site and not as dramatic as the other wall dives.

We sailed away from West Caicos the same day at 1900 to head for Hogsty Reef overnight, a distance of 78 miles at a heading of 275°. At first, we had a good wind from ENE and made good time, but this dropped below 6 knots early the following morning so we had to motor sail the rest of the way.

Link to Turks & Caicos - Photos