3 March As Norther blows past we head south

Through the winter months and into spring the western Caribbean is at the mercy of passing cold fronts which can bring strong north winds. While we were here in Grand Cayman there has been a norther once every six days. If the wind comes from the north west the anchorage at Georgetown becomes untenable. Our options were to either pick our way into through the main pass into the North Sound and then even more carefully into Governor's Creek. Reportedly we can get in with a 2.1m draft. The second option is to use the yacht moorings at Spotts Bay on the south side of the island. This is the alternative cruise ship anchorage.

In theory this is a good place to hang out and we can access the southern dive sites. In practice the ever present south east swell keeps on rolling in and becomes more noticeable when the wind drops at night.

While we here a boat came in from Mexico with a single hander. The wind was at 20 knots so picking up one of the moorings would be an extreme challenge. David hailed him on the radio and offered assistance – we could put the dinghy in the water and he'd go and help pass up the mooring loop. This is what he did. It took a couple of attempts but they did it. The Spanish captain was on his way to the States but had encountered big waves off Mexico and diverted to Caymans. He was grateful for David's assistance and insisted on giving us a gift of thanks – 5 litres of liquid gold he called it, single estate, first pressing Spanish olive oil. It was one of six bottles he was carrying so we weren't depriving him.

After an uncomfortable night the wind switched back to east and we returned to Georgetown out of the annoying swell.