Kiting at Frigate island

There we met ‘Helen Victoria’, sailed from Oregon by Carl and Tanya, and Top Cat with three Californians on board, Bruce, Star and Johnnie. We are all of a similar age which is slightly anomalous given the broader cruising demographic. Carl and Tanya’s kiteboarding enthusiasm is contagious and now we are living solely to kite. After two nights at Tobago Keys we sailed with the other two boats to Frigate Island and nestled into a routine of kiting, gathering on one or the other of the boats or on the beach for drinks, then reclining at home till the wind came the following day.

Carl and Nick were out getting one last kite boarding session in before sunset. A band of local youths were preparing a fish feast on the beach. They told me conch soup was very good for your back. From out of the steaming pot of snapper and shellfish on the open fire a big chewy piece of conch which was lifted. It was delicious and it improved my niggly back tremendously (although kite surfing helped too I’m sure). The narrow beach was built up with conch shells that had been collected over decades and boiled up just like the meal I shared.