We have arrived back in Grenada. The primary reason for our side trip to Barbados was to get my (Bill’s) passport renewed at the US Embassy there. Although there is an embassy in Grenada, it seems to carry minimal staffing and could not give a specific timing when they could accept an application. That process was smooth and uneventful. Now we wait…

When we first arrived in Barbados we were instructed to tie up in the main ship harbor to clear customs. We felt like the smallest of small fry tied up to a dock designed for ships that outweigh us by a factor of 50,000 times.

When we returned to the customs office for our clearing out procedure, there was another boat had taken our spot:

This is the bow of the SuperYacht Octopus built by the late Paul Allen, founder of Microsoft along with Bill Gates. If you are interested in this 417 foot monster you, and 11 of your closest friends, can charter her (and all her toys) for $2,200,000 per week.

Our sail back to the waters of Grenada was uneventful. We couldn’t get much fishing in during the crossing, the amount of sargassum weed in the ocean here is enormous. Once in the lee of Grenada we did get some lines out, and had good luck getting wahoo to bite, but couldn’t reliably turn strikes into hookups. The one we DID hook we lost at boat side… bummer….

We anchored off Grenada for the night, and lit the flood light on our stern for entertainment. We were not disappointed. Soon we had many small fish swarming in the water. Before long, a bird was darting back and forth grabbing small fish. It was moving so fast and was in the light for such a short time we couldn’t really get a handle on what kind of bird it might be. So out came the camera gear.

It’s a challenge getting a photo of a fast flying bird during the day in full sun. At night, with a (relatively) dim lamp it’s orders of magnitude harder. Not exactly expertly, but good enough we can make a positive ID, and good enough you can see the fish he is feeding on in the water…

Yep… not a bird, but a bat! I had no idea there were fish eating bats. The “Greater Bulldog Bat,” bigger than most bats I am familiar with. Larger than a pigeon, smaller than a big seagull. How does a bat “see” the fish underwater? Well, apparently it doesn’t. Instead it uses its sonar to detect the ripples on the surface made by the fish just under the water, and then grabs them with its legs. Nature never ceases to amaze.