We are safely back at the dock, but not without a bit of excitement.

The weather wasn't looking good for another go at snorkeling the Indians, so we decided to head back to the base early so that we could take our time getting things sorted and possibly wait for a break in the weather for docking.

As we got into the channel it became clear that there was no avoiding the dark clouds that were coming our way, much more than an isolated shower. Visibility kept getting worse and the rain intensified.

As we were passing the western tip of Peter Island, I thought I heard some low frequency noise, but my hearing is not the greatest and I wasn't sure. But sure enough, with visibility perhaps a thousand feet, a very large freighter came into view off our starboard bow and heading to cross our path at about a 45 degree angle. It appeared to be heading for Peter Island Passage.

Needless to say, I quickly disengaged the autopilot and hastily changed course about 90 degrees to starboard. Truly Murphy's Law at work... at no time in the six weeks we have been cruising the area during covid did we see a single large vessel underway; it would have to be during the worst visibility and on a collision course, or very close to it. Made me wish these boats had AIS, nobody needs that kind of surprise.

The wind, which had backed all the way to NNW, lightened, but the system stalled over the islands and it rained for the next several hours.