07/09/2006, Chaguaramas Bay, Trinidad
We arrived in Chaguaramas Bay about 9:00 am after a night crossing from Mt. Hartman Bay, Grenada. There was a small amount of excitement involving one of the boats in our group. Delilah's motor died and it was some time before Dean and Jill could coax it back into action. While they were sailing this didn't matter much, but there are strong currents and a narrow passage approaching Trinidad where a motor is almost esential even for the most ardent sailors. Another sailboat we met lost their motor in the same area and spent the next 36 hours getting into Chaguaramas. The wind would pick up during a squal and they would be able to sail. Then the wind would die and they would drift back with the current. Anyway, our friends avoided that problem and we were happy when they arrived safely. It's always been hard for me to quit mothering people even adults who aren't related to me; so I was ready to send Paul out in our large dinghy to rescue our friends. Luckily, that wasn't necessary.
Most of our first few days in Trinidad were spent getting the boat ready to be hauled and left "on the hard" (for the non-yachties, this means being on land proped up on tripods). We arranged to have several maintenance jobs completed while we visited family and friends in the states. Therefore, we were very busy with all these details and didn't really see much of Trinidad until we returned on September 30.
The major part of the hurricane season is from July through October, although hurricanes can occur as early as May or as late as December. Most boat insurance policies require that the boat be either north or south of the hurricane zone, which is defined differently by different insurance companies. In our case we had to be south of latitude 10 degrees, 50 minutes which is just north of the island of Trinidad. So to maintain coverage during the hurricane season we needed to stay in Trinidad or go further south (i.e., Venezuela). Although Venezuela has terrific cruising, we decided not to venture there this because of the worsening political situation. We hope the situation will feel better to us next year.
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06/29/2006, St. Georges lagoon; Grenada
On the way to Grenada, several of these birds were flying frantically around the flagpole on our bow, and one of them tried to bite it with its beak several times! Paul even went out to check that the flagpole was fastened securely to the boat. I tried to take pictures of this unusual behvior, but was not quick enough to get the bird with its beak actually around the flagpole.
St. Georges is a very busy port with large ships frequently coming and going. Anchoring in the lagoon gives cruising boats great protection while keeping the cruising boats out of the way of the commercial traffic in the Carneage. A very nice beach was a medium dinghy ride away.
Grocery with it's own dinghy dock made getting provisions very convenient.
Friday street festival in Gouyave was a real experience. We accompanied a group on the public mini bus to Gouyave, a small town on the west coast of Grenada about 45 minutes north of St. Georges. The ride was kind of scary because the road is steep, narrow and in bad repair. But the end result was worth it. Every Friday about 6:00 p.m. a large number of local vendors set up booths along several of the streets and offer local food and some crafts. We sampled our way along and really enjoyed the evening.
We took a bus tour of the interior with King Elvis Tours (really, I kid you not -- he even talked like Elvis on the phone). One thing I had almost completely forgotten was the U.S. participation (along with other members of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States) in a "rescue" mission in 1983 which resulted in the ouster of the government and has ushered in a period of peace and prosperity. The Grenadians still appreciate the U.S. efforts, and I saw a hand lettered billboard-size sign thanking the United States for the 1983 intervention. This was VERY interesting to me in light of current events in Iraq. Other highlights of our tour: Visit to the River Antoine Rum factory which still uses a giant water wheel originally built in the mid-1800's. The tour was interesting, but the rum isn't really that good (VERY strong!).
The Grenada Chocolate factory makes organic chocolate bars and is powered by around 50 solar panels all over the yard.
The Spice Factory was a huge operation where all kinds of spices are first dried on large wagons with railroad wheels. When dry the wagons are rolled into the building for final processing. All over Grenada fresh spices are plentiful and cheap.
Swim in a fresh water pool and waterfall -- a refreshing end to a great day.
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06/26/2006, Carriacou Island, Grenada
We spent a pleasant three days anchored in Tyrrel Bay in Carriacou, a small island about 15 miles north of the main island of Grenada. This is a large harbor and there is a lot of commercial activity. It was interesting watching the large ships come and go. As with most islands, the harbor also had a lot of activity from the small, colorful local boats, some of which offer goods and services to cruisers.
Good deals on wine. Here we met Simon who has the BEST wine prices anywhere. We weren't sure how he was able to sell wine at such good prices, so we didn't ask where he got his supplies. The deals were so good that some of our friends who had already left Carriacou emailed and asked us to bring them some more of Simon's wine, resulting in our buying all he had! Great party when we arrived at our next stop!
Mangrove swamp. There is a very large mangrove swamp on the north side of Tyrrel Bay which is great for dinghy exploration. This particular area is a well known hurricane hole and about 150 boats sheltered inside during hurricane Ivan two years ago. Ivan caused a lot of damage all over Grenada, but all the boats in the mangroves were not damaged.
Mangrove oysters are found in the mangrove swamp and one of the boat boys would deliver and shuck them. The price also included 1 or 2 cold beers for the boat boy (actually, he was a grown up who, aparently had received and consumed beer from several other customers). The oysters are tasty, but very small so having someone else shuck them was a really good idea. Even a small batch needed a LOT of shucking.
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06/22/2006, Tobago Cays, The Grenadines
Beautiful beaches EVERYWHERE
Fantastic snorkeling EVERYWHERE
No need to say anything else. Did I mention that I really love the place?
The Tobago Cays must be the ultimate cruising experience -- the perfect picture of what comes to mind when thinking about spending time on a Caribbean island. This is especially true if you want to get away from civilization altogether because these islands are so small there isn't any with the possible exception of some boat boys offering fresh fish, etc.
One fact of interest to movie buffs. Some of the first "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie was filmed here. In fact we looked out on the island where Johnny Depp swam ashore which was kind of surprising because it is surrounded by a shallow reef. But, I guess having Johnny walk in a few inches of reef wasn't in the script.
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06/18/2006, Bequia, The Grenadines
Bequia is the start of the Grenadines, a group of small islands south of St. Vincent which offer terrific cruising. It is also one of my favorite anchorges with great beaches and places to explore in the dinghy in addition to a charming town which is awfully nice for shopping and simply walking around.
There are very interesting vehicles which take small groups on tours. They are sort of like converted pick up trucks with covered, open air seating where the bed of the truck used to be. We visited several interesting places:
The Old Hegg Turtle Sanctury -- is privately run by a man named Brother King. Because most newly hatched turtles are eaten by predators, he keeps them for several years so they will have a better chance of survival in the ocean . He works mostly with Hawksbill sea turtles which do not repreduce until they are 25 years old. Since he has been operating the sanctuary for about 15 years, it will be awhile yet before any of the turtles he has released will begin reproducing. I think his work may prove very important because he told us he has been seeing fewer and fewer turtle eggs in the wild in recent years.
A lovely pottery making business operates out of an old estate house, and we picked up a nice gift. When you live on a boat, shopping is an interesting experience. I love to look, but rarely buy anything that isn't a gift because we would soon run out of places to put things.
Snorkeling is surprisingly good in Bequia. I saw an enormous variely of fish and other creatures.
The vegetable market run largely by rasta followers was a unique experience, but not very pleasant because they are such agressive salesmen. This attitude is very unusualy to what I have experienced in other places. Fortunately, there are other places to shop where the experience is much more plesant.
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06/16/2006, southern St. Lucia
Very decadent lunch This picture is a view from Dasheen, a restaurant literally perched on the side of a mountain, which looks out over the pitons in southern St. Lucia. All the rooms as well as the rooms in the adjacent hotel are enclosed on only three sides with the fourth side opening onto this incrediable view. There are more pictures in the gallery. I thought it was one of the most spectacular places I had ever been. And the food was also very good. Next trip I hope to spend a couple of days in the hotel. We came here via taxi and stopped at a wonderful studio on the way back to the boat.
The pitons are two very steep peaks rising about 3000 feet straight off the water in southern St. Lucia. The whole area is part of a large marine park and we stayed on one of the park's moorings. There is good shorkeling on the north shore of the bay, and the scenery from the mooring is really dramatic. St. Lucia is a volcanic island and the sand is dark because the rocks it was made from are dark. While the water is very clear, you can't see as well snorkeling as when the sand in light (as in the Bahamas) especially when it is cloudy. So I've had to get used to planning snorkeling when it is bright and sunny. And since rainy season seems to have started, there are more clouds. The result is that I try to get out snorkeling by late morning if the sun is out because clouds seem to build up more later in the day.
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