Still here in Grenada. The seas outside are high and the winds are strong, so we're staying put until they calm down a bit. Christmas was good - we spent it with Paul and Janie on "Shian".
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We finally left Trinidad on Monday the 6th of December to sail north to Grenada. We arrived on the Tuesday morning, tired but safe and anchored in St George's Lagoon - yes we discovered we could still anchor in the Lagoon. Still free wi-fi from Island Water World. The new Port Louis Marina seems to have come to a standstill as far as building is concerned. We were in the lagoon for a couple of days and then moved round to Hogg Island for sand, sea, snorkelling and generally lazing around. It is just as gorgeous and very, very peaceful.
We had a very interesting start to our sail when we were leaving Trini. Half a mile north of the BOCA we saw what we thought was a seal in the water. A SEAL - no, not in this heat - it turned out to be a dog getting swept down by the current towards Venezuela. So, being the good, kind people we are (huh?) we managed to rescue it - interesting experience though! (We had the main sail up, but the engine was still on). The dog didn't seem too keen on this big monster that was trying to help it, but appeared to want to be rescued. However, Alan finally scooped the dog out of the water and helped him (it was a him!) on board. He was a big brown dog, but with a short shaggy coat. He was pretty scared but soon stopped shaking and made himself at home in the cockpit. Anne spent most of the time steering and hanging on to what passed as the dog's collar - didn't want doggie disappearing downstairs and maybe pee'ing up against the wall!! Well, now for the Trinidad Coastguard! They were very nice and, to cut a long story short, their initial response was to "Take the dog and set it free in Scotland Bay" (about half a mile away from where we were). Fine, so just as we were sailing into Scotland Bay (main sail still up and trying to dodge the anchored boats) and about to set doggie free, Coastguard came back on and informed us of a change of plan. "Please take dog to Coastguard HQ." (That's where all the big Coastguard boats are based and another two miles along the coast). An interesting experience - tie-up, chat with the guys who didn't seem to know why we were there anyway, unload doggie, fill in loads of paperwork and finally depart - the whole escapade took well over two hours so instead of leaving Trini at mid-day it was well after 2 pm before we left. Hope poor doggie appreciates what we did. However, he went off the boat quite happily and by this time wagging his tail (He didn't pee anywhere thank goodness, but he didn't seem to know what "sit" meant) so perhaps he wasn't quite housetrained ....!
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Anne went back to Sunny Scotland for her daughter's wedding on the 1st of November. The above photo is a mosaic of some of the photos. Great Highland wedding with kilts and bagpipes. Great fun and a great day. Congrats to the bride and groom!!
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Many thanks to YSATT for organising the Cook-In at Peakes Marina last night. It was great fun - as the photos prove. On the menu for tasting were Doubles, Barbequed Pig Tail, Bouillibaisse, Chicken Paella, Chicken Chowder and various other delicacies for us to tempt our tastebuds - all made by the local restaurants and some of the contractors. Budget Marine helped us out too, with Shots of either Tequila or "Pink Pussy" .. (I know, I know) but that's what it was called! The "Doubles" were delicious and Anne trotted back for another helping. Alan tasted the "Pig Tail", but Anne "chickened out". Alan said the Pig Tail was nearly edible but that the the Bouillibaisse was great and he went back for a second helping - huge chunks of octupus kind of put Anne off.
A steel band followed by a DJ kept us dancing the night away, and as usual Anne and Alan were one of the last couples to leave.
The photograph above is the girls and Tyrrell from Budget Marine.
The photographs below are, top left to right: Danielle and Didier from Sails Restaurant in Powerboats and then Sam from "Sea Warrior" getting a lesson on how to play a pan. Bottom left is our own Jessie from Members' Only Maxi Taxi Service and then the little photos top to bottom are the crews from "Discovery", "Will of the Wisp" and "Rosalinda".
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We went for a trip to the Nariva Swamp yesterday (that's on the eastern side of the Trinidad). We got picked up from the boatyard at 6.00 am. It was great fun, and of course it rained cats and dogs and we got soaked. The monkeys (Howler and Capucine) all came out to see us and I tried to take photos. It is not easy taking photos from the ground straight up and into the trees, and they mostly ended up a bit fuzzy. There's more photographs in the Gallery - click on the link at the right hand side of this page. After being dropped at the tour guide's shack, we climbed aboard a wee boat which zoomed up and through the swamp to an island. Crossing from the boat to the island was interesting - there was about 4-5 inches of muddy water to wade through, and sometimes the 4-5 inches became a lot deeper - one or two of the other cruisers actually ended up to their bums in the water. However, we had taken a change of clothes so we changed at the tour-guide's shack. Jessie James (our wonderful Trini tour guide) had bought us all doubles and saheenas for breakfast before we arrived at the swamp and after we left the swamp we had roti for lunch. Alan's all curried out! We saw lots of birds, but most were too far away to see very well. We were absolutely shattered when we finally arrived back at the boat in the boatyard and were all tucked up in bed and fast asleep by 7.30 pm - what sorry people we are. Slept a whole 12 hours!!
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Anne is now back in Trinidad, but we thought you'd like to see some photos of Scotland - this is just proof that the sun does shine in Bonny Scotland.
Anne spent three great weeks at her daughter Davinia's and fiance Paul's home in Helensburgh. We spent one of the weekends at Paul's sister's caravan in Kilberry on the Mull of Kintyre. We had great fun with all the kids and dogs flying kites, fishing and generally messing about on the water.
Thanks to Paul and Davinia, and Amanda, Alan and all the kids for a great trip back to Scotland.
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We arrived back in Trinidad at the beginning of May and after a few days we were hauled out of the water. We're a cottage on stilts again and Powerboats have given us a staircase, which is great! Anne flew back to Scotland, leaving Alan on the boat as usual.
It's been mixed weather since Anne arrived in Scotland, with mostly rainy days, and the odd bit of sunshine. It's such a shame there aren't more dry days, as the scenery would be lovely if we could see it properly.
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After five years of abstinence Alan finally bought a fishing rod for the boat. First attempt: three quarters of an hour - no bites, nothing, nada, zero! Second attempt: lure in water, Alan trying to set the sails and within five minutes we caught an eighteen inch yellow fin tuna. Panic! What happens now? Nothing was set up with landing or dealing with the fish. However, in spite of everything and the lumpy seas, we managed to land the beast and had him for dinner.
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Yes, we're back in the Lagoon. We made it to St Maarten after a horrible, horrible sail. All steep waves - square with overhanging bits at the top - ick, but the wind was okay. We only managed about 4 knots the whole way - up and down, up and down!! We were both thoroughly p'd off by the time we got here. This used to be a great place to be, but they've put the prices up so it cost us $50 dollars to check in at Customs and Immigration - $30 for the bridge (whether or not you use it) and $20 a dollars a week just for the privilege of staying here!! So, by the time you've saved all that money in the chandlers, you've spent it all on Customs Duties! Apparently it's a lot cheaper on the French side, but it's a long way from the French side to the chandlers and all the other shops at this side and we've only got a wee outboard. Guess we'll stay on the French side next time, if there is a next time! So, we're off tomorrow for somewhere south.
A boat beside us caught fire this week and I'll try to put a photo of it on the blog soon. The "Boys in Black" (ie the Coastguard) noticed the fire and came screaming up to the boat with alarms screaming and lights flashing, causing great waves sloshing around the anchorage. However, they only had a tiny fire extinguisher on board their big black boat, which proved to be totally useless. So, off the Coastguard roared again - lights flashing, siren screaming to get more fire fighting equipment - they returned with another small fire extinguisher. The fire was finally put out by a small power boat with a portable water pump. Alan decided the Coastguard merited 100% for artistic impression and 0% for technical merit. It was only a diesel generator on the back of the boat that caught fire - more smoke and flames than damage.
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We're in a beautiful anchorage in St John's at Round Bay, Coral Bay. A three foot Barracuda has taken up residence beneath the boat and a huge turtle sleeps on the seabed during the day just beside us. Absolutely fantastic!
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I've finally managed to get a wi-fi signal, albeit a bit of a weak one. We spent about a week in Megan's Bay while the gales blew over us. We finally managed to get out of the Bay and tack, tack, tack all the way to Christmas Cove (about 17 miles including tacks)! We're now anchored in Redhook.
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Not much time - am sitting in an internet cafe 'cos we can't get a signal in the anchorage. We're back in Charlotte Amalie, US Virgin Islands. We arrived here last week after a 3 day sail from Grenada - 450 miles in a tad under 3 days - our fastest sail yet. We'll be in this area for about 2 months, so hopefully I'll be able to find an wi-fi connection from the boat so I can update this blog with more photographs
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We're back in the Lagoon in Grenada after having spent several days in the anchorage at Hogg Island. We spent yesterday with "Sutton Hoo" (Geoff and Jo) trying to help them out with a wee computer problem, and hopefully they're really happy with their new software. Afterwards, we were up in the Yacht Club for a meal, supplied by Christine (the chef) - great night, superb food and excellent company. The photo is only showing some wildlife - not our friends!!
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We spent today being entertained by the whole of Trinidad - well not quite, but it felt like it! Literallly thousands and thousands of boys, girls, men, women, grannies and grandpas took to the street and just enjoyed themselves. The costumes were absolutely fabulous and we had a great seat overlooking the festivities. If we weren't deaf before, we're definitely deaf now. It's just a pity our photographs don't show the full impact of the event. Click on the link on the right hand side of this page to see the photos.
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We went to the Red Cross Kiddies Carnival on Saturday - it was absolutely fantastic. The photographs speak for themselves. See the Gallery = click on the link on the right hand side of this page! Click on the individual photographs for a bigger picture!
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