Finally!

At the end of March we sailed along the east coast of Grenada from Carriacou to the bays at its southern end. Since we were not sailing in the lee of the island we took a precautionary seasickness pill, Stugeron, which is not available in the US but which, as a non-prescriptive medication, can be purchased from abroad (think Canada).

An 18-knot wind was behind us as we glided past Clark's Court Bay and Hog Island Bay before threading through the reefs into Mt. Hartman Bay. We were hoping to make this bay our home base for the next month or so, if all turned out well. It was a perfect match for us and outside of a 6 day sail back up to Carriacou and Petite Martinique and Petite St. Vincent we were extremely content to stay put.

What is it like to be a stationary live-aboard? Well, the phrase "summer camp for cruisers" covers the experience really accurately. In Mt. Hartman Bay there is easy access to land transportation and, at the small marina (Secret Island) at the head of the harbor, we have food service and social, physical, and cultural activities within the open-air restaurant (with free Wifi). For instance, on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday mornings at 8:30, we attended yoga classes and could have participated in aerobics on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We listened to amateur talent at open jam sessions on Tuesday evenings and to small music groups which come in on Sunday and Friday evenings. There is two-for-one pizza night with a movie on Thursday evenings, and this is just at our own bay. At Prickly Bay, one bay to our west, there are similar offerings and better Wifi and movie setups. Hog Island has a jerk chicken BBQ from mid-Sunday afternoon onward as well as the best beach around.

In regard to getting shopping done, we took the "bus" (a 16-seater extended van, vary common throughout these islands) towards the capital city of St. George. It stopped at predetermined places such as the bank, IGA, True Value Hardware, Budget Marine, and the local fresh produce facility, all for $15 EC round-trip, about $6 US. We were picked up near our dinghy dock and deposited right back there - how easy is that? It was a great way to start to meet people and to become part of the community.

Because there is so much happening in this part of Grenada there are boats in these bays that were launched at the beginning of the winter season and which never made it past the corner of the island. Our friends on Robin Leigh, Brad and Christine, whom we met while trying to do our first Med mooring at the Pointe a Pitre marina on Guadeloupe, had been enjoying themselves at Mt. Hartman Bay for a month. Because they are as active as we are we had no doubt that Mt. Hartman Bay would become a perfect last interlude on this voyage.

Of course it wasn't all idyllic, but close to it. It is the dry season in Grenada and they won't receive much rainfall until June or perhaps July so all was pretty brown and dried up. Not at all like the postcards of a very lush island, at least not in the southern part. On some of our journeys we did see that lushness but these places were predominantly more north and more in the interior of Grenada. And it started to become really hot during the last half of April, too much for these northerners. I'll talk about the great activities we did ashore in the next - and last - blog, Hashes, Hikes, and Hauling.