A taste of the Grenadines
29 June 2014 | Port Louis Marina, Grenada
Belinda & Kit
Current Position: 12 02.63N, 61 44.95W Moored in Port Louis Marina, St. Georges, Grenada
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Grenada, Carriacou, Bequia – and back to Grenada.
Leaving Grenada Yacht Club should’ve been easy… we were moored stern-to and tied with two stout lines on the bow to a buoy. We were all set for an early start, waiting for the dockmaster (marina hand) to arrive so we could settle up and cast off. The dinghy was stowed aboard and the waypoints were set; but we hadn’t take into account ‘island time’!
Eventually the dockmaster sauntered along - and began fuelling up two yachts that were waiting on the fuel dock. In between the two Kit managed to settle our bill; all we needed now was to cast off and this required the assistance of the dockmaster in his RIB. Our lines were secured by bowlines to the buoy, which was at least 30 feet from our bow and we had no way of doing it ourselves. So we waited….
Finally our man sauntered over to his RIB ……and his engine wouldn’t start!! His apology ‘sorry man’ just didn’t cut it but there wasn’t much we could do except maybe inflate and launch our dinghy again. Just as we were becoming resigned to another night in the Yacht Club a dinghy rounded the corner from an anchored yacht. We called over and asked for help whereupon our man insisted that he had to do the untying so our saviour gave him a lift and hey ho we were free!
Alas, the sail to Carriacou, farther up the Windward chain of islands, wasn’t great –just northwest of Grenada an underwater volcano called ‘Kick ‘em Jenny’ is on ‘yellow alert’ with a 1.5km exclusion zone around it. We had no wish to be close if Jenny was about to ‘burp’ so we set a course west of this zone – big mistake! Sailing out west was fine but when we turned to head in towards Carriacou we were hard on the wind, and we had waves and a strong current against us. Consequently the decks were awash as we bashed into it, and eventually had to resort to assistance from the engine before we swept past Carriacou altogether!
Tyrrel Bay on Carriacou is a large bay sheltered from the prevailing easterly winds. It’s obviously very popular because there were anchored and moored boats everywhere! We picked a spot, dropped the hook and sighed with relief as it bit first time – great holding! Carriacou belongs to Grenada so with no need to check in at customs we enjoyed a very welcome cold beer! ‘Mermaid’ was anchored nearby with good friends Gerard and Josje aboard, we seem to have similar itineries and it’s always lovely to see them.
We stayed in Tyrrel Bay for 2 weeks because Kit spotted a floating workshop that specialised in metalwork. After a bit of negotiation with Dominic, the French engineer, we ordered a mast to be made to take our new ‘Silent Wind’ Wind Generator that we’d purchased on Grenada. This involved a lot of discussion, measurement, and fitting during which Kit and Dominic had a difference of opinion! Dominic waltzed off, or rather zoomed off in his boat, in a huff but returned later when both had cooled down and Anglo/French relations were restored!!
With a bit of help on the wiring up from Mani the boatyard electrician, our (not-so-silent) wind generator was finally up and running and our batteries are now constantly charged. This is a great luxury that allows us to keep the laptops charged and use the watermaker as we need it.
Tyrrel Bay has a lovely beach and we could just pull the dinghy up to go for a sundowner in one of the local bars along the seafront. One evening we went for a pizza with Don and Glenys off ‘Agua Therapy’. We had last seen Agua Therapy when we left Gibraltar together in 2012; we had to turn back with a torn mainsail and we spotted them disappearing around the northwest corner of Morocco! We just tied to the dinghy dock outside the ‘Lazy Turtle’ restaurant and walked across the beach – no shoes necessary!! The pizza wasn’t great but the situation and view across the bay are wonderful and we had a lovely evening catching up.
In Tyrrel Bay we often saw turtles swimming close to our boat, indeed there are numerous ‘turtle beaches’ in these islands where they come ashore to lay their eggs. There are trips laid on to see them but we haven’t done it so far. These trips and other outings are run by charismatic guys with names such as ‘Shade Man’, ‘Cutty’ and ‘Paul’s Best Red Cabs’
We took the opportunity to go on the bus to Hillsborough, Carriacou’s main town. We went early to have a look around and were back by 11am having looked - it’s a very small town! However there are one or two nice little café’s overlooking the wonderful white beach – a pretty spot. We also found ‘Patti’s’, a deli selling some rather nice speciality foods so we bought a few little treats. On the return trip we took a bus to Windward where they still build local boats in the traditional way. En route we passed through Dover -so many familiar British names – a leftover from British Rule, which ended 40 years ago. Unfortunately there was only one wooden boat under construction whilst we were there and it was a fishing boat, but still impressive that they are built by hand using traditional methods.
Another bash into wind and current took us on up to Bequia – we were beginning to wonder what happened to the ‘wonderful sailing in the Caribbean’ that we’d heard about!! Bequia is part of St Vincent and the Grenadines so we had to check in with the Authorities; lots of form filling but nothing too onerous. We anchored close to Port Elizabeth initially but were not too happy with the holding so moved over close to Princess Margaret beach – better holding and not so gusty. Here we finally caught up with Roy and Madeline on ‘Mithril’. We’d met in Sicily and had last seen them when they left Mindelo, Cabo Verde to cross the Atlantic, on the day we arrived there! It’s so great to meet up with old friends – Kit cooked a lovely curry for us all (on a Friday, of course!).
Bequia seems a bit more ‘upmarket’ than Carriacou, at least Port Elizabeth is. There are more tourist places and we could get a real cappuchino! We took a taxi (a pick-up truck with a wooden bench seat on the back) to the Old Hegg Turtle Sanctuary on the north east of the island. Some years ago one local fisherman realised that the Hawksbill turtle numbers were dwindling – they are taken locally for food and for their very ornately patterned shells, although now at least there is a closed season. He set up the sanctuary where they take turtle hatchlings from the beach and rear them until they are 5 or 6 years old before releasing them in the same place they hatched. This is an independent operation supported by entry fees and donations. It was great to see the hatchlings close up and also the older ones with well developed pretty shells.
We decided to walk back from the sanctuary to Tyrrel Bay, although it was quite a slog in the heat of the day! Despite the heat and recent dry weather the islands are blessed with a colourful array of flowering shrubs and trees. Luckily we passed a hotel and bought a refreshing drink, and later the ‘Firefly Plantation’ where lunch was available on a cool terrace.
Our plan was to visit Tobago Cays, a series of reefs between Bequia and Carriacou, before we headed back to Grenada, but to appreciate that we need calm weather, which wasn’t forthcoming. The wind remained between 15-25 knots with some very strong gusts, so we abandoned that idea and sailed back down to Carriacou, then Grenada. Sailing south was brilliant; both passages were wonderful and the engine was hardly used! We sailed east of the exclusion zone for Kick ‘em Jenny and close to some dramatic small rocky islands – ‘Diamond Rock’ and ‘Isle de Ronde’. It certainly made up for our northward bash!! We only hope it’ll be better after the hurricane season when we go north once more!
We did make one more excursion on Grenada – to Gouyave on the northwest coast; every Friday they close two of the town streets and have a Fish Fry. All types of seafood are available, plus various vegetables. Madeline and Roy (Mithril) came along and we enjoyed wandering around tasting a bit of everything. I had my first taste of Conch too, a local staple food - the supply locally appears to be endless – I hope it is!! …and it’s actually very nice – a bit like squid.
So we are now in Port Louis Marina, Grenada; the marina is lovely; very smart with spotless washrooms and a lovely swimming pool – handy to cool off after a hot day’s work! There is a nice bar/restaurant that has a happy hour each evening; a welcome cold beer after the heat of the day. We’re very busy preparing Quilcene to be left for a while. We have to take off all sails and canvas and double up on our mooring lines in case of tropical storms or worse. All indications so far are for a quiet summer – we certainly hope so.