06/17/2013, Tyrell Bay, Carriacou
We really enjoyed Carriacou. Except that you can have anything to eat, as long as it seems to be chicken (okay, you can get fish and sometimes pork), there is a great deal to this island that endears us. According to Wikipedia, the island is 13 square miles in area, with a population of about 5000. The joke is that there is a rum shop for approximately every 7 people, but strangely, one could say that there is a cemetery for about every 17 people living here. I'm serious (I so wanted to say dead serious).
On our previous visits here, we really didn't venture much beyond Tyrell Bay, the main anchorage, and Hillsborough, the main town. We wandered by bus up to Windward, home of the Carriacou sloop boat buildind, but we really didn't do much walking in between. Now that I am trying to put 5 to 8 miles under my running shoes every morning, the need to get a little farther afield is greater. That's when I started noticing just how many cemeteries there are. We noticed the big one not that far from Hillsborough because that is on the bus route, and that was the first time we observed goats and sheep in the employment of keeping the foliage down between the graves, but now I was noticing the plethora of other cemeteries. These vary from little "a couple of plots" to decent sized final resting places. There is no obvious rhyme or reason to their placement if you look at them now. Ken and I figured it had to do with the estates from days gone by and family plots, and that is pretty much what it is. But so many!
I asked a bus driver about it when I was returning from Hillsborough the other day. He was the one who told me the approximate number of cemeteries there are in Carriacou. As we proceeded upon our route, he started pointing out where they were hidden. He'd point up the side of a hill and comment that there were four up in the bushes. He'd point somewhere else and comment that there were a couple of more there. Some haven't been used in a long time, but some are still active. I can honestly say that Ken and I cannot recall another place with so many cemeteries scattered around. We saw one on the east coast today that has been around since the 1700's, and it shows. Sadly, there are graves right at the water's edge, getting eroded away by the sea. There is no way that the government has the money to relocate the graves, either.
Well, with the multitude of rum shops, it is easy to drink to one's health. And the odds are good that there will be one close to the cemetery that if drinking to someone's health didn't do it, you can toast to their memory.
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06/13/2013, Woburn, Grenada
"Cheese and Rice" or "Cheese and Bread" are kind of like the Island equivalent of "jeepers creepers"... rather than ripping out a big "J.C." this adaptation gets used so as to not blaspheme. Not that I haven't used the Lord's name in vain, but I love the "cheese and bread" alternative!
Now what has us saying something like that? Yesterday we left Carriacou and came south to the main island of Grenada. It was a lovely trip, and we actually didn't get skunked for wind on the lee side of the island (there's one for the log!). We figured that since we were making such good time, and we had left earlier than planned, that we would go around the south end of the island and head for one of the southern anchorages (Clarkes Court Bay was our eventual goal). As soon as we turned the corner at Point Saline, it became quite, um, boisterous. Forget that stuff, we'll turn and go back to St. Georges and tackle it in the morning, when the wind has dropped again (it's that daytime heating thing).
The anchorage at St. Georges was rolly, enough that we figured that we were going around in the morning, regardless. We got off to a nice early start, hauling anchor at 6:00am. When we got to Pt. Saline, it was MUCH calmer than the previous afternoon, and we grinned at our cleverness. We were going to have an easy trip to CCB! Well, that was all good, until we eyeballed the large black cloud(s) coming our way. Damn, this wasn't looking good. Our 10 knots on the nose became gusts up to 35 knots on the nose, and the seas became more of a 6 foot climb than gentler 3 or 3 footers. We bailed for Mount Hartman Bay, one we know well, and we knew that we could stay there physically comfortably for a while if need be.
We negotiated our way into Hartman, grateful for the reefs and island that protect the entrance. We headed for the dock of the marina, since we really needed water, and topping up the diesel while we were there would be so much easier. It was nice seeing some of the staff there, and there were big hugs. With full tanks (aahh) we headed out to anchor, but couldn't find a spot that we liked all that much. With the moorings, it is getting harder to find a spot to anchor, and being one of the "latecomers", the good spots were gone. We looked at each other, and said "screw it, let's go to Clarkes Court".
The wind had died a lot from when we had entered, it was down to a mere 20-25 knots on the nose, and the waves were less miserable. We were quite aware that at least one boat has been swept onto the reef next to the CCB entrance before, and we were justifiable nervous. This wasn't our first choice of weather to enter that bay, but it wasn't the worst either. We just knew we would have to be diligent.
Some of the waves on the nose were probably about 7-8 feet high, not what one would call "enjoyable" sailing conditions, but those were the vast minority. We motored around to the entrance of the bay and made our way in. It is well bouyed, and once we were in the lee of Caviligny Island, the worst was over.... well except for the squall that came up just before we anchored.
We motored around a bit as the winds died down, then anchored in the rain. Thankfully, the anchor caught easily and we settled down. A trawler wasn't as lucky and almost dragged onto a reef (he's now anchored in front of us). We back down at full RPMs to super set the anchor, but many cruisers just hope for the best.
Just need to get the outboard on the dinghy and we are "home" for a while!
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