Mimi on February 14, 2011
14 February 2011 | Bequia, The Grenadines
This new blog post is a combination of a number of days of reporting, from 2/2 to 2/14. Usually in a blog the latest day is at the top of the column, but in this posting, that isn't the case. It is long. Very sorry, but Internet access has been evasive. Hope all is well with you and yours, Dear Readers. Drop us a line if you have the time. We love to hear from home.
Carriacou
February 2, 2011
Hello All,
We stayed in Grenada for 5 days and it turned out to be a real treat. Friday night we had a fun time right on the shore with cruiser friends at an outdoor restaurant with both a Pan and Rock and Roll band. Scads of kids from the University flooded in...which was testimony to how little there is to entertain one in Grenada. The Rock band was talented, but the songs were recognizable to us, so it was interesting how many 19 plussers were there. Saturday we had a beachside dinner at the University Club, which our friends are members of. I nearly had the gumption to sneak in a freshwater shower in the locker room just before leaving, but thought better of it. It was a very nice evening and a great break from the boater's normal life.
We write to you from Carriacou, a darling little island that is the adjunct to the country of Grenada. It took us about 5 hours of sailing to get here from Grenada and again, the conditions weren't for wimpy sailors like us. The wind was coming directly at us the entire time and gusting to mid to upper 20s. The seas through a good part of it were steep and confused and their height crested to 12 feet. Mimi's bows did a lot of submarining and crusty salt was everywhere. Happily the skies were blue and the bad stuff only lasted for about 3 hours.
Once we arrived we had no need to check in with Customs since we hadn't changed countries. If we had needed to do so we would have headed to the bay at Hillsborough . Instead, we pulled into the cruiser preferred bay of Tyrrel Bay. Tyrrel Bay is a nice deep and shallow bay with a sandy bottom...just great for digging in the anchor. The shore is defined by a thin sandy beach and just beyond it is a sleepy road and bits and pieces of commerce. Here a little restaurant serving Lambi (conch), there a little funky grocery store. Produce stands are big here, but their offerings are scant. Sometimes no more than some cabbage, some green oranges and callalou. We marvel at the prices and wonder how the locals afford to feed themselves. Most likely their prices differ from what yachties are charged. We tried to spread our purchases out among 2 or 3 of the stands.
Sailing around the Caribbean for 3 or 4 months a year makes physical demands on a person of advanced years. There is the jump from the dinghy to the boat in a swell which taxes the knees and stretches the groin. Hauling groceries from the store, down the road, onto a dock and hoisted (then followed) into a dinghy demands arm, leg and core strength. Swimming to check the anchor, dive on the anchor, climb back on the boat and go through the rigmaroles of resetting the anchor takes lung, arm, quad and emotional strength. Keith and I try to put the put the whole package to task with the hopes of returning from our adventure in more fit shape than when we left our Santa Cruz home. Our second day in Tyrell Bay we decided to take a walk toward Hillsborough, then circle the mountain that separated it from Tyrell Bay. We started out complaining about all the dang taxi drivers that announced our option to ride, rather than walk, with a sharp beep on their horn. It makes a pedestrian jump! We waved them friendily on. After a while it seemed that the walk to Hillsborough was absolutely as long as walking West Cliff at home, and wasn't that 5 miles??? Finally we reached the turn off to Hillsborough where a nice young woman at an open-air stand was offering roasted corn. Intrigued, I purchase a cob which was roasted on a BBQ grill. The blackened cob was pulled off the grill then placed back in a shell from its own husk leaf. Meaty, starchy, bland and warm, it was still an interesting local fare that diverted my attention from the heat and the never ending hike we were on...if only for 15 minutes. Onward we hiked as we chatted about our various muscles that were obviously kicking in and becoming more fit with every strike of the heel. We could tell by their low level of ache. We walked by tropical forests , vacation homes with striking ocean views and the neighborhoods of the working families. Children smiled and waved at us, chickens took off running and goats baaahhed. At one point we reached a fork in the road. Keith's natural sense of direction kicked in, but so did the uncertainty of his walking partner. The dilemma was solved when a true and curious Caribbean Gramma came out on the second story porch of her unpainted wood sided home. Classically she wore a house dress and a truckers baseball cap. She leaned forward resting her broad frame and forearms on the deck railing and looked down at us. Politely we asked if this was the road to Tyrell Bay. She answered us at length in the local Caribbean dialect. It seemed that she wanted us to take the fork we had just passed, but it was hard to be certain. A chained up dog was incessantly barking at us from the lowest level of the house noisily overlaying Gramma's island-speak. Eventually I took matters into my own hand telling Gramma that we really couldn't understand her due to the dog and could we get to Tyrell Bay by following the road we were on. "Sure! You go down to da big road and follow dat!" We waved and thanked her, and luckily met another local as we headed toward the aforementioned big road. Back up the hill we trudged with the corrected directions, took the fork and walked about another 10 miles. (where be dem dam Taxi's now?!) Hot, exhausted and relieved we returned to Mimi, and found we had really and truly walked about 6 miles total. Not all that impressive, but it was a start.
FEBRUARY 12, 2011
Blogs are just impossible to write when you are in midst of some of your favorite family members. To any readers waiting for the next addition, mega apologies for the delay. Daughter Cassidy and our brother Doug just left after a terrific week of island hopping in the Grenadines. We picked them up just one week ago on the Island of Canouan and quickly hustled up to the more hopping island of Bequia where we could definitely catch the Super Bowl. With only a few hours of occupancy aboard Mimi, Doug was definitely capable of starting a mutiny were we not to put him in front of a TV set to watch his home team of Green Bay fight for the big win. We did the 20 mile sail in a little over 3 hours with big seas. Cass's tummy was temperamental, but Doug was stoked and managed to land a tuna in transit. Needless to say the Super Bowl was fun and we managed to share it with another Packer-Backer cruising family. Everything was good and Doug was so elated, he picked up the dinner tab. Go Doug Go! I mean, Go Pack Go!
Sailing into Bequia we were able to share the experience of Boat Boys with Cass and Doug. "Captain!" is the general initial hail, which captures everyone's attention. Please note, no one wants to share their attention since the intense focus at this time is looking for an ample anchoring area and a sandy bottom in which to land the anchor. The helpful boat boy in his colorful craft which he brings alongside our boat yells "mooring ball?!" which will cost us $20 a night as opposed to a $00 cost for anchoring. The Captain nicely yells "No thanks!" The crew steels themselves to the wind, readies the anchor and banters with the Captain as to the depth and bottom conditions (in certain crew members circumstances, bantering might be more like arguing). The anchoring begins. Suddenly there is the hail again..."Captain!" Now the boat boy is using hand signals as he yells at Mrs. Captain on the bow. Beautifully, with both hands he fashions a nice mooring ball in the air as the wind is blasting her in the face and the filthy chain drops from just below her feet. It looks so good. The Captain now firmly and loudly yells "NO!" to the helpful boat boy. The anchor is dropped. The chain is eased out. The crew relaxes. Later the anchor drags in the incessant winds and the procedure begins again. Boat Boys. Where are they when you need them?
Doug and Cass;s week was a bit windy and rainy, but we managed to walk to and tour the Turtle sanctuary in Bequia, sail on to Mustique (the private island for the rich and famous) taking in their Blues Festival, sail on to the premiere diving area and marine reserve of Tabago Cay (Doug caught a 28" barracuda on the way) where we spotted turtles under the water and iguanas in the trees. Cass was undaunted by strong currents and wave battered beaches. In she'd go. Leopard Rays had an affinity for our boat and we could watch them swimming by in the clear, clear water of the Cays. We finished the sailing loop by returning to Canouan. Oddly Doug was without his possessions the entire week. His bag never showed up and luckily he and Keith were able to share clothes. We became so familiar with his washing and hanging of his one pair of BVDs that Cass named them. (Mimi Pants). It was a great week for us. We wish that the winds had been a little more kind. Many times we had gusts in the mid-20s, both sailing and at anchor (which always feels like gusts in the mid-30s). The seas on the second of our third passages had heights of up to 4 meters on the beam and Doug was stoked, but both Captain, Cass and Commodore would have wished for milder conditions. Both Cass and Doug were great sports, got nicely burnt/tan (and whooped in dominoes!) and will go home with some good seafaring tales to tell. They left on the morning of February 12th out of Canouan. It was a great week. and we miss them already.
FEBRUARY 14, BEQUIA
Guests gone, it's just the Captain and myself once again. The passage from Canouan to Bequia yesterday had higher seas and wind than what we like, but as we neared Bequia it mellowed and we saw winds in the teens and the seas went well down. Hopefully this is a sign that the weather is improving. Once anchored we surveyed the boat. It was pretty much a mess, but despite that we jumped in for a swim that led to a lunch at a beachside restaurant and a snooze in the sand. All in all a pretty darn good day. Laundry can always wait.
That's pretty much up to the minute. We wish you all a Sweet Valentines Day and hope to hear what is new with you and yours.
Love,
Captain and Crew,
S/V Mimi