Back in Grenada after the wedding, we set about putting Magic back together once again. We really enjoyed our stay in Clarkes Court Bay and our time in the marina. We had watched a local regatta featuring Grenadian fishing boats, had attended all of the Wednesday 'burger nights', had jumped onto the local bus to go shopping and had snorkelled the reefs around the bay. We had celebrated Peter's (Keesje II) birthday at the local 'Little Dipper' restaurant and had made plans for Tim's (Matsu) 40th birthday party. Daniell Story had also caught up with us and we were all eager to get moving again. But we had to wait for a break in the weather. It had been blowing hard, creating large seas on the windward side of the islands which were in turn creating large swells in the passages between the islands. But finally on November 5th we left Clarkes Court Bay and motored around the south coast to St Georges where we again anchored in The Lagoon. Here we finally managed to do a tour of the island.

We have been very impressed with the guides who have accompanied us on our various tours of the islands, and Grenada was no exception. Our guide was very knowledgeable about the history, flora and fauna of the island. As in Dominica, he stopped at the side of the road and pointed out plants, trees and herbs, in many cases explaining their medicinal qualities. We stopped at the local Three Rivers Rum Distillery, the only one remaining on Grenada, and the Grenada Chocolate Factory which produces the island's dark, organic confection. Here we watched the drying cocoa pods being turned by foot, and Dave couldn't resist having a go himself. Our last stop was Leapers Hill when in 1651 the last Carib Indians on Grenada had jumped to their death rather than surrender to the French invaders of the island. Our all-day tour ended just after 7pm and we just managed to get to the grocery store for some last minute provisioning. We were up early on the morning of November 7th to head north to Carriacou.

We motor-sailed up the leeward side of the island and mid-morning picked up a mooring in Dragon Bay. We had been told about some statues that had been positioned at the bottom of the bay and we wanted to snorkel and take a look. Just after we got into the water a dive boat arrived and the guide pointed out where the main sculptures were. Because of the recent bad weather the clarity of the water wasn't good and it was disconcerting to see figures slowly appear out of the gloom as we dived down. The statues were quite something, but Dave also managed to amuse himself by snorkelling down and tapping unsuspecting scuba-divers on the shoulder to say 'Hi'. This wasn't the first time that he has scared the living daylights out of divers in this way, and I have a strong suspicion that it won't be the last!

We dropped our mooring just before lunch, and because the wind had now dropped totally, had to motor all the way to Sandy Island. We had arrived by 3.30pm and dropped the anchor in our favourite spot. The following day we had an important engagement; it was Tim's 40th birthday celebration and a party was planned on the beach.