Downwinder to Carriacou, and then Grenada
04 January 2025
• Prickly Bay, Grenada
by Ken Hilk • Sunny and moderate

The past two days saw the crew on the good ship Lover Of The Light intentionally take advantage of northeasterly winds, and on Thursday, sailing on a course heading of about 200°, we had a beautiful 6 hour downwind sail to Tyrell Bay in Carriacou. With seas relatively benign at 2-3 feet, and the waves well aft of our beam, all crew on board really enjoyed the ride.
Yesterday, we were hoping for more of the same, although seas were considerably more lumpy after the tradewinds picked up during the previous night. On top of lumpy conditions we also got hammered for over two hours with sustained squalls that brought increased winds up to 25-28 knots. Silvana, a veteran Indian Ocean off shore sailor, along with the skipper hand steered in the squalls and rains with heavily reefed sails for several hours, at times reaching hull speed of 9.5 knots. Once we reached the lee of the western side of Grenada, our winds dropped dramatically, our boat speed fell to 3-4 knots, and after about an hour of sailing slow we kicked on the iron jib (engine) and made for Prickly Bay on the south end of Grenada with the assistance of a reefed main and staysail.
On a significant note: the skipper is ecstatic with Lover Of The Light's "Sailing to motoring ratio" which now exceeds 80% for the cruising season so far. :)
Pictured here is Silvana and Sofia's last paddle board - relaxing after swimming in Prickly Bay off Calabash Resort beach. Sadly, both short term cruisers have now flown back to the UK and US respectively, and skipper and mate have returned to normal cruising life.
Comments