We raised the sails as we departed Anse la Roche and put a preventer on the main, as the wind was light and variable. Off the first headland, the wind gusted suddenly to 22 knots and came around to the beam and then towards the nose. Consequently, we didn't make it down the inside of Sandy Island but went around the outside of that and the next little island west. Once around the north of Carriacou, we set a course for Ile de Ronde. I helmed for the first 2 hours, as the winds were variable and put the autohelm on when we were clear of Carriacou and the wind settled at 12 to 15 knots on the beam. At 1120 hours we were hit by a squall. Pete eased the sails and I turned more towards the wind and we were soon through it to blue sky and were able to return to our desired course. The swell maxed at around 1.5 metres but was often less, so it was a mostly comfortable sail. As we approached the anchorage, at Ile de Ronde, we were hit with another squall, before we could drop the sails but it soon passed and the anchorage was sheltered and calm. We dropped the anchor in shallow water close to the shore on the north east side of the bay. There was an English catamaran (Lost Abbey) and a French Ovni at anchor in the bay, plus another monohull further to the south. We had lunch and some of Pete's homemade ginger ale, which knocked me out, so must be more than a little alcoholic. The anchorage would be stunning if the sun came out but it remained cloudy all afternoon. Pinnacle and Pink Lady arrived very late in the afternoon, so we didn't get chance to speak to them. After dark (and it was very dark), we sat in the cockpit and listened to the music and singing from Lost Abbey. They appeared to be having a great night on board, just the two of them.
First thing next morning, we spoke with Steve, from Freebooter and agreed the purchase of a Spectra watermaker from him. He would arrange of Terry to rebuild it and help us install it in Grenada. We left Ronde at 0830 hours and raised the sails as we cleared the bay. We had discussed whether to head down the east or the west side of Grenada. I wanted to go west and visit the underwater sculpture park. Pete wanted to go east, so we would have a downwind sail along the south coast. We had messaged Nigel, on Novara, to find out about the buoys at the sculpture park but we hadn't had a response, so I agreed to go east. We were approaching London Bridge, an arched rock on the north east side of Grenada, when the phone rang. It was Nigel, with information about the sculpture park and confirming that they were on a buoy about 2 miles south of there, outside of Port Louis and they would love to see us. We needed to move onto a starboard tack to clear London Bridge but decided to turn around and head down the east side of Grenada instead. The wind was light for downwind sailing but we tried putting up a goosewing for a few minutes. Unfortunately we needed the engine for 50 minutes or so until we started to pick up the land breeze. We then sailed for an hour and 10 minutes, with occasional strong gusts, coming down the valleys. Grenada looked very green and lush, not what we expected from an island with a drought. The towns and villages were pretty, with different coloured houses and from the sea, it looked more prosperous than some of the other islands. Having lost the wind halfway down the west side of the island, we motorsailed with the mainsail up and we made good time. We took one of the 3 buoys at Dragon Bay, just south of the underwater sculpture park, at 1255 hours and had lunch. We decided to snorkel the park straight after lunch, taking the dinghy round the corner to tie onto a buoy inshore. We could have snorkelled round but I was wary of the small boats coming and going. We slipped in over the side and snorkelled for a while but not locating any sculptures. A boat trip had arrived and the clients were following a guide, so we watched where they went, further out to sea. Each time they moved, we moved to the place they had just left, so we found all the sculptures. The water was a bit murky but there were pretty gullies, a bit like in the UK and each gulley had a sculpture or group of sculptures. The most impressive was the rows of people, dressed in different costumes. There was also a man sitting at a desk with a typewriter. It was all quite interesting and worth the visit, especially doing it for free. The reef fish were limited, mostly (blue) tangs but I did see a massive sea cucumber and some lovely sea fans and trumpets. We hauled ourselves back into the dinghy and returned to the boat, leaving the buoy immediately and motoring south to find Novara. With her 2 masts of equal height, she was easily spotted. We hailed them as we motored by and they said they would pick us up around 6pm to head into the marina, so we would know where the dinghy dock was. A man, whom we later learned was called Rich, advised us not to use the mooring buoy next to him as it is hanging on by a thread, so we took the next buoy, which was as close to the marina as possible, useful as our dinghy and engine are both small. At 1730 hours we went into the marina with Nigel and Veronica, who were meeting other friends for dinner. We bumped into Paul and Tracey, from Magic Pelagic, so went for a couple of G&Ts on their boat, before eating dinner at the Knife and Fork cafe. Nigel and Veronica returned to give us a lift home at 2140 hours. There was no rain or thunder overnight and it was a comfortable night on the buoy.