As we entered Tyrell Bay, we were hit by a heavy squall and the wind instrument went blank. We had a spare cable but it would be a hell of a job getting it down inside the mast, while at anchor. This time, luck was on our side and the instrument responded to being switched off and on again. Here, at anchor, we are surrounded by battered boats; the victims of Beryl. Many are derelict but others have their owners living on board, attempting to clean up and repair damage, 4+ months after the hurricane. Most are missing their mast and boom but the catamarans are the worst. You can clearly see where they have been upside down in the mangroves, with a waterline of growth on the top halves. It's soul-destroying to look at. We launched the dinghy and made our way to shore, stopping first on the beach, so Pete could take in the laundry and dispose of our rubbish. The dinghy dock has all but gone, so I stood on the beach, holding the painter while Pete carried the laundry bag over the road. We motored up to Tyrell Bay Marine, where we could dock the dinghy and walk back into town. The outer dock had gone but the concrete inner one, near the mangroves, was available for use. We walked down the street, stopping at the Gallery Bistro, which was re-opening this evening, had a chat to John and Ann and booked a table for 6.15pm. Then we walked down the beach to Las Iguanas for a light lunch, calling at the Original Slipway, on our way back, to book a table for Sunday lunch. It's our intention to spend money here with the businesses as they slowly re-open after rebuilding their properties. As we walked from the beach, up to the road, we bumped into Paul and Tracey, who had walked over from Paradise Beach, so we had a beer at Lambi Queen. Enough of the eating, drinking and socialising, it was time to go shopping for provisions. There are 2 supermarkets in Tyrell Bay but stock in both of them was quite low, with very little fresh food available. A small deli-counter had some local salt ham, so we decided to try that, after a local explained that it's boiled before roasting, to remove most of the salt. It turned out to be delicious. We were only back on the boat for an hour before it was time to go back to the Gallery for dinner. There we had a cracking curry, from the extensive Indian menu. You would never know that John is from Wales! Overnight, there were frequent rain showers, so we were up and down, closing and re-opening hatches but at least there were no mosquitos out here.
Next morning, we repeated the beach landing, to collect our laundry and then set the watermaker going again, having assessed that there was no oil in the water from leaks on broken boats. Mid-afternoon, we returned to Las Iguanas, where I enjoyed a frozen margarita. From tea time onwards, it rained and the wind blew hard, so we had an early night. Unfortunately, the wind had blown the mosquitos out to sea, so we had to spray before bed. All night, we could see lightning through the hatches.
We had a lazy start on Sunday, swimming, reading and waiting for Magic Pelagic to come round from Paradise Beach. At 1.30pm, we all went over to the Original Slipway for Sunday lunch, with wine. Tracey and I had lamb, Pete had pork and Paul opted for the Asian style tuna. It was all very tasty, with generous portions. At 5pm, we went back to Magic Pelagic for sundowners. It had been a lovely day.
Tracey and Paul were departing on Monday, so went to clear out by Carriacou Marine. They were given 1 hour to leave the island. We went to provision, ready to leave on Tuesday. There was no fresh meat or fish and very few vegetables either, so we bought what we could, including frozen chicken thighs, frozen tuna steaks, a couple of packs of bacon, corned beef and instant mashed potatoes. We would have to manage if, as expected, there was nothing available in Union or Mayreau, with both of these small islands being crushed by Beryl. Having unpacked our meagre provisions, we went out in the dinghy again, over to Carriacou Marine, taking our boat papers and passports with us. We filled up with dinghy fuel, on the dock and had lunch at Las Iguanas, while waiting for customs and immigration to open. Pete was successful at clearing out, paying 50 EC for outstanding cruising tax and 20 EC for airport departure tax, which was due because we had arrived by air. We had a letter from Clarke's Court to confirm the dates the boat was on the hard, which significantly reduced the cruising tax. We met Meike, who has a Westerly Oceanlord, which was sadly damaged in the hurricane, although was lucky to only lose the mast, boom and sails and not suffer water ingress. Back on board Muirgen, we lifted the dinghy and engine and prepared the boat for our early departure next morning. Paul and Tracey had suffered a slow trip to Union Island, under engine, head to wind and swell, taking over 3 hours for the 10 mile journey. Hopefully we would have better. Gale force winds blew until 10pm and then everything went completely still.
On Tuesday morning (26th Nov), we were up at first light and were soon ready to leave. The wind started blowing hard again at 6am. At 0634 hours we weighed anchor and motored through the mooring field, leaving the wounded boats behind us. We raised the main, with 1 reef and motor-sailed the short distance up the coast and through the gap towards Sandy Island, where we put a second reef in the mainsail. We were 25 to 45 degrees off the wind, which was blowing around 20 knots and the swell was sometimes 2.5 metres but the current was helping us. The sail kept us steady although there was plenty of water over our decks. We motor-sailed, at between 5 and 6.5 mph, directly across to Frigate Island, on Union Island, dropping the main as we rounded the little island and found a modicum of shelter. The trip took us 2 hours. We were now in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.