On Saturday, I was up early and had cleaned the fridge, washed up and emptied the bins while Pete sat up playing computer games in bed. At 8.45am I dragged him up to launch the dinghy, lift the outboard engine and then sent him to buy diesel and petrol from the yacht club. It was a showery morning, with lots of rainbows but Pete managed to avoid getting wet. On the next mooring ball was a catamaran called 'Unleaded', which had been dismasted and was all ripped open at the back. On our way to the marina, we called by to find out what had happened and ask John if there was anything we could pick up for him. A shackle had worn through, while he was sailing up the coast, causing his mast to fall, taking out the dinghy, which was suspended on davits, which in turn ripped the back off the boat. John had been rescued by the coastguard and towed to the buoy to await repairs. At Port Louis marina, we bumped into Paul and Tracey, with their guests, Tom and Mo. It was lovely to see them again, having spent so much time together last season. From there, we walked to Sherri's but she was closed, so we called into Island Water World to check out availability of new navigation lights. They were out of stock, so we would need to call Kildale Marine and have them send some to Joanna and Steven, who could bring them out to us in December. We caught the number 1 bus to Spiceland Mall and went to Umbrellas for lunch, before shopping. The bus back was a nightmare, with us having to jump off and on again, with 4 bags and a yoga mat, every time someone wanted to get on or off. Back at Port Louis, we loaded up the dinghy and fought our way through the swell to reach the boat, stopping by Unleaded to drop off the WD40. A swim was needed to cool off. We set about lifting the new dinghy, with the engine, on the starboard side of the yacht, adjusting the lifting lines to get the dinghy level, it being the first time we had run through this procedure since the old dinghy was scrapped. The weight had the boat listing to one side. Just as we were happy, Paul messaged to arrange for us all to go to the yacht club for drinks, so we lowered the dinghy back into the water. We had a great time, yakking away for half an hour before reading the menu to order some small plates. Even the karaoke was good; mostly locals with excellent voices. As is usually the case, we stayed too long and ended up returning home in the dark. The sea was calm but a long swell remained. Torrential rain at 1am had us jumping up to close the hatches but all in all, it was a comfortable night.
We slept in until almost 8am and I went for a decent swim, as there wasn't much current. We checked the weather forecast, which showed torrential rain on Tuesday for the third week in a row. As we needed to see Sherri on Monday, we may have to stay put until Wednesday. Chase and Natalie passed us on their catamaran, Benevah, with Bea barking her head off. After a light lunch, we dinghied over for drinks on board. Bea jumped into the dinghy as we arrived and was really friendly, a bit unusual for her. Perhaps she remembered us rescuing her when she fell off the boat, back in June. Next stop was Knife and Fork at Port Louis, where we had Korean style chicken wings; delicious, as Chase and Natalie arrived just as we were about to leave. Back on board, we cooked our curry but just had a couple of Waitrose ginger biscuits for supper. The curry would keep for tomorrow. Overnight, there was a massive storm, with thunder, lightning and very strong winds. It was quite scary and then everything just went calm.
Monday would be a busy day, as we prepped for departure for Carriacou, so we were up with the lark at 0615. First stop was Island Water World, which opens at 8am, as we needed Aerospace 303, which is like sunscreen for your dinghy and spare filters for the watermaker. Then we climber the steep hill to Sherri's as she was due to open at 9am. There was nobody home and we were soon told that she was late due to an issue at home. Next was Huggins Foodland for supplies. Loaded up, we returned to the boat to unpack. Fast Manicou was due in Port Louis at 1045 and we had placed an order with him for beer, wine, fruit juice and pork loin, so we returned to the marina to meet him. Frustratingly, he had forgotten out order, so all he had was the 3 litre box of Hardy's red wine. We also had an issue with the adapter for the outboard fuel tank, so it was back to Island Water World for a new one and another trek up the steep hill to see Sherri. She was in this time. As it turned out, Terry had already paid Sherri (Grenada Yacht Parts and Services) for the new pump and we managed to find out that the price was 1337 EC, not the 1600 EC that Terry had told us it would cost. That's a 20% markup. Sherri wasn't happy, as it makes her prices look high. We weren't happy either, as Terry was obviously going to be sending us another bill. After 4 hours of pratting about, we were back on board and making water again, while the sun was out and the solar panels were keeping the batteries topped up. We measured the output and made 5 litres in around 14 minutes, which isn't bad. At 4pm, we met Paul and Tracey and Chase on Grand Anse Beach for sundowners. The dinghy dock there was more substantial than we expected but rather sandy. We went to Jason's, in the food court by the craft market and then down to Umbrellas for a cocktail. Again, we came home in the dark, using the phone torch as a light. We had the curry for tea and went to bed but there was little sleep to be had, with another ferocious storm and heavy rain.
In the morning, Tuesday, we ran through preparations for leaving. It was still raining lightly but the forecast said it would stop around 9 to 10am. We lifted the outboard engine, then the dingy, removed the tiller extension and fuel tank and stored them away. The small cockpit locker was full of water, so we emptied it and then cleared the blockage in the drain. Everything was made shipshape down below and we were ready to leave at 0850 hours. Goodbye St George's.

Monday the 11th November was a showery day and very humid once the rain stopped. We spent most of the day in the bar at the Cove, looking at charts for the ICW (Inter Continental Waterway, on the east coast of the USA) and waiting for Terry to contact us about the watermaker but we heard nothing. It was an early night, with the hatches closed due to the inclement weather.
The following day, we took the shopping bus from the Cove, via Clarke's Court, to the usual places. The rain was torrential, at times and the road to Clarke's Court was flooding. Having returned to the Cove with our shopping, we had to remain in the bar until 2pm as the rain had become a thunder storm. When we did get back on board, the bucket was completely full of rain water and the dinghy was a foot deep in water. We changed the mooring lines to the black stretchy ones, as the wind was yanking on the non-stretchy lines, jarring the boat and both of us in it. Sheldon and Kyle arrived to refit the watermaker, which was working fine in the workshop but they couldn't test it as the water was thick with mud, after the storm. We agreed that we would move round to Grand Anse next morning and pick them up in the dinghy. We headed to the bar, for happy hour, where we were joined by a Dutch couple, Nic and Mar, who we got on with very well.
Wednesday, we were up at 0615 hours and it was bright and sunny. We filled up with water and lifted the dinghy and engine, ready to leave the dock, once Randol had arrived and given us our bill. It was agreed that Dexter would come by to assist with untying the lines on the buoys, at 10am and another yacht would take our place on the dock. We prepped our mooring lines. At 0925, Sheldon and Kyle arrived to test and then fix the watermaker, so we then couldn't leave. The test failed again. At 1330 hours, Sheldon found the problem, a hairline split in a three-way valve that was pulling in air. They said they had a spare in the workshop, so would fix it the next day, in Grand Anse. We had a late lunch at the bar, with Nic and Mar and lamented the situation. At happy hour, we met up with Nic, Mar, John from Four Winds, Jim from Mobius and eventually, Susie from Spirited Lady. Mike and Jenny (SY Happy) were also in, having tea with friends. We left at 7pm, leaving Jim and Susie to chat for another 2 hours.
Thursday, we were up at 0615 again, preparing to leave, when we had a message from Terry saying the boys were coming to the Cove to fix the watermaker. We said we were leaving but eventually agreed to move onto a buoy outside the Cove, so the other yacht could come in. We slipped our lines at 10.10 am, with Sheldon and Kyle on board and picked up one of Dexter's buoys; got it first time! With the 'new' 3 way valve, the watermaker worked. We borrowed a TDS tester from Jane on Coco de Mer and the PPM value was 310. Anything under 750 parts per million is fine for drinking. At long last, we were in business. Pete took Sheldon and Kyle, one at a time, as our dinghy is small, across to Clarke's Court. We had a relaxing afternoon, with a breeze, out on the buoy, before taking the dinghy into the Cove for happy hour, with Nic, Mar, John and Ian. Susie was having dinner with Jim, on Mobius. We had a much better night's sleep, out on the buoy, with a nice breeze through the cabin and no mosquitos.
We departed Woburn Bay at 0745 hours on Friday with careful pilotage through the reefs. Outside of Prickly Bay, we raised the foresail and had a lovely downwind sail to the most south-westerly point, coming round to close on the wind as we headed towards Grand Anse and Gren Mor mooring field. With a mile to go, we put the engine on as we couldn't get any closer to the wind to make our destination. There were a few dive boats and divers to avoid on the run in and then the calorifier blew, filling the bilges with hot water. This seems to happen when the water overheats and the pressure increases. An investigation is required, behind the companion way steps, to confirm whether there has been an expansion tank fitted! We picked up a buoy at 1015 hours, appreciating the breeze out here. We cleared the bilges and then set about making water for the first time. We ran the Spectra 150 for 2 hours and 45 minutes, before back-flushing to remove saltwater from the membrane. We launched the dinghy so we could get in the sea for a swim, before clearing up the aft cabin from the chaos caused by the watermaker refit. Around 3pm, Tracey and Paul, on Magic Pelagic, arrived back from their trip to Carriacou, with Paul's brother and sister-in-law. One more yacht and all mooring buoys were taken. I saw my first sunset since arriving in Grenada but with cloud on the horizon, there was no green flash. Shortly after, the full moon rose, lighting up the sky and illuminating the sea. So far, we had not received any communication from Terry, regarding further costs for the watermaker fitting. Perhaps he was going to honour his promise that all work subsequent to testing was included in the test fee we had paid. We had also told him we would pay Sherri directly for the new pump. Fingers crossed! We had the hatches open all night, as there was no rain. At one point there was no breeze but by the early hours, I was actually feeling chilly, with the wind blowing through the cabin.

Shopping buses for cruisers run every Tuesday and Friday, picking up at various marinas and visiting a number of useful places, including the bank, Budget Marine, Ace Hardware, Spiceland Mall (Creative House and IGA supermarket), CKs cash & carry and occasionally RAMS supermarket. At this time of year, the buses are extremely busy, as all the cruisers are provisioning to leave Grenada after the hurricane season. The bus drivers have to juggle people, pick ups, drop offs to ensure everyone gets what they need. Every Tuesday, we seem to have torrential rain, causing flooding and everyone gets soaking wet if they have come to the marinas by dinghy. We haven't been on the Friday bus, so far, due to other commitments. The bus is 15 XCD (approx. £4.50) per person and they make plenty of space for shopping bags, slabs of beer and 5 litre bottles of water. The local buses are a third of the price but there's never room for your shopping, if you have more than 1 bag each. Today was our first ever visit to RAMS and it was a lovely, clean and well laid out shop. However, we had shopped at IGD, so didn't need much. Back at The Cove Marina, we had to sit in the bar for 2 hours, watching the rain, so had lunch and a couple of beers, while phoning Island Water World to order the new dinghy and another fan. They agreed to deliver it, ready inflated, in the afternoon. Back on board, I finished unpacking while Pete put the sprayhood on and fixed the headlining in the aft heads, which had come down during the summer. The smart, new dinghy arrived at 1530 hours and we parted with US$2800 in cash. We spent happy hour in the bar with Susie and her friend Jason.
On Wednesday, we fitted the second fan, so we have one each when it's hot and humid at night and the hatches are shut due to the rain. Our autohelm controller wasn't working, so we had a conference call with Chris, at Kildale Marine, back in the UK. We concluded that the controller was broken as it couldn't see the network and the network couldn't see the controller. That looked like it might be another £1500. However, next morning, Chris had had some more thoughts. We went into 'Diagnostics' and 'Self test' and after a few minutes the heading came up on screen. We tested the rudder by plussing 10 degrees and minusing 10 degrees and all was well. At 9am, I did a wash load at the marina and managed to get everything dry on board before the thunder storm arrived in the afternoon. It was roti day at the Cove, so we headed there for tea and I tried the cocktail of the day, a Woo Woo, which was rather delicious and refreshing - rum, peach, cranberry and ice. The bar was quiet, as most of the Americans had stayed up until 3am this morning, drinking and eating KFC, while monitoring the US election.
Thursday, we put the reefing lines in the mainsail, early morning, before the wind came, so it was of having the sail up. Jim, on Mobius, brought us a drop of unleaded for the outboard engine and we motored round to Le Phare Bleu, a boutique hotel and little marina, where we could fill up our tank. We stayed for a light lunch of fish bites and chicken poppers and enjoyed the view over the turquoise sea. Being such a special place, it was a bit pricey but the food was delicious. From there, we went to Clarke's Court and retrieved our old dinghy floor, so we could use it to protect the floor in the new one. We made it back to the boat just before the torrential rain came. Terry, who should have arrived at 3pm, to run the in-water test on the watermaker, didn't turn up. The rain overnight was torrential again.
On Friday, Terry was coming to us as his first job and he arrived at 1015 hours. The watermaker failed the test and Terry said the pump wasn't putting out the right amps, so we would need a new one, from Sherri at Grenada Yacht Parts and Services. It would be 1600 EC (approx. £500); unexpected when we had bought the watermaker for £2600. Sheldon, Terry's main man, arrived at 1630 hours, to change the pump, just as we were planning to leave for the party at Hogg Island. The test still failed, although the pump was kicking more amps than the old one. Sheldon took the watermaker away to be worked on in the workshop, over the weekend. Our water was disconnected then, so we would be fetching and carrying water in a bucket, for washing up, the next few days. Having missed Hogg Island, we headed to the bar in the Cove to drown our sorrows. We met Ricardo's wife, Zoe. She said, 'I have been to Yorkshire. I spent a month in a lovely little town called Howden while attending a course at the PA.' Small World! Overnight, there was a big storm; lots of thunder and lightning that was visible with your eyes closed and more torrential rain.
Having missed the Friday shopping bus, we caught the number 2 local bus to town on Saturday morning. Unusually, we had to wait over 30 minutes for a bus to turn up. Opposite Huggins Foodland, we saw Chase and Natalie, our American friends, so had a quick chat and agreed to meet them tomorrow for Sunday lunch. The day was stupidly humid after the overnight rain. Back at the Cove, while having a cooling beer, we met Nic and Mar, from Amsterdam, who we would spend a few more evenings with before we managed to escape the marina. We ate homemade curry for lunch and for dinner and had an early night.
On Sunday morning, Chase, Natalie and their dog, Bea, arrived and took a mooring ball just outside the Cove. We took the dinghies up the bay to Taffy's, for Sue's proper Sunday lunch; roast pork, Yorkshire puddings, roast and mashed potatoes, vegetables and bisto gravy. A couple of octogenarians, Terry and Justine, joined our table. Terry had been an RAF pilot, so got on well with Pete, who had jumped out of the planes Terry flew, albeit a number of years later. Terry and Justine had sailed for years but had now given up in favour of a holiday home on Grenada. It was a great afternoon, with Chase calling Terry, 'Cherry Baby', which he seemed to enjoy. Afterwards, Pete, Chase and I went to the Sunday afternoon party at Hogg Island, meeting up with Susie and many others we know. Mike and Jennifer, also from the US, had lived in Harrogate for 4 years, while he was stationed at Menwith Hill. They invited us to the Christmas Day pot luck in Bequia, so we signed ourselves up. It started to rain, so we took cover until it stopped and then we had to rush off as it was getting dark and we didn't have a torch. Pete couldn't find the kill cord so had to push a rope into the engine so it would start. By the time we went under the footbridge, which connects the island to the mainland, it was pitch black and the rain had started again. By the time we made it across Woburn Bay to the Cove Marina, we were soaked through. Having stripped off in the cockpit and dried off, we had cheese and biscuits for supper and fell into bed. That was the end of my first week in Grenada and today had been the best day. Hopefully the hangover tomorrow wouldn't be too bad. As it turned out, I was ok but Pete felt rotten. We also found the kill cord. It was hanging on the engine in the dinghy!

Pete flew out to Grenada, from Gatwick airport, on Sunday 20th October, after a train ride around the houses due to engineering works and an overnight stay at the Premier Inn (A23). Just before boarding the flight, he was returned to the lounge; there was going to be a significant delay due to a fault with the aeroplane. In the end, he was around 2 hours delayed. The upside was that immigration and customs in Grenada couldn't be bothered checking anyone's bags, so he was through quickly and in the Siesta Hotel within 50 minutes. After the stop in Saint Lucia, there had been only 12 people left on the plane. As you might expect, his first priority was a beer on the beach.
Pete spent 2 nights in the hotel before travelling to Clarke's Court to check out the boat, which we had left on the hardstanding throughout the hurricane season. Thankfully there was no damage as a result of Hurricane Beryl. His first job was to make the boat habitable, as he would be sleeping on board until the boat splash (lift in). Pete suffered badly with jetlag and was very tired. He agreed to pay someone US$600 to polish the boat, saving him a job, while he concentrated on scrubbing the boat's bottom, to remove any barnacles and activate the coppercoat, which acts as an antifoul. It turned out that the polish and cleaning cloths were chargeable on top of the price, plus the guy tried to squirrel away an expensive bottle of polish that wasn't used. Pete refused to pay until it was returned, so he could get a refund at the shop.
Next job was polishing the propeller. This tends to be a satisfying job, as the propeller gleams once it's clean but I don't think Pete enjoyed doing it in the 30 degree heat and 80% humidity, with mosquitos attacking him constantly.
Terri and one of his team installed the watermaker. It was supposed to take around 6 hours but took almost 2.5 days, such that the resulting bill was for US$2700, including an in water test and a 4% credit card charge, cheeky when payment in cash was refused.
The splash was scheduled for 2pm, on Friday 1st November but didn't happen as there was still another yacht blocking the way. Pete spent another hot and miserable night on board, in the yard and eventually launched on Saturday morning. He headed straight for the Cove Marina, on the opposite side of Woburn Bay. First job was to unpack and put on the foresail. The mainsail went on the following morning, with Pete managing to put the stacker pack on the wrong way round, evident when he tried to zip it up. Having corrected his error, he went to Taffy's for a proper Sunday lunch, before getting a lift to the airport to meet me off the plane. This would be a surprise for me, as I was only expecting Rian, from One Love Taxi, to pick me up.
I followed much the same route as Pete had done 2 weeks previously but without the engineering works to contend with. I managed to break for a drink with good friends, Ric and Blair, at Kings Cross, before walking to St Pancras to catch the Thameslink to Gatwick. I had tried to check in for my flight while on the train but couldn't do so because the hold bag I had paid for wasn't showing on the booking. So, on arrival at Gatwick I went to the BA check in desk, only to be told they couldn't sort it until twilight check in opened at 4pm. It was only 2.40pm, so I spent an hour in Cafe Nero nursing a cup of tea and a toastie. The baggage issue was quickly sorted and I managed to get rid of my bag by doing twilight check in, which was a bonus. I couldn't blag a free upgrade though, for my earlier inconvenience. I caught the Hopper bus to the hotel, checked in and relaxed. By chance, friends we made in Antigua in January, John and Ali, were flying from Gatwick too and were staying in the Premier Inn North Terminal, a five minute walk from my hotel, so we had drinks and dinner together, which was lovely. We all had a pie and chips, as we wouldn't be having another for a long while. We met up again in departures next morning, too.
My flight was showing as on time and we were called for boarding. While waiting on the air bridge, everyone started to receive text messages saying we would be delayed by 50 minutes. We continued to board and the air hostesses were unaware of the delay. The delay continued to lengthen and the reason was sketchy other than we were waiting for an additional pilot who was driving from Heathrow. We sat on the plane for 2 hours and 45 minutes before eventually taking off. In that time, BA didn't even give us a cup of water and it was more than another hour before we had a drinks service. With lunch, we were given a small plastic cup of wine and we didn't see another alcoholic drinks service again; just juice and water. We landed in Saint Lucia, expecting to drop the majority of people off and not take on many passengers but the flight was almost full on departure. That was when I found out what had caused our delay. The previous day's flight to Grenada had ended in Saint Lucia and all passengers had to stay overnight in hotels. There is normally a crew change there, with the new crew flying to Grenada and then back to the UK. However, the new pilot had collapsed and died, aged 47, in front of guests at the resort where the relief crew were staying. In turn, we had to wait for an extra pilot to join our flight to take the other BA plane back to the UK. It was a tragedy and I suppose we were lucky that our flight went at all. However, after 14 hours on board, I was very tired and uncomfortable, not to mention hungry and thirsty. Standards have definitely slipped on BA. It took over an hour to get through immigration and customs in Grenada, with so many passengers. Luckily, the customs lady believed me when I said I didn't have boat parts in my bag, which was true but I avoided a search. Pete was waiting for me outside the little terminal and called the taxi to say I had arrived. On board Muirgen, we had a beer and some crisps and collapsed into bed.
I didn't suffer jetlag. Monday morning, we were up and about at 7.30am and caught the local bus to Saint George's, where we had breakfast at Port Louis Marina, collected the repaired sprayhood, new windlass motor and filters for the watermaker from Sherri, called into Island Waterworld to look at dinghies and picked up essential provisions from Huggins supermarket. We returned on the number 2 bus and I spent the afternoon unpacking my bag and all of the vacuum packed bags from the boat, a job that would take 2 days, including rearranging all of the cupboards. It was uncomfortably hot and humid; yes, I was back in Grenada!

We decided we were ready for another marina stay, so went into Port Louis by dinghy to obtain a price, which was US$48 per night, falling to US$43 if we stayed for 7 nights. We booked 7 nights, starting tomorrow and headed into Knife and Fork for breakfast. There we met Rich and Tim, from Unity, who had warned us off the broken buoy the day before and Tracey and Paul also arrived for breakfast. It was Sunday and the shops are generally closed but we found a mini-market, just outside the marina and managed to buy enough provisions to make a tortilla to take to the barbecue we had been invited to on Novara. Next chore was booking our train from Gatwick to Howden, which was anything but simple, given the chance of a flight delay and the low number of services on a Sunday. Advance singles would be risky so I plumped for super off peak, with Hull Trains. At least, we would have a choice of 2 trains and can get a refund if we miss both of them and have to catch a LNER train instead.
At 1730, we dinghied the 200 metres to Novara and were introduced to Tim and Babs, sailing friends of Nigel and Veronica's from the US. The food was excellent, including my tortilla. Then it was time for a game, udog, which we hadn't played before. It was similar to Sorry but played with standard playing cards, rather than dice. Each card has different uses, for instance the 4 can be used to move forwards or backwards. You also pair up with your opposite number, so help them as much as you can with your plays. It took a couple of rounds to get used to but the game was enjoyable, despite the fact that Tim and Babs seemed unable to count, or was that a strategy? It was enjoyable but on balance I prefered Mexican Train. Back on board Muirgen, we sat in the cockpit until midnight, as it was very hot and humid. We didn't get much sleep with the discomfort that night.
On Monday morning, we were up early, to get into the marina at 0830, before the wind got up. Unfortunately we were already too late and had to abort our reverse to the pontoon twice, due to 30 knot gusts blowing the bow off. We never push a bad situation when mooring up, as it usually only gets worse. Luckily, on the third attempt, the wind stayed at 7.5 knots and we made it in safely, with the marina lads taking our lines. Having checked in, paid our dues and eaten breakfast, we walked to Island Water World, the chandlery that looks onto the marina and yacht club. It was only a 15 minute walk but we were thankful to get inside with the air conditioning. They had a 45 litre Dometic 12 volt fridge in stock, which we decided would be a game changer for us, so we reserved that, along with another 175 watt solar panel, a bigger MPPT, to cope with the extra power and a fan for the cabin. We had forgotten to bring our boat papers and customs clearance form, which would give us tax free prices, so we left our good behind the counter. Our next stop was Huggins supermarket for provisions, where we bumped into Nigel and Veronica, who were departing for Trinidad and Tobago around 4pm. Everyone leaves between 4 and 6pm, so they arrive around 10am the next morning, so customs don't charge them overtime. In the afternoon, we returned to Island Water World, registered, paid the bill and got a lift back to the marina with our goods and their delivery driver. Highlight of the day was an air-conditioned shower and blow-drying my hair for the first time since arriving in the Caribbean. I couldn't believe how long my hair was. Pete took a photo while I had a cocktail and then my hair was straight back up in clips as the heat was unbearable with a blanket of hair down my neck. It was another hot and sticky night. We tried sleeping in the cockpit but then it rained, so we had to move down below.

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.