Thursday, January 6th

Hello all - here we are back again after a very busy and fun week with our friends Joe, Cindy, Deanna & Rick who flew down late Wednesday, the 28th to celebrate the new year with us. On Thursday I did some provisioning, while Jim and the crew took a jaunt to see the monkeys and hike to the waterfall as we planned to leave Friday morning. This is the time of the year for strong winds in the islands called the Christmas Winds. The forecast was for winds 15 to 20 from the northeast, and swells from the northwest...not exactly the optimal conditions for heading North, however as the forecast was not expected to change for 4 days we headed out knowing we had a good boat and a great, experienced sailing crew.
We ended up motoring with winds 20-25 knts, gusting to 30 from the North and swells from the same direction making for a bit of an uncomfortable ride...but boat and crew handled it just fine. In fact...half of us fell asleep for a portion of the ride up! We took a mooring ball at Sandy Island for the afternoon and snorkeled/swam over to this uninhabited spit of land for the afternoon. The wind seemed settled, so we decided to stay for the night. Of course, the winds picked up and the swells and tidal change rocked and rolled us so it ended up a bumpy, and sleep restricted night for most (except for Rick!). Saturday morning, after taking a look at the rolly anchorage of Hillsborough (where we needed to clear out) we decided to backtrack a few miles for the better anchorage of Tyrell Bay. While Joe and Rick launched the Kayak and explored the mangroves, Jim, Cindy, Deanna and I took a ride into town with a local 'guide/boat boy' and cleared customs for departure. The weather was very unsettled and we saw much rain to the north, so elected to stay the night in Tyrell Bay, and leave early morning for Union Island, and the Grenadines. After a few rain squalls, naps for most of us and another kayak trip for Rick and Deanna, we initiated the first of several marathon Uno matches for the week, and established it as our favored nightly pastime.

The anchorage was peaceful overnight and we all had a better night's sleep this time. Sunday dawned bright and clear, so we up anchored and headed over to Union Island to check into the Grenadines. All went ashore, to explore the town and do the necessary clearance procedures. By 12noon we were upping the anchor again, and heading north to the Tobago Cays....the destination of choice for the week.

After a quick lunch the exploration begins, kayak is in the water and the kids are off to reconnoiter the best beach and island spots. The turtles popped up to welcome us and the anchorage was just gorgeous, as well as incredible busy with 3 times the boats we had seen when we were here before. Our friend Walter showed up to say hello and take our breakfast order and he told us that the Cays on Saturday were exceptionally rough and rocky, so we felt better about taking two days to get up there.

Monday...a day of adventure! After breakfast, we packed a picnic lunch and loaded the dingy with
Water shoes and snorkel gear and we were off! First to the protected turtle area off Baradel Island where after beaching the dingy, we took a short hike, then snorkeled with the turtles on the west side of the land spit. After a quick break we snorkeled the reef on the east side of the beach as well. We left Baradel, and headed over to Petite Bateau Island, where we beached the dingy, then all hiked up the trail to view the west part of the island. A spectacularly beautiful view of the Cays and the amazing water surrounding them. We broke out our picnic lunch and fortified ourselves, then after a short break, snorkeled the reef just off the beach. The girls noticed another path, so we wandered over to check it out and discovered it led to the other side of the island, where the day trippers land. There were t-shirt, sarong and jewelry vendors all set up and a large picnic area where they were grilling lobster for a beach BBQ. We all agreed we preferred the peaceful and relatively private area on 'our' side.

After our explorations here were done, we launched the dingy again and headed out to Horseshoe Reef where we tied on to a dingy mooring and had another snorkel. Finally, we decided to head back to the boat to clean up and relax for the rest of the day.

Tuesday we decided to up anchor and slip around the reef to head for Petite Tabac Island, better known as the deserted island from the Pirate of the Caribbean movie. The rum dance was a requirement for our friends, so we headed off to this tiny little strip of land just near World's End Reef. It's not quite the end of the world...but you CAN see it from here! Beaching the dingy looked iffy, so down came the kayak, and while two paddled, three swam over while the captain stayed with the boat. It is disconcerting to anchor your vessel in what looks like the middle of the ocean, knowing you have reefs in front and behind you. The reef on the way in was pretty wonderful with a steep shelf rising to the beach and lots of interesting coral formations.

After landing, a short walk along this beautiful island and there we were...the hidden rum...the perfect beach...and yes... the rum dance was executed, flawlessly by most of our intrepid band of explorers. While Joe and the family decided to walk round the whole island I went back to check out the inner reef. We discovered that the outer reef was the better one, so drifted slowly over that as we made our way back to the boat. Up anchor again...with a small hitch that was quickly handled, and we are on our way to Union Island to clear customs and stage for departure the next day.

After attending to the necessary clearance procedures, we returned to the boat to play in the sea, in our basement swimming pool. It was also a very entertaining evening watching other boats with people swinging from a trapeze, climbing the mast and jumping off the spreaders, and boats anchoring all around. Our friend Jost came in and anchored several boats to the south of us, but too far away to call to him.

Wednesday dawns clear and still breezy so after breakfast, we up anchor, and head out south to Grenada. We set the main, then the jib and are quickly making 7.5 then 8 kts in 15 - 20 knts downwind. Ahhhh, a far better ride that the upwind battle into the swells, and we were able to lay on the trampoline and just cruise. Ok - now this is why we love sailing!

We arrived back in Grenada at about 2pm, and have to Med-Moor again this time in 20 knts of wind...yikes. It worked just fine, and we are tied up and eating a much delayed lunch by 2:15. We again cleared back into customs while Joe and the family took a brief visit of St. Georges and the fort. Then it was back to Port Louis for a much needed swim, showers and a wonderful dinner at the restaurant. Then, our final marathon Uno match for the championship...a wonderful day.

This morning our friends got themselves ready for a day of waiting and flying home while we tried to convince them to change their plans and stay a little longer. We had a GREAT time this past week and look forward to the next time together.

Then a day of rest at Port Louis, where the most we did was walk the laundry up to my friend Cecilia and spend the afternoon at the pool. I have to admit...it's nice to be back in Grenada, our home base...at least for this year.