Well, with an upcoming medical appointment, and the prerequisite blood tests, and a pantry getting lower and lower, plus a dangerously low level of Diet Cola, Jif peanut butter and Heinz ketchup on the boat, it was time to get back down to the main island of Grenada. Carriacou has many things, but not an excellent selection in the stores. Surprisingly, one is not able to live on spiny lobster alone.
So, this past Saturday, after getting the laundry washed, we hauled anchor and headed south. I threw out the idea to Ken that we should check out Isle de Ronde on our way south to Grenada. We had anchored there before, but it was uncomfortably rolly, and we basically endured a miserable night. We decided to take another look, and if it was nice enough, we would drop the hook for the night. We had a nice (short) trip down in comfortable conditions, and found the anchorage quite agreeable for us. We dropped the hook in the clear water and settled in. Since Ken had already put on his mask to check the anchor, we snorkelled to some promising looking rocks not too far from the boat to take a peek. It wasn't too bad, at all. After a bit, the thought that this was high noon, with a strong sun beating down on our unprotected backs, came into my mind, so we swam back to the boat for lunch. I experimented with making salt fish, island style, and it turned out pretty well. Served with roasted plantain, we felt that we were living the high life. A nap, another snorkel, and a nice meal and we had a great day. Ken even had some good Ham radio fun.
The next morning, after I did a water workout and we had a hearty omelette, we set off for the main island. We had a gorgeous sail in perfect conditions, at least until we were skunked for wind. However, before we got to that point, we saw a small pod of dolphins come speeding towards us. Ken had fun trying to photograph them from the pulpit seat while I enjoyed sailing 'Silverheels III'. Even after furling the sails (the main came down disgustingly easily, and even flaked itself in a decent manner), it was a short motor to where we had decided to go for that night. Halifax Harbour, for some reason, has some defunct moorings that we had discovered on a previous visit, so I dove down the 5m to grab the large line still attached to one of them. And again, since I had my mask and snorkel on, Ken joined me to snorkel on another spot that I know of there (besides the relative lack of big fish, the coral and soft growth is excellent, and Ken saw his first lionfish). Back for lunch, another nap, another snorkel (the visibility wasn't as good the second time). Another good meal, more Ham fun, and on to the celestial entertainment for the night. We watched the lunar eclipse to the soundtrack of tree frogs and birds, with no other boats around us. What a day!
Now we are anchored back in Clarkes Court Bay, in our regular neighbourhood. We are absolutely amazed (shocked and dismayed a little?) at how many boats there are around here. We have not seen this many boats in the anchorages in the 5 years we have been spending Hurricane season down here. We are already chomping at the bit a little to get back up north, to be honest. Once the appointments are done, two big hashes and a couple of social commitments, we are gone again to slowly make our way up.