Having cast off the lines, we headed out of Le Phare Bleu in 20-25 knots NE winds and motored 4NMs to St David's Harbour, which was two bays further to the west, along the picturesque south coast. This beautiful harbour is also fringed on both sides by reefs but once past the markers, the bay is deep and the water clear. In days gone by, this was the harbour that ships came into to load their precious spice cargos. There were only a few yachts at anchor in the bay, but at the top of the harbour there is a sizeable shipyard, Grenada Marina, which offers a wide range of services. Shortly after securing the anchor and shutting down the engine, we motored ashore to eat lunch at Laura's restaurant, a pleasant cafe with bright green tables and chairs overlooking the bay. There was a small beach lined by coconut palms and a long wharf, which allowed yachts to come alongside. After a delicious lunch and a Carib or two, we wandered into the shipyard to see what we could find. The sailmaker took our attention and we were able to watch how the weight of a massive sail is managed when it is being sewn.....the machine is at floor level and the machinist is seated below floor level, so that the weight of the sailcloth can be slid along the floor and guided with relative ease under the pressure foot. We wandered past another large partially covered shed and saw the finishing touches being done on a repaint of a wooden hull. The South American owner, Carlos, was delighted with the excellent workmanship. While we talked to Carlos, the New Zealand shipyard manager wandered up to us to ask what we were doing. When we explained our curiosity about the services, with a twinkle in his eye he said 'can't trust you Aussies not to flog something!' I guess the old rivalry has many guises! We realised that a lot of people were living on board while their yacht was up on the hard, something which seems quite odd to us. It certainly would cut the costs down if you don't move to land based accommodation, but apart from power, there is no water or on board bathroom facilities and everything has to be done via a long and high ladder and it would be really hot....not much fun really!
It rained heavily again through the night and well into the next morning. After a lazy breakfast, the skies cleared and the boys went off in the dinghy to check out the reefs but came back reporting that nothing much worthwhile was seen. We had a delicious Greek salad lunch on board and later swam to a nearby beach for extra exercise. A catamaran was motoring in small circles to check out its engines between us and Trilogy, so we all kept a close watch on the cat as we timed our swim back to Trilogy. Being Saturday night, there was live music at Laura's cafe and after freshening up, we went ashore to join the throng. The music pumped well into the night but to our ears every song had the same reggae 4/4 beat. The crowd seemed happy enough to yell at each other to have a conversation but it was lovely to see the locals mixing with the yachties for a night out.
Sunday morning....well that definitely means a slow start! We took our time about everything but finally got organised to go ashore at 12:30 so we could be picked up for a special Sunday lunch at La Sagesse Hotel and Restaurant. This was just the most beautiful setting, right on the beach in La Sagesse Bay, the beach sweeping in a wide arc between the two headlands. Lots of hazardous reefs made La Sagesse Bay impenetrable to yachts. We had met people 2 weeks ago that had recommended the restaurant for Sunday lunch as there was good live music and a BBQ style lunch. The boutique hotel had a full house of British and American guests and they all seemed content to lounge under the palm trees with the cocktails delivered to chairside, while being entertained by a good band, playing everything from 'Let's twist again' to 'Awimaway', making it a golden oldies affair. Our seafood BBQ lunch was delicious and we felt very relaxed and welcome.
Since it was such a beautiful afternoon we decided to walk back over the headland to St David’s Harbour. Having consulted GoogleEarth it looked doable, but with tropical vegetation in abundance, most of the track was obscured. Undaunted, we set off walking the long sweeping curved beach, disappeared behind the headland to walk through a wetland to another ocean bay, and at the end of that beach, back into the jungle following a well trodden path up a steep but short climb to the top of the ridge. After a zigzag section, we made our way down a steep road that lead us along St David's Harbour back to the marina. It was a beautiful walk and we were so glad we had made the effort. We all were keen to cool off in the ocean when back at Trilogy, and it felt good to have finished the day that way. A bowl of soup for tea was all we needed to complete our Sunday.
Monday arrived with brilliant clear skies and we were off to do some sightseeing. Our driver Pedro was highly professional and in 6 hours we visited a spice shop where the endless virtues of the island spices were extolled, Allandale waterfalls, a cocoa factory which used traditional methods to produce an export quality cocoa bean, a nutmeg processing cooperative which exports the world's highest quality nutmeg globally and finally The Rivers Rum Distillery. The distillery produces 600 purely agricultural sourced bottles of rum per day, which barely meets the needs of Grenadians! The distillery uses the original process and much of the original equipment (huge French built waterwheel) dating from 1785 to produce rum with 75% alcohol or 150 proof rum! The sugarcane is locally grown and the speed of the whole process is governed by the amount of water flow piped from the nearby stream the waterwheel. The boys had a small tasting of the rum and it was potent indeed!
We lunched at 'GoodFood' restaurant in Grenville, a town on the west coast facing the Atlantic Ocean. As we headed home, the whole town was out in the streets for market day.
We were glad to have had a look at the countryside. The mountain range that occupies the central regions of the island produces many highly productive valleys and with rich volcanic soil and ample water, Grenada has excellent resources to feed its population. The methods are all still traditional but it gives purpose and meaning to have work for all.