Well, we've been travelling more and more slowly as we get to our hurricane season hang-out. It's getting so that 10 miles is a big deal!

After Bequia we spent three days (again) in beautiful Salt Whistle Bay in Mayreau. On our third anchoring, we had made it to the front row in the NE corner along the beach, where no one blocks the view and the swell is not noticeable. After that, it was off to Chatham Bay on the west side of Union Island. This is a big bay with beautiful beaches and several eateries / drinkeries (is that a word?) along the beach. There were only 5 boats in the bay, compared with about 15 in much smaller Salt Whistle. We had dinner ashore courtesy of Shark Attack - the tuna was overdone, unfortunately. On Sunday we moved to Clifton and walked along the ?? beach.
The next morning we cleared out at the airport and sailed down to St. George's, Grenada, anchoring in the lagoon. Tuesday morning we checked in - including a mandatory visit to the health inspector, part of the new clearance procedures to reduce the likelihood of swine flu reaching Grenada. (It has already reached Trinidad and Barbados.)

There seem to be many more boats here than we recall from last year. It seems as if folks are trying to avoid Trinidad in favor of hanging or hauling in Grenada for the season. The opportunity is not lost on the local marine industry which is working hard to make the cruising community welcome while encouraging the government to understand the impact of cruiser dollars. New marina developments like Phare Bleu and Port Louis have lots of room and there is a growing community of yacht services available.

Like any port we get to these days, there are a lot of boats we know so we need to re-acquaint ourselves, and we are always meeting new folks. Canadians seem to be the dominant cruiser species here, followed by Americans, Brits and everyone else. Since we arrived late on June 29th, we had only a day to prepare for Canada Day. We celebrated at Clarke's Court Bay Marina along with 70 other Canadians and 20 wannabees. We have simple tastes, dining on cheese burgers with Canadian Bacon - wow! Our friends Grif and Cheryl (Mystic Journey) from Fort McLeod, AB won the costume competition as Captain Canada and consort.

On Monday, July 6th we left the lagoon and anchored just outside the harbour near Ross Point. While the lagoon is flat calm, it also is noisy and doesn't get much breeze so it is hot and stuffy. And you certainly wouldn't swim there! Ross Point is quite close to beautiful Grand Anse Beach with all its resorts and restaurants. Ross Point can be rolly, but you can swim with abandon!
On Tuesday we said goodbye to Jules, another IP, with Nani and Peter heading off to the Testigoes en route to Australia. We first met them in January in Sint Maarten.

On Wednesday we motored around to Hog Island, the definitive cruiser hangout on the south coast. Imagine a pond about ½ mile in diameter with a reef bound entry to the south, a small island with a lovely sand beach to the east and a peninsula to the north and west. There is a dinghy passage under a bridge at the NE corner so you can get into Clarke's Court Bay to visit the marinas, go shopping, etc. Oh, yeah - almost forgot there is a bush bar on the island! There are presently about 40 some boats at anchor, on moorings or tucked up into the mangroves ranging from derelicts to "wow, I want one!"
Someday soon the Island will be a Four Seasons resort - but not yet!

Cutty, one of the local taxi and tour guides invited the cruisers to an Oil Down near his house on July 11th. By the time the buses rolled there were over 40 cruisers signed up to join the local folks for the party.

An Oil Down is Grenada's national dish which consists of salted pork, beef and/or fish, leaf and root vegetables, stewed in coconut milk. This is cooked in a large pot over an open fire by the side of the road. The feast takes all afternoon to prepare as each item is sliced or chopped and put in the pot in layers. All male guests help in peeling, chopping and grating, and placing the food in the pot. (In truth several cruiser ladies stood in for their less adept spouses including yours truly.) The bush bar at the same location provides the beer necessary to adequately lubricate the chefs. Best of all was the opportunity to chat with Grenadians about all manner of things. The day started about 2:30 and we were back on the boats by late evening.

On Monday the 13th, 12 of us hired Cutty to take us to Levera Beach to watch the leatherback turtles come in and lay their eggs as well as watch the hatchlings start their perilous journey to adulthood. Leatherbacks are the largest turtle species, the females weighing 200 to 600 Kg. with shells alone typically 4 ½ to 5 ½ feet long. Hatchlings weigh a mere 2 oz and are about 2 ½ inches long. While leatherbacks range as far north as Norway (and Atlantic Canada) and as far south as New Zealand, they nest in the tropics. They can dive to over 1 km deep!

We left at 6:30 PM prepared to return around 1 AM. Along the way Cutty picked up our guide Dora. To avoid disturbing the turtles, everyone used red headlamps and flashlights. We were extremely fortunate, since by the time we got to the proper part of the beach one turtle, 7 feet in overall length, was preparing her nest.

Unfortunately, she was digging up a previous nest, so the researchers were encouraging her to move away by filling the hole as quickly as she dug. Once she was a couple of feet away, they allowed her to proceed while collecting the eggs for reburial at a more suitable location. While we were watching, another turtle came ashore behind us, moved along the beach and started digging her nest. The nests are over two feet deep - as deep as their hind flippers will reach - and a foot in diameter. They lay about 100 eggs at a time, and may lay up to 6 times in a season. Once the first turtle finished laying she started to camouflage the nest so we left.

Along the way we stumbled upon a bunch of hatchlings sticking their heads up through the sand and starting their scramble to the water. They are so small that they can get stuck in your footprint! Therefore we had to help them along by smoothing the sand and turning them around when they got disoriented. Only one in a thousand survives to adulthood.

We were very lucky to see everything we had hoped for and were back on the boat by midnight. Unfortunately, we had no moonlight and flash was not permitted, so the pictures we have are from the internet but do parallel our experience.

The next day we moved into the marina at Clarke's Court Bay to carry out maintenance and arrange for some repairs and quotations.

Today (a thoroughly rainy day) we are back on the hook in Hog Island, and planning to go up to Carriacou for the regatta.

People wonder how we fill our days! Well, much the same way anyone who is retired does, although most things take longer. Friday (at least) is shopping day, cause that's when the bus takes us from Clarke's Court Bay marina to the IGA at Grand Anse. Any other day, you have to carry whatever you buy, so you shop frequently. There is always a list of required repairs to be attacked or ignored, depending how you feel. And invariably when you start, you have to go to town for a necessary part or tool. When the weather is bad (like today), who feels like getting the dinghy down and riding through the rain. So reading, or catching up on the blog moves to the top of the list. Then there is sightseeing, hiking, visiting and Liming (having a brew while yarning and hanging about)!