July 31. St. George, Grenada

We had a great time in Grand Ans D'Arlet and really enjoyed the most spectacular view. Although it rained every 20 or so minutes it still was a very pretty place. We also had the most incredible snorkel around the corner. The water was so clear we could see at least 60 feet and the whole underwater scene reminded us of a nursery with flower pots every where, as soon as you got to the flour pot it turned into a sponge. Sponges are an abundance here but we saw lots of other beautiful creatures as well. An eel, sea snake, sculpin, weird tube like worm about 12 inches long and see-through, cuttlefish, trumpet fish changing color according to background, a white albino sole and lots and lots of just perfect lobsters, although in traps. In my last report I mentioned a weird weather system showed up. Chris Parker told us that if it should turn into a storm that he would come up on the radio at 7 am and 7 pm on Sunday, which is usually his day off. He didn't come up in the morning, so we pulled anchor and left for Baquia, 90 miles further south. He did come up though in the evening and told us that there was a potential for the system to turn into a tropical depression and it would hit St. Vincent, St. Lucia and Martinique. Did we feel lucky we left and decided to continue as far as we could get, Grenada, 156 miles. We finally had a chance to sail, 15 to 20 knots of wind on the beam and 5 to 8 foot seas. It was like a dream come true, WE WERE SAILING!!! We sailed between 5.5 and 7 knots and had to slow the boat down for comfort. We took full advantage of the lee of all the islands which made the seas calmer, the wind a little different but better traveling, but we did have to turn the engine on to get us through the lee. We sailed pretty much the whole time between the islands and use the motor about 1/3 of the time in the lees. Every time we left an island we had an adverse current for about and 1 1/2 hrs. West of Baquia we had the worst of the currents for about one hour, but as soon as we got into the lee of the next island all the swell dropped to about 4 to 5 feet and less. In all we had from 1/2 knot to 1 knot of current with us most of the way. We had a wonderful trip and are glad we left. Glad we're here and feel a bit saver knowing to be further south and out of hurricanes harm, well almost, if it wasn't for the last two years.