Tyrell Bay in Carriacou, Grenadines

July 21st, the longest day of the year which means the days will be getting shorter now. Amazing to think of where most of you are the sun does not set until after 8 here it sets at 6.30 so our days in the tropics are a bit shorter than yours.

One tropical wave after another has passed us and every day we had to do the rain shuffle, one of us running down below closing the hatches while the other ran around in the cockpit closing up the cockpit and moving everything out of way to stay dry. Actually just before one of those shuffles we noticed a trail of ants and with reading glasses on we followed the trail. Fortunately there were only about 20 ants and we found where the rest was hiding or rather living, hopefully no more ants. So if you ever wonder what we do out here, now you know we follow ant trails and do the rain shuffle. In the mean time we had left Prickly Bay and sailed back to the Lagoon. Not even there for one minute we both jumped ship, Sid went to get Diesel and I for provisions.

1 ½ hours later we were on our way out the Lagoon and planned on anchoring the very next bay north of St. George's but as we saw a huge ship holding natural gas we decided that this anchorage was not such a good idea, don't like to sit next to a time bomb. 3 miles past the gas bomb we found the most incredible little bay. We were sure that it would be full as there is only enough room for 2 boats 3 max, but nobody was there. We looked at each other wondering what could be wrong with this anchorage. Three days later we figured out the possibilities:

1. There is NO Wifi here so no cruisers will stay not being able to use Skype.
2. Too remote from shopping, restaurants, boat stores and buddy boats.
3. It's a bit rolly.
4.
Neither one of these points mattered to us not even the rolly part as our flopper stoppers again came in handy.

What a most delightful anchorage, a rounded bay surrounded with rocky shore line in the middle it opens to a steep to beach with a few palm trees and lots of lush trees. Above the rocky shore are steep hills lush overgrown with all kind of different trees. Behind the beach the scene was just incredibly beautiful, lush rolling hills with beautiful colored homes and yet behind them tall rain forest mountains. It looked so very tropical especially with coco palms scattered between the lush foliage. The sunsets were incredible on one side the sun lighting up the beach, rolling hills and mountains with the last rays and to the opposite the sun slowly disappearing on the horizon. While sitting on deck watching the night take over the gentle breeze engulfed Paradise with the scent of wild blooming Jasmine. Life can't get any better than this. The water was pretty clear as well and the snorkeling was pretty OK. We loved this little Paradise we found to ourselves. We did do the rain shuffle a lot here and we figured out that the mountain makes its own clouds but it never really rained hard and if just for a few minutes. The clouds just seem to fizzle out as they came closer to the water.

After three beautiful days and lots of reading we pulled anchor and headed north towards the Grenadines an island group just 14 miles north of the north end of Grenada. We were about 6 miles from the end of the island when the wind picked up and now blew over 20 knots and of course right on the nose, stopping us with every second wave crashing into our bow we decided it was not time yet to head north and turned around and set anchor again in our little Paradise Dragon Bay.

The following day early before the wind got out of bed we snuck out of the bay and headed north for another try. Just as we arrived at the end of the island the wind started to blow at about 10 to 15 knots, not bad, just what we needed. Between Grenada and Carriacou one of the Grenadine Islands there are a few islands with no anchoring possibilities and 2 miles west from them is an underwater volcano "Kick em Jenny", still active and you HAVE to pass this one with at least 2 miles on either side. We headed towards the island with the no anchorages when the current changed. Now this is another thing to watch out for, when the tide heads east there is a current up to 1 knot but if the current is going westbound it can be as much as 2.5 knots and sure enough we did get the 2.5 knots which would have brought us right over Kick em Jenny. We changed course of course and went around the volcano to the west. From here on the ride got wilder and wilder as the current was running into the wind making it Mr. Toads Wild Ride. Luckily it was only 14 miles to go and about 9 miles out of Carriacou the lee effect of the island took over and smoothed out the water. I'm sure Tika was tickled pink over that, poor kitty. We did the 31 miles in 6 1/2 hours and set anchor in the midst of at least 100 boats in Tyrell Bay in Carriacou. It took us a while to find a spot to drop the anchor as there was a very few big enough wholes between all the boats. We anchored right next to a fender which told us that someone was using this spot. The water was crystal clear with the color of light to dark blue or turquoise depending on the depth, beautiful but a bit crowded. On our way here we noticed an oily substance on the cabin sole next to the engine box, which turned out to be anti-freeze from the engine and the tack meter went out a couple of times, so Sid has some work ahead of him. Just after we had anchored the halyard of the main came loose and the wind blew it dangerously close to Maxine our wind generator. With the boat hook and a couple of tries Sid outsmarted the wind and halyard and fixed the problem, what a guy.

Since we left the Lagoon I had no way of doing email as for some reason we can not send email out via our ham radio so first thing after settling in I opened the computer and tried to catch up with our Blog when Sid yelled down below: "You have no idea who just pulled up the fender next to us, it's a BAR!!!" No way! Sure enough as I popped my head out the hatch I see this modified powerboat next to us and written on it was: Lady D Bar open 10 am till late plus phone number and what a better name than "Hallelujah" could they have named the boat! Around 4.30 pm we jumped in the water to cool off and noticed our neighbor pulling along side the bar in their dinghy getting on board and sitting down at the table. After asking if the bar was open we swam over there and joined them for a few drinks. Out of all the places to anchor we found the prime spot right next to the floating bar. I think tomorrow we'll just let the chain out and raft with them LOL. The drinks lasted until sunset then we swam back to the boat where I prepared a good dinner and before snoozing off Sid said: "I bet you it's gonna rain tonight?!" "Nope" was my reply, "I bet you it's not if I loose I cook breakfast, if you loose you will!" Deal. After enjoying my special Sunday coffee Sid prepared I was served a most wonderful bacon, eggs and potato breakfast and to my surprise the bet involved the dishes too. I'm a lucky girl. I think I need to bet him more often LOL. After dishes Sid thinks he fixed the engine problems plus a few other things, let's hope so.

Mangoes in Paradise

The squalls still kept coming and it rained on and off until the next morning. Fairly early before the clouds started to build up again Sid drove me in the dinghy to the Carenage from where I walked along the narrow steep alley over to the center of St. George to the lovely market. I guess the best time to go to the market is on weekends as not all too many stands are open during the week and what each sold was pretty much the same, beautiful ripe tomatoes, onions, garlic, one kind of lettuce, cucumbers, potatoes, dasheen, bundles of scallions mixed with parsley, oregano and thyme, coconuts and yes mangoes, three different kinds. The little mangoes although almost the tastiest are too fibrous and are a nuisance between the teeth, the Julie's are every bodies favorite as they are rich in flavor but smooth in texture and double the size of the stringy mango. My favorite is I think they call it the Emperor Mango, this is double the size of the Julie a monster the size of a coconut and sooooo flavorful and soft, yum. I scored buying two for just a little over one dollar. It was nice to wander through the market again and smell all the wonderful West Indies spices the same wonderful smell I remembered from three years ago. Later in the afternoon relaxing in the boat we realized that the rain had left, no clouds or just a very view were hanging around and wind was practically non existent so we decided to pull anchor and move around to Prickly Bay. It's only about an hour drive and a fairly calm trip as we are in the lee of the island until coming around the point heading east to Prickly were a current runs. It wasn't too bad and in no time we were in our old spot and dropped the anchor. It's so much nicer to sit in this anchorage then in the Lagoon which is surrounded by a noisy road and mosquitoes rule from sunset to dawn. The night was fairly calm with an occasional squall dumping some rain on us. The next day early I dug my sewing machine out which I thought I wouldn't see for a while after the big projects in Trinidad, wroooong. Both zippers on the dodger window lost some teeth and so we were not able to close it all the way and with all the rain coming they needed to be replaced ASAP. It's a 10 minute job as Sid would say ending in a 4 hour frustration. Since the middle part is attached to the whole dodger it's a bit tough to get that part under the sewing machine in a small cockpit. After a lot of S*&^$# and F*^$#) we got it done just on time before a major downpour, although we did get one which only lasted a few minutes. I also added a flap on the bottom of our cockpit rain curtains and the heavy downpour gave us an instant chance to test it. Yeah our cockpit is now leak proof.
Sewing machine put away (for a long time now) we sat in the cockpit and relaxed. Actually we relaxed pretty much the whole entire time we stayed in Prickly Bay except Sid went to watch the Aussie/Kiwi Rugby game while I cleaned house (to do a good job I need him out of the house LOL) and we drove the dinghy around to all the other anchorages finding that we liked Prickly Bay the best.

Beautiful Grenada

What is it with us are we a magnet?!!!! No matter where we anchor we find some idiot anchoring right on top of us. This time we had two, one on starboard side the other on the bow. We could have exchange cheap yellow mustard. This one was a catamaran which moves quite a bit faster then us in any wind puff, at times he passed our bow with barley 10 feet to spare. We couldn't even pull anchor if we needed too as he sat right over it.
While Sid fixed the salt water pump I ventured ashore to get some money and check all the stores I knew to see if they were still there. In deed they were and in better shape then what I remembered. The store variety is so much better here than in Trinidad. Even the marine stores have lots more to offer Grenada is in every part much better and nicer than Trinidad except for the locals they are friendly in both places.
Later in the afternoon Diane picked me up and with the local Taxi we drove to Prickly Bay, she needed some boat parts and I went for company. It's fun but also scary driving the Maxi Taxis here the drivers speed around in these mini vans like they are on a race track and I tell you the roads here are also quite narrow with many, many turns. And of course the music is blaring so that you can't talk to your next seat neighbor. The music is definitely better in Trinidad. Diane and I looked at each other in horror when we listened to one of the songs, in the same tone the singer was saying over and over again "throw up - throw up - throw up..." through out the whole song. I think there were only about 20 other words in it. The song sounded as disgusting as the words were and they call this music here. Far gone are the good Grenada Calypso times at least Trinidad's calypso although also altered over the years is still fairy enjoyable to listen.
In the mean time we re-anchored, just around the corner from the St. George lagoon, which by the way is an extinct volcano crater. Paradise is in front of a beautiful beach with view over to the St. George Carenage a little bay with the most charming colorful houses built up the steep hills. The scenery is quite stunning and makes you tolerate the light roll in the anchorage.
Change of mind about the rolling, after half a day sitting cooped up in the cockpit while one squall after another blew over us we pulled anchor at first sight of blue sky and headed back into the lagoon where it was much calmer. After setting anchor Sid went over to Jabulani and helped Diane fix her stove.

Yeah, we're in Grenada

On July 11th we finally left Trinidad. We snuck out of the harbor at 5 PM and made it through the Boca before sunset. The current was still on its way out and pushed us with over 7 knots through the cut between the islands. Coming out into the Boca it was a confusion of currents and waves. Unfortunately it stayed confused and lumpy bumpy for many hours and neither one of us was hungry for dinner. I was tired so I took the first snooze but it staid lumpy enough to make it hard for me to sleep. Sid steered until midnight then it was my turn. By then the seas got a lot calmer and Sid got his beauty sleep until 4 am. As it was my turn again the seas churned up again but I managed to get some sleep. We had an average of 4 to 6 foot seas and winds anywhere from 10 to 22 knots. The 22 knots we received whenever a squall passed over us. Most squalls we were able to dodge. We also had up to 2.5 knots of current with us and at one point Sid had to slow the boat down as we jumped waves making it too uncomfortable. Amazing that one knot difference can make it moving more calmly through the water, I finally got some zzzzz's. The closer we got to Grenada the rougher the seas became and we were tossed from side to side as the swells hit us on the beam. In all it took us exactly 16 hours from when we left the slip to when we dropped the hook in Prickly bay and sailed a total of 82 miles.
It was almost unbelievable that we were sitting in an anchorage it almost felt like we just came out of prison. We caught up on some sleep then for the rest of the day we did absolutely nothing. We sure enjoyed the spectacular view of Prickly Bay, not much has changed since we were here last time except it looked even better then I remember it. The shoreline is covered with lush greenery almost looking like a botanical garden with the most beautiful homes placed in between. In the background you see the many lush mountain peaks. We were actually surprised that not too many boats are anchored here. We are so happy to be at anchor again and so is the cat, she napped next to me in the cockpit all morning long, that is very unusual, then she just talked up a storm letting us know how happy she was. Poor thing had a horrible time as she got seasick and couldn't make it to the bathroom and peed on the towel on the bed. Just good we had a plastic cover over the bed so no damage done.
Since the authorities are closed on weekends we sailed around the corner to St. George the following morning and anchored in the Lagoon. I wished Trinidad was as easy to check in or out as Grenada. Normally you can check in at Prickly Bay as well but due to the Swine Flue you have to do so in St. George. The Officer sent us first to a health inspector where we had to fill out a form stating that we don't have fever, cough, sneezing, diarrhea and other symptoms, then we got a clear health card and the officer checked us in. Imagine this right after getting checked in I got a free hair cut right there in the parking lot. No, hair cuts usually don't come with the checking in procedure. Diane's daughter on Jabulani's is here visiting and gave me the hair cut. Diane invited us for dinner tonight so we are busy already.