The date is April 24th and we are anchored here in Tyrrel Bay, Carriacou patiently waiting to get the O.K. that we will get our boat hauled. Most people don’t realize Carriacou is one of the three islands in the nation of Grenada and this humble isle is often forgotten. It is approximately 13 sq. miles and has interesting topography created by centuries - old volcanic activity. The island’s name is derived from the Carib meaning “land surrounded by reefs”. You won’t find cruise ships here and this is West Indian life the way it was 50 years ago – quiet, laid back and relaxed.
The day finally arrived that they said we were going to be hauled and we had only waited a week. When our boat was finally hauled out of the water, the bottom was full of barnacles, which we figured it would be after 2 ½ years. Living in the marina on the boat we had to contend with dust, dirt, mosquitoes and a dirty marina shower/bathroom. Now I see why people stay in hotel rooms while their boat is being worked on. We could have stayed at the Yacht Club but it was filled up. Only one mishap during the time there was when Carol was putting bottom paint way up in the thru holes. She was using a sponge brush and the brush came apart and stayed stuck. Whoops!!! After trying a few things and a few cuss words from John, he finally gave Carol a wire rod that Carol tried at first to push it down the sink in the head. This didn’t work so she went outside and pushed it up through the thru hull. She finally lucked out and was able to lodge it loose. Well a lesson was learned from this and I’m sure she won’t do this again. After about three quarters of the way being finished putting on the bottom paint we saw we were going to be short paint due to the heat and humidity. Being that there were no marine chandleries on the island here we were lucky the marina could get us some more from Grenada and it would be sent by ferry the next afternoon. It was a big surprise when we paid for it and no ferry charges were on the bill. After a week in the marina, we were glad when they finally put us back in the water so we could open the boat up and not worry about mosquitoes. The first thing we did was to wash down the topside of the boat and get all the dirt and grime off. Even though the boatyard was inexpensive I don’t think we will go back there.
The next day, May 7th, we left for Hillsborough which is on the west side of Carriacou. We just spent the night off the town before heading north.
The next morning after breakfast we left for Petite Martinique which is the last outpost of Grenada. It is located three miles east of Carriacou and they don’t call it Petit for nothing – this island measures one mile in diameter and conical in shape. Its inhabitants were mainly a seafaring community, so most of the men folk were originally either fisherman or sailors. We arrived to find a little sleepy town, very picturesque. We tried to anchor and started dragging after about thirty minutes. I finished cooking lunch before we pulled the anchor and snatched one of the free mooring balls. You can really get some good sleep when you know you were going to be in the same place in the morning and not drag. It was a perfect spot, with a nice breeze, internet, gentle rocking of the boat and no loud music. The next day we went out to lunch at a restaurant on the beach where we sat out in the garden shaded by palm trees. We decided we would try the hamburgers, fries and malts. The hamburgers were so bad we had to feed them to the dog without the owners seeing us. The malts were made with canned milk we found out after the first sip and they were gross. The french fries turned out to be our lunch for the day and some of the best we have had so far. At least something was edible. After our skimpy lunch we went into town looking for bread and were told no one bakes bread for sale on the island and we had to wait for the ferry later that afternoon if we wanted any. Well it was back to the boat for the day and get ready for our departure Tuesday May 11th.
The next morning we pulled anchor and left to go back to Hillsborough, Carriacou where we knew we could get supplies. We had another problem anchoring when we got back to Hillsborough and had to move and try again. I’m beginning to wonder on John’s technique in anchoring. One thing we might have to do is snorkel on the anchor to see if it’s set. They tell you to do this and we haven’t been doing it. It’s a good thing this happens during the day and we don’t have a Mexican fire drill after dark. Before we left the next day we saw the 60’ dugout canoe that was going to row Christopher Columbus’s route and I’m not sure how far up the Caribbean they were going. I counted twenty-five oarsmen, one man in front yelling commands and one in back steering. They were headed for Union Island and we would probably see them there.
Stay tuned for more adventures from John & Carol aboard the S/V Sweet Caroline
We started getting our boat ready to leave Grenada; doing all our grocery shopping, laundry and a million other little chores. We finally got the anchor up April 11th and headed for St. Georges, Grenada which is our staging point for islands north. Seas were great and wow! No water coming over the sides. We had the sails up for once as we were not beating into the wind. We anchored outside St. Georges to get the final things accomplished before we left. We had to do the laundry again, grocery shopping again and had to fill our tanks with water (water maker not working again). We have had hardly any rain so we couldn’t get any in our rain catchers on the decks. John’s Fed Ex package finally arrive from the US (US Customs & Documentation Paper) so now we were good to go and just waiting on another weather window.
We didn’t have long to wait and left St. Georges, Grenada after 5 ½ months, Thursday April 15th for Tyrrel Bay, Carriacou off the town of Harvey Vale. This is where we planned to get the boat hauled and bottom painted. We had another terrific sail with seas 5-6’ and it was a piece of cake again with no water coming over the sides. That meant “Digger” Carol wouldn’t have to tear the boat apart to see if any water came into the boat. Life is great! There is not much to see here in Tyrrel Bay; a few restaurants/bars, grocery stores, Carriacou Yacht Club and the Tyrrel Bay Haul Out Marina. The marina we are told is infested with mosquitoes and are not looking forward to that. After getting here we have walked around the town a few times, going into stores just to see what was actually here. We have gone into Hillsborough (capital) by bus twice to get groceries, check out new restaurants and just check out the town. We found the prices were a little higher here and some things you couldn’t get at all. We should have – could have – should have - gotten more groceries before we left St. Georges. What is it about hindsight? We were told we would be hauled out April 21st and that day has come and gone and we are still waiting. They don’t move here to fast and like the Bahamas “maybe tomorrow”. We have had some locals coming by selling their wares and we bought some wine off one and two dozen oysters off another. The oyster man cleaned the oysters right in his dinghy and it only cost us $8.00 US plus two rum & cokes that night and one rum and coke the next night. Now when evening comes we hide down in the boat so he doesn’t come for more drinks. John says he is going to put Carol in the dinghy each evening to go from boat to boat for rum & cokes! Every Saturday they have fresh fruits and veggies from the locals just off the government dock. Fishing must be good here for the boat next to us caught a nice size red snapper the other night. We took off in our dinghy the next day and tried to troll a line behind it but came back empty handed.
We have been here in Tyrrel Bay now for over a week and still are awaiting the moment to get our boat hauled. So now it’s back to computer work, pictures and reading and other boat chores .
Stay tuned for more adventures from John & Carol aboard the S/V Sweet Caroline
We started getting real roly-poly again at our anchorage here in Clarks Court Bay, Grenada and the internet was off – at least we couldn’t pick it up so we decided to go one bay to the west and anchor in a place called Hog Island. We pulled the anchor at 0930, January 22, (and for once it was really dug in and full of mud and grass). It was another anchor drill brushing and using our wash down on the bow to get all the mud, etc. off. It was a messy job but someone had to do it. We left out through the reefs and then had to come back through some more to get to the anchorage. No problem just read the charts and read the buoys marking the passage. We arrived at 1145 and anchored the furthest boat out toward the reef so we could pick up the internet from another provider. It was our first time anchored here and there are about thirty-five boats here in the anchorage. The anchorage seemed to be really calm, with the reefs just offshore from us blocking the waves. We could see Roger’s ramshackle wood shack beach bar over on the beach where they have food and entertainment different nights of the week. It will be a new place to explore.
As soon as we anchored I (Carol) started practicing starting and running the dinghy because I was the big cheese while John was gone. It had been some 20 years since I had even run a dinghy. Boy this was going to be fun. I can do this I knew and after a few wild wide arcs going round in a circle I got the hang of it. Now I know why I never liked running the dinghy because it was too much like the old 22’ sailboat with the tiller and I never did well with that. What do they say, practice, practice, practice.
On Sunday, January 24th John & I left by dinghy in the dark for Clarks Court Bay Marina where he had a taxi waiting to pick him up at 0500. It was a scary ride through the dark and we had to navigate under a bridge and go between the pilings that are marked with reflectors so you don’t hit the bottom. After dropping John off, Carol decided to wait until 0600 when it got light out to navigate her way back to the boat. This was it, my first time running the dinghy by myself without anyone there to help. Scary, Scary, Scary! I did all the things John had drilled into my head; got the engine started on the first pull, unlocked the chain locking the dingy and motor to the dock, and away I went. It was quite a rush to be by myself. As I left the dock, I was a good girl and put the red cord attached to the starter around my wrist so if I fell out of the dinghy the engine would shut off and not run over me. I made it back to the bridge and through the correct pilings with the reflectors. This was a real chore because the sun was directly in my eyes. I weaved the dinghy through all the anchored boats in Hog Island and made it back to our boat just like I really knew what I was doing and shut off the engine like a pro. I chained the dinghy to the boat, tilted the engine up out of the water. This was quite an accomplishment I must say so, for the engine is heavy (100 lbs) and it took only two tries to get it up. I talked to John later in the afternoon to get his report how the trip through Customs/Immigration in Trinidad turned out and he said “No Problem”. I know he was worrying a little because of all the problems I had when I went back to Florida last October.
The band over at Roger’s Beach Bar started playing around 1630 and go fast boats of the locals kept coming by. I had the anchor light on and our cockpit light hanging so I wouldn’t get hit; at least I hoped I wouldn’t. It was my first time ever to be alone at night on the boat. I felt pretty safe here with all the boaters around. At first I kept watching the GPS anchor alarm to make sure I was holding good and not dragging.
The next day “Digger”, Carol started taking apart the boat, cleaning and logging all the stores in all the different compartment/lockers in the boat. It was sure nice not to have to stop and cook for once. I talked to John on Skype (internet phone), and he said he took back the rental car and dropped it off at the airport. He walked a few blocks to the Rialto Hilton; caught one of the city buses headed toward Palm Bay; got off at the new Palm Bay shopping center called Hammock Landing; transferred to another city buses which took him to within a block from our house in Palm Bay. It was the first time he had ever been on one of the city buses and was pretty cheap; $.65 for seniors.
On Thursday I took the dinghy over to Lower Woburn to the dinghy dock and walked out to the street to catch the bus to St Georges. I went to the government offices where I got my Immigration permit renewed for another 90 days. I was feeling pretty good getting around without John. There are several single handed women cruisers here so if they can do it I can. Friday I decided to get off the boat and went to Clarks Court Bay Marina with some other cruisers where a bus was waiting to take us to Gouyave which is Grenada’s fishing capital. Just before sunset the driver pulled over and I witnessed the most spectacular Green Flash that I have seen so far since on this trip. Green flashes are optical phenomena that occur shortly after sunset when a green spot is visible, usually for no more than a second or two, above the sun, or a green ray shoots up from the sunset point. I had been to Gouyave before but it was good to go again. There were so many different island foods to pick from it was hard to decide what to eat
The time passed fast while John was gone and one morning while I was having coffee, lo and behold he appears. He had gotten back to the marina ahead of time and talked one of the boaters in the marina to run him out to the boat. He was only allowed to check one suitcase holding 50# and one carry-on bag on the leg of the trip from Trinidad to Grenada so he sure wasn’t loaded down like I was on previous trips from the states.
That night we went into the marina and watched the Super Bowl on their big screen. It was the first time we had seen it since we left. Being late when it finished, it was pitch black out and we had to navigate back to the boat without hitting anything or anyone hitting us along the way. The locals have a tendency at night to run fast and furious without any lights and this is really dangerous. The next Sunday we talked the marina owner into showing the Daytona 500 on the big screen. He announced it over the VHF several times during the week but John & I were the only ones there watching it. I guess we are the only NASCAR fans around.
The next couple of months we just hung out; worked on boat projects; traipsed around down town; grocery shopped; did laundry; got together with other cruisers; took pictures; read and the list goes on and on. We like it here in Grenada; beautiful water and wonderful locals.
I think the boat has put down roots but now we are in the thinking mode again and contemplating heading north to visit some of the islands we missed on the way down. It’s hard when you’re having fun to get up the energy to move on but as soon as the seas die down we will definitely move if not just to see some new scenery.
Happy Easter to everyone and have a nice holiday.
Stay tuned for more adventures from John & Carol aboard the S/V Sweet Caroline