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Another day another sail, this time a very early start awake before light and setting off around 06:30am to make sure we made St. Lucia in time to catch customs and immigration and check in. Another fantastic and fast sail as far as St. Vincent then a very slow motor in the lee of this mountainous green island in sun so hot that despite factor 50 and pulling Kevin’s shirt I had on over my head most of the way I had burnt the back of my ears by the time we arrived in St. Lucia. Less focus on fishing today with the freezer stocked up again we just concentrated on keeping the boat moving enjoying full sails up for the first time in a long long time until we got to the channel between St. Vincent and St. Lucia which was quite lumpy and breezy and we were up at over 7 knots again arriving into the shadow of Pitons again by 3pm.
Kevin leads the way through the dead calm in the lee of St. Vincent under full but not filled sails
I went ashore for supplies and to check us in, customs and immigration was very simple and we soon had our passports stamped once more and were cleared in. I visited the ATM and a small local minimarket which was packed and about 6 people queuing at each till. There were several barefoot men stood at the door and to be honest after being approached / greeted by about 5 local guys by the time I had got in there, I was just keen to get back to the boat and didn’t really spend anytime sightseeing. I understand that there has been some development of the town in recent years and it is quite brightly painted and very authentically Caribbean, but I was still swaying from our bouncy trip and after too much sun I didn’t really want to spend too much time there.
We were moored just under the shadow of one of the Piton mountains / hills which are a famous landmark of St. Lucia. The area is heavily forested and the sounds of the wildlife was quite over powering in the back of the boat that night. We fell asleep to the sound of the surf on the pebble beach and the calling of cicadas and other unidentified creatures in the trees.
Thursday morning we were up early to get ready to go, I popped across to the Supermarket whilst Kevin did the final boat checks and then when it was free we went across to the fuel dock at Grenada Yacht Club. Ziggy was at the balcony already ready to wave us off and to bring us a card and bottle of Rum Punch for old times sake! I went ahead to start the check out procedure with customs – filling in exactly the same triple carbonated form as when you arrive but this time ticking the box that says Outbound instead of Inbound. There was a bit of a queue and Ziggy sat with me and reminded me that there’s no rush – he is definitely on Caribbean time now. After a slight delay for the tanker to fill the fuel and for that to settle we were ready to go, we said our farewells to Ziggy and finally departed from Grenada.
Invincible at the fuel dock, Grenada yacht club ready to depart
We raised the sails with a decent breeze unusually for the lee of the island and started to head north and within a few minutes we saw a large Wahoo leap from the surface of the water in a deadly pursuit of its prey. Wahoo is our favourite fish and Kevin was very disappointed that we did not yet have the fishing lines in the water, but was very quick to get them on deck straight away after that! We’d prepared ourselves for a long and bumpy ride north and had planned to do an overnight sail straight to St. Lucia, but after our discussions with Ziggy we thought “What’s the rush?” and decided to do day hops instead. It was a bit of a bumpy trip across the channel between Grenada and Carriacou into Tyrell Bay and it seemed to take forever to get in. We anchored near the beach though and had a lovely peaceful evening on the boat and a long and very deep sleep.
Well although our plans are ever changing at least once we have one we act upon it. Five minutes after my last blog update we were under way from True Blue Bay and off to St. Georges to get fuel, water and provisions plus check out with customs. We didn’t arrive until late afternoon though so decided to leave on Thursday morning so that we could meet with Ziggy, a lovely guy that Kevin met during the fishing tournament and has shared our wedding and various other days with us since and has been a real hit with all our family and friends too.
I spent the day on Wednesday doing countless loads of laundry with all the bed linen etc from our visitors so we finally restored the boat back to standard. It was a very squally day and it was actually quite a relief to sit in a quiet corner of Grenada Yacht Club which is wonderfully cool and shaded reading my current Patrick O’Brien (I’m on no.10 now so it’s a race between Kevin and I who will get to read the next 10 first!). So back to the boat where Kevin had been sweltering in the heat to make up all the bunks again and take a shower in time to meet Ziggy.
Ziggy kindly took us out for dinner to Mount Cinnamon a new development along Grand Anse beach where we had a lovely meal and rum punch, as now seems to be our custom. Ziggy is really making the most of his retirement despite some health problems which would stop a less determined person and his positive approach to life is fantastic and we have really enjoyed meeting him.
Farewell rum punches with Ziggy
Tuesday I finally sat down to catch up on the blog and get us up to date after all the nagging I had received about our tardiness! I’d filled in gaps from 26th Jan – 5th Feb previously and finally today completed the wedding week. Kevin meanwhile went to spend some vouchers we had received as wedding presents at the local chandlery and we made our plans to depart. It is I think 6 weeks today since we arrived in Grenada, which in some ways feels like yesterday and in other ways Grenada is feeling almost like home, it will always hold a special place for us having been married here. However, it is time for us to be moving on. We have deliberated about what to do with our extra time in the Caribbean and have agreed a schedule with Alex to fit around her GCSEs. Current plan and subject to complete rewrite as always with us, is to head to the British Virgin Island on Thursday via Saint Lucia and Antigua and wherever else we feel like on the way (although there has been recent unrest on the French islands which may restrict our plans). We have until May / June to explore northwards before heading south for the hurricane season Tobago, Trinidad, Venezuela, the ABC’s (Aruba, Bonaire, Curaco). We would like to take in Belize before heading to the Panama perhaps Dec / Jan 2010.
Surreal colour change in the water caused by all the sand in the shallows from the recent swell
We had resolved to relax for the weekend, both thoroughly exhausted after nearly 3 weeks of visitors and all of the emotions of a wedding and reunions with family and friends not seen for some months. So by Sunday we finally did. we barely left the boat Sunday and Monday, reading, enjoying the sunshine and catching up on sleep. Unfortunately the weather had slightly different plans for our relaxation, sending through some strong squalls through at night keeping us awake and adding to the excuse to do very little during the day and cooking and eating aboard.
Friday we mostly spent cleaning the boat and repacking again to accommodate wedding presents, I was busy writing to everyone to thank them for their presents, loading wedding photos to Facebook etc, catching up on emails and all the other jobs we’d been neglecting. It was also our turn to repay the visit for sundowners to Tuppence who joined us on Invincible for another lovely evening with Mike and Angie.
Alex was up early again this morning disappearing off to hand in her assessments just along the dock at Aquanauts even before breakfast. However she came back grinning within half an hour, she had passed and was now a PADI Advanced Open Water diver.
Today we took Invincible of the surgy dock at True Blue Bay and Kevin, Alex, Mark and Ziggy went out fishing for the day. They had a good day out I gather with a couple of half strikes (bait eaten but fish not hooked up) and a hook up that got away plus a nice tour of the island and some dolphins. Also not to mention Ziggy’s very famous and much admired sandwiches.
I headed into St. George’s to retrieve our gas bottle being long overdue for collection and the current bottle being nearly empty, collecting Donna on the way for her experience of reggae buses. We had a drink at Grenada yacht club, where as soon as I went to the bar Donna was talking authoritively to some other yachties about propane gas fills in Grenada as I looked on amused! We went back for some lunch at the mall then to sit round the pool and wait for the fishing crew to return.
Meanwhile Dad has also been diving with the school located at his hotel, where his dive gear now was, having one of the best dives he has had for years with several sharks and lots of other bigger pelagic fish life such as grouper and barracuda on a wreck about 3 miles off Port Saline, plus 2 other good reef dives. Mum had enjoyed some relaxation on the beach with a book and they had both really enjoyed their week at the Rex, the grounds are very large and incorporate a large lake with small islets in which attract lots of local birdlife, Mum described a bush so full of egrets that it looked from a distance like white flowers.
Beach at the Rex Hotel
Dad enjoying some diving in Grenadian waters
We all joined them at the Rex for our final dinner together that night and everyone was really impressed with the variety and quality of the food. Mum and Dad were there on an all inclusive deal with Virgin Holidays and all those who had been AI before said it was the best they had seen. We all tried something of everything – crab cakes with papaya chutney, grilled marlin, roast pork, callaloo in coconut milk, various vegetable dishes, sautéed potatoes, salad bar, local soups etc and that’s without even mentioning the deserts though I think the banana pudding was the unanimous favourite. Several rum punches, beers and even pina coladas were enjoyed to celebrate the end of a fantastic week for Donna, Mark and Alex and fortnight for my parents Pete and Jan.
Everyone enjoying a final meal together at the Rex
Donna, Mum and I
Tuesday morning another busy start to return the keys for the hire jeep and set Alex and Kevin off on the final two dives of their package. Kevin was going to be diving Bianca C a famous local wreck of a 600ft cruise liner which sunk after a fire offshore but was a regular visitor to the island from Italy. Alex was doing a reef dive to complete her underwater photography module and then they would dive the Veronica L wreck together for Alex’s wreck diving speciality.
Dive 1 - Alex's photography
Dive 4 - Alex's photography
Dive 4 - Alex's first Wreck dive - the Veronica L
Dive 5 - Resident seahorse on the Veronica L
Dive 5 - Kevin on the Veronica L
After spending a couple of hours going through our post which had been brought out by Donna, Sean and I headed out to make the most of his last day. I took him on one of the local reggae buses to Grand Anse beach where we met with Donna and Mark and had a roti which Sean had not yet tried before heading to the beach to swim in the crystal clear waters. I left him there to head back and let Alex and Kevin back into the boat and take them their roti’s coming back later to collect Sean having had plenty of sun to improve his colour before he grabbed his bags at the boat and headed to the airport, being the only ones on the bus back we persuaded the driver to take him to the airport. We said our goodbyes, but Sean has vowed to be a regular visitor and we hope to see him again before the end of the year. We got a text to say he was safely at the airport, checked in with a Carib watching the cricket, so he was sorted.
When they returned from diving Alex, Kevin and I took to the hotel pool to escape the heat on the boat where Alex completed the theory lessons for her PADI course from her book. She needs to hand this in the next day to make sure she completes everything in time before she leaves. Kevin had a swim and went straight to sleep, after a deep dive that morning and all the running around we are both shattered.
Kevin, Alex and I took the opportunity to have a family meal together on the boat that evening, Alex getting to eat the last piece of our Mahi Mahi with us, which she thoroughly approved us. We also saw Kate & Jonny for a quick beer as they called by say their goodbyes before they head off for Bonaire having finally received the Raymarine parts they had been waiting for that afternoon having been stuck in customs since Thursday. Again, it is strange to be saying goodbye to Kate and Jonny with whom we have been in regular contact for months all the way through our planning and cruising until now. However, we said that as we had been the forward reccy party this long having been slightly ahead of them until Grenada, it was their turn to search out all the best spots in the Pacific. Hopefully we will see them when they settle in Australia for Jonny’s 2 year transfer to the Sydney office.
This morning was another busy day as we sadly checked out of our hotel room and delivered everything back to the boat, in the drizzling rain which was unfortunately in for the day. We said our final goodbyes to Barry and Marie-Jeanne before we dashed to meet the minibus, we wish them well on their onward journey and hope to see them in an anchorage somewhere soon.
View over St. George's
Today we had arranged for an Island Tour for those of wedding guests who were still around as a thank you for them coming out to see us all the way to Grenada. The centre of the island is so different to the more populated coastal regions being mountainous and covered in rain forest, with many rivers and waterfall, one of which was only discovered in the last couple of years, the vegetation being so dense and ground so steep. Alastair our tour guide arrived exactly on time with my parents already in the minibus and collected those of us from True Blue and them Donna & Mark at the Allamanda Hotel.
Carvings from the original native Carib Indians which are just on the road side
The route of the tour took us round the outskirts of St. George’s through the richer and poorer areas and overlooking the Carenage and dock areas past the newly built National stadium built by the Chinese for Grenada, Alastair provided a very informative commentary through the whole trip. Next we went up the Concord Waterfall where he pointed out Cocoa trees, local speciality Callalo, Papaya, nutmeg and banana growing literally on the road side. He stopped the bus at the falls where we took some pictures and tried a drinking coconut provided by the two brothers with shops there where we bought up lots locally grown spices such as saffron, bay leaves and nutmeg which cost a fraction of the UK and smelt so much more strongly flavoured. We also bought a couple of hands of small local bananas which tasted so much sweeter than those we get in England.
Alex enjoying coconut milk beside Concord waterfall
Next we travelled up the west coast of the island through the large local town of Gouyave the fishing tow on Grenada which looked quite prosperous, we saw people fishing stood on rocks in the bay and the local brightly coloured open fishing boats. We then went through the more forested area where Alastair pointed out the devastation to the trees on the island caused by Hurricane Ivan in Sept 2004 which also damaged 90% of the residential properties and I think 25% of schools. He also described how some of the 39 deaths were caused by the hurricane shelters come to meet those people heading to them.
We visited Dougalston Spice Plantation, which also run down looks like it had just been closed up and left since the last century with an office at the back with yellow receipts pierced on a peg and large dusty ledger books. The drying racks are still full of cocoa beans and one of the huts has been given over to the numerous people providing tours of the island where samples of the spices are laid out to see and smell including branches of cinnamon which also just grows at the side of the road. Obviously one of the local land owners does not appreciate being part of the tour though as he’d hung up signs on his cinnamon trees saying “stop messing with my trees” and “can’t you tour guides read” etc which were just as much fun.
Views over the interior of Grenada rainforest
A Eucalyptus tree in Grenada!
We then crossed the centre the island over the Belvedere road which tracks between the peaks of the island via hairpin bends and rain forests. There is not a house to be seen in most of the centre, through there is a small village quite high up who descend from the original Carib Indians the original native settlers whose appearance was much more south American. We were all amazed by the abundance of the island which must be ideal for anything to grown with the rich soils and alternating rain and sunshine, we saw various local fruits such as sour sop and apple and various others whose names escape me plus more recognisable oranges, lemons, mangoes, avocados and the imported sugar canes plus many beautiful exotic flowers such as birds of paradise growing in vast numbers.
We visited a crater lake which must be between 1000-2000ft above sea level and is used as a fresh water reservoir so no swimming is now allowed, although it was freezing up there and very misty really quite eerie. Onwards through the Forest Centre the National Park area before he dropped us all back out our hotels. We’d all enjoyed a great day out and definitely felt we’d seen a different side of the island.
When we got back to True Blue we were greeted by Paul and Lynn from White Hawk, a Lagoon catamaran who picked their boat up from Sables D’Olonne just up the coast from La Rochelle only a a few weeks before we got Invincible and with whom we have been in email contact for well over a year since the planning stages who’d just arrived in Grenada. Jonny and Kate joined us to meet them as they would be sailing the same route onwards and also Paul and Lynne had emigrated to Australia a few years before were destined for the same place. It was really good to finally meeting albeit for a short time on our journey’s as they were heading off on Thursday to Les Roques an island off Venezuela.
It now being 5pm and having still had no lunch, we headed out to grab some food and met with Donna and Mark (now being late for our lunch appointment with them). However, we had a few beers and a pizza as recommended by Mark and chosen by Sean who was on the last night of his trip, where had the last week gone!
