We awoke to rain showers in the morning but it was easy to see that the sky clearing and it was going to be a nice day.
We finished breakfast and then prepared to leave the lagoon for Prickly Bay.
It was a short distance, a little over 7 miles, but it was directly into the wind for most of the trip. We hugged the shore and made our way there motoring in less than 2 hours.
After lunch, we removed the staysail. Both sails need to come off but the winds, although light were still too strong to try to drop the large sail.
While waiting for the wind to become lighter, we jumped overboard and went for a swim checking the bottom side for barnacles. The lagoon is a wonderful breeding ground for barnacles but after having anchored there for a little over a month, we didn’t have many. The ones we have however are on the very bottom and edges of the keel. I’ll call tomorrow and arrange for George (Survival Anchorage) to clean it wearing his scuba tanks.
The wind never did become light enough before dark, so removing the headsail will be on the to-do list for tomorrow.
It was a perfect night for sleeping. The sky was full of stars and the breeze was enough to cool the air and provide a gentle rocking motion to the boat. This bay can get quite rolly but it remained calm last night.
We didn’t take full advantage of the perfect night as Rick awoke a little after 1AM with some heavy duty pain. We quickly diagnosed it as a kidney stone or kidney infection but the pain kept us both up until daylight. I tried to give him a painkiller and some antibiotics but he couldn’t keep them down.
When daylight arrived, I was promoted from admiral to captain, which meant I was now the doer. The first task I had was to get the dinghy in the water. It’s very easy to lower the dingy from the davits but it’s not so easy to get into it and remove the davit lines. Rick normally does a monkey act by getting off the side of the boat, swinging himself around to the stern and then steps gently down onto the top of the outboard motor and then finally into the dinghy. I am not as agile as he is but I did develop my own monkey routine and was able to detach the dinghy from the davit lines.
Next, I wanted to get him ashore so we could go to either the hospital or the doctor’s office so he could have an injection for the pain. Since the pain was coming in waves, we waited for it to abate and then got into the dinghy and headed for shore.
When we reached shore, I called Tony (a taxi) and had him take us to the hospital emergency. It was packed so I told him instead to take us to the Dr. Isaac’s Office.
Rick had been managing very well with no extreme pain since we had left the boat well over 40 minutes ago.
We arrived at the Doctors office to find it packed as well but we were seen almost immediately by Dr. Martin, which was good because the pain had returned. The doctor gave him and injection for the pain, which took affect almost immediately. He then wrote out a prescription for three different medications. (This doctor also works in the hospital emergency and he told us that we shouldn’t have paid any notice to the number of people we saw there. Rick would have been taken in immediately. The majority of people sitting in the emergency area are there for non-emergency procedures.)
Since Rick was now “feeling no pain”, we took the bus back to the marina. The taxi ride into town from Prickly had cost us more than the visit to the doctor.
The rest of the afternoon was spent resting and drinking water.
It was a nice surprise that Rick was able to sleep well throughout the night. In the morning, he even made the coffee. I made him a breakfast of a soft-boiled egg with whole-wheat toast and he said it tasted wonderful. I don’t know what is in the drugs he is taking but they certainly are working.
He topped the generator up with gas for me (in case he has a relapse later) and we both took down the headsail while the winds were very light.
I made a phone call to George, (Survival Anchorage) and he will come tomorrow morning to clean the bottom of the boat.
Turbulence Marine called us and asked that we bring the boat to dock at 9AM on Thursday morning so that they can remove the fore and aft stays and furlers. This and the bobstays on the bow is the portion of the rigging that we have decided to replace this season.
Rick fell asleep again by 10:30AM. I read a book while he slept. It feels like we are actually cruising again. Here in Prickly Bay we have no WiFi or TV.
Prickly Bay lived up to it’s reputation last night. Initially I thought it was the changing tide that was creating the strong wave action. It was well after midnight and well after the change in tide when we decided it was just a swell and we would have to put up with all night. Along with the swell there was a nice light breeze that might have compensated for the roll except the breeze brought rain showers so we were up and down the rest of the night opening and closing hatches and ports.
We did sleep off and on throughout the night and eventually awoke to a beautiful sunny day.
George (Survival Anchorage) arrived at 10:30AM and spent until noon cleaning the bottom of the boat.
When George was finished, Rick took him ashore and returned for me. We went back into town to pick up the few remaining items on our grocery list.
On the way back, the bus took us right to The Big Fish Restaurant where our dinghy was tied.
The wind changed direction overnight from the southeast to the northeast. The change of direction and the fact it was a little stronger gave us a good night sleep with only one shower before midnight.
After we had finished listening to the SSB weather while eating breakfast, we got the boat ready to take to dock. Our appointment for use of the haulout slip, which is the only thing like a dock, was for 9AM GMT. This is not “Greenwich Mean Time but “Grenada Maybe Time” As we got close enough to the haulout, we could see that there was a large local boat in the slip where we were supposed to go. We held the boat outside of the slip area and circled for more than half an hour until the other boat left.
Once in the slip, it only took the rigger (Wayne) about an hour to remove the two forward stays and furlers. He suggested we anchor just off the coast guard station. We did exactly that but then one of the coast guards told us we weren’t supposed to anchor there and we would have to move. After a little discussion, he agreed to let us stay for a few hours until we had to go back into the haulout slip. We promised him we would not be there overnight.
Wayne called for us to return to the slip at around 3PM. He and his helper, Sheldon, put the two head stays back up. They will finish the rest tomorrow.
In order to stay reasonably close to the haulout, we anchored on a lee shore for the night. With nothing other than a large rock cliff on shore, two boat lengths behind us, a tropical wave passed by overnight. Lately there hasn’t been much in the tropical waves but this one packed a punch. The winds howled but thankfully, our anchor held well.
Wayne arrived just after a squall at 9AM in the morning. He removed and took the existing backstay and bobstay with the bowsprit shrouds back to the shop. While removing the backstay he did find a broken wire so our timing to replace it was good.
While Wayne and Rick were reassembling the staysail furler unit, a small spacer piece broke. There was nothing that could be done to finish it today. Everything else was complete and Wayne who knew we did not like being in Prickly Bay said he would come around to the lagoon next week when he had a replacement part for us.
Rick and I put the headsail back up and left the staysail bagged for now.
We finally had a non-rainy non-rolly night in Prickly. Breakfast was served while we listened to Eric give his weather forecast on the SSB. We really didn’t need a forecast, we could see the heavy black clouds forming to the east of us. It was going to be a nasty weekend thanks to another tropical wave that was almost on top of us.
Seeing as it was only 7 miles back to the lagoon and we both chose to weather the storm on the seas or in the lagoon rather than where we were.
It should have been a quick run back to the lagoon with the wind behind us but the current against us kept us at times to less than 2 knots.
We got a little wet on the way and at times had difficulty seeing St. George’s through the low dark clouds but in just over two hours, we were there.
Now, being there and being anchored are two different things. I think it took us at least another hour and four attempts to find the perfect little spot where Wind-Borne (and Rick) could swing content at anchor.
It was such a good feeling to be back in the lagoon. I had a nice warm shower (engine had been running) and cooked up a large pot of beef stew for dinner.
Rodney, one of the fishermen we knew from Carriacou came by. He recognized us and asked if we wanted some fish. We didn’t really but we said yes. He cleaned a bunch of lovely butterfish for us. I froze some and kept a couple in the fridge for tomorrow nights dinner.
The rain and the wind continued but there was “NO ROLL”. We had WiFi and TV again although we weren’t interested in the television. Life was good.
We read, typed and skyped during the day waiting for another tropical wave to pass.
Well today we finally found a turkey but it was frozen solid and it was too late to consider thawing it. Didn’t matter, we were still able to be thankful for many things. The most recent being that we and the boat are both in one piece.
Our boat has not dragged in a few years and it chose today to do it big time. This harbour is very silty on the bottom so rather than back down real hard on the anchor when setting it, we tend to let it settle itself into the silt. Well, it settled itself nicely for a couple of days during which we had some strong winds but today, without warning it chose to let go. I say without warning, but we were warned and ignored it. I was below and Rick was on deck when the anchor alarm went off. I checked the downstairs compass and said “Oh!, winds from the south, that’s unusual”. Rick replied that it certainly was. I reset the anchor alarm and we both continued with what we were doing. It was about fifteen minutes later when he called down and said “We’re dragging!”. We were dragging right down on a large catamaran. Luckily, they were onboard to help fend us off.
Rick quickly went to start the engine. It wouldn’t start. All of this time it’s been running great and now it decided not to start. He helped fend off the other boat while I took over the engine. In no time, the captain from another catamaran, anchored nearby came rushing over with his dinghy and powered us ahead that using his dinghy.
I steered while Rick got the anchor up and then we reset it. Using our dinghy we deployed our secondary anchor as well. Hopefully this would give us time to have a look at the engine.
Rick found that there was no fuel getting to the engine. He mentioned that he had placed a very long (rolled up) piece of fuel hose between the Racor filter and the fuel pump which is exactly where there was no fuel. He decided that maybe a much shorter hose would be better and he would change it once we had the boat anchored securely. We bled the air out and started the engine. The secondary anchor he tied to a float and let it go. We raised the primary anchor and found a nice nearby spot to set it. This time regardless of the silt bottom, I backed down hard on it and watched the bow swing as the anchor set.
The winds were still gusting strongly but we felt secure. Rick fixed the engine and then left to go pick up a few groceries. When he returned, I asked him if he was pleased to find the boat and me where he had left us. He was.
We cleaned up and relaxed for a while. It had been a stressful morning.
In the evening, we met Graham and Ann at the yacht club for sundowners.
The tropical wave is still with us and moving West very slowly.
In the morning, Rick polished the cockpit while I gathered laundry and washed the cockpit cushions.
Wayne, the rigger from Turbulence called just after lunch. He had the part that broke on our staysail furler. He would drive around from Prickly Bay but would need a dinghy ride from the yacht club to the boat.
He arrived and had and exact replica of the broken part custom made for us. He and Rick installed it but they needed one more little thinga-ma-jig. Wayne returned to the shop and stopped by again on his way home from work. The job was finished and we were extremely pleased with Wayne’s skill as a rigger and his customer service.
Even though the tropical wave is still with us, we had no rain over night.
After breakfast, Rick took one of our propane tanks to Grand Mall and had it filled.
Today, the first cruise ship of the season arrived in Grenada and it just happened to be a Canadian ship from Vancouver B.C. It seems a little early for cruise ships because hurricane season doesn’t officially end until November 30th. We know however that the locals are extremely pleased to see it here. The ships bring in a lot of revenue to local tour companies and taxis that have had very little work during the last few months.
On shore in the lagoon, a bulldozer began clearing land. There has been talk for at least five years of a grand marina that is to be built in the lagoon. It would appear that work has begun on it. I’m sure it will be beautiful but most probably when it is finished, anchoring will no longer allowed in the lagoon. It will be a shame because it is a wonderful picturesque anchorage very convenient to everything. Most yachties will probably not be able to afford the marina fees and have to anchor somewhere else like rolly Prickly Bay or one of the other bays where transportation downtown is awkward.
Everything we wanted to have done in Grenada is done.
We took a bus to Prickly Bay in the morning and paid our bill for the new rigging. On the way back we stopped at a few stores and picked up some items that our friends in Carriacou had requested we bring back for them.
We returned to the boat and started to prepare for departure. We don’t want to leave tomorrow because we are going out for dinner tomorrow night with Graham and Ann. Saturday looks like the best departure day.
It was a great day! We tidied and cleaned the boat. I backed up the computer, defragged the hard drive and created our new route to Carriacou. Rick went to the grocery store and stocked up on potatoes as we got word that there aren’t any available in Carriacou. I think we have enough for the whole island. I baked macaroni and cheese for an easy lunch underway tomorrow.
The jack lines were placed on deck. The outboard was removed from our dinghy and the dinghy raised in the davits for an early departure in the morning.
Graham and Ann (Rasi) picked us up in their dinghy and we went to the Ocean Grill in the Carenage. Everyone had a great meal and we were nicely chauffeured back to our boat.
When we awoke, the sky was extremely black and there were large towering cumulus clouds in every direction. We delayed our departure for an hour and during that time the sky began to clear.
The sea was like a millpond on the leeward side of the island. We had tea and cookies underway. When we reached the end of Grenada and set out toward Carriacou, the waves were about 3 to 5 feet and there was a strong but not large swell on the ocean from the northeast. The winds were 5 to 10 knots so overall we couldn’t have asked for a nicer day. We had sunshine and blue skies all the way to Carriacou. The baked macaroni I prepared yesterday made the perfect lunch.
It was 2:30PM when we arrived and the Hash House Harriers were setting off on a walk/run from L’Esterre at 3:45PM. We probably could have made it if we really wanted to but instead we decided to join them afterwards at the yacht club for dinner.
Just as we were about to have a little siesta, Sherwin came by with his brand new boat. It was custom built for him in Petit Martinique and it was just launched a week ago. He came aboard and joined us for happy hour. Gary (Elusive) dinghied over to say hello and so did Rick and Susan (Panacea).
We went to the yacht club for dinner with all of the Hashers that had come up on the ferry from Grenada. Kendra who works for Trevor at the yacht club was excited to see us back. Ronny, the barbecue chef picked out a nice piece of fish and chicken for our plate. Trevor said hi and later passed the word on to Fitzroy that we had returned. Fitzroy came looking for us and joined us sitting on the grass. Every one had said “welcome home” rather than “welcome back” which is why we love it here so much.
The first order of business in the morning was to trim Rick’s locks. We went ashore in the dinghy and sat under the shade of the big Manchineel tree. As he sat on an upside down pail, I cut his hair. When he was feeling much cooler and a little light-headed, we went in for a swim.
Whenever Rick has a hair cut on the beach it is usually time to clean the bottom of the dinghy and today was no exception. While he was working away and I was floating around in the water, Norbert saw us as he was driving by and stopped to say hello.
The turquoise water was so extremely clear that while I was standing in it and talking to Rick, I looked down and could see the white sand and tiny fish swimming around my feet and legs. I could just walk around with the water at shoulder height looking down through the water instead of dawning snorkel gear.
When Rick was finished with the dinghy, we returned to the boat and had just enough time for a quick shower before heading to shore again for lunch at Fitzroy’s. He outdid himself with all of the food preparations. We had callaloo with ochre, peas and rice, fried sweet plantain, boiled christophene with carrots and a huge platter of roasted chicken wings. Lunch was at 12:30PM and about an hour later Gordon from Dream Catcher stopped by. There was plenty of food left for him to have some. We had a wonderful afternoon and it was 4:30PM by the time we returned to our boat.
After breakfast, Rick went ashore and said hello to everyone at the Haulout. I washed the sunshades and started to clean the water maker. I used one chemical today and I will use the second and last tomorrow.
In the afternoon, Luciana came by for a visit. We had picked up a list of items for her in Grenada and she was pleased to see we had been able to get everything on the list.
We had a pleasant dinner in the cockpit.
Cleaning the water maker became an all day job. We had recalibrated the water tester and the PPM’s (parts per million) were much higher than they should have been. While switching the intake and output to clean the water maker membrane I lost the prime in the pumps. It took forever to get them primed again.
It was late in the afternoon by the time the chemical had soaked for a few hours in the membrane. We ran the water maker for a few hours after that knowing that this particular chemical will throw the PPM’s more out of whack for a while. Rick went and bought bottled water for drinking which we will continue to use until the PPM’s are back in an acceptable range.
We had a doctor’s appointment at the new clinic downtown for our yearly physical. We had visited almost all of the specialists in Grenada but wanted to support the new clinic in Carriacou for our regular check-up. The check-ups were very thorough with all of the modern equipment available.
Afterwards we were both starving as we had fasted for our blood test. We went down the road a little to a restaurant “Callaloo by the Sea”. There we both had a banana smoothy, callaloo soup and chicken. Dinner was deemed unnecessary this evening.
Rick went ashore in the morning and while he was gone I washed the bimini and dodger. It needed a good scrub and I needed to use the water so we could continue making more.
It was a nice day and the best part was at sundown. We have been sitting in the cockpit for a couple of months having our sundowners with absolutely nothing to watch. No boats have been moving. Officially, the end of hurricane season is November 30th however this has been such an el Nina year with almost no storms, the boats are starting to move. We counted at least 5 masts heading up from the south.
We are also getting ready to move north next week as well (weather dependant).
The weather was beautiful. There was still very little wind and not a cloud in sight. We went into town in the morning returning to the boat by noon.
I was invited to a ladies only birthday party for Georgina (the calabash lady) on Angel's Rest. Angel's Rest is the floating bar in the bay. The bar is really a platform on a couple of large pontoons with a wood roof covered with palm leaves, it's wide open with no walls. I dinghied over and shortly after my arrival the sky began to turn black. It looked like a good squall was going to hit us, which provided a little excitement since many of the ladies were landlubber's not cruiser's. The much-needed rain was very heavy and the winds gusted at times up to 40 knots. It was not just a single squall going through, there was one after another.
Although it was very wet, there was no damper on our party. We had a great time. The party started to break up about 4:30PM. I returned to the boat and found Rick had spent the afternoon making callaloo soup while I was gone.
We had the soup for dinner and went to bed with the squalls continuing to pass by.
Sometime during the night, the rain stopped but the winds did not let up. I would be in a sound sleep and suddenly awake with sound of a load roar coming toward us. As each gust passed I would dose off again only to be awakened with the next strong roar a while later.
Well before lunch, the sky cleared and Rick went into town to fill a jerry can while I washed a lot of hand laundry. Although the rain had stopped, the winds were still very strong and it was a good drying day.
In the afternoon, Luciana came over and joined us for early sundowners.
We had a lot to do today. Rick took down hatch covers and prepared the deck for leaving tomorrow. I defrosted and cleaned the fridge, made some potato salad, coleslaw and roasted a chicken.
In the afternoon, Rick went to town to check out with immigration and customs. Sunday is not a good day to do this. The buses are few and far between. Their schedule and routes seem to be coordinated with the different church services and locations. Rick walked most of the way to and from town.
Checking out with immigration was not a problem but when he went to see the customs officer, he found the door locked. Evidently, he had just missed the customs officer who decided to close for the rest of the day. We had hoped to leave early tomorrow morning but we'll have to make a short stop in Hillsborough to finish checking out.
When Rick returned to the boat, I mentioned that the compressor on the fridge had not shut off since I had turned it back on. He thought he noticed it acting up earlier this morning so wasn't surprised but had to spend the rest of the afternoon adjusting the inside of the thermostat to get the settings correct. In the end, he had to remove the existing thermostat and install a new one.
Recognising that we would probably be without WiFi for a while, I reorganized our mail programs so that the web mistress could change the routing of our email to the Ham radio again.
If we really believed the weather forecast, we would have never raised the anchor or the sails today. The ITCZ (Inter Tropical Convergence Zone) was very active and Trinidad, Tobago and to a lesser extent, Grenada were to receive heavy rain, lightening and wind gusts of 30 knots. More than likely the storms and cloud cover would expand northward and affect all of the Grenadine islands.
It was 7:30AM when we left Tyrrel Bay under blue sky and sunshine. In Hillsborough we checked out with customs (a 2 minute job), picked up a few groceries and said goodbye to our Hillsborough friends.
Back at the boat it took us a while to put the groceries away, lift the
dinghy, raise the sail and haul anchor.
It was one of the smoothest passages between the two islands that we remember. The winds were from the northeast, which was of course the direction we were headed so we motor sailed. It was an incoming tide so the waves and swell were a gentle 4 to 6 feet. We hailed Joe and Elaine (Island Girl) who we saw headed in the opposite direction with all of their sails up looking very pretty.
We arrived in Union Island at 12:30PM. I had tried to call Buda our favourite Union Island boat boy but his phone was turned off. We were just getting ready to drop the anchor behind the reef when a speedboat raced up beside us. He had almost missed his chance. It was Skipper, Buda's brother. We negotiated a deal for his mooring, which saved us the bother of setting the anchor for one night. (I think Rick is hoping for an electric windlass for Christmas)
After a nice lunch and a short rest, we went ashore to check in with St. Vincent customs and immigration. On the way back to the boat we walked through town and found almost everything closed for siesta.
We had planned to leave at 8AM however, breakfast was finished, dishes were washed and we were ready to cast off the mooring lines at 7:30AM.
The winds were forecast to be 10 to 15 knots from the northeast again. This was exactly direction we were headed so it was good to get a head start before the winds picked up as they were still very light and almost non-existent.
We made our way around the reef at Union Island and headed first for the island of Mayreau. We motor sailed right by a couple of anchorages there that we really like, Saline Bay and Salt Whistle Bay. It would have been a good time to spend some a while in Salt Whistle Bay, which becomes very crowded in non-hurricane season. However, we had places to go and people to see.
The short passage from Mayreau to the island of Canouan was extremely gentle. Normally the seas can get very confused and rough in this area. We motor sailed along the coast of Canouan and turned northeast toward Petit Canouan. Here we found the confused seas. There was a good strong ocean swell coming from the northeast. The outgoing tide was behind us and a 2 knot current on our beam. We crabbed our way toward Petit Canouan and it seemed to take forever. Once we finally made it passed the tiny little island we were back in the ocean and away from the confused seas. We had Mustique in sight we were motoring and the seas were calm and flat.
We picked up a mooring in Britannia Bay. The moorings are free but we had to pay to visit the island. You pay for a minimum of three days regardless of the fact you may only want to spend one day. The harbour master was very sweet, and gave us a deal, as our boat size was just over the line from one price to the higher price. There weren't many boats in the bay and most that were here were charter boats. We only saw one other cruising boat. The crystal clear water reminded us of Bonaire. You don't have to get in the water to snorkel you can sea everything from the boat or dinghy. That didn't mean that we weren't going for a swim.
Once we had the sail covers on and the dinghy in the water we went ashore. The main purpose of our visit to Mustique was to deliver a large bag of painted calabash bowls to the gift shop for Georgina (the calabash lady) on Carriacou.
We walked along the shore and came almost immediately to Treasure Boutiques
where we were to find Johanna who wanted the calabash. We quickly learned that
everything on the island closes between 12PM and 3PM, everything that is except
Basil's Bar. What else could we do, we had to visit one of the most famous bars
in the Caribbean for lunch. We both had a Basil's Salad and Rick had some fries.
Lunch was expensive but it was so good it was worth it.
We left there and stopped in a small grocery store. Our big find there was a bottle of malt vinegar. We are still rationing the small bottle we picked up in Bonaire from our friends at the Lost Penguin Restaurant.
Two young boys came into the shop while we were there. They had the true
British white skin that I'm sure would burn to a crisp after three minutes in
the sun. They were very quiet and polite, I thought they must be tourists who
had just arrived. We left before them but passed them again as they were coming
out of the store a few minutes later. They smiled and nodded as they crossed the
street and got into their chauffeur driven SUV. We have no idea who they were
but they obviously belong to someone with a home on the island.
We returned to the boat for a short siesta before going over to one of the "Sunsail charter boats" for sundowners. This is a little unusual to be invited aboard a charter boat but we had stopped by to say hello when we saw them flying a Canadian Power Squadron flag. They were from Trenton, Ontario and Montreal, Quebec.
Normally when cruisers do "sundowners" we eat away at snacks and don't bother with dinner afterwards. Well, we had been there a while when Rick suddenly noticed that they were down below trying to prepare their dinner. We quickly made our exit and returned to our own boat. Within minutes after our departure, we saw the flames of their barbecue. It was 7:30PM and they were probably starving as well as tired. We were just tired so went to bed early.
Thanksgiving Day in Grenada (we missed another opportunity for turkey)
We
awoke to another perfect day in paradise. It is very expensive to tour the
island by taxi or to do it ourselves by renting a mechanical mule (large golf
cart). We took the cruisers way out and went for a walk instead. Before going
anywhere, we first stopped at the Sweetie Pie Bakery (a true French bakery) and
purchased a couple of Danishes and a fresh baked baguette.
It isn't far from the little shops along the shore to the village so we headed up the hill toward the village. It was a steep hill and as we rounded each bend, it continued further up hill. When we arrived in the village huffing and puffing, we found the post office a police station and a church. That was it! Other than that, we only saw a small local bar.
We walked down another hill knowing that when we got to the bottom the only
way back was uphill again. It was a great walk and I'm glad we did it at 9:30 in
the morning because when we returned to the boat we were both extremely hot and
flushed. We drank a gallon of water and rested in the shade for a while.
It was then finally time to go in for a swim. With snorkel mask dawned I jumped in first. Rick tossed some stale bread overboard and sure enough, the Sergeant Major fish raced to the surface. I was swimming around waiting for Rick when I happened to notice that our mooring lines were tangled in such a way that we would never be able to release them from onboard. They had wrapped around each other and around the mooring so many times that it looked like a rats nest. Rick released one line and bit by bit, I was able to untangle it. The second line was a little easier because it was just tangled around itself and the mooring. We shortened the lines significantly, as there is no wind causing a strain on the mooring and it would be nice to not have to go through this again when we are ready to leave.
When Rick joined me in the water we swam a little way to the south where there is a good size reef. We found a lot of dead coral on the reef, however there was still a nice variety of tropical fish.
When we climbed back aboard it was time for a quick shower and lunch before our afternoon siesta.
There was no wind overnight so the mooring ball once in a while sounded like it was going to come through the hull and join us in bed.
Rick left the dinghy down overnight just in case we needed it to untangle the mooring lines again. Sure enough, they were wrapped all around the mooring chain. The moorings are extremely good and strong here but they have a swivel above and below the ball which causes everything to twist.
We released the mooring about 8:30AM and headed past the Pillories which are a grouping of very small islands. We travelled up the windward side of Bequia with east winds and again a good ocean swell. When we reached the tip of Bequia the swells got quite nasty. Rick managed very well without a Stugeron (sea sickness pill). The large rolls only lasted a few miles and then we were back in the normal seas.
It was 11:30AM when we arrived at the Blue Lagoon on the south coast of St. Vincent. Graham and Ann (Rasi) told us they had a good mooring here marked with a floating plastic bottle with the name Rasi on it, very close to the channel markers. We found a plastic bottle but there was nothing written on it. The sun probably bleached it off in less than a month. It might have been their mooring or it might also have been a fish trap. Without their name, we weren't going to take a chance. I called one of the charter companies (TMM) in the lagoon and they had a mooring available at a great price. We took it and settled into the protection of the lagoon for what is supposed to be a very blustery weekend.
Our guide through the reef and mooring master was Rohan, We followed him to the mooring and he helped with our lines. Once we were back in ship shape with sail covers etc. we went ashore to the marina office.
After checking in with the office and paying for the mooring we went upstairs to the Green Flash bar and had a nice salad for lunch.
We returned to the boat and had a short siesta. Rick filled the generator and the dinghy fuel tank then went back to the marina for water and bagels.
He returned to the boat in time for George's cocktail weather net on the SSB. With no WiFi we have returned to listening to the daily weather nets.
A strong tropical wave passed through the island chain today. This was the main reason that we tucked into the Blue Lagoon. The wave has a low-pressure centre that has a very good spin on it and it's located at 13 degrees north which is our latitude. They are not forecasting it to develop into a tropical depression or storm. There is a lot of lightening and wind associated with it. The seas are forecast to go from flat to 9 feet or more. It will not pass our location until this evening so we wanted to get out and enjoy the day while the sun was shining.
I turned on the television this morning to see if we received any channels. We are receiving two channels and the first one identified that this is Independence Day in .Vincent. They have been independent for 27 years. A parade is to take place at Victoria Park but there was no mention of the time. We later learned that the parade was underway while we were seeing it announced at 9AM.
Since everything was closed today we decided to explore by dinghy. We travelled along the shore and went through Young Island cut. There were a lot of restaurants along the shore there and we decided to stop and check the menus. There is a public dock there where we could secure the dinghy. It took us all of 20 minutes to check the menus so we went up to the main road and went for a walk. It was very hot even when we tried to stay in the shade as we walked up and down the hills. When we turned back toward where we left the dinghy I suggested we get on a bus and just ride it into downtown Kingstown and back again.
A bus ride in Carriacou is $3EC in Grenada is $2EC and here in St. Vincent it is $1EC. We have determined that the price relates in some way to the fear factor that the drivers provide. We thought that the bus drivers in Grenada were fast and reckless but they don't even come close to the drivers in St. Vincent. We experienced two separate bus rides and they were both wild. As the bus races up and down the hills and around the curves with the reggae music blaring even the local's as they try to talk on their cell phone all hold on for dear life.
When we returned to the dinghy dock we were ready for lunch. We chose the Lime'n Pub whose menu seemed impressive. By the time we finished lunch we could see some dark clouds on the horizon and thought it a smart time to return to the boat.
In the evening, we closed most of the ports before going to bed. We could see lightening off in the distance and rather than have to scramble later to close up we thought we would be prepared.
We had a wonderful night with only a short shower around midnight. The low-pressure centre turned northwest and went through the island chain at 14 degrees, a little north of us. We never did get the winds or the lightening that had been forecast but the temperature did drop a little making it comfortable for sleeping.
A little residue of the tropical wave lingered around during the day. Dark clouds and stronger winds but that helped to cool things down a little more.
We braved the bus ride back into Kingstown again as it was market day. This
time we lucked out with an older and not quite as fast a bus driver. In fact, he
didn't even play any music never mind loud music.
We went specifically to the market hoping to get some lettuce. I have been trying to serve more leafy green vegetables. We can always order a salad in the restaurant but they must have a secret source for the lettuce. Anyway, we did get some fresh vegetables and I did find a very small sad looking head of lettuce that I felt was better than nothing. I also bought many bunches of callaloo. Callaloo is a local vegetable on the island that can only be compared to spinach but a very tough spinach. It can be eaten cooked as a vegetable or it makes a nice soup but cannot be eaten raw. It's the only leafy green we find here other than cabbage, which we already eat frequently as coleslaw.
When we returned to the boat we found our mooring lines tangled around the ball. After going through the untangling process we put our groceries away and read for a while.
In the afternoon, I washed some laundry and Rick relaxed and read some more. He commented that with using moorings rather than anchoring this last week he feels like he is on a vacation.
It was late in the day by the time the laundry was finished but I decided to hang it to dry overnight. After losing a pair of shorts that flew off the line in Tyrrel Bay, I wouldn't normally leave the laundry unattended but Ann (Rasi) brought me some amazing clothes pegs from Britain that are storm proof. I put the laundry out just before dark.
I guess the forecast was a little off schedule because the winds arrived with a vengeance. I awoke and was certain that if I didn't do something with the clothes that were hanging on deck they would be shredded by morning. It had only been a few hours but as I worked my way along the deck in the wind to check them, I found that they were dry enough to come below.
The winds were 20 to 25 knots gusting to 30 and above all night long. In a bay of cruising boats this would have been fine but we were in a lagoon of charter boats (TMM, Sunsail, Footloose and Barefoot Charters) with no one onboard the boats. The boat directly in front of us had a halyard banging to beat the band. I would have slept well except for that.
When we finished breakfast, I went back to bed until almost 9AM (decadent).
We didn't have anything planned for the day. I helped Rick transfer the jerry
can fuel into the tanks and relaxed the rest of the morning.
In the afternoon, we went ashore and made use of the pool for a while. The wind had caused the temperatures to drop down to the mid 80 degrees, which felt very cool to us. The pool water was warmer so we just stayed almost submerged for the afternoon.
On our return to the boat we both commented that the winds felt a little lighter. We will still sit for a few days. The seas are over 10 feet and the only boats moving are the charter boats. These people have two weeks of vacation and they will go out in any weather. Not us, we have forever.
The seas are still high and the winds are 20 knots plus.
Since we are stuck in St. Vincent, we decided to take a tour of the island. Ivan, a taxi driver who we met on Saturday agreed to pick us up at 9:30AM and give us a half-day tour of the southern portion of the island. Actually, he would have liked to give us an all day tour of the whole island but we told him we could only afford a half day.
I took the dirty laundry ashore and left it with the laundry ladies while Rick disposed of garbage. We sat in the restaurant and had a coffee until it was time to meet Ivan.
We had a great tour of the southern half of the island. As we crossed through
the middle of the island, the view of the lush mountains and valleys was
spectacular. Bananas, which are the main export of St. Vincent, were growing
everywhere.
We stopped at Fort Charlotte where we met Anthony who was an excellent guide. He told us a lot of the island history and escorted us around the fort. When we looked over the cliff from the fort, on the south side of the hill we could see where there was an abandoned leper colony. Similar to the one in Trinidad, the trees and vines have taken over and the buildings soon will be totally hidden. On the west side of the hill, looking down from the fort is the women's prison complete with a gallows. St. Vincent still has capital punishment however there hasn't been a hanging in many years. Next to the fort on top of the hill sits St. Vincent Signal Station. There we met the lady whose voice we often hear calling the large vessels on the VHF radio.
The British built Fort Charlotte during their occupation of St. Vincent. The
canons in the fort face toward land and were used as a threat rather than toward
the sea for protection. It was interesting to see this just a few days after the
Island celebrated 27 years of independence.
Halloween isn't celebrated in St. Vincent (so we bought our own candies)
Nikki and Peter (Bageera) arrived in the lagoon late yesterday and came by to say hello. We were all going into town some time in the morning so agreed to meet for lunch.
Rick and I first went to Customs and Immigration to check out of the country. We stopped at an internet café and then later bought some new sunglasses from one of the street vendors. I am having internet withdrawal pains as we haven't had WiFi since Tyrrel Bay. It's bad once you get used to having internet access in some bays, you expect to find it everywhere.
We met Nikki and Peter at The Bounty Restaurant for a nice lunch and then went our separate ways again. Rick and I walked over to the new cruise ship terminal. There was a cruise ship in port and many security guards checking passes of everyone going into the terminal. I approached one of the security guards and asked if we should return on a day when there was no cruise ship in port if we wanted to see the new terminal and stores. He assured us that it was not a problem we could go ahead and roam through the area. I think we were the only people that passed the gate without showing a pass.
The cruise ship terminal was very nice, much smaller than the new one in Grenada but also more Caribbean in design. Since the ship was in port there was a steel band playing, a table set up with samples of local food and nice souvenir shops with exorbitant prices. We looked around, enjoyed the sights but didn't buy anything.
After we left the terminal area and while we were walking through town, a Rasta man stopped to talk with us. I learned that in St. Vincent, when someone asks how you are, the best response is "Irie". This is supposed to mean very very good. This is different from Grenada where the response is always "alright". It is always fun learning local customs.
This same Rasta man offered us some Gangi. We are so straight looking we have never been offered it before. In St. Vincent there is a Marijuana Growers Association so I guess it's a little more open here. Anyway, we told him that it was very nice of him to offer it but we didn't want any.
We gradually made our way back to the Blue Lagoon and our boat. There was time for a short siesta before it was time to have sundowners onboard Bageera.
