Grenada - Lush and Bountiful

On our island tour we visited the Grand Etang National Park, located in the rain forest. Here we had the thrill of feeding bananas to the wild monkeys.
We also visited a cocoa processing plant, a nutmeg station, a rum distillery, Fort Frederick and the Annandale falls.
We saw many types of nuts growing (cashew, almond and brazil) as well as cinnamon, avocados, mangos, sugar cane, oranges, coffee, bananas, plantain, bread fruit, passion fruit, star fruit and even loofah sponges.
Sadly, as we travelled the island we saw the catastrophic damage hurricane Ivan caused in 2004, when the eye at catagory 3 status made a direct pass. It had been 50 years since the last hurricane crossed Grenada. The island is rebuilding but the imnpact will be felt in agriculture for 20 years.
On another "cruiser's net" tour we had the incredible opportunity to witness 2 leather-back turtles as they layed their eggs on the beach at the north end of the island. The turtles we saw weighed between 5 and 6 hundred pounds, though they can get as large as 900 pounds. The organization "Ocean Spirit" has members on site to protect, document and monitor the nesting of these endangered turtles. So far this year 960 turtles have layed eggs, compared to a total of 600 for all of last year.

Grenada - First Impressions

One of our first land excursions in Grenada was an island tour, arranged by the cruiser's net that broadcasts daily.
Our hopes were to meet fellow cruisers as well as explore the island.
We were surprised to find that most of the cruisers are still in transit, the preferred destination being Trinidad. The benefits being: location (re:hurricanes), the value of their dollar, availability of yacht services; the detriment: crime - not as safe as Grenada, however many of those heading there have reservations for marinas that are gated with pools, excellent services and other amenities. We haven't found many that plan to stay on anchor.
The nationalities of the cruisers we've met so far are: Brits, South Africans, Americans, Germans, Swiss and Austrians. We know there are some Canadians out there, however our paths haven't crossed just yet.
Our intentions are to use Grenada as our home base for the next 5 months. We will explore Grenada's vast, extensive natural beauty on land as well as the water. When the weather allows we will make trips north to "play" in the Grenadines and south to visit friends in Trinidad.

Grenada - Happy Father's Day

Before heading off on Father's Day to Grenada we spent a night in Hillsborough Bay in Carriacou.
Grenada will be our final destination until we can take delivery of a new dinghy. As well, we will work on a multitude of repairs on board and order a new sail cover, ours being thread-bare.
Our sail from Carriacou to St. George's, Grenada (32 miles) was the best sail we had in our whole year long journey. The wind was 15-20 knots (20-25 later) on the beam, the waves were low (2-4') and following as was the l.5 knot current. We enjoyed a "dream" sail to our destination of St. George's, Grenada at l7:l5 hours on Sunday, June l7th, 2007.
Truly a Happy Father's Day!

Sea "CUC"umber - our beloved dinghy

Unfortunately our enjoyment of the Tobago Cays area was cut short by the loss of our dinghy "Cuc".
During our anchorage there she deflated overnight and took herself and our Johnson 6hp outboard to the bottom, allowing her floor boards and paddles to be lost as they floated away freely.
Recovery efforts in the morning saw her hoisted on deck along with the outboard to ride "belly-up" for the rest of the journey.
A sad loss but with all due respect, one would have to say, a job well done.
"Cuc" was a l984 Bombard B1. She was in such bad condition when we got her 2 years ago they threw her in free when we bought the used Johnson 6hp outboard (l99l vintage) for $400.00 Canadian.
Barry saw an article in a magazine for a product called "Tough Coat" which is a liquid hypalon ($l50.) He arranged to have some shipped in to him from B.C. and proceeded to split and glue down her blisters and paint "Cuc" in the back yard.
Unfortunately our elm trees were "shedding" some-what at the time and "Cuc" ended up with a speckled finish.
Since then we have towed "Cuc" behind us for over a year, and over 4500 nautical miles.
Definitely, a job well done!

Tobago Cays Marine Park - The Grenadines

In our Windward Islands guide, these are the words that are used to describe the Tobago Cays:
-unblemished natural beauty
-tranquility
-waters with their ever-changing kaleidoscope of blues, greens and seemingly limitless shades of aquamarine
We would have to fully agree with the description given.
The Tobago Cays are the most beautiful natural environment we have ever encountered.
We safely anchored overnight, tucked in behind the pounding surf of the horseshoe reef, in 30 knot winds.

Bequia - boat builders and whalers

Bequia is boat building, whether it be model boats, whaling boats, fishing boats, schooners or racing boats - they're building them all and they're doing so by hand.
Our anchorage in Admiralty Bay off of Port Elizabeth offered us a chance to investigate some of the boat construction underway.
We were delighted to have the opportunity to visit with Wayne Gooding at his home. Wayne is a native boat builder, as was his father. He proudly showed us his 19' racing creation "Green flash", which he said was known all over the islands for her speed, having won Bequia's Easter regatta 5 years in a row. As well, he proudly told us how his 28' design "confusion" had won the regatta in Carriacou - she came in a full 5 minutes ahead of the fleet.
We greatly enjoyed chatting with Wayne as he shared with us his passion for boat building and racing.
Whaling is still underway in Bequia. Their season limit is 4, either humpback or sperm whales. A crew of 6 men, armed with harpoons, head to sea in a 26' boat. Wayne told us they had succeeded in landing one, so far, this season. -unbelievable

St. Vincent to Bequia

When we are underway within a few miles of shore we always are vigilent to keep a close look-out for any area fishermen that may be on our track. We're sure that fishing alone in their small boats on the open sea is enough challenge without dodging passing sailboats. We have been especially careful lately as the fishermen are propelling their boats with just oars.
As we moved along St. Vincent's south shore we noticed that something was making quite a commotion in the distant water. Our closer inspection found us in the midst of 40-50 porpoises. We "danced" back and forth with them for quite some time. It appears Elvis Stoyko may have taken some inspiration from them as they wowed us with their triple and quad spins in the air.
While moving, with the porpoises along-side, we passed a local fisherman who sat with his oars in hand, steadying his boat, as the whole pod swam under him.
When we changed course and headed offshore the porpoises stayed behind.
On our approach to Bequia undersail, a man standing in an inflatable dinghy, zoomed around us taking photos. We would discover the next morning that he is Kenmore Henville, a professional photographer with extraordinary talent and balance. Thanks to him we have the special treat of photos to commemorate our arrival to the Grenadines, one of the world's most beautiful cruising grounds - our dream destination.
Anchor to anchor - St. Vincent to Bequia - l8 miles - 6 hours

Dennis

Dennis escorted us, by foot (his were bare), on a tour of Darveo Falls in St. Vincent's rain-forest. During our hike together we discussed, amongst other things, the local environment.
Dennis told us of the disease in St. Vincent that is plaguing the banana trees. As well he shared with us that he was a farmer and planted mango and orange trees. He also had worked on a government project building houses that they hoped some day to sell to foreign investors. The 6 houses, sitting together, were all still unsold but a local did have a job watching over them. As well, Dennis said he was a fisherman and liked to catch red snappers. Dennis also shared with us information about some of his siblings that were living out of the country (mostly U.S.), as well as those that had found employment in St. Vincent (nurse, postal worker).
Dennis had no shoes and his feet were in a very unhealthy state. He asked if we had any extra shoes that we could give him.
In exchange for Dennis escorting us to the falls and the oranges, we gave him 45 EC (Eastern Caribbean dollars - approximately $20.00 Canadian), a new pair of Barry's flip-flop shoes, a can of corned beef (his request) and 4 cans of beer. He felt that was a fair deal but we felt very much the richer for the time we shared with him.

St. Vincent

Anchor to anchor - St. Lucia to St. Vincent - 12 hours - 47 miles

Even though we couldn't see St. Vincent Island when we arrived in the dark, we most certainly could smell it. This is the first island where we noticed a distinct green, earthy aroma from offshore.
We lay anchor in Chateaubelair Bay at 2230 hours.
In the morning, a local fellow (Dennis), swam out to bring us oranges. That afternoon he escorted us on a hike through the rain-forest to Darveo Falls.
To reach the falls we crossed a swinging bridge made of bamboo tied together. We were sure to hold the wire railing tight as we made our way across the slippery wood in the rain.
The falls were magnificent, set amongst gigantic bamboo. While there we were in the company of several youths playing cricket in a clearing, while a woman washed her 2 small children in the fresh water of the falls. On the walk to the falls we passed women doing their laundry in the stream, banana trees and a huge length of water-pipe (made of wood) which wound its way to the hydro plant.
The plants in the rain-forest were of gigantic preportions.
The restaurant/bar that we were anchored off of hosted the "Queen of the Carnival" competition that night. We enjoyed the excitement during dinner there, but left before the finale of the festivities, after an amazing day of discovery ashore.

Martinique to St. Lucia

It was 1500 hours when we left Martinique. The sailing conditions were perfect for a run to St. Lucia.
We set sail confident about anchoring in the dark upon our arrival. At 2030 hours we lay anchor in Rodney Bay, St. Lucia tucked in behind Pigeon Point. In the morning we were surprised to find we lay almost in the swimming area/beach of a Sandals resort. oops Anchor to anchor - Martinique to St. Lucia - 22 miles - 5 1/2 hours
We coned the coast, past the lovely Windjammer resort, Marigot Bay and along south to St. Lucia's famous Pitons. We would have liked to stay awhile here, but this popular area was a jumble of mooring balls (mostly full), so at 1500 hours for the second day in a row, we set sail for the next island south in the Windward Chain - St. Vincent.

Rigging Repairs - Martinique

We were grateful that we were in Martinique when we required repairs to our rod-rigging (lower shroud). As they have huge yacht charter fleets operating out of the island, all yachting services are available; which is certainly not the case on many of the other islands.
Jacques at Sea Services in Fort de France was unable to work on rod-rigging so on his advice we rented a car and took the rigging down to Caribe Greementin in Marin on the south end of the island. In order to assist they needed us to bring them the fitting off of our mast. We drove back to Fort de France to retrieve the fitting but were unable to remove it from the mast (try as we may!). The next day we drove the boat, under-power to Marin (23 miles - 7 hours), where we joined the approximately 3 hundred yachts already there.
The rigging repairs were started and a new fitting for the mast was fabricated. 600 Euros lighter and 3 days later we set sail for St. Lucia with new lower shrouds.
While we waited in Marin it was great to have the time to catch up on some calls and emails. As well, we enjoyed some fabulous French cuisine (cheese, baguettes, espresso and wine).