July 28 we rounded the southern tip of Grenada and entered Mt. Hartman Bay (aka Secret Harbour) and this area will be our home for the next few months through hurricane season. Henry was thrilled as he watched us cross just below 12 degrees north lattitude.
At this point we had to break out our calendar and start taking notes. “Camp Grenada” is a whirlwind of activities with hundreds of boats taking their seasonal break here. Some folks are staying for the entire time, others are hauling out and doing boat work, and many more are taking a break and flying back home where-ever that may be. We’ve met people from all over the world already and are surrounded by Aussies, Kiwis, Americans, Swedes, Norwegians, South Africans, French, German, Belgium just to name a few, and of course a good sized contingent of fellow Canadians.
Our prime impetus for hurrying up a bit and getting down here was a party on Wednesday night for Dalynne & Glenn, whom we met on Montserrat. We all gathered at the West Indies Brew Co. where they make excellent craft beer and enjoyed an evening of memories and fun stories as they have now sold their boat and are heading off for other land-based adventures.
Since we got here (and it’s only been three days) we have:
- met up with a group of friends at Fort Louis Marina in St. George’s for a dip in the pool and dinner
- spent the morning with Robert, Shena and Kinsley on Almost There before they fly home for the month
- gone on a group hike (walk) to Carmel Falls and had a picnic lunch by the river
- Henry went to a “fishing from the boat” talk at the marina - we still haven’t bought fishing gear
- had an amazing evening with the kids in the Comancheroes Steel Pan Band as they practiced for their Carnival competition this coming weekend, and watched the ladies making parade costumes, all the while enjoying BBQ chicken dinner
And today while writing this post, we are just waiting to catch the shopping bus so we can get a SIM card in our phone and get back on a functional network, and of course buy some groceries - we’ve been so busy we have hardly any food left and lord knows we can’t show up to the dinghy drift tonight empty handed! And in-between there is volleyball… no rest for the wicked ;-)
This is just a taste of what we’ve been up to - lots more fun to come…
In the meantime, here’s some pics starting back on Union Island in the Grenadines where we were treated to a bit of show-boating by the guys from the local kite-boarding school.
Apparently I have a problem getting action shots without bits of Mowzer jumping in the way - remember the days of film when you’d get your photos back from the shop with pictures like this? Thank goodness for digital!
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| Flag and bimini strut - oh look, there's a kite-boarder! |
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| Mainsheet - and some big-time air. |
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| Ha! Man-overboard pole didn't completely obliterate this shot. |
Clifton, on Union Island was a colourful bustling little town, and then we moved onto Carriacou for the night. These are definitely places we will spend more time in on our return next season.
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| Welcome to Union Island! |
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| Grafitti or art-work? One and the same. |
We had the Best.Sail.Ever from Carriacou to Grenada, even going wing-and-wing around Kick’em Jenny and hitting 9.3 knots momentarily. We averaged around 7 knots which is super fast for us on passage.
With the bus-ride to Mt. Carmel Falls and then again on the bus to the pan band practice we’re starting to get a glimpse of this magical island. It is stunning! Incredibly clean and well-kept, the people of Grenada obviously take great pride in their little piece of paradise.
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| The waterfall at Mt. Carmel through a thicket of bamboo. |
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| Enjoying the fresh-water shower. |
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| The power of the water off the waterfall was like hail hitting your head and shoulders. |
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| Great training for the Grenadian luge team ;-) |
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| Who's eyeing whom?? |
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| Looking southward down the coast as the sun starts to head for the horizon. |
