Hang On To Your Seats!

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!

Flag and bimini strut - oh look, there's a kite-boarder!

Mainsheet - and some big-time air.

Ha! Man-overboard pole didn't completely obliterate this shot.

Here’s some better footage (although not great) of what we were enjoying, difficult to capture off the back of a rocking boat in low light.

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.

Welcome to Union Island!

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.

The waterfall at Mt. Carmel through a thicket of bamboo.

Enjoying the fresh-water shower.

The power of the water off the waterfall was like hail hitting your head and shoulders.

Great training for the Grenadian luge team ;-)

Who's eyeing whom??

Looking southward down the coast as the sun starts to head for the horizon.

The Tobago Cays Deliver, and Discovering Mayreau

A while back I wrote a post about the colour blue when we were in Virgin Gorda in the BVI.

Well, we have just discovered another level of intensity to the colour blue in the Tobago Cays.  This little group of islands surrounded by a horseshoe reef is situated just below the mid-point of the Grenadine Islands and about a five hour sail south of Bequia.  The little islands however are not the star attraction - it is all about entering the lagoon that is protected by the reef and anchoring in 10’ of gin-clear water over a beautiful bed of white sand, the winds blowing over the reef with a palm-fringed island in the distance.  This is where all those screen-saver photos come from!

Thankfully Friday was a sunny day and we carefully manoeuvred into the lagoon using the changing colours of the water as a double-check against our chart plotter.  It would certainly be very easy to hit a reef here if not paying attention, but with a slow and steady approach we made our way up to the reef and found a lovely spot to anchor right behind Kind of Magic and Migrateur.  Diving into the water to check the anchor was like snorkelling in an aquarium, even out on the sand bank there were many little fish and turtles and none of them have much fear of humans in this protected marine area.  Now, just immerse yourself in the colour that surrounded us…

Anchored right behind the other Canadian boats.

Palm tree lined island just off to port.

Laughing gulls were all around us and would take food from outstretched hands if offered.

Various shades of teal / blue indicate the depth or whether the sea bed is sand, grass or coral reef.

We didn't really need to snorkel over the anchor, we could see it clearly in the 15' water below.  That's our anchor line just off the bow of the boat.

We whiled away the day with snorkelling, watching turtles and enjoying the view with the fresh breeze blowing in directly from the Atlantic Ocean, and then as evening came on we headed over to join Rej & Shanique and Edie & Blair on Migratuer for a lesson in Grenadian train dominos.  Along with the dominos we dished up another good potluck dinner and very much surpassed all our bedtimes.  As an aside, there are tons of activities available to cruising folks spending the hurricane season in Grenada and we figure it doesn't hurt to be prepared.

Saturday dawned wet and blustery and after a good-sized squall rolled through we waited for a break and then made a run for the other side of Mayreau and the anchorage in Saline Bay.  We sat through one more wet squall and then as the day started to dry up a bit we went ashore to explore this smallest inhabited island in The Grenadines.

We headed off up the hill into the little village where we walked past a number of restaurants and bars, and then continued north all the way up to the end of the island at Salt Whistle Bay.  From there we continued east and then south around the rim of the island, ending up back at Saline Bay and our anchorage for the night.

Blustery skies still above the anchorage in Mayreau.

Up in the village is this quaint little stone church built in 1929.

Standing in the door of the church - as Shanique said, "They would know if you came to church!"

The village homes and the church nestled into the hillside.

Union Island on the horizon (and yes, I know it's crooked - maybe we were standing on a hill?)

The village, the anchorage and Union Island in the distance.

Salt Whistle Bay at the north end of the island has a spectacular fine white sand beach - one of the best we've seen since Culebra!

Looking north on the windward side towards Canouin.  If you look carefully, you will see that we spotted Rej & Shenique motoring past.

The northern, wind-blown coast.  I love the twisted skeletons of the trees.

Back at the village we arrived at the "Mayreau Recreation Grounds" - I'm not sure I'd want to play here (especially in bare feet) since for the most part it seems to be used as a common goat grazing ground, and we all know what goats produce!

The next day was much brighter and Rej & Shanique joined us for Sunday breakfast on the boat, and then we set off to repeat the hike, this time in the opposite direction and accompanied by one of the town dogs.  Returning through the village was perfect at lunchtime with a stop for a cold drink at Righteous and The Youths, and then on to lunch at Dennis's Hideaway.

We revisited the church where we found a map of The Grenadines painted on the back wall.

The lookout behind the church offers up this magnificent view of the Tobago Cays.

Arriving in Salt Whistle Bay.

A pay phone that actually works, powered by solar panel and batteries and connected via wifi.  A completely portable outfit, but a challenge to fit in your pocket.

Happy hikers checking out the cliffs and the view.

Henry checks out Righteous and The Youths bar.  This place reminded us so much of Foxy's from the BVI but with a much stronger Rasta flair.

Intense discussion underway with Robert at the bar.

Finally, we picked up the anchor in the late afternoon and crossed down to Union Island where we are spending the night in the anchorage at Clifton.  More exploration awaits tomorrow now that we have arrived at the southern end of The Grenadines.