09/09/02

Carriacou

Customs is in Hillsborough & a bit of a pain as you must go to 3 offices, each with their own, associated charges. Not too much is happening in this town although on a later visit we found a decent vegetable market behind the Cable & Wireless office. We moved on to Tyrell Bay, a good anchorage with only occasional roll.

We hauled the boat @ Tyrell Bay Haulout & had a pleasant a stay as could be possible. Most boatyards are not a great place to live but this was the exception. Ours & the boat next to us (Bob on Spree) were the only boats being worked on so it was pretty quiet. We had frequent entertainment by the cows roaming through driving the dogs (Shanty on Spree & Tiger the boatyard dog) crazy! At night all we heard were dogs, donkeys, goats & cows (oh, & mosquitoes). We had the bottom painted & the hull waxed & were out in three days.

It's a good thing we got out quickly. The first night Gail & Slim (Mis Gail) & Bob came over to get aquinted over a few beers. The next night Roy Hopper (Mgr of the boatyard) & his wife Susan invited us to happy hour at the "Yacht Club" next door. That turned into a late night with Jerry (owner of the boatyard), his girlfriend Daniella (runs Turtle Dove), Gail, Slim, Bruce & Marsha (Imagica). The next night Roy turned up at our boat with beer at 4:00. Bob came up to visit & brought beer so that we could ice it down for him (he had no refrigeration). The boatyard really IS a dangerous place!

Susan & Roy invited us up to their house for lunch on Saturday. What a beautiful spot! The house is so cute, all open to the air, and the view over the bay(s) is incredible! We had a wonderful meal with lobster & okra pasta, tomato, avacado & fresh basil salad, potatoe & green bean salads. I have been dying for vegetables & she hit my tastebuds with that & could Allen ever be happier than okra & lobster? It was a wonderful day with interesting people.

The restaurants here are OK. Povre et Sel was good for french sauces but pretty weak otherwise & yacht club had good breakfast & lunch. We missed the Turtle Dove Pizza (reputed to be very good) since we arrived on the day they shut down for a 2 month vacation. The best place we ate was with Roy & Susan at the Roundhouse. It is a small restaurant with 2 cottages, very isolated & VERY good. Reservations are required a day ahead. The menu is prix fix & whatever the Chef (Kathy) wants to make. Your only choice is chicken or fish & maybe pork or beef. We had a feta salad & Quiche with tomatoes & fresh herbs. That was just the appetizer! The main course was varied & great for all but the dessert was fantastic. Homemade chocolate (fuggy) ice cream in brown sugar, butter & coconut homemade cones! We were all happily stuffed.

We finally got our mail. It only took 5 days from our original requested "next-day" Fed-Ex. We started Wednsday but it was not sent until probably Thursday or Friday due to e-mailed questions about what to send. Then there was the weekend (no movement) & call to Grenada (Monday) to see if it made it that far, not yet but expected that day. Tuesday morning we checked again & it was in Grenada but would (probably) be on the ferry to Carriacou arriving at 10:00. We took a bus to Hillsborough to pick it up at the ferry office but they could not release it to Allen without approval from the Fed-Ex agent (up the long hill). When Allen got there, the agent called & told the ferry representitive that it was OK to let him take it but he wanted Allen to bring the paperwork back up to him (up the long hill). He finally relented on that request. That is why we do not get mail often, it takes days of planning & a whole day to pick it up it when it finally arrives! It was worth it though. We really needed those Visa bills (all handled on-line anyway) & I'm sure my Texas State Perfusion Licence will come in handy down here.

09/18/02

Grenada

We anchored outside of the main city of St. George's. It is a very European looking city set on a ridge with the ocean on one side & a well protected lagoon on the other side. We really never made it to the waterfront on the ocean as we really just stopped there for re-provisioning. There are two real supermarkets there. What a treat after (less than) mini-marts for the last month & a half. There was a small chandlery (Island Water World) there but pretty weak. Everything we wanted was very convenient by dinghy. On the way out the next afternoon I was steering & somehow missed seeing a fishing boat & I kind of ran into it. I'd like to say it was one of the small, almost invisible dinghys but it actually had a small shelter on it & was bright red. No one was hurt & after we came around & gave the owner $80 in case there was some damage to their boat they were pretty nice about it. I feel like an idiot anyway.

We made it to Mount Hartman Bay without further incident. There we met up with Sean & Lynn (Tarifa) & John & Deb (Seawitch). It was great to see them again. This area is full of cruisers waiting out the Hurricane season although it is just on the edge of 12 degrees Latitude, the northern limit for many insurance policys. We did actually get hit with the Southern edge of T.S. Lili while we were there. We were ready for a real blow during the afternoon or early evening but of course we saw nothing until 1:00 AM. The winds gusted to 35-45 throughout the night. Our anchor held well but our dinghy flipped over twice (with the motor on it, of course). By the second time we were a bit peeved but as we started to right it it flipped back by itself. Nobody in the anchorage got much sleep that night but no real damage was reported. Allen got the motor cleaned & running the next morning.

There are several bays here that are pretty well protected. The next one to the West is Prickly Bay where Spice Island Marina is located. They have a Budget Marine store there. We expected to stock up on boat parts there but it was a bit weak. It is a pretty bay but we heard that the last time they had southern winds there the waves were rolling in & one boat dragged into the rocks. Other bays to the East are better protected.

Mount Hartman Bay has a Moorings Marina & a really cute hotel, The Secret Harbor. It would be a good place to have someone come in to visit. The rooms looked really nice & the airport is right over the hill. The biggest problem here is that the hotel has a well attended happy hour every night. In addition, just the few days we have been here there seems to be an "event" daily. It's like Georgetown (Bahamas) South. On Saturday we had a charity auction for the local school. Everybody brought their "treasures of the bilge" (junk) &, just like a yardsale, traded it for new junk.

We had planned to do some work on the boat here but the boat parts stores leave a bit to be desired. For parts to be ordered in from Trinidad we might have to wait up to 6 weeks. The wind generator Allen wants to buy is made in Trinidad (KISS) & the only place that stocks it here wants $100 more for it than it would cost there. Since we have heard nice things about Trinidad lately & we can sail there overnight we have decided to head down there to install the new generator. That was our original plan anyway so we will leave at sunset so that we will arrive at Chaguaramas in the morning light.

(updated 08/22/02)