Leavin’ Grenada & the Grenadines

We left Prickly Bay with some rather dark clouds over the centre of the island but great winds for sailing.Coming past St George we knew this was the last time we would see it for some time. Grenada has been a great place to spend hurricane season but we are definitely ready to move north and enjoy some other Caribbean islands.  P1040060P1040057

The sail across to Tyrrel Bay, Carricou was great, not too rough for our guests. P1040061

We caught a barracuda fish and so filleted it and got it ready for fish cakes. Yummy! Hope there’s more fish out there for us.

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We stopped at Clifton, Union Island to check in and then move onto Tobago Cays. Such a nice day. Always fun sitting up front on the chairs admiring the views. P1040073P1040076

Snorkeling around Petit Tabac, Tobago Cays did not disappoint as there great coral and fish life in the really clear waters. We snorkeled to shore and while walking the beach imagined Johnny Depp filming Pirates of the Caribbean. Shame he wasn’t here now! Great little island to just hang out and watch the day disappear. There are a lot more boats in Horseshoe Reef compared to last week so nice to spend the day at Petit Tabac island with no crowds.

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We arrived in Admiralty Bay, Bequia after passing the western point of the island with the ship still sitting on the rocks since January and the unusual cave-like dwellings in the cliffs called the Moonhole. We anchored off St Margaret’s beach with those beautiful green waters beckoning us in. We have never seen the water flowing in to St Margaret’s beach as a wave.  P1040091

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Bequia is always a great place to go kayaking (esp. when its as calm as it is today), wander the streets, meet the locals, buys provisions and go out for a meal.

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We sailed along the coast of St Vincent stopping in Chateaubelair, which lies at the base of Soufriere, St Vincent’s volcano. We went for lunch ashore at The Beach Front Restaurant, which was really reasonably priced and had great views around the bay. The trip ashore in the dingy was a real treat given the tide.   P1040125P1040123

Off to St Lucia.

All the way from New Zealand

Well my parents, John and Gail have arrived from New Zealand to spend some time aboard and enjoy the nice warm waters of the Caribbean. We are planning on going up the island chain from Grenada to the US Virgin Islands over the next month. Don’t they look so happy to be here, after the long trip here. Welcome aboard Mum and Dad.

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Fun with The Stacks

After setting sail from St George, Grenada we went up the coast to Moliniere underwater sculpture park in search of sculptures.imageimage

We then continued on to Carricou, Tyrrel Bay for some local food. Those open air restaurants are always a treat.
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White island off Carriacou was cute. We went snorkeling for lobster but were unsuccessful, a lot harder than you think it should be. We all enjoyed wandering on the white sandy beach and relaxing in the sun. P1030931

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Halloween was a treat at Petit St Vincent. Megan and Tyler hunted for treasure hidden in all sorts of spots around the boat.

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At Clifton, Union Island we met Herman who took us around the local markets and showed Tyler how to play a steel pan. He owns a fruit & Vege store which Signa runs so of course we had to buy a few things, as you do, to support the locals. The golden apple cut up with salt & pepper and a little chopped onion was tasty.

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Tobago Cays and Petit Tabac were amazing with nice clear waters and great snorkeling. Brett and Dave got the wind surfer out at Horseshoe reef while we snorkeled and relaxed on Jamesby, one of the nice white sandy beaches. Good form boys……brought back memories for them both. P1030988P1030984

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Salt Whistle Bay on Mayreau was nice and calm and so picturesque with the palm trees and white sandy beach.

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Jen and Richard from Our Rose came into the bay not long after we had dropped anchor. We all enjoyed a feast of lobster and steak followed up with Chocolate cake. Yum.P1040007P1040014

We sailed north to Bequia where we enjoyed a couple of meals out (Devils Table was delicious), wandered the main street with the vendor stores, provisioned and went to the Old Hegg Turtle Sanctuary, which was really interesting meeting “Brother” King. He raises Hawksbill turtles hatchlings and releases them into the waters in the Grenadines. To date he has released 913 turtles. Always fun in Bequia.

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The crew were awesome all trying different jobs on S/ Wave.

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We also had lots of help in the kitchen over the two weeks to cook some yummy meals!

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The weather on the whole was pretty good so we could get out and do some snorkeling, sunbathing and surfing behind the dingey. Go Tyler. A few burnt bodies but lots of smiling faces.

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We did come across a few nasty squalls which added to the excitement.

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The sailing back to Tyrrel Bay and to Grenada were great. We had great winds and nice clear visibility, even spotted a few turtles. We came down the windward side of Grenada which was nice for a change.

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Great times with good friends. They all left with smiles and eager for a nice long shower at their hotel in Miami. P1040050

Back in Grenada

Well we have returned to Grenada and a nice clean boat thanks to Leslie who came over and aired her out and watched her while we were gone. Its so nice to be back in our own space again. Shes looking very bare as we had to remove all the canopy, sails, toys etc while we were away, in case of a hurricane. Luckily there was nothing weatherwise so all is good on our return.
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We now have a few jobs to get her ready so we can set sail for this upcoming season. P1030135a.

 

Our new teak table can finally be used.

It arrived the day before we were leaving on out trip. It looks awesome.

 

Great friends in Prickly Bay

Well we have met some great friends over the past few months in Prickly Bay, before leaving for our holiday and again on return.

We met Outsider, Wendy and Ian up the chain who have been so helpful and are an awesome couple who have been sailing for years. They are heading back to the Pacific and we hope that one day we will meet up with them again. Maybe when they go through the Panama Canal?P1030912a

Our Rose, Jen and Richard, kiwis who have a Maverick like ourselves are heading North and are currently planning on going to the Med for next hurricane season. We hope to see them up the chain as we have so much fun with them.  P1020872a

Mark from Sealife, who is also an Australian is a genuine guy who is so easy going and friendly and has circumnavigated already so a wealth of information. This season he is heading to St Martin for the season.

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Canadians Donna and Jack from Kathrian took us all out recently for a night of fun dancing.  Jack Donna

Tulu, Chris and Sarah had just got back from Britain. They are heading to the Pacific.We all enjoyed a night out to all say goodbye, enjoy fairwinds and calm seas this season. Its really neat all the people you meet cruisin’.P1030902a

Sailin’ with Outsider

Ian invited a few of us out for a sail on Outsider to test his newly installed hydrolic autopilot system. It was nice to head out of the bay sailing and experience sailing on someone elses boat. A good time was had by all.

Our Captain Ian and Outsider gliding through the water around Grenada. P1030105aP1030113a

The crew for the day

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We even tried some fishing…….. no such luck, just barracuda…. no thank you.P1030120a

We will miss all these guys as they are heading off sailing again before we return from our wee holiday; Outsider to Guyana and Our Rose to Bonaire. You meet so many interesting people cruisin’.

Busy week / weekend in Grenada

I have kept myself busy once again, while Brett has done odd jobs around the boat. I went to Grenada cooking class and this week the chefs were kitted out in the Grenadian colours because they were being televised. Once again it was quite entertaining. $EC12 is a bargain as you get the receipes and get to eat at the end of the class. P1020970a

I went to the final summer session of the Mt Airy Readers program, where the kids had a spelling and reading competition followed by a small party. The kids were all so patient sitting while the other kids participated.     P1020973aP1020974a

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This is Keisha who was my friend for the morning. She drew me some very colorful pictures while waiting patiently for the party.

All of the children who competed received a certificate and there were prizes for various placings. The kids were so proud and happy to receive their certificates, which was nice to see. P1030025a

This is Cassie and her uncle. I worked with Cassie last week on her reading skills so was happy to see she did well.

As you do we had quite a few social gatherings with friends in the bay and then Richard and Jen from Our Rose invited us to go around to one of the bays for a long weekend for some hobbie cat racing. Maverick’s on tour. Our Rose below….

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On the South Coast of Grenada there are a lot of bays so it was nice to get out and see them and go touring by sea again. There were some pretty interesting looking homes about.

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Hobbie cat racing at the Le Phare Bleu Yachtclub was a blast, with 20 teams competing over the day. Our friends from Prickly Bay came over to support which was awesome. Jen and I teamed up and did very well for complete beginners. Jen ran the sheets while I worked the rudder. We ended up going out twice as we won our first race, much better than the boys! Alas we did not win our next race. Competition was tough. We were very happy with our day.

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Richard and Brett went solo but must have had tougher competition as they were out after their first races so at the end they had a race against each other with Richard winning. Excellent time.  P1030082aP1030077a

The weekend ended at the Whisper Cove Marina for Jam night, where some cruisers get together and play music.

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Off to Grenada Marina as the parts are in for our alternators. At last!

Naniki Caribbean Jazz Safari

Canadians Donna & Jack from S/V Kathrian organized an outing to the Naniki Caribbean Jazz festival for Sunday evening. Bob and Judy from Adastra and Jen & Richard also came.P1020910a

It was held in the gardens at the Mt Cinnamon Resort. Not a huge number of people were there, which was a shame. It was nice to lay on the grass and enjoy the music from the various artists. A little rain shower did not dampen our spirits, we were all organized and happy that it didn’t last long. It was nice just sitting back and relaxing.

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There were 2 Jazz bands, the Sean Thomas quartet and C4 from Barbados

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They also had a couple of vocalists; Jenny J from Grenada and Shontelle from Barbados. Another good night out in Grenada. 

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Fishermans Birthday Celebration

June 29th, in the fishing town of Gouyave is the Annual Fisherman’s Birthday, a celebration honoring St Peter  – Patron Saint of Fishermen. As part of the day’s events the fishermen’s boats are blessed for the upcoming fishing season followed by boat races and ending with a street party in the evening. A lot of people come into town to enjoy the music and festivities.  We decided the evening party sounded like fun so joined a few cruisers,  including Jen and Richard from Our Rose and Ian and Wendy from Outsider, and off we went to enjoy the evenings celebrations.

There were some food tents set up, serving all sorts of dishes. We tried a number of dishes including oildown (below), a traditional Grenadian curry dish, which was very tasty.

P1020870aThe party was along the main street which was packed full of people dancing and enjoying each others We had a lot of fun limin’with friends and the locals.P1020887aP1020877a

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A great night in Gouyave.