Since last post, we stopped in Union Island, our last island in the St. Vincent Grenadines chain. We spent one night in Chatham Bay, a beautiful bay with only a few other boats. It was here that Chris hauled Kellee up the mast for the pictures in the last post. From there, we rounded the corner to Clifton, the main anchorage for the island. We got some fresh food and opted to try kite surfing at the local school. The location was perfect, right on the windward edge, with a protective reef and a lagoon sand bar, so we could stand in waist high water as we tried to figure it out. The weather turned ugly in the middle of our lesson, so we came back the next day to finish. Our instructor "Butter" was awesome, and very patient with us. We got the hang of flying the kite, but when you put the board on, well, regular surfing is much easier. We both managed to get up and going, but only made it about 20 feet before some specatular face plants. Butter was impressed with how far we got in one lesson and seemed optimistic, we're not so sure. If another opportunity presents itself to practice, maybe we will.
We cleared out of Union and had a nice downwind sail to Carriacou, an island just north of mainland Grenada and checked in to the country. We picked up some yummy sandwich supplies at Patty's Deli and motored to Sandy Island, a strip of sand that was almost totally wiped out until a hurricane shored it up with dead coral and the locals planted shrubberies to hold the sand together. The wind was up, so we did a quick drift snorkel with the dinghy, the fish were not super plentiful, but they were fearless and Chris got some good close up footage. We went ashore for some night photography and moved over to Tyrell Bay on the west end for the following night. We figured with the dozens of boats in the harbor that there'd be decent services, but as we dinghied through the anchorage, we noticed that most of the boats were either derelict or laid up for the season. The yacht club advertised showers, but there weren't any to be had, and the cafe menu offered smootheis, but we couldn't get any of those either. We had our laundry done and saw it hanging on the line when we came to pick it up, kind of odd, to recognize your own clothes in someone else's yard!
Half way between Carriacou and Grenada are a few small islets that don't provide much protection, but we tucked into a small cove for a lunch and snorkel at Isle de Ronde. Just to the north, we passed "Kick em Jenny," a towering monolith which lived up to its name by throwing up a wave which doused Chris at the helm and knocked some stuff around the cabin. We have been slowly getting worse about how carefully we secure for sea on these short jumps between islands. We did two short drift snorkels on Isle de Ronde, the current was very strong there, and did see one very large turtle and some decent reef. We ate lunch and continued our downwind sail to mainland Grenada and grabbed a mooring at the marine park just north of the main city.
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This marine park is newer and protecting the encompassing reef is still a work in progress, but the mooring was solid and the marine patrol guys were very friendly. The next morning, before the tour groups arrived, we snorkeled the underwater sculpture park. What a cool concept. Built of materials which encourage reef growth, and sprinkled over sand patches in between coral heads, we had such fun swimming around looking for dozens of pieces of "living art". We also came across a curious barricuda, a GIANT school of some small silver fish, and a very intriguing group of squid. These creatures seem to communicate on a level greater than we humans, and they were not afraid of us at all. Chris was convinced they were going to kidnap us and take us to their kingdom.
We had spent a very rolly, sleepless night on the mooring and considered our options for the next couple of days. We want to explore the interior, but with it being a holiday weekend here, everything is closed, so we decided to pull into the marina in St. George's. It has a pool, showers, internet and water, what more do we need? We dinghied into town and walked around some of the older buildings, including Fort St. George, presumably the oldest fort in the Carribean, and the site of the execution of the Prime Minister in 1983. We picked up some groceries and will hang out here staying cool at the pool, until Tuesday, when we'll head to the south end of the island and Prickly Bay, the main cruiser hangout, and our jumping point for the trip to Trinidad. Hard to believe that this trip that has been years in the planning is coming to the end of the orginial idea. We still haven't decided how we'll get back to the states, but we know we have to come back. In fact, we sent the first notice of our return to the Coast Guard, so the ball is officially rolling...
Since last post, we stopped in Union Island, our last island in the St. Vincent Grenadines chain. We spent one night in Chatham Bay, a beautiful bay with only a few other boats. It was here that Chris hauled Kellee up the mast for the pictures in the last post. From there, we rounded the corner to Clifton, the main anchorage for the island. We got some fresh food and opted to try kite surfing at the local school. The location was perfect, right on the windward edge, with a protective reef and a lagoon sand bar, so we could stand in waist high water as we tried to figure it out. The weather turned ugly in the middle of our lesson, so we came back the next day to finish. Our instructor "Butter" was awesome, and very patient with us. We got the hang of flying the kite, but when you put the board on, well, regular surfing is much easier. We both managed to get up and going, but only made it about 20 feet before some specatular face plants. Butter was impressed with how far we got in one lesson and seemed optimistic, we're not so sure. If another opportunity presents itself to practice, maybe we will.
We cleared out of Union and had a nice downwind sail to Carriacou, an island just north of mainland Grenada and checked in to the country. We picked up some yummy sandwich supplies at Patty's Deli and motored to Sandy Island, a strip of sand that was almost totally wiped out until a hurricane shored it up with dead coral and the locals planted shrubberies to hold the sand together. The wind was up, so we did a quick drift snorkel with the dinghy, the fish were not super plentiful, but they were fearless and Chris got some good close up footage. We went ashore for some night photography and moved over to Tyrell Bay on the west end for the following night. We figured with the dozens of boats in the harbor that there'd be decent services, but as we dinghied through the anchorage, we noticed that most of the boats were either derelict or laid up for the season. The yacht club advertised showers, but there weren't any to be had, and the cafe menu offered smootheis, but we couldn't get any of those either. We had our laundry done and saw it hanging on the line when we came to pick it up, kind of odd, to recognize your own clothes in someone else's yard!
Half way between Carriacou and Grenada are a few small islets that don't provide much protection, but we tucked into a small cove for a lunch and snorkel at Isle de Ronde. Just to the north, we passed "Kick em Jenny," a towering monolith which lived up to its name by throwing up a wave which doused Chris at the helm and knocked some stuff around the cabin. We have been slowly getting worse about how carefully we secure for sea on these short jumps between islands. We did two short drift snorkels on Isle de Ronde, the current was very strong there, and did see one very large turtle and some decent reef. We ate lunch and continued our downwind sail to mainland Grenada and grabbed a mooring at the marine park just north of the main city.
.jpg)
This marine park is newer and protecting the encompassing reef is still a work in progress, but the mooring was solid and the marine patrol guys were very friendly. The next morning, before the tour groups arrived, we snorkeled the underwater sculpture park. What a cool concept. Built of materials which encourage reef growth, and sprinkled over sand patches in between coral heads, we had such fun swimming around looking for dozens of pieces of "living art". We also came across a curious barricuda, a GIANT school of some small silver fish, and a very intriguing group of squid. These creatures seem to communicate on a level greater than we humans, and they were not afraid of us at all. Chris was convinced they were going to kidnap us and take us to their kingdom.
We had spent a very rolly, sleepless night on the mooring and considered our options for the next couple of days. We want to explore the interior, but with it being a holiday weekend here, everything is closed, so we decided to pull into the marina in St. George's. It has a pool, showers, internet and water, what more do we need? We dinghied into town and walked around some of the older buildings, including Fort St. George, presumably the oldest fort in the Carribean, and the site of the execution of the Prime Minister in 1983. We picked up some groceries and will hang out here staying cool at the pool, until Tuesday, when we'll head to the south end of the island and Prickly Bay, the main cruiser hangout, and our jumping point for the trip to Trinidad. Hard to believe that this trip that has been years in the planning is coming to the end of the orginial idea. We still haven't decided how we'll get back to the states, but we know we have to come back. In fact, we sent the first notice of our return to the Coast Guard, so the ball is officially rolling...
Love the underwater sculpture park!
ReplyDeleteKite surfing must have been killer:)
ReplyDelete