Captain hard at work. Actually, this didn't happen often. I decided to see why everyone liked hanging out on the foredeck so much....NOW I understand!
What a lovely sight...blowing sails set against a warm, blue Caribbean sky. Aahhh. I can almost feel the sun baking me again.
After spending our next to last night of this trip on the boat, we wayed anchor and with very mixed emotions set sail on our last passage of the trip, a 20 mile sail from Carriacou to Grenada. After some initial motoring, we unfurled our sails for the last time. The winds were a little squirrley, not quite a broad reach, not quite a run, and real shifty, veering and backing every few moments. As we approached the northern shore of Grenada it was fun and slightly exciting to imagine what lay 5000 feet under our keel. There is a 1.5 km exclusion zone around the underwater volcano "Kick-em-Jenny". Last erupted 20+ years ago, but sure wouldn't want to be blithely sailing over the top if she ever decided to blow her top again.
What a lovely sight...blowing sails set against a warm, blue Caribbean sky. Aahhh. I can almost feel the sun baking me again.
After spending our next to last night of this trip on the boat, we wayed anchor and with very mixed emotions set sail on our last passage of the trip, a 20 mile sail from Carriacou to Grenada. After some initial motoring, we unfurled our sails for the last time. The winds were a little squirrley, not quite a broad reach, not quite a run, and real shifty, veering and backing every few moments. As we approached the northern shore of Grenada it was fun and slightly exciting to imagine what lay 5000 feet under our keel. There is a 1.5 km exclusion zone around the underwater volcano "Kick-em-Jenny". Last erupted 20+ years ago, but sure wouldn't want to be blithely sailing over the top if she ever decided to blow her top again.
CARRIACOU, March 29th
We anchored in Hillsborough, Carriacou and went ashore to check into customs and immigration. We decided to hire a local taxi driver to show us the island. After hiring our taxi driver, Geroge on the far right, we went to lunch at one of the local hotels. (Most places were closed because it was a Sunday.) You typically order a plate special, chicken, pork, goat, etc, served w/ salad, bananas, dascheen, potatoes and rice. Ummm! George then drove us up to the northern part of the island for general sight-seeing.
We passed the local cricket pitch while exploring the island with the taxi driver. (This photo does not show the game, I will put one in later that does.) Our customs officer was playing cricket, so we had to wait several hours for him to get done and later met him at his home to finish the legalities!
Our taxi driver took us to one of the high landmarks of the island at Hospital Point to see the hospital. It was recently refurbished after hurricane damage, a never-ending process in these islands, it seems. The nurses were dressed in pink and this one was taking out the trash. There were goats and dogs wandering all over the grounds (photo below). The men were in one ward, and the women in another. No private rooms; just a large male and female ward, single large rooms. But very clean and orderly.
This was the entrance to the hospital. It also served as an evacuation center during hurricanes.
This was the view from the hospital...makes you WANT to get sick just to stay in the hospital, doesn't it?
UNION ISLAND:
The boys played games or cards when they were not crewing. Here they are playing Speed Scrabble.
After leaving Mustique we sailed to Tobago Cays and anchored for two nights. The water was a bit rough and we had a little rocking and rolling on the boat while cooking, but it was well worth the trouble. This marine park was very beautiful and full of colorful reefs, turtles, iguannas, barracuda, etc. Kathy took Weston out a couple of times on the kayak while the others snorkled in the rougher waters. (Kathy's note: The wind was a bit rough for kayaking and there was a coulple of times I didn't know if I had enough strength to make it to the island...so I tacked back and forth beating in and out of the wind until I made it. The hard work paid off when we looked down and saw 7 sea turtles swimming with us!)
Our boat is the multi-hull in the middle. Photo looking south from atop Baradel, Jamesby Beach in the background.
We explored this small beach on tiny Jamesby Island. The islands were windy, but very interesting.
This island had a lot of iguanas, but only Keith saw them. He was the only one who had brought shoes and the vegetation had sharp thorns!
We not only saw land turtles, we also saw a lot of sea turtles while snorkeling and kayaking!
We anchored in Hillsborough, Carriacou and went ashore to check into customs and immigration. We decided to hire a local taxi driver to show us the island. After hiring our taxi driver, Geroge on the far right, we went to lunch at one of the local hotels. (Most places were closed because it was a Sunday.) You typically order a plate special, chicken, pork, goat, etc, served w/ salad, bananas, dascheen, potatoes and rice. Ummm! George then drove us up to the northern part of the island for general sight-seeing.
We passed the local cricket pitch while exploring the island with the taxi driver. (This photo does not show the game, I will put one in later that does.) Our customs officer was playing cricket, so we had to wait several hours for him to get done and later met him at his home to finish the legalities!
Our taxi driver took us to one of the high landmarks of the island at Hospital Point to see the hospital. It was recently refurbished after hurricane damage, a never-ending process in these islands, it seems. The nurses were dressed in pink and this one was taking out the trash. There were goats and dogs wandering all over the grounds (photo below). The men were in one ward, and the women in another. No private rooms; just a large male and female ward, single large rooms. But very clean and orderly.
This was the entrance to the hospital. It also served as an evacuation center during hurricanes. This was the view from the hospital...makes you WANT to get sick just to stay in the hospital, doesn't it?UNION ISLAND:
The morning of March 28 we motored just a few short miles from Tobago Cays to Union Island so we could check out of the Grenadines. Keith and I and Joan and Peter Grant anchored at Clifton Harbor on Union Island after much difficulty and several attempts to find good holding. We dragged anchor several times. The customs office was located at the airport, so we had to walk about 1/2 mile. Then some local grocery shopping, and away we went to tiny Mopion Island, and thence another mile to lovely Petit St Vinvent where we anchored for the night. Mopion Island is composed of just a few square meters of lovely white sand, rising no more than 2-3 feet above sea level, and supporting a small grass hut, which apparently gets blown away regularly and then rebuilt by the locals. It is ringed by a reef. We dinghied over (twice, the first time being aborted when we ran out of gas, and requiring Peter G and I to row, rtow, row our boat back to One Life to fill the petrol tank). Thus renewed ( and minus Kathy who had now had enough) we dinghied back over for an hour of swimming. Peter and I scuba'd, picking our way thru the reef. Water was somewhat cloudy, but saw a moray eel free swimming. It was really windy and cloudy, which moderated the enjoyment, but still picturesque and fun.
The boys played games or cards when they were not crewing. Here they are playing Speed Scrabble.TOBAGO CAYS, March 26-27, 2009
After leaving Mustique we sailed to Tobago Cays and anchored for two nights. The water was a bit rough and we had a little rocking and rolling on the boat while cooking, but it was well worth the trouble. This marine park was very beautiful and full of colorful reefs, turtles, iguannas, barracuda, etc. Kathy took Weston out a couple of times on the kayak while the others snorkled in the rougher waters. (Kathy's note: The wind was a bit rough for kayaking and there was a coulple of times I didn't know if I had enough strength to make it to the island...so I tacked back and forth beating in and out of the wind until I made it. The hard work paid off when we looked down and saw 7 sea turtles swimming with us!)
Our boat is the multi-hull in the middle. Photo looking south from atop Baradel, Jamesby Beach in the background.This shows the area from top of Baradel Island. Look at the color of that beautiful water and how far out the reef is breaking!
We explored this small beach on tiny Jamesby Island. The islands were windy, but very interesting.
This photo is of Joan and Peter. This area had some of the best coral and sea-life that we had seen so far on our trip, but the water was a bit rough for snorkeling and kayaking. We saw many hornbill turtles, baracuda, a small shark, sting rays, and many fish. Here Peter Williams saved a couple of overweight, and over-confident French people who had no business out boating, let alone swimming. He had to haul their fat butts out of the water. He was a lifesaver that day, I tell you. You should have seen him swimming out to help these floundering people. He was motivated, and he was moving!
This island had a lot of iguanas, but only Keith saw them. He was the only one who had brought shoes and the vegetation had sharp thorns!
We not only saw land turtles, we also saw a lot of sea turtles while snorkeling and kayaking!We sailed on a lovely wing and wing sail formation on a run from Mustique, past the leeward side of Canouan, and then into Tobago Cays, one of our favorite spots of the entire trip. A lovely little group of 5 small islands, reef-ringed, and very popluar. Many boats here. Quite windy, because it is directly exposed to the winds arriving from Africa...that's a long fetch! Here we really felt we were in the Windwards. Met immediately by Walter, who had the deepest voice ( think Barry White on steroids) and the most gold teeth I have ever witnessed. He brought us baked goods, fruit, and hauled away our garbage. We anchored partially in the lee of Baradel Island, but there was still an awful lot of wind.
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