Carriacou

Carriacou

More beautiful sunsets

We had one more island to visit before leaving Grenadian waters - Carriacou.

The sail up to Carriacou was unexpectedly bumpy and wet but we got there eventually. There is quite a big current that runs between the islands that is quite strong and that seems to have a big effect on the sea conditions, making the seas lumpy and uncomfortable.

Sandy Island

We were planning on anchoring in Tyrell Bay but decided at the last minute to go a little further to Sandy Island. I am so glad we did as it was so beautiful, just what you imagine paradise to look like. Andrew picked up a mooring ball while I drove the boat. 

Boats on mooring balls

It is a beautiful picturesque island complete with palm trees and blue water. At one stage all the trees on Sandy Island died and after a hurricane swept through pushing a lot of coral onto the small spit of land, locals decided to plant trees. Now there are beautiful palm trees but still lots of coral on the beach. We spent the weekend snorkelling and swimming. 

Dead coral on Sandy Island

The other side

Swimming on Sandy Island

Just after we arrived a boat pulled up next to us and told us about Paradise Beach Club. It is a restaurant on the other side of the bay, opposite Sandy Island. They said they would come and fetch us in the evening and take us to the restaurant for supper if we wanted to. We decided that would be a good idea and organized a ride for later in the evening. We ended up having a lovely time, eating pizzas and dancing in the sand.

Live music at Paradise Beach Club

Pricey pizza and delicious cocktails

View from Paradise Beach Club

Dave and Andrew

We met an American couple, Patty and Gary, who had lots of advice about islands further north. They are heading to Prickly Bay so we might see them again.

If it's not Rummycub it's Uno

We discovered that our friends, John and Wendy on Headway were anchored in Tyrell Bay. They were leaving shortly after we arrived so sadly we didn't get to see them. But they drove past us on their way out and hollered goodbye!

On Monday we went ashore to explore. We walked towards Tyrell Bay to find the marina. I found the local school. The disparity between the different houses is alarming.

Love this one!

Hurricane damage?

Local pre school

Primary School

Pets or the next meal?

On the way we bumped into guys from Nevera. Remember the sea shanty singing judge. We also bumped into Fred on the beach. Fred is an old chap who had been in Cape Town for ages.  Dave and Sandy had helped him a lot while he was in Cape Town. He sailed single handed across the ocean.

Sandy, Dave, Andrew and Fred

The bougainvilleas are beautiful and all sorts of different colours.

Not a bougainvillea 

It was a long hot walk so when we got to Las Iguanas, the restaurant near customs, we had to have a few beers and lunch. 

Dinghy dock in Tyrell Bay

Tyrell Bay

Do you know your flags?

Two South Africans from the boat, Avanti, Gerard and Jaqueline, joined us for a few drinks. Gerrard and Jaqueline had some interesting stories to tell as they have already been north and are sailing back to Grenada. They have a YouTube channel which we have been following, so it was nice to meet them in person.

Dave, Sandy, Gerrard, Fred, Andrew
and Laura. Jacqueline at the bar

After a quick stop at the supermarket to buy some food and a place called Splash to buy beer and LLB's we headed back to the boat. 

Paradise Beach Club

We had put our dinghy ashore near Paradise Beach Club, and stopped to have a chat with the proprietor, Alison. 

And have a beer, of course

Carriacou in the distance

Andrew, Laura and I spent the following day exploring Hillsborough, which is known as "Town" and the remote village of Windward in the most northern part of Carriacou.

Fancy a call home?

Windward has very few shops, in fact we only found one which could hardly be called a shop, more like a mini mart. We had forgotten to bring water with us so popped into the shop to buy some. The shopkeeper was very friendly and got talking about cricket when we said where we were from.

Storm looming

Entrance to turtle beach

As we were walking to the turtle nesting beach it started to rain. We were watching the dark storm clouds looming, hoping that we would make it before the rains came.

Path lined with conch shells

There are trees called manchineel trees which are very poisonous. You can't stand under them when it rains as the water drips the toxic sap from the trees onto the ground. Apparently you get terribly sore blisters if you come into contact with it. The trees also have small apple looking fruit which is highly poisonous to humans. 

Dodging the drops

The trees to the tortoise nesting sight were all manchineel trees so we had to hurry through the trees when it rained. We managed to find a bird watching hide and sheltered there until the rain abated.

Shelter from the rain

Shipwreck

There was something sticking out the top of the ship's cabin which looked like a person.

There was a whole section of what looked like a swamp where mangrove trees were growing.

Some houses look very big and smart and others looks derelict even though it looks like people still live in them. There were no gardens to speak of, like we have at home. The grass areas were all brown and some gardens were being used as vegetable patches. 

Innovative way to use old tires

Goats could be found in the gardens eating what little vegetation there was. Some dogs had the freedom of movement and followed us down the road, other dogs were tied up in their gardens.

Windward is apparently the boat building Mecca of Grenada. We looked but couldn't find any evidence of this. We did find some half finished boats.

Evidence of boat building

It is not unusual to find abandoned cars rusting in the field or next to houses. We found a few other strange things just abandoned on the side of the road as well.

Mayday

We caught a bus back to Hillsborough and wandered around the town for a while. It is a busy place with lots of cars and people walking in the street. Pavements are almost non existent.

No loitering allowed

Andrew went into the bank to draw money. Laura was chased away by the security guard saying that we were not allowed to sit outside the bank.

Shops on the waters' edge

We had lunch at the Kayak Kafe, which was ok. They had Key Lime Pie, which was delicious.

View from Kayak Kafe

Lunch time

Before leaving Grenadian waters we had to have a Covid test which we did before we checked out. Thank goodness we were all negative!

We had to do the long walk down to the Customs office to check out of Grenada.

 

10 000 steps done!

After checking out and restocking on some supplies - not enough! - we upped anchor and headed towards Union Island.