Heading back to Grenada

It was bittersweet leaving the Cays. The next time we go there I am sure it will be much busier. What has surprised us though, is how close all the islands are to each other. The hop between two countries is about a two hour sail from Union Island to Canouan. I am sure we will be seeing those islands again after hurricane season.

Cheeky Seagull

With our minds open to a better experience, we anchored in Clifton Harbour, Union Island and went ashore to check out of the country. The systems were down at the Customs and Immigration office so we had to walk to the airport which wasn't far. Back to Immigration to have our passports stamped and we were good to go. Although nothing untoward happened, we just didn't like the feel of Clifton Harbour and were happy to be making our way to Carriacou.

We had made water on the short passage from The Cays, so we put out the headsail, turned off the Donk and sailed, doing 6,5 to 7 knots in 12 or so knots of wind. It was beautiful to hear the waves against the hull and the wind in the sail. The sail down was much easier than the sail up with the current and wind in the right direction.

We decided to stop in Anse le Roche for the night. It is quite a small bay and there were already 5 other boats anchored but we decided to give it a try and dropped anchor at the back of all the boats. Later two more Cats and a monohull dropped anchor around us. After a very relaxing afternoon we went ashore to swim and check the prices of the beer and rum punch at the little bar/restaurant on the beach. They don’t sell beer apparently because the turtles lay their eggs on the beach and the beer caps pollute the beach. The rum punch was between 15 and 20 EC, so we gave drinks a miss and had a lovely long swim.

Small bay with lots of boats

Pelicans on the rocks

Is Dave too close to that rock?

Anse la Roche beach

Favourite spot

The next day, Dave, Laura, Andrew and I went ashore to hike up the hill. Apparently there is a lovely view spot, which unfortunately we did not find. We didn't realize that it would be more like a hike rather than just a walk and we were wearing our slops which made it a little difficult to walk up the hills. We decided we had walked far enough anyway and headed back. It was quite a hike down the hill again dodging cactus and cow pats. We saw a small tortoise and lots of lizards.

Slippery slope

Hot after a long hike

Volleyball nets and beach chairs

Once back on the boat we got ready to nip across the bay to Sandy Island. As I was about to bring up the anchor the heavens opened and I got drenched. It didn’t last long but the raindrops were huge. We slowly made our way across the water towards Sandy Island. The wind was blowing gusts up to 30 knots which made picking up the mooring ball rather difficult. Thank goodness I was on the helm and Andrew, armed with a boat hook tackled the ball. Finally we had all the ropes in place and we could turn off the motor.

Sandy Island

Love the cloud formation

As we had run out of breakfast food we were in a hurry to go ashore. Dave came to fetch us in his dinghy and we walked the long trek down to Customs and Immigration to check into Grenada. Provisioning in the way of meat, beer, rum, veg and some fruit was done at the local supermarket on the way back. Not willing to walk the 2+km back to the dinghy with all our shopping, we hopped in a bus which dropped us off at Paradise Beach Restaurant. 

We had a very interesting chat with Alison, the proprietor of Paradise Beach Restaurant about Grenada vs Grenadines and the new government. They had elections recently and a new chap was voted in. Alison is very happy with the new man in charge and is hoping for some good changes. Alison reckons that people up in the Grenadines see the yachties coming and hike the prices up. We definitely found that some places charged less the more we frequented their establishment, or the price was different for the locals.

Sailor Dave

Dave and Andrew went ashore on the Saturday to watch rugby at Paradise Beach Bar. I went back there the following day at 9am and watched the Wimbledon Final.

No, the drink isn't sour and nor is the game bad

Boat name plates

Alison does a sip and paint, once a month on a Wednesday, where you can paint your boat name and logo on a board whilst drinking a cocktail. She puts them up on the walls and fences around her restaurant. We haven't been there on a Wednesday so have missed making our mark in Carriacou. We will definitely make a plan to do it next time we are up there. None of us on Calypso are the greatest painters! It's a pity Kay isn't with us as she is the artistic one in the family.

We spent a few days at Sandy Island in Carriacou. The strong wind whipped up the sea quite a bit, so instead of going ashore and exploring Hillsborough, we stayed on the boat, only going to Sandy Island for swims and snorkeling.

On Tuesday morning, the Calypso crew upped anchor and headed for St George's, Grenada. We decided to head back as we have quite a bit of boat work to do. Sadly we had to say farewell to Dave and Sandy as they stayed on at Sandy Island for a bit longer.

Passing Ronde Island

We had a wonderful sail down the coast of Grenada and spent a night on a mooring ball off St Georges. It is convenient for shopping and getting the C14 we needed to pick up the package we had waiting for us. The much anticipated, much needed Wi-Fi extender. Let's hope it works as well as we need it to.

St George's Grenada

Favourite chilling spot

Dodging the spray

After breakfast we dropped mooring lines and sailed around to Prickly Bay. Brandon had been watching our progress and kindly came out in his dinghy to help with the mooring ball. 

It was quite strange being back in Prickly Bay without Dave, Sandy and the Lune. The mooring balls were all full so we were quite pleased we had booked one. Many boats are not occupied and closed up tight for hurricane season. There are still lots of South Africans here waiting out the season.

Watch out for the next episode where we spend a bit of time fixing things and a lot of time socializing!