SPICE ISLAND

Grenada

Grenada is a lush green island known as Spice Island, because they produce more spices per sq-foot then any other island. The island lies between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, north of Trinidad and south of St. Vincent. Here the currency is still in EC (Eastern Caribbean) the population is about 100,000 most of African descent, language is English but still has strong French influence . They all live up to GMT (Grenadian Mode Time) no schedules no worries.

We anchored in Prickly Bay, just outside of Prickly Bay Marina. Most everyone here travels by bus or taxi. You can stand anywhere on the street and wave a bus will stop to pick you up. Each bus has a conductor boy that opens the door for each stop, he will tell you where to get off if you ask he also collects he money for the driver.

Our 1st day we spent in St George with (Bleu Marie) Jean Pierre and Michele. They are French Canadians. We met up with a guide that helped us find everything that we wanted and also took us to visit the fish and spice markets, St George Fort and the Roman Catholic Church. When we arrived at the church the children were practicing for there graduation ceremony. The Nuns were strict each one carried a strap. Needless to say the kids did what they were told. They are all dressed in uniforms and are neat and clean. We also stopped at the Methodist Church that had been hit by Ivan, the hurricane that hit Grenada in 2004. It still sits with the roof off and in ruins due to lack of funds. Most Grenadian are Catholic.

(Allergic To Cities) Rick and Suzie took us for a sail on their boat to Le Phare Bleu Marina. There they had a 100 year old lighthouse ship. Completely restored, she was beautiful.
Next we took a Henry’s Safari Tour with (Bleu Marie) Jean Pierre and Michele and a couple from (Contessa) Jeff and Carol Lee. We had a great time. We saw the Concord waterfalls, Gouyave Spice Plantation that showed us how chocolate is grown and made into Chocó, the River Antoine Rum Factory that is a 200 year old distillery. Then to Grand Etang rainforest, home of the Mona monkey. I didn’t see one monkey! I was so sad. Last stop Creator lake then back to Prickly Bay.

The next night was the fishermen’s birthday so they put on a fish fry in the town of Gouyave. We took Cuties Taxi and Tours busses along with Bleu Marie, Off-line and Nebula. The fish fry reminded me of a swap meet back home. Little booths lined the streets, but instead of selling goods, the locals prepared fish along with other Grenadian dishes beer and soda for sale. It was fun people were dancing and having a good old time.

Our stay is now completed. We will be Sailing to Trinidad on Sunday June 29th this will be the end of our trip this season. We will put our boat up for hurricane season in Trinidad, come back in November and continue our journey to the Sea of Cortez next season.

The Grenadines

The Grenadines

1. 
   Mayreau Island: We anchored in Salt Whistle Bay along with (8) other cruisers that we know. The beach reminds me of a half-moon shape. Only one resort is on the Island it has tables made out of stone and a bar/ restaurant for our use. Here is where I want to list the boats names that were here, so we don’t forget anyone. When you’re a cruiser you meet a lot of boaters, but to all be anchored in one bay at the same time is fabulous. Everyone choose this bay because it is well protected from the weather. There is a large wave heading in our direction, so we all had that word protected in our minds.
   1. Off line
   2. Nebula
   3. Allergic to Cities
   4. Magic
   5. Bleu Marie
   6. Daniel’s Story
   7. Blue Water Cat (Carl’s Nurse)
   8. Soldier
   9. Last but not least. (Mystique.)

The 1st night all of us got into the water, to cool off. Jake (Off Line) pulled up his dinghy set anchor right next to us. He then began handing out rum drinks. We all went back to our boats and brought back rum and mixers to share. This event turned out to be known as the floating dinghy bar night. We all were pruned from the water and drunk from the rum. It was a Jake attack!!! His label will stick with him until the end of this season, I’m sure.

Tobago Cays: We all set sail to the Tobago Cays together. The little Island that we anchored in is deserted but well known for the snorkeling and turtle watching. Hawk Bill turtles swim with you if you don’t frighten them. I got to swim with two at the same time. They were about ½ the size of me. This was one of my greatest high-lights of the whole trip.

In this part of the Grenadines there are deadly reefs that surround the Islands. If your not careful you can hit one that would surely sink your boat. The reefs were wonderful to snorkel in, and we did a lot of that.

Carl & Jake arranged a trip to a little island that you had to dinghy through the reefs to get to. The reefs are also deadly to dinghies. Rum Island where some of the movie Pirates of the Caribbean was filmed. When we got there Jake and Carl thought it would be nice to eat fresh coconut. So they headed to the nearest coconut tree. Jake claimed up on Carl’s shoulders with a bamboo stick in one hand, determined to knock-off a coconut. Needless to say they were unsuccessful, but they really put on a show trying. Them two always are on the same team when we play any game. They always win somehow. This time they were a crack-up.

Clifton: Is a small Island with fruit & Veggie stands and small stores. Not really much to see. The main attraction that Carl & Jake found was, Happy Island built on the edge of the reef. Not many people have created their own island as did the builder Janti. He took old conch shells that cluttered the island mixed them with cement and created his own island. You can tie your own dinghy right outside of the bar/restaurant. By the way that’s all that is on this man made island. Quite the place a must see.

Hillsborough: A small island we only stopped for lunch and to check out of the Grenadines at custom’s.

Carriacou: A small island with a working boatyard and a few stores and not much more. The main attraction was the floating bar. It was a small boat with no motor parts. The only thing aboard was the bar and a few seats. If they ran out of something they would call a boat boy to bring it to the boat from shore.

This is where we all kind of went our own way. Off line & Nebula stayed there for a week. That would be way to long for us. Others had their own ideas of where they were going. Mystique headed for Grenada. A 80 mile passage. A storm was on its way and we wanted to head out before we got stranded here. It turned out to be a very nice sail but we did have to motor because the wind was only blowing between 4 to 6 knots at times. Next stop Grenada.

Chatham

Union Island

The Grenadine Islands are just a small hop away from each other. We went to Chatham Bay 1st because of bad weather. This bay is well protected. It’s really nice now that we caught up with our other boater friends that were all going south. We were behind them because of going back to the states for 10 days. Four other boats pulled into the bay that we knew. All with the same idea of a protected bay. Magic, Blue Water Cat, Daniels Story and Solder. The 1st night we all played cards on the beach with two local guys that lived in a tent on the beach. One had a wife that weaved baskets and sold them to cruisers. The guys fished and sold fresh fish. Not much more than a picnic table on this side of the island. Private and nice snorkeling.

The next morning we all got together to hike up to the main road and into the town of Austin. Carl stayed on the boat because he had the flu or something that made him really sick. It was along walk and on the way it started to rain. We all still keep on going. It felt good to be wet. The rain cooled off the day. Austin is a small town. The little stores were cheap, no trusts here.
Rose one of the other cruisers was a teacher. She stopped off at the local school. She met the music teacher that told her to bring all of us to the music room to hear the students practice the steel drum. We all came. It was out away from the rest of the building in the back of the school. The room looked like a large chicken coup. The steel drums were made out of large steel drum cans with the tops dent in and rounded. The students played for us. It was so much fun that it was one of the greatest high lights of this whole trip. The kids were so nice and unspoiled. We found a guy that drive us all back to the main road that lead us back down the hill to the bay. It was a small pickup with benches for seats in the bed of the truck. It also had a tarp to cover us from the sun. It was a windy ride, but us girls kept our eyes closed, we all agreed it was much better then walking back.

Dona from Blue Water Cat is a nurse, she took a good look at Carl for me. She said that he was okay and not dehydrated. That’s what worried me the most, I guess he just needs rest. Next stop Salt Whistle.

Canouan

CANOUAN

Canouan is a small island in the heart of the Grenadines. The island is browner then the other islands we have been to. They are suffering from drought. Wile we were here it rained just a little at night, the locals are hoping for a lot more. As we walked through the small town we encountered chickens and goats walking down the streets. One bank one police station and a few small stores is all it has to offer.

There is a new development on the northern part of the island that is gated with guards at the entry. Locales and visitors need to ask permission to enter. It is said that Trump is running a casino and is offering luxury apartments, a resort and private air strip here. We were tempted but stayed away.

We met up with Off Line the boater friends that we really like here. Jake is painting a picture of the “ugliest island.” He is an artist and I saw the painting before it was finished, it was really quite good. Carol and I did some snorkeling and swimming. Then off we both went to Union Island.

Bequia

Bequia is a favorite of sailors and boaters, isolated en

ough to remain unspoiled, yet lively enough to be entertaining. Bequia is the 1st Island in the chain called the Grenadines. Old traditions remain, boats are still being built on the beach under the shade of the palm trees. We anchored in Admiralty Bay a well-protected Bay in Port Elizabeth. Small hotels, bars, restaurants and shops spread along the shore. The gingerbread restaurant & bar offers free internet service out in the courtyard overlooking the Bay. We sat under the trees with a cool breeze blowing, watching the locals and drinking coffee. We went to the fruit & vegetables stand to buy some fresh local produce. High pressured salesmen they are. They want you to buy some of everything, at a high price at that. We found a few things and were on our way. Next stop, Canouan in the chain of the Grenadines still in the windward Islands.

St. Lucia

This part of our trip is called the Windward Islands. We passed up most all of the French Islands along the way. We can’t see everything anyway. Our time is growing short and we need to get further south before hurricane season starts.

St Lucia, the largest of the English speaking Windward’s. It has lush mountains and white sandy beaches, excellent sightseeing and hiking. We set anchor in Rodney Bay the lagoon is closed for remodeling. They are adding lots of new docks and marina stuff. This bay has condos and hotels lining the water front.

At long last we heard familiar voices on the VHF radio. It was boaters that we knew. Nebula, Wind Freak and Allergic to Cities. We caught up with them at Marigot Bay. Off Line was now not very far ahead. We took a mooring ball at Marigot Bay and visited with the other boats. Without much to see there we took off early the next morning. Next stop, the Grenadines (Bequia

Dominica

Dominica

Dominica is beautiful, greener than any country I have ever seen. The currency here is in EC (Eastern Caribbean) dollars. One American dollar is equal to 2.68EC much more affordable! We anchored in Portsmouth a real cozy bay.

Even before we dropped our hook a local guide approached us, in a small wooden boat with the name Cobra written in yellow along the side. He explained that here in Dominica everyone uses a guide for everything. My name is Jerome and I’m at your service. The island has many guided tours of all kinds he pulls out a map to show us. Indian River tours, river rafting, Rain forests trips, waterfalls hikes, sightseeing bus rides across the Island to name a few. Anything that we needed we just asked Jerome and he had it done. Carl got the bottom of the boat cleaned and a wooden door fixed for cheap. A guy on a surf board rows up to the boat selling fruit. I love the Mangoes!

We decided to take two tours. The 1st one was down the Indian River. The guide rows us down the river in the Cobra wooden boat, mangroves on the sides with huge swamp blood wood trees with their massive roots sticking out of the soil and down into the water, twisting and tangling into different shapes. Tropical plants, flowers and birds everywhere. Some parts of the movie Pirates of the Caribbean was filmed here. We stop at Le Troquet de Radjah a bar at the end of the river. The owners are great about keeping the place natural and let mother mature do her thing. Its beautiful. Our guide makes us bird and fish out of a palm tree leaf. We sit and have a drink of natural fruit juice and eat a mango fresh off the tree. The boaters from the boat The Bees Knees sits next to us. We net them in Ponce. We are in heaven. The guide invites us to his house to eat land crab fixed the way the locals make it. We went and met his parents, wife and son & daughter. Of course we had to pay for the crab. All-in-all it was nice to see how the locals live. Very 3rd world.

The next day we take the sightseeing trip accost the Island to a waterfall hike in the rain forest. There are 10 of us on this mini van bus twisting and turning up and down the mountain roads. Wile the guide beeps the horn around the steep turns. I just close my eyes as he drives on the left hand side of the road. Our guide stops along the way to explain the different flowers and fruit trees that grow on the island. He lets us taste the different types of fruit as we go. He even breaks open a coconut that he finds along the way. Maybe he hasn’t eaten breakfast yet! The hike to the rain forest was incredible. Long vines dangle over the path large trees form a complete canopy overhead so it is dark and cathedral like. Sprinkles of water drop on your body, its cool and tranquil. The waterfall drops about 200 ft into a large cool pool. We swim and cool off. It’s heaven again! Next stop St. Lucia in the Windward Islands.