Grenada & Carriacou

24 June – 17 August 2010

After a day sail, again with variable light winds, we anchored in the late afternoon in Hillsborough Bay, Carriacou which is part of the Grenadines chain of islands but belonging to Grenada, another ex-British island.

In the morning we went ashore to check in with Immigration and Customs, and do some shopping for provisions.  After lunch we motored around to Tyrrel Bay, the main anchorage on the island for cruising yachts.  There is one road along the waterfront with a couple of very small mini markets, some services for yachts, and a few bars and restaurants.

To one side of the bay is a ‘hurricane hole’ – a very protected, shallow stretch of water surrounded by mangroves and with a small entrance.  Normally not used for anchoring, but if a hurricane heads towards the island, the yachts go in here, with the shallowest draft furthest in, anchor at the stern and are tied to the mangroves at the bow.  The crew should then go to a hurricane shelter ashore.  We went in with the dinghy to have a look round; it’s a very beautiful and peaceful place.

One of the restaurants had a steel band night whilst we were there, so we joined some of the other cruisers – old and new friends - for a meal and to enjoy the music.

After just three nights here we departed for Grenada in good conditions for a sail down the east coast to the anchorages on the south, where we anchored in Prickly Bay.  We stayed for a week, finding our way about, checking out the supermarkets, yacht services and chandlers, and with a day out in the capital, St Georges where we were amazed to see old red British telephone boxes.  We also contacted Richard & Claire on Phalarope who had wintered in La Rochelle with us but we had last seen in the Spanish Rias.  We had a lovely reunion, meeting for coffee in the local shopping centre, but ended up staying for lunch and talked for 4 hours!

We then motored the short distance to Clarkes Court Bay where we had booked Impressionist into the marina for our trip to England to visit family and friends.  Here, again, we met with friends old and new.  There’s a lively social scene for the cruisers, particularly in the bar of the marina, with a weekly burger night, fish & chip supper, special lunches for events such as the football final, a film night, and events run by cruisers such as Sunday “Mexican Train Dominoes”, watercolour classes, language classes etc.

We prepared the boat for leaving it, removing everything possible from deck in case of bad weather, and flew to England for a three-week visit to family and friends.  It was lovely to see everyone, especially Anne’s new baby nephew and our grandchildren, but it was hectic and towards the end we were very tired.

On our return we had to start putting everything back in place on the boat.

A couple of days after our return to Grenada the main events of the Carnival (a month-long event) took place.  We went with our friends, Ken & Lynn, on a bus with other cruisers to St Georges to watch the main “Pretty Mas” parade, followed in the evening by the “Monday Night Mas”.

For a short video of the carnival please click here

We continued with sorting out the boat and getting some jobs done, but on Anne’s birthday we dinghied over to the Whisper Cove restaurant for a delicious T-bone steak and live music.  On our return the torch was laid down on the pontoon for a moment and rolled straight off into the water – horror, this was our best torch, the new LED Maglite.  The next morning Anne dived into the chocolate coloured water (run-off from the rum distillery) – and found it because it was still lit up.  It has been washed and dried, and works perfectly – a very impressive 10 out of 10 for Maglite!!

For more photos please click here