Heading South

As long as we constantly checked the weather, we were pretty comfortable continuing to visit the islands we wanted to back down the chain despite it being late in the season. My condition was that we got back to Grenada in time for Carnival! Weather dependent when leaving Statia we wanted to re-visit Dominica, Bequia, Tobago Cays, Union Island and Carriacou before arriving in Grenada. Worked out well as we were rewarded with quieter anchorages and a more local feel to the islands now the majority of the cruisers and tourists have gone.

Dominica is still one of our favourite islands we have visited so we went to both of the anchorages, Portsmouth and Roseau. When entering Portsmouth, rather than seeing the bay rammed with boats like when we were there this April, we were one of only 2 others! Spoilt for choice on our anchoring spot we dropped the pick near to shore in the hope of picking up free internet signal. But alas no cruisers means no wireless it would seem. The boat boys still as friendly as ever, were a little more desperate for business. We bought a few things to help them out as we have a lot of respect for the Dominica boat boys who do not harass yachties and in season put on a great show every sunday with a loaded BBQ.

We go for a wander into Portsmouth town and bump into a local boy on a bike who tells us its his 13^th birthday. He then proceeds to ask for my sunglasses as a birthday present! Erm no, he won't be getting my ray bans despite how much he may like them. He continues to follow us into town stopping us every so often to ask for my sunglasses. Finally we get through to him that he won't be receiving my glasses and he sulks off.

Trying to get a 2 day old kitten to come to me

A couple of vendors were out on the street selling their wares from the road side. We bought a fruit we hadn't seen before called 'ganepas' – although they pronounced it 'canip'. Its a small green fruit, you make a hole in the skin with your teeth and then suck out the inside. Its similar consistency to lychee but tastes sweet and creamy. May make an interesting smoothie if you could squeeze enough of them!

Ganepas

Keen to keep moving, the next day we headed to the south of the island, Roseau. Its steep to in this bay and most people pick up a mooring ball but with it being off season, most of the balls had been winterised leaving only plastic bottles to mark the location. We puttered about trying to find a spot sub 50ft and eventually found one. Roseau to me means cheap fruit and veg so we wasted no time rigging the dinghy and going to the market. We tried 2 new items from here, a sapote and toloman. Sapote is a brown fruit that tastes like perfume – I won't be buying that again. Toloman is powdered arrowroot and acts like a thickner. When we got back to the boat we tried it to make porridge and boy does it thicken! Only 2 teaspoons turns water /milk into a thick thick paste. Doesn't have any flavour so I'd liken it to cornstarch.

Back in Roseau, we got hungry so went to check out a local place to eat. Passing Itala we saw it packed with locals, a great indicator that it must be a good place to go. I ordered a 'chicken dinner' and Dylan was going to order a fish until he saw that it was fish heads and opted for chicken too. Even he isn't that adventurous. Wow it was a lot of food, packed with chicken, rice, spaghetti, breadfruit, plantain, baby banana and salad – I waddled around afterwards with a massive food baby. As we sat eating our lunch a local came over with one arm and started chatting to us and telling us his sob story. We rarely give money to tramps but as we wanted to eat our lunch and not be put off – we gave him 5EC and he went on his merry way.

Next passage was an overnight sail to Bequia. On the way we managed to lose another 2 lures, one to a big strike that got away and another to the wind gen...That takes our total loss to 4 now, we must buy better traces!

Raising flag for SVG

Whilst ashore in Bequia we wandered down the back roads and came across a guy selling lettuce in his garden. This was Dennis the Lettuce man. He actually cuts them straight from his raised lettuce beds and bags them for you. Costs you $5 EC per head (we had a bunch of young leaves instead). His 3 year old son raced around the garden with a spade and proceeded to blow me kisses. Dylan on the other hand received zap signs which the little guy and Dad thought to be a grand joke with much hearty laughter shared between father and son.

On the way back to Orion we stopped in at the book swap in Porthole restaurant and met Bequia's local grinch. A surly old bat who did not subscribe to a customer service mantra. But we got some interesting books though to restock the library. Dylan was pleased with his haul until I bagged them all, sprayed them with baygon and relegated them to the cockpit for quarantine.

Dylans note: God knows when I will be able to read any and when I do the fumes may force me to succumb

From Bequia we headed down the Grenadine island chain to Mayreau with the intention of going to Salt Whistle Bay. When approaching though we saw that the bay was rammed so we gave it a miss and headed for one of our favourite spots, Tobago Cays. A lot quieter than when we were last there, we anchored right near the turtle area. Snorkelling was made very interesting with the strong current that we had to swim against, as I jumped into the water and was busy putting my fins on, I was pushed about 2 boat lengths away from Orion. Sleeping was also difficult as the water had a chop on it and the wind howled through. A small price to pay though for 2 days in paradise.

View from the galley

Never letting us down, Tobago Cays sealife was great. As I dived down to bed the anchor, a trunk fish greeted me and showed me where to find it, even blowing the sand off to reveal the shiny metal below. How very friendly of him! Once I had finished playing with the little guy, I turned around to see a ray swimming by with its followers of 2 fish. The area we were anchored in was teaming with turtles. On one snorkel we came across a bale of 6 turtles looking like they were having a meeting that we inconveniently broke up. Just a few yards away we saw 2 moray eels having a squabble over who was going to live in an abandoned conch shell. The bigger one won and the smaller one remained a safe distance away scowling at us, trying to make up for the fact it had just been beaten.

Bedding the anchor

Lunch aboard Orion

A short hop from Tobago Cays is Union Island and thats where we went next, Chatham Bay. As we neared the bay, another boat was leaving which meant we had the whole bay to ourselves for most of the day. Anchoring in the lee of the headland, the place was full of pelicans and ashore the beach was dotted with a couple of huts serving drinks and beach BBQ each evening. A boat boy came by letting us know of happy hour at his place, Palm Leaf Restaurant. Not one to pass up on a cheap beer, Dylan rowed us ashore and we pulled the dinghy up on the beach. Rum punch for me and beers for Dylan whilst we made friends with Tim and the owner Jerry. Tim let me feel his dreadlocks and even posed for a picture. Palm Leaf Restaurant like the other shacks in the bay is literally a shed on a beach, no electricity, no running water. When it got dark we had a paraffin lamp on the table and they switched on a generator to power some naked lightbulbs. Flying ants loved them though which caused them to hit the light and go into a death dive on our table so they got switched off again pretty quickly!

Tim and I

The Palm Leaf Restaurant

Dylan attempting to drag the dink by himself

At the far end of Chatham Bay is Aqua, a posh looking bar and boutique. They have thatched roofs but we were most put out when we touched them and realised it was plastic! In the dark it looked most convincing. Dylan tested out his rock climbing skills and then I ushered him back to the shack as we had decided to have their combi BBQ – conch, fish and chicken. The meal was amazing, table was piled with barracuda, conch in some yummy sauce, chicken drumsticks, garlic potatoes, baby banana, rice, coleslaw salad. We were stuffed by the end of it. On the table next to us was a huge family of white Barbadians with a funny rhasta accent!! Dylan made his usual cringe comment, asking them whereabouts they were from in the US! Only Dylan can get accents so terribly wrong, this is the same guy that asks Irish people where they are from in Scotland!

As Dylan rowed back to the boat and I eased the waistband on my dress (food baby), we were navigating in the dark, with no torch and no moon. As each oar stroke hit the water, a cloud of phosphorescence glowed beneath us. It gave the impression that we were throwing out magic fairy dust as we inched towards Orion.

Early the next morning we were hailed by one of the Barbadians in a dinghy. Turns out he went for a morning fish, caught a barracuda and Spanish mackerel and had come to give us one. Such nice people we of course accepted and ate very well that evening.

Land ahoy!

Next stop, Frigate Island, another spot we hadn't checked out when going up the chain earlier this year. A lovely anchorage nestled in the lee of the island and close to the sleepy town of Ashton. We were treated again to the place all to ourselves. Needing to clear out of SVG we took the dinghy ashore to Ashton and walked to the customs office in Clifton (the only other town on Union Island). A boiling hot day we shadow hopped under the trees along the road as we commenced the walk, checking out the great views out to sea. Locals were very friendly stopping and saying 'afternoon' every time we passed. The shops in Ashton were plentiful but had almost bare shelves. We walked into a store in search of ginger and were greeted with naked shelves apart from a few bottles of Clorox, bags of nuts and a cooler full of local fruit juice. This seemed to be the case for the other shops too, rather than feeling frustrated at not being able to get what was on the list, I lapped it up. How bizarre, it certainly makes you wonder how these people get by when they have such little stock on sale. In one shop as I was scratching my head, a song from Adele came on. It seems even in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere, the British music industry can still reach it!

View from Ashton out to Frigate

Town of Ashton

Orion near Frigate Island

Almost at Grenada now, we made one stop in Carriacou to clear in before reaching our destination.

As always seems to be the case with us, we reached the customs office just as they decided to break for lunch...so we did too. We sought out the roti place that we frequented last time we were here but I made the mistake of not asking for boneless chicken so had an awful time chewing on gristle and spitting out bone. Don't think I could ever get used to that, it's enough to turn me vegetarian where as Dylan is in his element, sucking the bones until every piece of meat is digested. Bleurgh.

From Hillsborough (the capital of Carriacou) we motored across to Sandy Island and found the best reefs so far in the Caribbean. BVIs are definitely the best for sea life but here, the reefs were amazing. A marine protected area, all boats have to pick up a free mooring ball. The island was too far to swim to so we got in the dinghy and went to the east side for some snorkelling. One of my fins broke when swimming against the strong current here so I started to lose the battle and headed back to the dinghy. Typically, the only time I wimp out early, Dylan spots a 2ft nurse shark! Intent on not missing out, we take the dinghy over to where he spotted it but alas it had finished it nap and disappeared.

Not keen to stay overnight in the unprotected area of Sandy Island, we slipped our mooring for the second time that day and sailed around the headland to Tyrell Bay, anchoring near shore to pick up the free internet. This bay was even busier than we saw it in high season, with many boats opting to hurricane here due to the nearby mangroves.

Dinghying to shore we went in search of Venus aka crazy shack lady that we had met back in February. This lady sells fruit and veg from a shack at the bottom of her garden. We found her 'liming' with a competitor. She remembered us and took us back to her shack where she proceeded to sell us custard apples, mangoes and a coconut. She is totally in love with Dylan and continually calls him 'baby' and tells him 'you make me fall down' (meaning you make me laugh). Venus had a new wig but wouldn't let us take her photo making us promise that we would return and go for a walk to the beach so we could snap her in her bikini instead! Scary!

Looking for Venus

With only a couple of days to go until Carnival we made our final island jump to Grenada, catching a decent sized black fin tuna on the way. Now all we need to do to prepare for Monday Night Mas is pick up our Carib packs and get out the glow sticks!

Black fin tuna

A wet, windy and wild passage

Clearing out from Grenada (in Hillsborough, Carriacou) our plan was to head to Union Island, a short trip across with the whole day to do it.

As we left the relative comfort of the anchorage and headed west of Jack a Dan (a large rock jutting out of the water, home to pelicans), we immediately caught the wind. Unlike Grenada, Carriacou was very windy on the leeward side that morning. We had already put in 2 reefs prior to leaving and with the wind gusting 30 knots we brought in the jib as well. A difficult sail, we continued to beat up the coast until we cleared the north headland. As we started our crossing to Union Island, not only did we have the gusts to contend with but also the swells. By this point I am starting to feel ill so gladly helmed to keep focused as we pummelled the waves. As Dylan went down below to check that nothing was flying around in the saloon, another gust took us and we broached. Having never broached before I was terrified. Clutching onto the wheel I squealed as the boat heels right over and the steering becomes too tough to fight against, wind loud in my ears, I see Dylan's startled face from below. Ever the protector, Dylan starts to sing a silly song, diverting the attention away from the situation. Stubborn mule that I am, although petrified I continued to fight the wheel until after what seems like an age, our rudder pops back in the water and we continue sailing as if nothing happened. In hindsight the whole scenario lasted a couple of seconds but it was enough for me to hand the helm over to Dylan and disappear below to study the charts instead!! During that ordeal the boat made a 'twang', when Dylan went on deck to investigate further he found that the starboard aft stay had completely sheared from the deck and was swinging in the wind. A bungee cord and several twines later we secure it to the other stay and start to discuss our next steps.

Shaken from the experience I proposed we head for the nearest anchorage and survey the damage, wanting to quickly get out of the wind and swell. We were nearest to Union Island but to get into the anchorage would have involved numerous tacks and we didn't fancy worsening the situation! Managing to demast 3 weeks into our adventure was not a story I wanted to tell our grandkids in years to come. Why not use the engine? We are hardly like the Pardys but with the large swell running and 30 knot wind right on the nose we were doing almost 2000 revs, reaching almost 180 degrees and only going 1.8 knots! Petit St Vincent although a little further away could be reached on a port tack, was an easy anchorage to access and required little engine use so that was a winner! Of course we hadn't been there before so we were just trusting my navigational skills and our newly acquired seamanship. Luckily the trust we put in ourselves paid off and we sailed a further 4 nm with no problems and dropped anchor with plenty of daylight left (feeling quite chuffed with ourselves for overcoming our first dilemma at sea!).

After a stiff rum and coke (always fruit juice for me as Grenadians don't seem to stock diet anything!) we investigated the severed chain plate and found it was heavily corroded and the last load it had endured when we broached just tipped it over the edge shearing the plate. We plugged up the hole to make it water tight and started to relax, surveying our surroundings.

Petit St Vincent (PSV) is the most beautiful place I have been to, to date. It is exactly what you think of when you picture the Caribbean. A very small private island, it is surrounded by bright blue waters and white coral sand with no inhabitants other than the hotel guests and when we arrived...no charterers!! The island is a resort for the rich and famous where one goes for utter seclusion, staying in stone cottages with a flagpole that needs to be raised if you wish to have room service. With privacy in mind, as yachties we are unable to explore the island but we are free to walk on the beach as long as we are discreet with hotel guests. On one walk we found a hoard of black coral that had been washed ashore which we quickly put in our bags, keen to make the most of this find as normally you need to dive between 300 and 3000 ft to get it!

Looking over the side of Orion we could see 6 metres down to a whole family of conch. Keen to capture our own conch, prepare and cook it we went on our first snorkel which in itself was a daunting experience. According to our Garmin, the current was running at 1.5 knots which made jumping in the water a little scary, unsure whether we would be swept out to sea! Thankfully we could swim against it and started to dive seeing puffer fish, lion fish, arrow crab and a huge starfish. Finding the biggest conch in the area for our dinner we brought him onboard to start the dinner preparation. Dylan was appointed chief preparer whilst I volunteered to be the photographer. We started by knocking a hole in the shell between the 2^nd and 3^rd ridge and to loosen the claw, this allowed us to pull him out of his shell. Next step was to remove his stomach, eyes, snout and skin. Finding a conch basher in the galley, Dylan then began pounding the meat until translucent. We wanted to be able to taste the flavour so we just dipped the prepared conch in breadcrumbs and fried it. Although a lot of effort to catch and prepare the conch, he tasted lovely – like a non rubbery version of calamari. Shall definitely be helping ourselves to more of those off the ocean floor!

After a weekend near this paradise island, we figured it was time to face the music and get our rigging fixed. The wind had been gusting up to 36 knots but on Sunday they were a casual 25 so we made a dash for it. The islands further up the chain would become more remote with very little technical yacht services so we made the decision to backtrack and sail back to Carriacou. Not what we really wanted to do as our plan was to work our way North but as we are quickly realising, all plans need to remain fluid!

A couple of hours of motoring but this time with the swells, we surfed our way into Hillsborough, Carriacou. Unfortunately the swells only got worst and we spent the night feeling like we were on a ride in Alton Towers!! 8am comes and we make our way back to customs and immigration that we had only left some 4 days earlier. A little perplexed to see us back so soon and having no country stamps in our passport to account for the last 4 days (PSV is part of St Vincent so we never cleared in) we turned on the charm and got welcomed back into Grenada.

A further 2 hours of motoring and we arrived back in Tyrell Bay. Having read Doyle's cruising guide he states that there is a great French guy here that specialises in stainless steel fabrication, now all we need to do is hunt down his trimaraft workshop!