Heading to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Sounds like a good name for a rock band to me, and it's a lot to type, so I'll be calling it SVG. I'm excited to be going to a new country, even though it's less than 12 miles from where we are now, even taking into account the reefs that we have to go around. Here's a map for those who haven't looked it up on Google yet. (I found it on World Map Now.)

(Click the map to open it in a size you can read.)

Last night we decided to go out for a nice dinner. We'd heard good things about the Slipway Restaurant. The people on the boat/bar Hallelujah, which is anchored here, were very enthusiastic about it, and it certainly lived up to the recommendations. Funny that it already has a reputation since it's only been open five weeks.

We started with a beet, blue cheese and walnut salad that John ordered on account of the blue cheese. It made us rethink beets; they were one vegetable that we didn't eat, at least not at home. Then John had the pasta with duck and cabbage, and I had the fish, which was supposed to be king fish, but they were out, so it was mahi-mahi. Ordinarily I hesitate to eat something that John makes at home because I'm often disappointed, and I did hesitate, but I wasn't disappointed at all. (The third entree option was pork tenderloin, but we'd had that very nicely done at Le Phare Bleu when we met Peter and Nelly from Alua for dinner, so we wanted something different. They also had lobster, but it was sold out just ahead of us.) We did have dessert—a chocolate pot de crème and an orange olive oil cake—but neither were as good as the previous courses. Bottom line is that we think this new little restaurant is something to rave about, so we are. I apologize for the lack of photos, but we were too busy eating.

The Slipway Restaurant isn't in any of the free guides that you pick up around the islands because it's so new, so here's the pertinent information. First, it's located at Tyrrel Bay on the beach next to the haul-out and boatyard. You can leave your dinghy at the boatyard, but watch your step as you cross the derelict dock between the main dock and the restaurant. The boards are loose. It's open for lunch from 11:30-2:00 and for dinner from 6:00-9:00 Tuesday through Saturday. They do a Sunday brunch from 11:30-3:30. The bar is open all day. Reservations are recommended, and the phone is 443 6500. (I couldn't find the phone number anywhere, so I called the boatyard to get it.) They also monitor VHF Channel 16.

Last night was a very special way to end our stay in Grenada and Carriacou, and now we're off to SVG. We don't know when or if we'll have Internet there, but we'll keep our position report current.

On to Carriacou

It rained almost continuously the first four days after my return to Grenada. Then the forecasts called for northeasterly wind of 15-20 knots and 8 to 11-foot waves. Since Carriacou, our next destination, lies northeast of Grenada and our prepaid 30 days at the Grenada Yacht Club (GYC) hadn't expired, we decided to stay put and wait for a little less wind against us. Finally, Wednesday looked good, and we left the dock.

Veranda of the GYC. Nothing fancy, but electricity for laptops using the free Wi-Fi.

Lagoon entrance at St. George. Masts at GYC visible behind the blue industrial building. Big yachts are at Port Louis.

Brownie troop on their way to Lagoon Park after school

We weren't alone. As we left the harbor at St. George and turned right to motor up the western coast of Grenada, we saw that a couple of boats were ahead of us and a couple more behind us. We're slow when we motor, so more and more boats caught up with us. It looked like lots of people had been waiting for the weather break, but we knew there would be room for everyone at Tyrrel Bay, our destination.

As we neared the north end of the island, the wind picked up a bit and, as forecast, it was from east of northeast, so we pulled out the jib and got a little boost. We had been warned to hug the shore to avoid a westerly current that can be quite strong between the islands. There's an active underwater volcano on the way, and although we went right along the edge of its cautionary exclusion zone, we didn't see any indication that it was doing anything. We made good time and were comfortably anchored by 2:30 p.m. That gave us time to do a little socializing with a neighbor from GYC, Ron on Erasmos from Victoria, B.C., and also to say hello to Michael on Transcendence.

First sunset at Tyrrel Bay, Carriacou

Carriacou is a nice little island. Around Tyrrel Bay, at least, there are no high-rise resorts, just a few little cottages for rent and maybe some low-key inns. The people seem friendly and helpful, and although we had only planned to stay two nights, after our exploration yesterday, we decided to linger and explore further.

John exploring. The beach is the coolest road.

View from the pizza place with dinghy dock

The whole view

We'll take the bus into the main town of Hillsborough today, have a look around, and do our check-out for tomorrow. The governments of many of the islands in the West Indies have gone together on an Internet-based customs and immigration system called eSeaClear. Neither Barbados nor Grenada are on the system yet, but Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, our next island nation, is. I've filled out and submitted the forms, originally for our arrival today but edited for tomorrow. We're looking forward to seeing if it reduces the number of times we have to fill in forms with the same information.

Exploring Grenada

Time flies when you're having fun, and there's a lot to catch up with. I'm visiting family and friends in Portland, Oregon, right now, but John and Märzen stayed behind in Grenada on Solstice. John sent me photos, though, for this post about Grenada.

After we dropped the sail on our approach to the anchorage at Prickly Bay, Grenada, we were wondering how we were going to find our friends among all the boats anchored there. Luckily, Avocette was anchored just across from the Prickly Bay Marina, and Chris and Roy pointed out an available spot right next to them. Great!

Grenada makes clearing in and out as easy as possible by locating their customs and immigration offices where most of the boats go, and that includes Prickly Bay. On our way into the office we spotted Jinja coming up the channel to the anchorage, and on our way back to the boat, we saw Free Spirit. We knew that at least three boats full of friends were where we were. Later we also found Transcendence and learned that Alua was just a couple of bays over at Clarks Court Marina. Our first night was a Friday, and there was a steel band and a rock band both playing at the Prickly Bay Marina. Alua came over, and we had a mini-reunion of the boats who had left Mindelo together. It was difficult to be heard over the bands, but it was fun anyway.

During our two and a half years in Europe, we were often by ourselves. The cruiser-camaraderie of Grenada was very welcome. There's even a cruiser net on VHF Channel 68 six mornings a week where social events, restaurant specials, and “treasures of the bilge” to buy or sell are announced—and also the weather. What a treat!

From our base in Prickly Bay, Jinja quickly arranged a tour of the island. Jinja didn't plan to stay too long in Grenada since they'll be heading back across the Atlantic at the end of the season and have many miles to cover and islands to see before then. Free Spirit joined us, and we had a lovely day. Besides the beautiful island views, we visited a nutmeg co-op, a waterfall, a cocoa estate, a rum distillery, and ate local specialties for lunch.

View of St. George

The Carenage at St. George

Concord falls

Shirlee at the waterfall

Fishermen at work

Osprey hunting

Water power at River Antoine Distillery

Still from Louisville, KY

Cocoa drying at Belmont Estate

During the following week before my flight to Portland, we continued to relax, socialize, and explore. Too soon it was time for Avocette, who had picked up guest crew/friend Sue, to move on. Then Jinja left too. When I flew over the bay, Free Spirit and Transcendence were still there.

Peter and Nelly of Alua helped John move Solstice to a Med-moor slip at the Grenada Yacht Club the following week. From the photos that John posted on Facebook, it looks like they had a beautiful day for it.

Sailboat race between Prickly Bay and Grenada Yacht Club

Sunset at the Grenada Yacht Club

I'll be in Portland for another week before I fly back to the warmth of Grenada.