Headin' on down de road

Lessons for the Unwary: 13 Sep 08

Just one more sunset

With the dodger & awning ready and a couple of weeks (just where does the time go? Sigh) of beautiful sunsets over Admiralty Bay, it was time to get going again. Having already visited the Cays, a direct course was plotted for Carriacou, the nearest of the Grenada Grenadines. We had great plans of staying for a while in Tyrell Bay but the weather down was not too pleasant (we blew out a jib sheet in 25kt gusts) and the Bay was chockers. We had read that as we travelled further south, the anchorages would be more remote… fat chance! It seems that Grenada is the preferred “hurricane hole” for many live-aboards and snow birds (retirees wintering in the Caribbean). I guess it was considered safe until Ivan in 2004; but we’re still planning on a Trinidad landfall. 

Free Trade

GS had read about mangrove oysters in Tyrell Bay and their delicate flavour so when a boat boy came by offering a dozen for a princely sum…she snapped them up. Make it two dozen she said with reckless abandon! Mr For Sale held up some shells that looked a lot like mussels….. 

Some $EC was then exchanged for a small bowl of something not pretty… Lots of grey/pink liquid and 24 (if they could indeed be counted) of the most unappetising little floaters we had ever seen in our lives. They did bear some strange resemblance to oysters – but I’m sure we’d be done for under-age eating if we had them at home. 

For the record, those oysters did taste ok (just) and we weren’t bilious the next day. So one to rack up to “experience”.  

Dive, Turtle Dive!

Now they say that the people in Carriacou are descendents of smugglers. That is why you can easily find rum but not fuel. It is also said that some practice voodoo rites. Well, we didn’t see too many chicken feathers, only a few pelicans lazing about looking for lunch. The first colonists here were French turtle hunters; and then later came planters and African slaves. Like most of the islands, the population is descended from these settlers. Hence the term Creole, which describes anything from this mix of ancestry and is thus distinctly Antillean - people, art, food etc. Even so, we have found every island to have its own distinct personality. And they really do like cricket…..but not as much as loud reggae!

Tyrell Bay, Carriacou

We then sat twiddling our thumbs in Tyrell Bay – it was Saturday night and we couldn’t clear in until Monday (read - no getting off the boat) – so what to do? Given its relative congestion, the Motleys weighed anchor and with better weather took a windward course to where else but St David’s Harbour in Grenada. 

From:  Bequia, Grenadines  Lat/Long: 13 00N  61 15W  Date/Time: 13/9/08: 0730

To:  Tyrell Bay, Carriacou  Lat/Long: 12 27N  61 29W  Date/Time: 13/9/08: 1530
Time Taken: 35nm (8hrs)  Distance (this year): 711nm (150.5hrs)
Distance Total (since 2008): 711nm  (150.5hrs)   Fastest Speed: Avg 4.5kts**
Weather: Winds SE 10-15kts turning SW; 4-6ft swell; rain & thunder squalls off Union
(** Close hauled; good sail until thunder storm blew over at 25kts & busted our jib sheet)