Hurricane Omar

I was just reading the recent news of Hurricane Omar: 16th Oct 08, swinging through only ten days after we left for home!



Sad to say that Hurricane Omar has left a trail of devastation in our recent playground. This hurricane is unusual in that it has come from the west and flicked north. We hope everyone we met is safe and that their boats withstood the wild winds, waves and rain.

This map came from Jeff Master's site. 

(Ed. 2022  Sadly, this informative sited closed some years ago) 

Goin' down de islands

Dropping a Dragon’s Jaw: 26 Sep 08

Our Frying Pan

Ahoy, our Cap’n has been struck asunder - too much walking! His foot is sore and swollen, his temper fractious; he’s been dubbed Cap’n Cripple. After bobbing about in the frying pan for a couple of days, his trusty crew were determined (a mutiny brewing?) to head for Trinidad. 

It meant an overnight sail across waters that had somewhat of a reputation due to strong currents and squalls that race over the islands. Shiver me timbers!  

Approaching a Dragon

We had no sooner set sail (4pm) than Boy Wonder was reeling in his first catch; a nice 8lb tuna. Luckily, we had stocked up on fishing apparatus at Island Water World that day and so had an assortment of lures, nets and storage bags to contain said beastie, well out of the cockpit area. Tuna are rather bloody leaving, in the aftermath of battle, an unpleasantly strong smell! A smell attracting sharks - albeit small ones!! Having reeled in one tuna, we then hooked a second and much larger! If nothing else, we wouldn’t starve in Trinidad.

Real Green Dragons

Columbus discovered Trinidad on his third voyage in 1498. There’s something wild and untamed about it that’s very appealing. We approached in the night past stands of weirdly lit monsters (oil & gas rigs), dodged lightening storms, navigated through strong currents and could smell its earthy smell from quite a distance away. The troubled waters surrounding Trinidad were like liquid oil, all mossy green and velvety.

Chaguaramas- A Forest of Masts

The Motleys navigated through Bocas del Dragon (Dragon’s Mouth although some call it Dragon’s Breath). Either way, it’s spectacular scenery with some nasty underwater surprises if you’re not careful. Well, we were and did arrive safely in Chaguaramas, which we were quick to dub, “chuck-a-ramus” due to all the rubbish swilling around the anchorage. (We later learned it had washed from land during a huge deluge the week before!). 

Line of Sight (just a bit too close!!)

Chaguaramas is both a huge marina complex and a bustling sea port, so the scenery varied from tiny traditional fishermen’s pirogues and boofy tugs to huge cargo carriers in one area to monster superyachts and really small but definitely long term, cruising yachts in the other. (I even saw Receta from that "Mangoes" book!) What a mix! The anchorage was less than peaceful given the tidal chop and traffic slop that moved in and out of the bay day and night. Off course we had been warned about dingy/outboard “teifs” too. We approached with caution….

WJ3 in Pyjamas

I would like to tell you that the Motleys had a great time sightseeing, however we managed to time our arrival on the weekend (yet again!). Combine this with a mid week public holiday, trips to see a doctor (Cap’n Critical), re-confirm flight details (BW), put WJ3 up on the hard again and of course thoroughly clean both WJ3 and ourselves, we saw little else but Budget Chandlery and marina complexes. We did cross paths with some fellow Aussies, Margaret and Brian, who left home in ‘94 to sail the East Coast. They arrived in Darwin in 2000 and thought, let’s keep going! Well, why ever not! Their little jaunt took them through Indonesia to Thailand, then India and the Red Sea to the Med.  Now they are continuing a circumnavigation (as you do), heading for Venezuela, the Panama Canal, the Pacific and home with a little cat they picked up in India. Inspirational stuff!

An Aussie in the West Indies

We are now well below the hurricane belt, WJ3 is safely tucked in bed at Powers Boat Yard and the Motleys are travelling home by jet. (As they say, nothing goes to windward like a 747!) Let’s see what next year’s adventures bring. 
    

 

From:  St Georges, Grenada  Lat/Long: 12 03N  61 45W  Date/Time: 26/9/08: 1600

To: Chaguaramas, Trinidad   Lat/Long: 10 41N  61 39W  Date/Time: 27/9/08: 1000
Time Taken: 87nm (18hrs)  Distance (this year): 849nm (178hrs)
Distance Total (since 2008): 849nm  (178hrs)   Fastest Speed: Excellent sail – best yet
Weather: Winds E turning NE closer to Trinidad; 10-15kts; 2-4ft swell; thunderstorms

Happy Birthday to BW; we’ll make a cake for next year!

A Well Stocked Galley

Deh Conch Ting: 23 Sep 08

 

The Galley Slave has improvised…1001 ways with chicken. My many market visits have inspired me to find out more about local or Creole foods. Our nearest supermarket for instance has a freezer stocked with pig’s tails, cow heels, liver, tripe, chicken feet, hogs toes, blood sausage, pickled pig’s snout and other such interesting/choice cuts. 

Beef of any variety is a rare sight indeed, although we have been able to find minced beef at times. But there’s always plenty of frozen chicken! A whole new meaning was added to “chicken” in Dominica, however. Mountain chicken’s little legs belong to an unfortunately named frog, the crapaud.  

Fisherman, Antigua

Creole cooking traces its beginnings back to the times of Plantocracy and “imported” African slaves. A hard life meant adapting traditional recipes with what was available. The Planters weren’t that generous, so little piggie destined for Sunday roast, meant offal and disposables for the slaves to make do with. And so they did, remarkably well. 

In fact, some dishes like Mannish Water (Goat Water) made from ram goat offal etc is declared a popular performance enhancer. Perhaps they could whip up a quick batch for some of our footie teams…. BW is devastated that the Broncos were defeated recently, especially by Melbourne! (Yes, yes...I know what they mean by performance!!)  

Coconut Palms Antigua

Coupled with these popular cuts are the wonderfully descriptive dish names. Roti (yes, East Indians became indentured workers as well) can be served plain or stuffed with curry as doubles – popular fast foods. It can also be called “bus-up-shut” when beaten to a flaky consistency or “fling up &clap”. Blaff is a spicy fish stock; coo coo fungi is a polenta-like cornmeal with okra; foo foo is cooked plantain; and jerk, a popular spicy dressing used mostly on chicken destined for the bbq. Grenada’s national dish is “oil down”. Dumplings are popular and are known as spinners, floaters, sinkers depending upon – well, who knows! Soups, stews and curries (the spicier the better!) are very popular. 

Easy catch

Seafood is a popular meal-time basic too; it’s abundant and fresh. However lobster & lambi (or conch) supplies have suffered due to their popularity - one of the downsides of a tourism driven economy. The aroma of dried saltfish permeates every supermarket aisle…..driving me well away. On the up side, Grenada is known as the spice island, so the market in particular is fragrant with the aroma of freshly grown nutmegs, cloves, mace and cinnamon.

Feeding Baby Stingrays

Ground provisions or earthy “blue food” are also piled high on market stalls. Readily available root crops include sweet potato, yam, tania, eddo and dasheen (taro). I think most gardens have a patch or two of these favourites. Dried lentils such as pigeon peas, kidney beans and chick peas (Americans call them garbanzos) are also plentiful and cooked imaginatively. Staples like limes and coconuts (brown, green and in-between) are in plentiful supply. We use lime in everything, from a chicken “wash” to slices in our beer but I still buy coconut milk in tins. The lovely market lady brandished her huge cutlass (machete) with such precision when prepping our coconut water drinks; it’s a real skill! I can’t be trusted with anything sharper than a butter knife…

Who kicked over my gin, again? (whilst cleaning a fish)

Other vegies available in plentiful supply are okra, christophene (choko), plantains (also called green figs or locally “bluggoes”), calaloo, similar to spinach but with a nasty prickle if eaten raw, and the biggest avocados (zaboca) I’ve ever seen. Of course, fruit & veg are mostly seasonal and not always grown commercially as we do, so quality is not always guaranteed. Supply also varies tremendously between islands. Breadfruit, though considered an island staple, was introduced by Captain Bligh in 1793 as a way of improving food supplies for slaves. He would have had plants delivered earlier had it not been for the famous mutiny which sidetracked him for a wee while.

Lunch-time snooze wired for sound

The best has been left to last… Mango season is nearly over, so we’re indulging. Some are a bit stringy and BW complains that they just aren’t to Queensland standard but the crew could not be called scurvy! 

Over the course of our journey we’ve sampled small sweet pines, sun-ripened paw paw, local green-skinned oranges, guava, soursop (custard apple), passionfruit and carambola or star fruit. We also tried a fruit that is lychee-like but I’ve yet to find out what it’s called (possibly the guinep). My attempts to ask the rasta vendor resulted in some interesting hand waving and a few laughs for us all. Well, we now know how to eat what-ever they are! 

A great place to start

Fishing for Jocks

In the Pan: 18 Sep 08 

The Carenage, St Georges, Grenada

And so it was, we moved on again. The Crew, eager to keep up his record, put out both lures. Despite a strike that had us all running about like keystone cops, it became one of our “catch & returns”, fortunately not taking our expensive tackle with it!

This time our destination was St Georges, the historic capital of Grenada. This amazing town dates back to the 1650's and a number of building still have wonderful red "fish scale" tiles brought over as ballast by sailing ships. 

WJ3 in the Pan under her new awning

After a tour of the Lagoon (better known as the Pan) we decided that outside the harbour was better for swimming, and so anchored off Ross Point. No sooner was the pick set, than a thunder storm blew over, gusting nearly 30kts with an exciting steep swell. We sat in the cockpit (& rain) watching a couple of boats drag at anchor and a huge cat swing way too close for comfort. Worse still, the coffee plunger nearly came to grief. The Motleys crossed fingers that Big Bertha would work her magic for us. As soon as the winds died, many of us “fair-weather” types motored into the safety of “the Pan”.

Lunch & e-mail

The Grenada Yacht Club is probably the same vintage as the Port Dickson Yacht Club (Malaysia). It certainly has the same tropical ambiance and its kitchen serves an interesting selection of local foods. We tried their breaded flying fish & of course the ubiquitous hamburger. We have though, at least been able to catch up on the essentials – washing, food and internet. 

Fort George 1705-1710

We’ve also taken time to explore St Georges, mostly on foot. It’s quite hilly but thanks to French ingenuity, a tunnel built in 1894 under Fort George, connects the Carenage with a colourful local fruit/veg/spice market (and equally colourful lady vendors) and from there it’s only a short walk to the fish market.

Sendel Tunnel 1894

Apparently fish is scarce at this time of year, so only a few tuna graced concrete slabs. Signs everywhere reminded folks that “bad language” would not be tolerated. Guess Gordon Ramsey wouldn’t be welcome here? On the wharf, a couple of fishing boats were selling their popular load of “jocks” (oh, that’s jacks with a Caribbean accent). I could smell the fresh meat market before I saw it. Having experienced enough open air butchers in my life, it was easily bypassed, especially in 33 degree heat.

Selling Jocks

One thing we can’t do in the Lagoon is swim. Happily, it’s only a short dingy ride round to Grand Anse, a wide sweep of white sand, swaying coconut palms, clear water and subdued resorts. (They’re sensibly not allowed to build higher than a coconut palm). This is where you will find us most days after about 3pm. Cooling down before taking sundowners somewhere….

From:  Clarke’s Court Bay, Grenada  Lat/Long: 12 01N  61 44W  Date/Time: 18/9/08: 0830
To: St Georges, Grenada  Lat/Long: 12 03N  61 45W  Date/Time: 18/9/08: 1100
Time Taken: 11nm (2hrs)  Distance (this year): 762nm (160hrs)
Distance Total (since 2008): 762nm  (160hrs)   Fastest Speed: Motored**
Weather: Winds ESE 5-10kts; 2-4ft swell; fine day with a few clouds
(** It was very calm)

Cargo of Spice & Rum

It’s only a rum bar away…: 16 Sep 08

Hog Island

Our next stop was Clark’s Court Bay; again through a narrow channel beside some hefty coral reefs. This time we found a much larger bay with any number of relatively secluded anchorages. Actually, the Motleys spent more time motoring about trying to decide which one was the “perfect” location than it took to actually get to it! Finally, we dropped the hook near Petit Calivigny in 28ft of green murky water and MUD….. It was here that the Cap’n cleaned our catch! Yes, BW had done it again. A nice big tuna, cut into steaks to put on the bbq. Yum oh! 

Catch of the Day

The next morning, the Cap’n & GS checked out facilities at a friendly marina and little town of Woburn. Again, it was very rural; very lush with small household gardens flourishing madly. Breadfruit trees were dripping with soccer ball sized fruits, paw paw and mango trees decorated almost every garden; seasonal okra were ready to pick and passionfruit vines ran over fences just laden with ripening, yellow fruit. 

We eventually found a small grocery store, bypassing several rum shops, including the famous Nimrods, on the way. Even though the cruising community was well represented in all anchorages, we were struck again by low season blues - little was open. So, no washing or eating unless we moved on…

Clark’s Court Bay was used in the old days by sailing ships to load cargoes of spices and rum. This history continues in a way, given Woburn’s many little rum bars. Sometimes, these bars are little more than a shady spot with a stool or two and a killer “top shelf” selection. The better ones might have a telly – tuned to the cricket of course!  Anyone wanting to know more about rum should follow up on the Ministry of Rum, an interesting site. All islands seem to have their own special brew, but here’s our favourite tipple or two. Cheers!

Grocery Store, Woburn

‘Ti Punch (petit or small). Try 1½ white rum (rhum agricole, mes amis), ¼ sugar cane juice and ¼ lime juice mixed into a shot glass. Drink quickly (the taste is awful). The follow-up (if you’re still breathing) is called a cinq pou cent (literally 5%)…meaning half of the first. We tried it first in Iles des Saintes. Brave.

Planteur Punch. A mix of rum & fruit juice over ice. To my dismay, our Cap’n took a liking to my hard-to-find ruby grapefruit juice and for reasons of incrimination, he refuses to share his mix ratio. Try filling a glass with ice and adding 4 fruit juice, 2 rum, & 1 of lime juice. Add a sprinkle of nutmeg &/or Angostura Bitters depending upon your choice of juice.

Painkiller. The GS became fond of this one, but the Crew refused to make it up until after dinner….otherwise dinner prep was not taken as seriously as it should! His recipe is to mix 3 pineapple juice, 1 orange juice, 2 rum (authentic BVI mix uses Pusser’s) & 1 coconut cream over ice. Garnish with nutmeg.

From:St David’s Harbour, Grenada Lat/Long: 12 01N  61 40W Date/Time: 16/9/08: 1500

To: Clarke’s Court Bay, Grenada  Lat/Long: 12 01N  61 44W  Date/Time: 16/9/08: 1600
Time Taken: 5nm (1hrs)  Distance (this year): 751nm (158hrs)
Distance Total (since 2008): 751nm  (158hrs)   Fastest Speed: Motored**
Weather: Winds ESE 5-10kts; 2-4ft swell; fine day with a few clouds
(** Who cares – we caught a tuna on the way!)

Sunset with Sundowners

Grenada Dreaming

Big Green Flash: 14 Sep 08

Evening Clouds Carriacou

Our cruising guide promised us the chance to catch a fish on the windward side of Grenada and so it was. We lost 3 lures (to ones that got away, damn) but finally Boy Wonder landed a yellow-tail snapper of reasonable proportions. Now we never did see a green flash (as the sun sets under the horizon, another chance offered by our trusty guide), but we sure liked this big yellow flash a lot better!!

Decent Haul

Going to windward of Grenada meant that we missed the dubious pleasure of sailing amongst too many bad tempered Jenny’s. Diamond Rock, just north of Grenada, is otherwise known as Kick’-em-Jenny. It’s 200m of sheer rock surrounded by nasty currents, wild winds and offers no shelter for yachties. This is one of those “moving right along” places. Worse, and only a few miles out from this nasty rookery is the real Kick’-em-Jenny, an underwater volcano that is best not to tussle with. It’s currently active, although some-what low-level. That means at least 10 eruptions in the last 60 years! Aside from the usual dangers like hot rocks, steam columns, ash, tsunamis, etc, one interesting possibility is volcanic gas bubbles. Sail over the top of one of these beauties and you could be in for a rapid impersonation of Captain Nemo and Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea. Volcanic activity is such that the Seismic Research Unit has a published Hazard Atlas for the Lesser Antilles. As our cruising guide says – “If you are reading this, don’t go there.” Okay!!

Diamond Rock, Grenada. View from west coast

Cap’n Crotchety checked in at our St David’s Harbour anchorage, only to find nobody home. So, on a local bus he hopped, headed for St Georges. Fortunately he also managed to find a grocery store to bring back a few supplies…we were getting low and there was little settlement about – and certainly no supermarkets. St David’s is a lovely rural setting on the SE side of Grenada. The harbour itself is surrounded by coral making it not the sort of thing you’d tackle at night. Luckily, the marina has set up some red & green buoys to mark the channel making it easier to negotiate. Inside, the water is brackish but clean – we are now anchoring in deep water (25-30ft) on mud. Try as they might, both “diver-dans” could not get a visual on the anchor to check its holding. Good shark water, we all thought. Snorkeling over the reefs was also not as interesting; visibility was quite poor. We must be getting closer to the South American coast perhaps?

Sentinal into St David's Harbour, Grenada

From:  Tyrell Bay, Carriacou  Lat/Long: 12 27N  61 29W  Date/Time: 14/9/08: 0900
To: St David’s Harbour, Grenada  Lat/Long: 12 01N  61 40W  Date/Time: 14/9/08: 1530
Time Taken: 35nm (6.5hrs)  Distance (this year): 746nm (157hrs)
Distance Total (since 2008): 746nm  (157hrs)   Fastest Speed: Avg 5kts**
Weather: Winds ESE 5-10kts; 2-4ft swell; clear skies
(** Beam reach on east side (windward) of island – lucky us)

We think we've found it, Wayne!

Our farmer friend, Mr Wayne lost his favourite tractor a while ago. (Actually it was stolen from his farm.)  See, we just never stop being helpful!!

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)