report from The Grenadines

This is our second update for the cruising season of winter 2009-2010.

We sailed north from Grenada December 20-21 to The Grenadines, the southern-most islands of the country of St Vincent and The Grenadines.

There are 32 islands in The Grenadines, spread over 50 miles, making navigation line-of-sight. The islands are scattered along a roughly north-south axis, ideal for sailing back and forth with the easterly trade winds. The islands are mountainous (Mt Toboi peaks at 335 m/1100ft), with navigable depths quite close to the shores. During our six weeks here we spent time anchored off beaches of three different islands.

BEQUIA
This is one of our favourite islands, about 7 square miles with some 5000 residents, lying about 9 nm south of the big island of St Vincent. It is a port of entry with good supplies (including gas, diesel and propane; fresh fish, fruit and vegies; groceries; chandleries; 2 banks and internet access; sail and canvas shops).

We enjoyed the visit of our friends from Indiana and Minnesota, who were overjoyed to be in the warm and sunny!

We shared some delicious meals with them, both on and off the boat.

The vegetable market is well stocked with local produce, and dealing with the Rasta vendors is an adventure in itself. If not careful one comes away with more produce than intended.

The Old Hegg Turtle Sanctuary operated by Orton King is a must-see. We're not sure what wildlife biologists think about it, but he protects turtle nests, collects the hatchlings, and grows them in tanks for several years before releasing them back into the ocean

There are many hikes possible on Bequia, or you can take a taxi.

Last year an artist incorporated the "Charlotte D" into one of her watercolours. We did not meet at that time. She knew us only as "the teal boat people". Well! She recognized our boat when we returned this year and managed to find us on the beach, to give us a print of her beautiful work. Thank you again.

Bequia is very popular and busy, so, in spite of it's attractions, we often sail to quieter anchorages.

MAYREAU
This is a small island (1.5 square miles) with a small population (about 300), several small beaches and one large beach, almost deserted. There are several splendid anchorages, including Saltwhistle Bay, Windward Bay and Saline Bay. There are no facilities. "Nothing to do" except enjoy the warm sea and sand! And that is exactly what we did

Vendors come to the anchored boats with various goods. The selection is interesting, although we're sure they charge too much if they think they can get away with it. The fish weights are always stated higher that our fish scale indicates, and after the price is negotiated they discover that they have no change! We recognize that they are bringing us products not otherwise readily available at the remote anchorages, so we don't complain much.

A delicious dinner of BBQ fish warranted a postprandial cigar and glass of red wine (allowance of one a month on the former and one a day on the latter). Yes Joe, it's still the box of Havanas that you gave me 4 years ago!

Of course, boat maintanence never ends. Catherine buffed the sun-glazed lexan windows, and repaired our sun awning.

Meanwhile, Peter had to bouse down the topping lifts, cat the anchor, clap on the dinghy falls, flake down the main sheets, and frap the halyards before he was allowed to bleed the monkey.

UNION ISLAND
Clifton is a port of entry with plenty of facilities, even a pig walking down the main street between the grocery and the bank!

However, for us, the real treasure of Union Island is Chatham Bay.

Seckie and Vanessa operate a beach restaurant/bar in Chatham Bay, to which we keep returning.

Happy Hour here is delightful and followed by beach BBQ (here it's chicken, fish and lobster).

Vanessa taught us how to roast breadfruit on wood fire. The small slits in the ends are part of assessing when they are done.

We were pleased to present a Cape Breton flag to Seckie and Vanessa, which was promptly hung from the rafters with great ceremony and appropriate libations.

Catherine found someone at Chatham Bay to "re-do her do". First, Vanessa helped her remove the previous braids.

Later new braids were fashioned in the outdoor salon behind the fishermans hut. The final product was unique and interesting (especially the coloured beads to the baby).

Perhaps you noticed the salted fish drying on the wall behind the hair braiding operation? A Chatham Bay fisherman taught us how to prepare corned fish. The prefered fish are netted small "cravallie" (jacks). We caught some on hook and line and prepared them following the lessions of our tutor. Delicious! Sharp teeth and strong jaw required.


A number of fishermen live in huts along the beach in Chatham Bay, and their moored boats add to the visual interest. That's the "Charlotte D" with triangular riding sail just above the pelicans head.

Mountainous Union Island offers vigorous hikes from Chatham Bay to "burn out the carbon", with the rewards of spendid vistas and interesting vegetation.

Fortunately, large cruise ships do not come to Chatham Bay ("nothing to do", remember), but we are happy to share the anchorage with smaller, sailing cruise ships. So beautiful

There are wonderful sunsets at Chatham Bay. We did observe the "Green Flash"

We sailed away from The Grenadines on Feb 4 toward St Lucia, Martinique, and Les Saintes (Guadaloupe).

Peter and Catherine, aboard S/V "Charlotte D", now at Les Saintes

"To make the gods laugh, tell them your plans."

report from grenada, west indies

This is our first blog for the 2009-2010 winter cruising season.

We returned to Grenada on Nov 5 and started preparations for launch. Still acclimated to the near freezing weather in Nova Scotia, we suffered much at 30 deg C (86 deg F). The hell never ends down here!

After passing the hurricane season ashore at Spice Island Marine,

the "Charlotte D" was launched on Nov 19.

It has been 4 years now since the "Charlotte D" has been tied to a dock. We continue to spend all our layover times at anchor, where we produce our own electricity (wind, solar and generator), and our own fresh water (reverse osmosis). Fuel is hauled in jerry cans and filtered into boat's tanks. Our thin cruising budget requires that we do our own maintanence and repairs.

Normal maintanence prior to launch included varnishing, applying antifouling paint on bottom, servicing engines, stocking foodstuffs, and filling water tanks. These routine items usually take us a week to complete.

This season our launch was delayed by several problems.

Our 20 year old diesel generator, increasingly balky for the past two seasons, refused to operate even after we installed new glow plugs and fuel injectors. After many hours of sweating in a hot engine room, we finally decided that compression is low due to both worn piston rings and valves. So, we purchased a Honda portable generator.

Our battery charger/inverter developed a "communication fault". Tech support at Xantrex told us that the likely cause of the problem was poor quality AC shore power, judging from the error messages displayed. In fact, we were made aware of a hot-neutral reversal in the shore power line when our shrouds carried 110 V! Xantrex is hopeful that the unit is repairable, so we will carry it back to Canada in the spring. In the meantime, we purchased smaller charger and inverter to carry us through this winter. We will be less trusting of shore power in the future!

And efforts at recommissioning continued even after launch.

Our sailing dinghy looks bristol with new paint and rigging! The big boat was rigged with help from our friend visiting from Cedar Key, FL.

Our 6 year old Yamaha outboard, running fine when we left in April, would not start. It was taken for service and some wiring problems corrected (corrosion continues even when the boat is laid up ashore).

The malfunction of the HF radio was easy to correct, after many hours searching for the poor power connection responsible for the trouble.

The manual bilge pump that we had been nursing along finally proved to be irrepairable and was replaced.

An eye splice was replaced here and there.

Supply stops were needed for the aft shower before the dripping head could be repaired. Replacement of teak bungs is a continuing chore.

We were pleased to accept a gift of 2 solar panels (110 W total) and installed them on starboard rail. Thanks to our new friends from South Africa! We will think of them for years as the amps flow into the ship's batteries!

Of course, not all our time in Grenada was occupied with boat maintanence. We enjoyed Jazz sessions at the museum with our friends from The Isle of Mann and from Grenada.

Le Phare Bleu is a wonderful spot for Happy Hour, which, on wednesdays, is followed by a West Indian dinner, served "family syle". We met many interesting cruisers at the "Friendship
Table".

Our friend from Grenada arranged for an "oil down" which was enjoyed by all.

The Grenada Yacht Club was a cool spot after a long hot walk through downtown St. George's.

There is always lobster to boil or grill and Happy Hours are well attended, here with friends from Isle of Man and Denmark.

Pot Luck Dinner on US Thanksgiving held at de Big Fish was a great success thanks to organizing efforts of our friends from Iowa.

We explored Grenville and the east coast of Grenada.

Catherine participated in saturday tutoring sessions at Mt. Airy and found them rewarding.

The Steel Pan Concert fridays at Prickly Bay Marina is a favourite event for us. Click on the short video clip to sample their rendition of "Hotel California".

The fiddle playing is improving steadily. She's almost ready to produce her first CD, to be titled, "Persistence is the best substitute for Talent."

Grenada has many beautiful beaches, one of our favourites being the Grand Anse on the west coast, lined with open air bars; perfect for "liming" (sit long, talk much).

Catherine is enjoying having her hair braided, island style. It's a much cooler and suprisingly long-lived "do" even with ocean swimming and shampooing.

Roger's Beach Bar is renowed for sunday afternoon BBQ's, enjoyed by many.

Skype continues to provide free voice and video communication with other Skype users. It does require highspeed internet service, which is not always available at the internet cafes. Since we do not receive snail mail, the internet continues to be very useful for email, banking, bill paying, retrieving tax information slips, downloading tax programs, as well as for world news, weather forecasts, and communicating our cruise news through this blog.

Catherine continues to do most of the cooking aboard the "Charlotte D" in her fine fashion, while Peter struggles along with simple things like plantain fritters and scooping out jelly coconuts.

We sailed away from Grenada on Dec 19 for a lovely passage northward over 2 days to Bequia, one of the 30 or so islands of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Conditions were perfect in late december; 15 knot trade winds, sunny skies and 28 C (82F).

Peter and Catherine, aboard S/V "Charlotte D" at Bequia.

"To err is human, to really screw things up one needs religion."