Sunday morning we had a lazy start and around noon we went ashore to explore Tyrrel Bay. This anchorage is really pretty bordered by a sweeping beach. The town itself has a single road – the High Street? – with a variety of local supermarkets, bars, rum shops, restaurants etc. But it is really very sleepy and quiet as pretty much everything is shut down for the weekend. We enjoyed the walk though having a look at the goats and cows tethered in gardens; watching the kids honing their back-flipping skills off one of the small docks; and the always impressive canopy of the Flamboyant trees.
In the afternoon we got together with Sha Sha and dinked round the corner from the anchorage enjoying the views of the beautiful rocky coastline dotted with dead ships! Wonder whether these are hurricane victims from years gone by? Anyway….the water was so sparkling clear and beautiful….we rafted up the dinghies together, anchored them carefully, and then all jumped into the water for a unique experience. After cooling off we all climbed back on board – which was really simple when using the stainless steel steps on Sha Sha’s pimped up ride, who is called Jim Jim! Returning to Morphie we picked up speed and left them behind….of course, as dink has not been pimped with steering wheels and seats….we can go much faster even though we have a significantly smaller outboard. Such fun! In the evening we got together on Morphie for sundowners and enjoyed the first sight of the supermoon. Great time had by all and late to bed!
On Monday morning the girls got together on Morphie while Jim and Richard did important land jobs and ended up talking boats on board Sha Sha. In the afternoon Richard and I had a quiet snoozy time on board before we all reconvened together for dinner at our own private cabana overlooking the ocean at the Twilight restaurant. It was simple and basic fare – with not great service to be honest – but we had a fun party night with singing, chatting, drinking and story telling, not necessarily in that order! We loved the sunset over the anchorage and the spectacular moon lighting our journeys home.
Tuesday we got up early, prepared Morphie for sea, and headed away from Carriacou towards our final destination this season, Grenada. We holidayed here in the early 2000s – including sailing to the Tobago Cays and back – but, even so, we were really excited to be arriving here in our own boat which, back then, we could only have dreamed of…. And, sadly, although the sea was beautiful and flat, the sun was out and the sky was blue, there wasn’t much wind! So we ended up motor sailing using the opportunity to make water whilst underway. We also had the music blaring – which we don’t do very often underway – and did some cockpit dancing! We were thrilled to pass Diamond Rock; we carefully avoided the marine exclusion zone around Kick ‘em Jenny, an underwater active volcano; enjoyed our first glimpses of the mountainous island of Grenada; got overtaken by a pretty 100ft yacht also motor sailing and – after a six hour passage – pulled into Dragon’s Bay. Really pretty place tucked in behind a headland and we went snorkelling. Saw some huge colourful parrot and trigger fish; a free-swimming moray eel; and loads of little uns swimming in and out of the rocks and under ledges. Not great coral but an interesting snorkel anyway.
We then moved round into Grand Mal and anchored for the night – meeting up with Sha Sha who had also travelled south today – and went to visit them for a couple of drinks before heading off to the Sunset View restaurant for potentially our last night together for a while as we need to get ourselves – and Morphie – ready for our friends who are joining us on Sunday for a holiday.
Had a great meal and headed back to Morphie exactly at the moment the heavens opened so got soaked! It continued to rain most of the night.
This morning, Wednesday, after a lazy start, we motored around the corner the two miles to St George’s – the capital of Grenada – and have taken a slip in the fancy Port Louis marina for a few days. Being alongside will make it so much easier for our shopping expeditions and getting it all back on board – we need to provision up as well as trying to source some spare parts that we haven’t tracked down yet. I’m particularly looking forward to a large supermarket experience again – never thought I would ever say that!!! Over the months we have built Grenada up to be our ‘oasis’ destination – as we’ll be able to get anything here. I’ll let you know if it lives up to our expectations!
Bye for now
Jan