Friday, May 31, 2013
Trinidad
May 23 we cleared out with Grenada customs and by 1pm we were headed South for Trinidad. This is 80 miles and we will make it an overnight sail. We had to motor the first 15 miles as was a strong current and the wind was almost on the nose and we could just barely make our course. Eventually the current eased and the wind came around a few degrees and we had a great sail until about 3 in the morning. Then we picked up another current and were slowed down again and also about then a rain squall came through and we lost our wind and it never really came back as we approached the Trinidad coast. So we motored the last 20 miles into Chaguaramas, Trinidad.
There was a lot of ship traffic on this passage so the AIS prove very useful again. The AIS alarm only went of once indicating a ship on a collision coarse, I called him up and he said he would steer behind us and we to hold our coarse. About 8:30am we entered Chaguarams harbor after fighting the current through a narrow passage between two islands. We first went to a old cement dock that was meant for large boats and not for our small yacht. Went to Immigration and then customs and did the usual paper work that most poor country's seem to like to do. Had to put 2 pieces of carbon paper between 3 forms so they were done in triplicate.
There are yachts everywhere here, several huge boatyards have many many yachts stored for the Caribbean hurricane season. Lots more on moorings or anchored in the harbor here and others in the marinas. Most of the yachts we talked to are hauling out at Peaks boatyard or Powerboats. We are hauling out with one of them as well and will give more info when we get back here in Sept. There is several large Chandler's here and lots of tradesmen. I got a few boat chores to do. One is to replace the rest of my galvanized rigging. I replaced some of it in Australia and am now going to replace the rest. I will buy the ss 1*19 5/16inch rigging wire here and have the rigger swage the eyes on and then do the work myself, which means quite few trips up the mast. Will do the antifouling paint when we get back in Sept. Also going to buy a new anchor chain, got a good price here. Not from Budget Marine, their store name is a bit misleading as they often do not have the best price. A couple of the bronze opening windows need to be rebedded as starting to leak a tiny bit.
The last 3 days have been doing the rigging. There is so much boat traffic that we bounce around alot making it hard to work aloft. Occasionally I have to stop what I am doing and hangon to keep from being thrown off the mast. Finally got it done by working a few hours each morning and by 11am I am knackered as it is hard work.
We met up again with some yachts we new. We met our hiking buddies on Cats Paw4 and had a couple of dinners with them and another yacht we new. Unfortunatley they were leaving in a few days for home. There are alot of frigate birds around here and it is entertaining to watch them as they fish. Also a few pelicans come around to entertain us.
INFO
-1$ is 6TT dollars
-Customs and Immigration only cost $8 dollars US. They are a 1 minute walk from the dock which is near Crews nest.
- Mooring we used in Chaguramas bay is at 10 40.76N 61 38.09W in 35 feet.
- Is two fairly good grocery stores in the boat area and a pharmacy and a few other shops besides the marine industry. Can get a phone sim card here as well without taking bus into town. TheYSATT where you pair for the mooring ball also is like a tourist office for info. We us Doyles book for info on the area and also a free crusing guied to area is available of the internet.
Friday, May 17, 2013
Grenada
After six days in Carriacou we decided to head to Grenada about 15 miles to the South. It was another good sail in brisk winds. We stopped for an hour at Isle de Ronde Island about half way to Grenada and did a bit of snorkeling. Then continued on to Grenada while trying to avoid "kick em Jenny" an underwater volcano. From the top of Grenada it was another 14 miles or so along the coast to get to St Georges near the South end, where we anchored. We had already cleared customs at Carriacou so were free to go ashore and explore.
Almost 90% of Grenada had been wiped out in 2004 when category 3 hurricane Ivan hit it, but you see few signs of that now. Most trees were blown down and the majority of houses lost their roofs or were knocked down completely.
There is descent shopping near by and other conveniences for yachts and we got lots of walking in. There is suppose to be less crime here than some of the other Caribbean islands.
After a few days we moved the boat over to Prickly bay for a change in scenery. This bay is more on the SE side of the island so the last 2 miles were bit of a bash to get there. We finally found a yacht we knew and anchored near Harmonie whom we had meet in Sri Lanka. Caribbean yachties aren't that friendly so it was nice to have a great dinner with Don and Anne. A couple days later we joined them on a tour of the island in a small mini bus. We saw how rum is made from sugar cane. The distillery has been running since 1785 and still uses a water wheel to power part of the plant. Then we visited a coco bean drying business, the sun does the best job. Also saw a nutmeg processing plant that is finally getting back on it's feet after the hurricane. We eventually had to say goodbye to Harmonie as they were going up to the next bay to be hauled out for the season and we were going back to St Georges.
That afternoon after dropping anchor back in St Georges we saw a large American yacht drifting through the anchorage. It had been tied to a mooring buoy at the front of the anchorage. The mooring must have broken free of its anchor point, because we could still see the mooring ball hanging off the side. Amazingly the boat did not hit any yachts as it drifted rapidly between them and then coming right for us. I could see another yachty had just jumped on board and another was trying to push it with his dinghy. The yacht missed us and started heading out to sea. I got in my dinghy to help the other guy push the boat and we managed to push it back into the anchorage area and the guy on the boat dropped the anchor.
The next day we did a hike up Mt Qua Qua. We took a bus up to Grand Etang for 5ec each and then hiked up a good trail to the top. It was billed as a 3 hour round trip hike, but we did it in a hour and a half. It was a great hike through a beautiful jungle and giving occasional views of crater lake and the surrounding forests. Dorothy was disappointed she didn't see a Mona monkey.
In the next week or so we will be heading for Trinidad where we well store the boat for a couple of months and fly home for a Canadian summer. Should be a nice break from the heat down here.
INFO
-Round island for snorkeling anchored at 12 18.83N 61 35.36W in 30ft. Snorkeling was so so
-St Georges anchored in 23ft 12 02.60N 61 45.4
-The hike up Mt Qua Qua is on a good trail in Grand Etang park. The start of trail is marked with a sign and is about a 100 meters before the booth where you pay a park fee. So if you are just doing the hike you could get away without paying the 5ec fee.
-Prickly bay anchorage. Anchored in 32 ft at 11 59.84N 61 45.78W It is a bit more rolly here and looks like some surge in the marina. I don't know why so many boats here, as St Georges has all the shopping much closer and not as rolly and calmer marinas and generally more convenient for everything.
Almost 90% of Grenada had been wiped out in 2004 when category 3 hurricane Ivan hit it, but you see few signs of that now. Most trees were blown down and the majority of houses lost their roofs or were knocked down completely.
There is descent shopping near by and other conveniences for yachts and we got lots of walking in. There is suppose to be less crime here than some of the other Caribbean islands.
After a few days we moved the boat over to Prickly bay for a change in scenery. This bay is more on the SE side of the island so the last 2 miles were bit of a bash to get there. We finally found a yacht we knew and anchored near Harmonie whom we had meet in Sri Lanka. Caribbean yachties aren't that friendly so it was nice to have a great dinner with Don and Anne. A couple days later we joined them on a tour of the island in a small mini bus. We saw how rum is made from sugar cane. The distillery has been running since 1785 and still uses a water wheel to power part of the plant. Then we visited a coco bean drying business, the sun does the best job. Also saw a nutmeg processing plant that is finally getting back on it's feet after the hurricane. We eventually had to say goodbye to Harmonie as they were going up to the next bay to be hauled out for the season and we were going back to St Georges.
That afternoon after dropping anchor back in St Georges we saw a large American yacht drifting through the anchorage. It had been tied to a mooring buoy at the front of the anchorage. The mooring must have broken free of its anchor point, because we could still see the mooring ball hanging off the side. Amazingly the boat did not hit any yachts as it drifted rapidly between them and then coming right for us. I could see another yachty had just jumped on board and another was trying to push it with his dinghy. The yacht missed us and started heading out to sea. I got in my dinghy to help the other guy push the boat and we managed to push it back into the anchorage area and the guy on the boat dropped the anchor.
The next day we did a hike up Mt Qua Qua. We took a bus up to Grand Etang for 5ec each and then hiked up a good trail to the top. It was billed as a 3 hour round trip hike, but we did it in a hour and a half. It was a great hike through a beautiful jungle and giving occasional views of crater lake and the surrounding forests. Dorothy was disappointed she didn't see a Mona monkey.
In the next week or so we will be heading for Trinidad where we well store the boat for a couple of months and fly home for a Canadian summer. Should be a nice break from the heat down here.
INFO
-Round island for snorkeling anchored at 12 18.83N 61 35.36W in 30ft. Snorkeling was so so
-St Georges anchored in 23ft 12 02.60N 61 45.4
-The hike up Mt Qua Qua is on a good trail in Grand Etang park. The start of trail is marked with a sign and is about a 100 meters before the booth where you pay a park fee. So if you are just doing the hike you could get away without paying the 5ec fee.
-Prickly bay anchorage. Anchored in 32 ft at 11 59.84N 61 45.78W It is a bit more rolly here and looks like some surge in the marina. I don't know why so many boats here, as St Georges has all the shopping much closer and not as rolly and calmer marinas and generally more convenient for everything.
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Continuing along to Grenada
After a few days in Bequia we moved on to Canouan 15 miles to South. It was another vigorous sail with a double reefed main and wind just forward of the beam. A big rain squall came through just as we were about to anchor, so I got a bit wet up on the bow. We have been getting rain almost every day the last few weeks, though just short showers but sometimes heavy. We just walked around here a bit and looked at a small shop. After and hour we left and headed for Tobaggo Island a couple of miles away.
Tobaggo Key is the prettiest spot in the Grenadines. We spent the night here and did some snorkeling and had a short walk on the small island. It is a park and nothing here except nature and lots of other yachts. Through out the windward islands most of the yachts we see are bareboat charters, it seems to be big business down here.
After a day here we moved on to Clifton on Union island which is the last of the Grenadines except for Petit St Vincent. This is a nice spot to spend a couple of days and that's what we did. Got some good walks in up some local hills including the 'fort' which has an old fort on top of the hill and gives some great views.
We cleared out with customs and immigration the last day hear and then headed for Carriacou which is a new country and part of Grenada. But first we stopped for the night at Petit St Vincent, which only has a private resort on it. Dorothy wanted to do some snorkeling here. We took dinghy out to a little sand island in the reef for a look see and did some snorkeling which was so so. We then did another dinghy ride for the 1/2 mile crossing to Petit Martinique for a quick look. This is part of Grenada but has no officials here.
The next morning we did the 5 miles over to Carriacou at the town of Hillsbourough and cleared in with customs for Grenada. We soon noticed the prices for shopping are better here. The town seems more affluent as well than St Vincent. Using our wi fi booster we found a free wifi sight that was unsecured again, most of our stops we have found a unsecured sight but most are very slow. This sight how ever was great and we uploaded a bunch of pictures to the blog finally.
We went for a long walk the next morning to the top of a nearby hill. We found a trail marked with red paint that left the road and took us to the top of the peak with great views. This is the second highest peak on the island. When we got back to our dinghy which was tied to the dock rails. A local fellow said he kept an eye on our dinghy for us and wanted some money. I said thanks but we never asked him to look after it and that were sure everyone here is honest and that it is safe. He still persisted a bit even as we left. This was a real problem in the Grenadines, we gave the dock boys a few ec dollars several times to help them out. But here in Granada I don't think it's necessary.
INFO
-Beqia our favorite spot in the Grenadines. We found the Grenadines surprisingly expensive considering they are such a poor country, Probably the poorest of the windward islands we saw. I don't know how they afford anything, unless they are just gouging the tourists. We hardly bought anything here because of the prices and also choice was very limited. For Grocery's the best bet seems to be to take ferry to Kingston or your boat.
-For Canouan we anchored in 18ft at 12 42.48N 61 19.74W on April 24. We landed on the beach between the two docks as docks looked not great for dinghy with the swell and also hard to climb up on.
-Tobaggo key anchored at 12 37.91N 61 21.42W and I believe it was about 20 ft deep forgot to note it. A beautiful spot. We did not get charged anything though I think the charter boats were charged.
-Clifton at Union island we anchored in 30 ft at 12 35.68N 61 24.70W prices still expensive here. We used the beach once for the dinghy and other times used the anchor hotel dinghy dock, as they not ask for money here and we bought water here as well from a hose. Other docks some one greets you and asks for a fee.
-Petit St Vincent anchored in 30 ft at 12 32.10N 61 23.28W from here we dinghed over to Petit Martinique for a quick look see.
-Carriacou (Granada) anchored here on April 30 2013 in 25 ft at 12 29.03N 61 27.70W There was a $50ec charge for one month from customs and $8.30 ec for one crew member from immigration. Stayed a extra day due to the great free Internet we picked up.
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