Prickly Bay Grenada

One of the things that is very noticeable in the Caribbean is that the amount of growth on the hull/prop is just unbelievable. It was particularly bad in Antigua where we had to scrub the anchor chain at least twice as in no time it developed a beard and became a breeding ground for crabs and tiny crustaceans. We have not been out of the water for 15 months so we are intrigued to find out how the Coppercoat is holding out. We are sailing from Grenada to Trinidad to haul out in Powerboats we will do some other general maintenance jobs while we are there!
One of the reasons why I decided to do a dive course was so I could scrub the hull and prop. I signed up on the Open Water Touch course that enabled me to do the theory at my leisure having downloaded all the info onto my I pad. This was much easier for me than trying to do it online when we had an internet connection. I signed on to do the practical part of the course with Scubatech in Prickly Bay. As it is out of season here I was lucky enough to get virtually 1:1 tuition from Frederique my diving in diving instructor who showed infinite patience ...but I am now certified and looking forward to some more diving soon!

John and I also had a good time at a drumming class ...our friends Richard and Kay persuaded us to go and we are glad we did ...in the words of the instructor Monty... 'Mon we gonna mash it up proper!' I think I'm getting the hang of this dialect now!
I think I have mentioned that John is very partial to a dark and stormy ....this is rum and ginger beer. However we have had some difficulty locating ginger beer since leaving Antigua. Are we going to let this get us down ....Noooo! John has taken to making his own and very good it is too...we are now adding a little chilly to give it an extra kick!

Grenada

We have been in Prickly Bay for nearly three weeks. Whilst the Bay is a bit rolly we have anchored over on the East just outside the marina and it has not been too bad. It has been an eventful few weeks. There is an active social scene here and a very effective Net which transmits on VHF channel 66 six days a week at 07.30 . This gives our a lot of very useful information about what is going on and you can ask about any parts and services that you might require. It provides a good introduction to Grenada.

John and I have got into Grenadian Train Dominoes and play a couple of times a week over a beer. I know a lot of it is luck but I have to say I have consistently found myself at the bottom of the pile every game! They also have a Trivia night which has helped us to keep the grey matter active! Whilst I have been here I have been taking a diving course. I have not found it easy and have struggled with my neutral buoyancy being a swimmer I like to splash about but this is a no no when diving but I have got better and my diving instructor at ScubaTech has shown infinite patience with me. It is not easy to take up something like this when you are knocking on for sixty but I will persevere .
Every Friday night in the North of the Island in Gouyave they have what is called a fish Friday. The streets are opened up with lots of street vendors selling all types of fish dishes. There was a steel band and some drummers playing and the atmosphere was great. In Gouyave there are also a number of rum shops where the locals drink and you can share a bottle of rum with friends for 20ec just over 4 pounds ... Good value and needless to say John loved the place!

They also have a Hash every Saturday. The location is different every week and as Hash virgins John and I completed a course in the hills in St.Davids. It was not easy ...it had been raining and following the paper trail up very steep muddy hills through the rainforest was a challenge but with the prospect of a barbecue and three beers for ten ec when we finished the course....we managed ! There was a good mix of locals and yachties and and I would say that at least one hundred people took part, some running,some like us walking.
We have had one drama whilst on anchor here early one morning whilst listening to the Cruisers Net there was a call for help as a boat was sinking. John went over to help with a generator to run an electric pump when he got there he discovered that the boat in question was another Maramu. The boat had been left and a guy called Michael was looking after it. When John got there the boat was full of water and for those that know our boat the water was up to the third draw in the galley. The engine room was flooded and John was able to help guys locate the sea cocks. The boat, Mariposa,is hull 52, orion1 is hull 42 so everything about the boat is more or less the same. It seems that whilst the sea cock in the engine room appeared closed it had not closed properly and the raw water filter also had a crack in it so sea water had slowly been filling up the boat. The guys working on the boat managed to empty her of sea water and that afternoon she was towed into the yard to go onto the hard and await instructions from the new owner. The boat had just been sold .... The new owner will need to do a lot of work now..what a shock for the poor guy when he arrives!

The Grenadines

We decided to leave Soufriere at around midnight and sail directly to Bequia sailing past St.Vincent ...it's difficult St.Vincent has a pretty poor press regarding security and also the anchorages that you have to go in to check in are not that good so with that in mind we sailed straight to Bequia in the Grenadines.We arrived on Sunday and decided not to check in until Monday trying to avoid the overtime charges but that kind of back fired on us as the Monday was a public holiday! Bequia has lots of street traders where you can get local fruit and veg and a couple of supermarkets. The people are very friendly and helpful. Now it is out of season it is quiet.
The wind did blow all the time we were there making the anchorage a bit rolly. We have an anchor watch app that we use when at anchor in these conditions that tells us if we are dragging anchor with some nice loud music so that John can hear it as well as me! We met Jo and Stewart on Seabreeze who told us of their experience in Mindelo, the Cape Verdes, where the local ferry reversed into them and dis masted them they were there for 11 months getting it fixed. Made our difficulties with the mast step seem like small fry! Jo has a lovely house in Bequia and invited us for lunch... The view was great and we had a good time. We hope to bump into Jo and Stewart further down the line as they are doing the same as us but have now been delayed by the London Passport Office who have taken over three months renewing Stewarts passport and still no sign! An even longer wait than us for our cards.
We left Bequia after a few days and anchored in Saline Bay having tried to anchor in Salt Whistle Bay but deciding against it as the wind was blowing agin making it rolly and when you are surrounded by reefs it can be a little disconcerting even though you're sure the anchor is well in. But we did buy two super fresh red snapper from a local fisherman who scaled and gutted them as well all for a fiver ... That was dinner sorted!

It had been our intention to move on from Saline Bay to Tobago Cays but the wind was blowing hard on the nose and we decided that we would leave that until next year and move onto Union Island where we could check out of St Vincent. The anchorage in Union Island is stunning but a bit scary with a horseshoe reef in the middle and reefs either side. Our forward seeking depth sounder is coming into its own here and I would not be without it!

 Union Island seemed a good place we had lunch at a place called Big Citi two jerk chicken and mango salads plus four beers for £16 you can't complain about that and the food was delicious! The only down side was when we arrived there was a German talking very loudly into his phone and when we left over an hour later he was still bellowing into it! John being John could not resist and went over to him as we left and asked him to talk a little louder as people below the restaurant could not hear him..... The girls serving sniggered trying hard not to laugh they knew exactly what John meant! Some people just have no idea how inconsiderate they are!