Getting Settled Into Grenada and Guest

We ended up getting a mooring ball due to the fact that we didnt care for where we were anchored and we felt if we moved up closer to the marina that we would have more protection from the swells coming into the Bay that could prove uncomfortable at times. We rented the last one from the Prickly Bay Marina, tied up and felt a bit more secure. We would have friends arriving in a little over a week and I had lots to do with trying to catch up on laundry, clean the boat really well from all the travelling we had been doing and provisioning which proves tiresome due to the walking and busses. The bus system here proves itself interesting at best. From the boatyard you may or may not see a bus as you are walking down the street to the circle where you are suppose to catch the bus. Pretty soon you see a van coming down the street, most prove to be red with one guy yelling and hanging half out the window asking if you need a ride. You motion for them to stop or wave them on past. They will usually try and pack about 14 in. Its a tight 14 too. If you have to go to the local grocery, the IGA they drop you off and you can usually pick one up before you get to the bus stop. Its about $2.50 EC per person to get there which is about a dollar US. If you have to travel further, you must take the bus into St. Georges bus terminal, find your bus and sometimes sit for close to 1/2 an hour in the heat and wait for the bus to fill to overflowing capacity before they will pull away. The music is always blaring and how the guy knows where to stop to drop people off is beyond me. Guess they are regular riders. Our guest Larry and Lisa from Jersey Girl in our old marina in Merritt Island who visted us in the Bahamas decided to come to Grenada, this time bringing daughter AJ.

All smiles even after a long day of travel.

They arrived on the 25th and as usual with any airline these days several hours late. Lucky for everyone there is a 24 hour sports bar open at Timbers so we all had a very late dinner before heading to the boat to get settled in. While here we wanted to show them as much of the island as we could so we hired a tour guide that knew what he was doing. Cutty's tours got rave reviews from everyone I spoke to and he did not disappoint. We found several other cruisers that wanted to join in so we were able to split the cost. It was $175.00 for the day or $25.00 per person. This was in US dollars. He arrived promptly at 9am and we started our tour. As we drove up the coatline Cutty was full of information about the island, from history to pulling over, pulling something from a tree or ground to smell or taste. This man knew his stuff and since we were a small group of about 10 we all got to ask questions. We all knew each other too, so it was a fun filled day.

This is St. Georges anchorage

Very nice waterfall that you could swim in for $1.00 US

Cutty showing us a Cocoa pod and letting us taste it.

The flesh around the cocoa bean is slimy but taste a bit like a fleshy coconut with a slightly sour taste. You dont eat the bean as it is very bitter. Then onto the Nutmeg Processing Plant.

Here the ladies are sorting the dried nutmegs for size and quality.

This is where they crack the outer shell. This lady was a camera ham. All smiles

Bagged and ready to export. Most of them go to Europe

Below is what a nutmeg looks like when it pops out of its protective pod. The outter layer is vibrant red which is Mace that is then dried and used for cooking and such. Its not the mace we think of back home that is used for pepper spray. And there is the nutmeg under the mace ready to dry.

Then it was onto the chocolate factory to see how all those cocoa pods are turned into chocolate.

This a cocoa pod

This a cocoa pod

Here is a pod drying in the sun with the bean inside

All the packaged chocolates.

And of course my hubby had to have a 2 lb block of chocolate where as I opted for a few small bars of the nutmeg flavored chocolate.

This is the fleshy edible cocoa

Below Cutty is explaing how many types of mangos there are. Wow, who knew....he also took us to a location where we were able to pick bagfulls to take back with us.

Cutty telling us about mangos

Cutty telling us about mangos

Before hitting the rum factory Cutty arranged for us to have lunch at the restarant. We were the only people there and they laid out a nice buffet for us.

Our group enjoying lunch and getting more info out of Cutty.

Above is our guest and the group we traveled with. I have to mention Kevin and his wife on Catchin Rays. If you are interested in travel, sailing videos check out his youtube page. Catchin Rays. He has some amazing footage from the few that I have watched.

Happy Campers

Happy Campers

Onto the rum factory

The River Antoine Rum factory still uses an old water wheel to turn the machines to crush the sugarcane. The whole factory is open air and seems very unsanitary. I guess though it goes through a process that might kill any and all things that manage to drop, fly, or crawl into it.

Trekking through the dried crushed sugar cane to enter the mill.

Trekking through the dried crushed sugar cane to enter the mill.

Goats coming for a visit

Are we having fun yet?

Here is the cane waiting for crushing

The men working hard by the crushing machine

This is the cane juice gully that is sitting on the ground open to all.

Here is the water wheel turning the crusher

The juice is put in these vats in the boil house. This is where it starts smelling really good. NOT...

Yes it smelled as bad as it looks.

This is where the rum is distilled and tested for potency.

Below is the final product. The first bottle is produced and made but not allowed to leave the island, its that potent. And boy is it nasty, it stayed with me for most of the day.

After leaving the Rum Factory we headed to the rain forest where Cutty tried to call the monkeys out. Its hit or miss and today was a miss. We did get to do a short walk into the forest though. Below you see why Cashews are so expensive. This is the cashew fruit which is not good to eat but right on top is a single cashew and it cannot be eatten until it is roasted.

Very pretty cashew fruit with the single nut. Imagine how many of these have to be harvested for that handful of nuts we eat all at the same time.

This was Crater Lake close to where Cutty was trying to get the monkeys to visit.

Here is an almond tree. They are all over the island.

We finally made our way back to marina and arrived about 5:30 had dinner at the Tiki Bar and then headed back to Renegade. It was a long day and we were all ready to relax. In a couple days we were to hike 7 sisters waterfalls so stay tuned for that. It was a georgous hike.

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Carriacou, And Onto Grenada

Our plan was to head out of Marigot Bay at first light and make our way on down to Carriacou which is part of Grenada. We traveled down St. Lucia enjoying the nice sail. We had heard once you hit the end of the island before you get to St. vincent which is the next island down that the water becomes very rough as it and the winds funnel through the pass. We passed the Pitons and they were indeed impressive. Some of the rat pack had hiked up them and I hear it is quiet the hike. We had heard if you wanted to get a mooring in front of them and take a guide to hike them that you also needed to hire someone to boat sit. Hummm? So I need to pay a person I dont know to sit on my boat to keep the bad people off? Ummmm, no thanks. So we just passed by and took photos.

Once we got to the end of the island we fully expected it to get rough but we continued to enjoy the sail as it wasnt rough at all. Today may be our lucky day. We traveled most of the day and stopped in Bequia with the Q flag flying to get some sleep for the next days travel. The following day we made it to Tyrrel Bay in Carriacou along with Tempo. Carriacou is part of Grenada and we hear its easy to check into customs there. Dirk headed into the customs office as it was Friday and on the weekends it cost overtime fees if you check in or out. Once we were legally checked in we celebrated with 2 cold Kalik's and hoisted the Grenada courtesy flag. Our plan was to get a good nights sleep before making our final run down to Prickly Bay so it was a relaxing evening onboard and we slept in the following morning before picking up anchor to make the short hop down island. We made it to Prickly Bay and picked our way through the anchorage to find a spot to drop. It was pretty crowded so we kind of wedged ourselves, perhaps a little close to two other boats we knew. Dirk dove on the anchor after we set it and found we were pretty much hanging over a little ledge. Wasnt happy but this would do for the night. We Popped our bottle of champagne we had saved for just this occasion. Its good to be here, finally......

 

In the near future I will write of our adventures as we check out this so called cruising mecca. Stay tuned.....

 

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St. Lucia

We headed for Rodney Bay St. Lucia on the 25th after sitting for almost a week in Martinique while we waited on weather. We had met a couple there that said they had been traveling this area for 15 years and had never seen a year as windy and rough as this one. Goody for us, we picked the worst year to do this but we were determined to get to Grenada before the end of July. We were traveling with Tempo and pulled into the anchorage together both setting the hook close to each other. Dirk dove on the anchor and wasnt pleased as to how it was set but we had backed down to 2500 and didnt pull. It was basically a bunch of rubble on the bottom, old dead coral covered with about an inch of sand. We had hooked into a rock laying on the bottom of a slight ridge. We would see how we held as the next couple days were suppose to be very windy. We were planning on moving to find a sandy spot but once the winds picked up and we held fast we decided to stay put. Rodney Bay wasnt bad except for the fruit and veggie guy that would make his rounds daily trying to sell you stuff in an old boat that looked like it would capsize at any moment.

Looks like a garden up top

And the people who would stand on the jetty trying to get your attention for a lift to the other side as you were going into town. We were told by a few that the veggie guy was a fairly nasty spirited man and would get upset with you for only buying one item from him. I didnt play his game and bought all my fruits and veggies from the farmers market and grocery store. The people on the jetty would hoop and holler in hopes you would pick them up, take them to the other side of the channel and in the process sell you something or ask for something. I felt bad ignoring them but one had to. At the farmers market held there each week I picked up some great deals and learned to love yet another fruit I had never seen before.

Wax apples are not native to the area but brought over from Asia somewhere. They are quite interesting and actually taste like a green apple with a different texture. Days passed and the winds blew, so I finally decided I needed a hike and took one to the fort with our friends off Tempo. Dirk decided to stay back so off we went.

From the top of the fort was great views of the bay and surrounding areas all in bloom with Flamboyant trees.

Renegade is somewhere out in the bay

View of the outside

View from the top of the fort over to the other peak we hiked

Flamboyant tree flower

View of the fort from the other peak

After we hiked up both peaks we headed to the little restaurant and all had a nice cold Piton Beer and a great lunch before heading back to the boats.

Nice little restaurant

On the 7th of July we finally had a bit of a let up in wind and decided to head to Marigot Bay as we heard it was beautiful and peaceful. We decided to go ahead and pick up a mooring ball inside of the bay from the marina and when they saw us and several other boats approaching the channel they came out to ask if we were anchoring or taking a ball, they then led us to our ball and helped us tie up. Before we could even get tied up all the way the fruit and veggie guys came by to peddle their wares. First one then the other and we bought a bit from each one as they weren't too pushy and seemed friendly enough.

Santa Clause as he calls himself selling fruits and veggies.

With the mooring ball we got access to the resorts gym and pool. We elected to use the pool along with several other boats that pulled in that day. Izzy R who we had met several years ago in the Bahamas along with a couple new people we met. They had a great swim up bar that served a mean rum punch.

The gang relaxing in the pool with nice cold rum punches

Later that evening we all got together and had taco night on Izzy R and watched as the sun set behind the island.

The following day we decided to take a hike on a trail that led to some great look out spot. We started at the Rainforest Hidaway and the path got steep very quickly.

Steep hill

It was so steep at times you had to use the rope to pull yourself up and I for one needed a few breaks to catch my breath. When we finally made it to the top we were granted a wonderful view of the surronding land.

Awesome views

We could see Renegade moored in the bay and the pool we spent so much time in the day before.

We made it to the top

We stopped at the top for a rest and a group photo before heading on our way. We hiked down the trail and it was just as steep.

Now for the steep climb down

We ended up at a resort and ended up riding the self service trolly down the hill.

Ding ding ding here comes your trolley

Lots of beautiful vegetation to see everywhere around.

We finally found our way to the local watering hole and had a nice cold Piton to quench our thirst and took one more group photo to end the days trip.

Time for a nice cold one.

We were tired puppies after the day we had and were in bed early as the next morning we would drop our mooring ball and head south. Were almost there......

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Fort de France, Martinique

We left Guadeloupe and made our way to Martinique but since we did not want to do a really long passage again we headed to Roseau Dominica for the night and decided to just yellow flag it as we would be leaving at first light. Yellow flagging or Q flagging means to fly your quarentine flag and not check into the country. You can do this for a nights rest if you dont plan on getting off of your boat and heading to shore. As we were pulling into the anchorage we decided on a mooring ball as it was getting to be dusk and light was fading. As we had heard about the "boat boys" we already knew what to expect. They meet you as you are coming in and introduce themselves and help you pick up your mooring ball. They are so organized here that they have kind of a union called Pays. Which is good because it helps to keep them in check. They do all sorts of things, get you supplies, get the customs officials to you, fuel. They also act as security for your boat. Guessing the rule is if you see a boat tended to by a Pays guy you leave it alone which is nice. So we were met by our boat boy who helped us tie up to the mooring. It was $15.00 US a night and we tipped him $5.00 for his assistance. Probably too much but we were tired. We told him we would be leaving at first light and off to bed we went. The following morning we made tracks to Martinique. We anchored in front of the town square and found a decent spot of sand in about 17 feet of water.

Somewhere along the way in Martinique

Fort de France

Its a colorful city and that day they were having an outdoor festival around the water front. This made for a very loud night until about 3am when the party finally died. Good thing I was so tired and had ear plugs. We checked in the next morning and decided to walk into town forgetting that they pretty much roll the street up in these countries on Sunday. As we walked we noted how much this area reminded us of New Orleans, not so much the look but the smell. Guessing they didnt have port a toilets at the event last night as the streets reeked of urine. So far not impressed. We did happen to find a Kentucky Fried Chicken open where we could have a coffee and get some free internet to check in with family and friends. Afterwards we headed back to the boat for a relaxing rest of the day.

Dinghy dock and waterfront

We stayed here for close to a week waiting on a good weather window to get us to St. Lucia. While we waited we were joined with some of the other Rat Pack which is always nice to have a few people you know close by. We needed to reprovision so we headed to town and did some shopping at the Leader price store. We found they actually had good prices on seafood so we bought a bag of shimp and 2 bags of mussels. And of course town did not disappoint. Sadly there was a homeless man laying in the middle of the sidewalk as people had to step over him. Both Dirk and I began to wonder if he was even alive and were relieved to see him move. So sad.....We did manage to walk further into the city and found many streets lined with shops selling the same thing from store to store, shoes and fabric. We found a music store where Dirk was able to pick up some new reeds for his sax. We also found an open air market where they sold many spices and vegatables.

Vanilla beans everywhere, and cheap

We purchased a few items and continued along our way.

Cemeteries remind me of New Orleans

Once we passed the graveyard we started noticing a change of scenery and knew it was time to turn around, which we did and headed to a great little baguette shop that made great sandwiches for lunch before heading back to the boat. It finally looked as if we might have a break in the weather on the 25th and used this small window to make it to St. Lucia.

 

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