A BUMPY PASSAGE TO GRENADA .

After three weeks of living on the hard in our boat propped up on stands high up off the ground we had completed our preparations and were ready to relaunch and go back into the water to start our first full season of sailing in the Caribbean .

Our plan was to head around the corner and spend a couple of days in Scotland Bay so that we could rig our sails with the boat lying head to wind on anchor and do our final checks before clearing Trinidad and sailing North .

After the hustle and bustle of living in Peakes Boatyard , the peace and quiet of Scotland Bay was just the tonic we needed and we slept like babies with just the typical tropical forest night sounds in the distance . In fact we slept so soundly that we did not even hear a visitor who must have either flown or swum out to the boat and calmly came down below to eat a banana in the galley leaving a blob of it on the passage floor in front of our cabin door .

As avid twitchers we enjoyed watching the abundant bird life including a large flock of brown pelicans diving on shoals of fish in the small bay and something that was really interesting is that these pelicans roost in trees on the waters edge . With their paddles for feet it is amazing that they are able to perch without falling off the branches . We even had a turtle surface right near the boat and the odd chase of a large fish chasing something smaller after dark causing the phosphorous to light up was a regular occurrence in the two days that we lay on anchor .

Another sound that we had not heard since leaving Brazil was the raucous bellowing of the Howler Monkeys high up in the mountains surrounding the bay resonating from the cliffs across the water . I often wonder what the early explorers must have thought when they first heard their intimidating calling ringing out of the jungle . There must have been many reluctant crew members not too keen to be sent into the depths of the forest to find out what was creating the din only to find that the King Kong roar was in fact a relatively small long limbed monkey .

Two days later Windward was rigged and ready to sail for Grenada so we headed back to Chaguaramas to clear out of Trinidad . Once the formalities were taken care of we could buy Duty Free booze and do a last minute shop before slipping our lines from the Customs Dock .

With the economic collapse of Venezuela and since the attacks by pirates on two yachts last December including a few cruising boats being harassed by odd vessels on route to and from Grenada the modus operandi regarding a passage plan has changed . Quoting the author of our cruising guide he suggests that with the pirates operating in high powered piroques they have speed in their favour but they are generally poor seamen and are afraid of the sea . They don't like rough conditions particularly offshore and using mainly eyeball navigation they don't like being at sea in the dark of night . So with Venezuela to the West his advice is favour the East and favour the night without using running lights and maintaining radio silence .

Our plan was to motorsail along Trinidad's North Coast as close inshore as possible to avoid the main current but heading in an easterly direction meaning that the wind would be on the nose and depending on the size of the swell this could be pretty arduous . We would continue for about 15nm due east improving our wind angle to Grenada tremendously and then we would turn north and sail for my waypoint that l had laid 4nm east of Poinsettia gas rig with the wind hopefully slightly forward of the beam .

Unfortunately Murphy had a different plan and while we were motoring through Monos Bocas heading for the open sea l noticed that our brand new fancy clutch with no power to it was driving our watermaker pump that had no water running through it therefore causing it to overheat and cook . The high ambient air temperature within the engine compartment had caused the air-gap to close effectively engaging the clutch . In an attempt to try and prevent any further damage taking place within the pump our only option was to cut the engine and set sail for Grenada immediately .

By now it was getting dark so up went the main and we unfurled our new Genoa . With full sail up we sheeted in hard and set a course for my gas rig waypoint . Our boat is not called Windward for nothing and with 18kn gusting 20 , sailing as close-hauled as possible we powered our way north managing to hold a course for our all important waypoint .

It was hard sailing with the boat well heeled but we were making great progress and maintaining good boatspeed and what made the First Mate happy was that in these difficult conditions it was highly unlikely that any pirate would want to be at sea in a piroque .

Occasionally when the rain squalls came through we would head up a little and dump a bit of mainsail but all in all it was an invigorating sail . Once we had reached our gas rig waypoint we were able to bear off to Grenada and now with the wind square to our beam our boat took off , surfing all the way to our approach waypoint off Prickly Bay at times clocking over 10kns of speed over ground . The net result is that we arrived earlier than planned and had to lie hove-to waiting for first light to enter the bay . Our set rule is that we never enter a new anchorage in the dark .

As our first sail of the season l found it exhilarating and fell in love with the boat all over again . Although my little wife is never overly impressed when her house leans over too much she knew that no pirate would have attempted to board a yacht surfing along at those speeds in those conditions .

Once there was sufficient light to see clearly we slowly motored into the bay and dropped the hook . After a hot cup of coffee we both fell into bed and slipped into a coma , job done .