GROOVIN' IN GRENADA .

After our boisterous beat all the way up from Trinidad , lying at anchor in Prickly Bay was a treat . Barely a couple of days after arriving in Grenada we got to find out just how jacked up the place is for yachties with a daily cruisers radio net broadcasting all sorts of handy information relating to weather , social events , arranged shopping transport into St Georges and even daily yoga and tai chi classes arranged by yachties for visiting cruisers to the island . We happened to be in Grenada over the festive season and all sorts of parties and events took place at the various marinas . We even enjoyed a great evening of blues at a jam session held at a nearby marina with all the musos being yachties themselves and some of them played really well .

The one event no yachtie was enjoying was the annual “ Christmas Winds “ season where through various influences the wind tends to blow harder with more north in it creating more swell which in Prickly Bay's case makes the anchorage a little rolly . It was while we were rocking and rolling that l had to strip and remove our fancy new clutch on our watermaker which is quite a job even on a solid workbench in a decent workshop .

On the positive side we were looking forward to our daughter joining us and she would spend almost a month with us sailing up Grenada's west coast to the Grenadines and back later in January to fly home to Capetown from Grenada . She is a water baby of note and will happily spend hours in the water , snorkeling and swimming especially when the water temp sits around 30 degrees . On route to the Grenadines we overnighted in Dragons Bay which is close to the world famous Moliniere Underwater Sculpture Park . Without a guide we snorkeled on our own and managed to find all but one of these famous sculptures . It is quite something to be snorkeling along and all of a sudden these strange figures appear out of the gloom . It is worth a Google to see what we saw in the flesh , so too speak .

While we were there with our daughter we arranged with a group of yachties a comprehensive tour of the island with a local guide who goes by the name of Cutty . It was worth every cent as Grenada is a beautiful island with its lush forested mountains , beautiful waterfalls and its fragrant spice trees that gives the island its commonly referred to name of the ” Isle of Spice “. We visited every place of interest including the famous chocolate factory and a centuries old rum distillery that still utilizes an ancient water wheel to drive the crusher .

Unfortunately Grenada took a hammering in 2004 with Hurricane Ivan ( Ivan the Terrible ) causing widespread damage to the rainforest and to the nutmeg plantations resulting in many Grenadians being put out of work . Fortunately the nutmeg trees are slowly recovering and hopefully the jobs will return .

Few islands are as photogenic as Grenada and with its hiking trails there are plenty of opportunities to capture the natural beauty of places like Concord Falls and the crater lake Grand Etang .

What we have found that works really well when visiting new islands for the first time is getting a small group of fellow cruisers together and organizing an island tour with a local guide . You get to hear all about the history of the island and what makes the place tick . We visited the capital St George by bus on a number of occasions and got to see the town from up on Fort George with elevated views of the Carenage and Port Louie the beautiful new marina in the lagoon with the Grenada Yacht Club right opposite the marina .

Talking about the history of the island , Grenada has had a turbulent past with wars and revolutions and in 1979 there was a left-wing coup by Maurice Bishop a great admirer of Fidel Castro who attempted to turn Grenada into a socialist state. Unfortunately for him he received opposition from within his own ranks and his Second-in-Command including the military arrested him and locked him up in prison in 1983 . After a massive crowd came to his rescue and freed him an army group re-arrested him along with half his cabinet and executed them by firing squad . We visited the very place at Fort George where this event took place .

After the executions had taken place the United States along with other Eastern Caribbean islands launched a “ rescue mission “ and were welcomed by the Grenadians who are warm and hospitable people and today Grenada is an independent , vibrant , productive and democratic country .

To end this post on an inspirational note , we met an elderly couple in Trinidad on a number of occasions while walking through Chaguaramas and once in a restaurant while having lunch . The old guy had suffered a stroke and clearly struggled to do the most basic things like feeding himself and even walking . After arriving in Prickly Bay after our bumpy sail overnight from Trinidad they sailed in later that day and dropped anchor right in front of us . We had seen another yacht abeam of us just before dark the night before and we presume it was them . How he manages to move about and hold onto a pitching boat in those seas is beyond me and two days later we watched his amazing elderly wife remove and refit their genoa on their roller furler all by herself while he watched her from the cockpit . This incredible couple obviously love their boat and the cruising lifestyle and where most people after suffering a stroke would have hung up their seaboots they have continued sailing .

I have real admiration for them as they are truly an inspiration .

Where there is a will , there is a way .

GRENADA , THE SPICE ISLE .

PRICKLY BAY MARINA .

PRICKLY BAY ANCHORAGE .

PRICKLY BAY ANCHORAGE .

CRUISERS JAM SESSION .
THE SAX PLAYER ON THE RIGHT COULD GIVE KENNY G OR DAVE KOZ A GOOD RUN FOR THEIR MONEY .

THE CRUISE LINER DOCK IN ST GEORGES .

ON THE WATERFRONT IN ST GEORGES .

THE SENDALL TUNNEL CONNECTING ST GEORGES TWO SIDES IN TOWN .

THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I HAVE EVER SEEN A SHIP DOCK PERFECTLY WITHOUT THE AID OF TUGS .

A BEAUTIFUL OLD SAILING SHIP VIEWED FROM FORT GEORGE .

THE FANCY NEW PORT LOUIE MARINA .

THE CARENAGE WINDING AROUND THE OLD HARBOUR .

THE CONCORD FALLS , THIS IS ONE OF FOUR SECTIONS OF THE WATERFALL .

THE OLD CHOCOLATE FACTORY . 

THE RIVER ANTOINE RUM DISTILLERY .
THE ANCIENT WATERWHEEL STILL DRIVES THE CRUSHER TODAY .

THE RIVER ANTOINE RUM DISTILLERY HAS PRODUCED RUM SINCE 1785 .

THE GRAND ETANG CRATER LAKE .
A MAJOR SOURCE OF WATER ON THE ISLAND .

WE ENJOYED A GREAT SAIL UP THE WEST COAST OF THE ISLAND .
AT ABOUT THIS POINT WE WERE PASSING " KICK EM JENNY " AN ACTIVE SUBMARINE VOLCANO .

THE FIRST MATE DOING A QUICK FOREDECK INSPECTION .

THE FAMOUS MOLINERE UNDERWATER SCULPTURE PARK .
GREAT SNORKELING EXPERIENCE . 

CHRIST THE REDEEMER .
THE LAST TIME WE SAW HIM HE WAS ON TOP OF A MOUNTAIN IN RIO .

ITS QUITE EERIE SNORKELING ALONG AND SEEING THESE STATUES APPEAR OUT OF THE GLOOM .

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 .    

OFF THE HARD , BACK INTO THE WATER .

THE FIRST MATE KEEPING AN EYE ON THINGS .

LAST MINUTE TOUCHES .

LINING UP FOR THE TRAVEL-LIFT .

FATHER XMAS DISGUISED AS BILLY WRAY .
RIGGER , SAILOR , SURVEYOR OF MANY , MANY YEARS .

READY TO LIFT OFF THE LOWBED .

GETTING HER BUM WET AGAIN .

AT LONG LAST , A BIT OF PEACE AND TRANQUILITY .

RIGGING OUR SAILS IN SCOTLAND BAY .

LIMING IN SCOTLAND BAY .

AFTER A HARD BEAT ALL NIGHT WE DROPPED THE HOOK IN PRICKLY BAY , GRENADA .

BACK TO THE CRUISING LIFE .

After a particularly cold winter back home on the Cape West Coast in South Africa we are now back on our boat in tropical Trinidad . What probably made this one feel even colder is that the last winter we spent at home was in 2013 as 2014 and 2015 were spent in Brazil and up until July 2016 we hung around the equator off the North Coast of South America , a very different experience to winter on the West Coast .

After nearly five months on the hard at Peake Yacht Services Windward is in great shape albeit she needed a bit of cosmetic work done on her to get her back to her pretty self again after many miles under her keel since we left home in early 2014 . Her teak deck has had a complete treatment to brighten up the timber and has now been restored to the original honey colour as new and her topsides have been acid washed followed up by a polish and wax . The rivers in Brazil particularly the Kourou River in French Guiana left a brown stain above the waterline but now we have a shine second to none . The brightwork has been restored and is looking great after a number of coats of Deks Olje and the stainless steelwork is due to get a thorough polish . Mechanically she is 110% with our Perkins engine fully serviced , a brand new electro-magnetic clutch on our watermaker and all the systems throughout the boat checked and tested including the latest software updates on all our electronic equipment . The amount that it cost us to service our liferaft and replace all our flares , back home you could buy a decent small car and still have some change . By the time we sail for Grenada she should be as good as new and hopefully the “ To Do “ list will be scrunched and tossed in the bin .

Being our first full season in the Caribbean we have lots to get excited about with so many islands out there waiting to be explored . From what we have been told by many cruisers that we have met here in Chaguaramas is that one must not rush through these islands as there are so many things to see and do and being keen hikers ( walkers ) there are plenty of options whether it is a hiking trail or just exploring the surrounding area from the anchorages .

From the communication side of things it is a lot easier here than it was in Brazil and Argentina with mainly Portuguese and Spanish being spoken there , although after two seasons of cruising Brazil we could get our message across quite comfortably along with various hand signals . Speaking of hand signals , l discovered after six months of being in Brazil that the classic dive signal meaning “ l am OK “ or in everyday use indicating that something is perfect , has a very different meaning to Brazilians . After a wonderful meal or after some good deed being done for us l would show the relevant Brazilian this hand gesture not realizing that in effect l was calling him an a..hole . I often wondered why some chefs did not seem to enjoy my sign of appreciation .

Getting back to the local Trini's , you sometimes need to concentrate carefully when chatting with them as they have a unique version of the good old Queen's English . Prior to arriving in the Caribbean the only time l had ever heard them speak was probably listening to the West Indian cricket team being interviewed on TV or radio . But they are a wonderful bunch of people who will greet you even if you are walking past on the opposite side of the road . Proper etiquette requires you to first greet someone and check on their well-being before asking for directions or posing a question . With a large Rasta population reggae music is played everywhere and my man Kerwin who has been giving me a hand on the boat plays some of the best reggae that l have ever heard , all day while we work . After noticing that this white man was enjoying the reggae beat the volume was immediately turned up and now and then l get told who the artist is and from which island he is from .

Changing the subject completely , the other day while lying flat on the saloon floor and checking out our bilge pumps our boat started to shake violently with the rigging slapping the mast and all sorts of gear rattling around inside the lockers . Bear in mind that our boat is standing high off the ground being supported by props so falling over would be a disaster particularly if one happens to be inside the boat at the time .

It turns out that it was an earthquake of 6,2 on the Richter Scale not to faraway with its epicentre between Trinidad and Tobago . Apparently people who were sitting in the boatyard's restaurant bolted outside away from the building and according to other cruisers , doors and windows rattled in their frames . Since then this undersea earthquake has been all the talk on the local radio stations and amongst the locals themselves . Two aftershocks followed later in the evening and the word is that after this event there will be an extended period of minor tremors for quite sometime . The sooner we get back into the water the better .

Never a dull moment in this cruising life .

LIMING IN TRINIDAD .

61st BIRTHDAY IN TRINIDAD .

CATCHING UP WITH GOOD FRIENDS .
WE FIRST MET ALEX & JONI ON THEIR CATAMARAN RAPTOR DURING OUR CROSSING ON ST HELENA ISLAND , THEN AGAIN IN BRAZIL AND NOW IN THE CARIBBEAN .

ATTENDING TO BUSINESS IN DOWNTOWN PORT OF SPAIN .

MY MAN KERWIN .
COILED ON HIS HEAD ARE SOME IMPRESSIVE DREADS .

THE DREADED " MONTH END ".

LEANNA , ONE OF OUR GOOD TRINI FRIENDS POPPED IN FOR DINNER .

CHAGUARAMAS . TRINIDAD . A BOATING MECCA .

Trinidad is the most southern of the Caribbean islands and therefore arguably the safest in terms of hurricanes (touch wood). Grenada roughly 80nm to the north got hammered by Hurricane Ivan in 2004 devastating the island with 90% of the buildings on the island laid to waste . This makes Trinidad the logical choice to store your boat through the hurricane season .

Chaguaramas is where it all happens in the world of boats whether they be sailboats or motoryachts . When it comes to haul-out facilities , long-term storage , chandlers and every service that you would require being a boat owner , its all here . Having done my research on the available boatyards here in Chaguaramas prior to arriving l am now very comfortable with my choice of Peake Yacht Services as these guys are super professional . Their storage facility is a huge flat property that can accommodate approx 350 vessels and with their 150 ton travel-lift there are a number of big boats in their yard including an 82 footer that was recently attacked by pirates on route between Grenada and Trinidad . Strangely enough the second boat a 32 footer that was attacked as well is also here but on the water in Peake's Marina . These incidents by apparently the same pirate boat caused great consternation in the cruising world and the boating industry along with the Trinidad & Tobago Government have taken the issue very seriously as it seems to have affected their business quite badly in that even in late May there is still a lot of available space in the yard .

With 2016 being our third season of cruising l needed to catch up with some long overdue maintenance , mainly cosmetic work to keep appearances up and a few minor mods that now sailing in the tropics are proving necessary.

Apart from fitting fans around the boat to cool the interior , the fridge/freezer compressor compartment now has a cooling fan and the few lockers that weren't fitted with louvered vents are now all well ventilated .

I still had to repair the damages our boat suffered in Brazil when the mooring chain broke in the marina at the Iate Clube Espirito Santo but with all the resources available here in Chaguaramas there is not much left to do on my list.

The plan is to leave our boat on the hard here at Peakes through the hurricane season and return home for a break and catch up with our land life . Early December we will return and stock the boat with all the good things in life and start our Caribbean adventure . Tobago,Grenada,The Grenadines,St Vincent and St Lucia would be a good start and if time permits this coming season we could probably squeeze in Martinique and Barbados before heading south again back to Trinidad to haul-out for the 2017 hurricane season .

I am still trying to get my head around the fact that these long thought about cruising destinations are now just up the road . Eish l can't wait .