From Chatham Bay Union Island it was a brisk 10 mile sail to Hillsborough on Carriacou where I checked into Grenada. I then moved round the corner to Tyrrel Bay which is a very well protected anchorage. After two days I set off for St George Grenada. About 10 miles SW of Carriacou there is a submerged active volcano which was in action about ten years ago. It's shown on the chart as Kick-em -Jenny and has a 1.5 mile prohibited zone around it and a 5 mile red alert zone. It is well monitored and there is a web site to check the alert state. Passing so close to an active volcano is a new experience and I was pleased when it was astern.
The 38 mile passage was typical for this region but sadly lacking in any marine mammal sightings. I dropped the hook in St George's anchorage. I thought I was well dug in sand and a good tug in reverse satisfied me that all was well. During the first night winds got up to 20kts and the GPS was showing larger positional changes than the normal range but I was well clear of any other yachts. Next morning I snorkelled the anchor which had left drag marks of about 50 feet and was on hard broken coral. I reset it and this time visually checked the CQR was well dug in which for some reason I neglected the first time.
A few days later I discovered the Grenada Yacht Club was offering a discount of 1 day free for every 2 paid for. Given that the daily rate was about £12 this enticed me to take a berth. It was a good move as the club has all the basic facilities and helpful friendly staff. Having resident Customs and Immigration checking out was simplicity itself. I met some interesting people most noteably Harold La Borde for whom I made a separate entry.
St George is almost a town of two halves connected by a tunnel which rather alarmingly is used by traffic and pedesrians. Hurricaine Ivan's [2004]handiwork is still much in evidence with a number of prominent buildings still without roofs. The C of E cathedral and parliament buildings are but two of more than a dozen that I saw. On the local radio I heard that the Australian Government had agreed to build them a new parliament. I wondered what we the British were doing for our former colony. It was noticeable that the catholic cathedral also severely damaged had been repaired.
I organsed a trip with some German cruisers to Fish Friday at Gouyave some 15 miles north of St George. They set up stalls in one of the side streets offering a wide range of samples of different fish cooked on the spot, mostly very tastey and excellent value for money. The taxi ride however was not a pleasant experience-not for the faint hearted.
Because of the threat of pirates it is now possible to submit a Float Plan to the Coast Guard in Grenada and Trinidad to let them know your plans which I did. Before setting off for the 80 mile passage to Trinidad I stopped off at the anchorage to clean the propeller which had a fine collection of barnicles. A German couple on a ketch Wanderer2 teamed up to sail in company.
The wind was predicted to be east with a touch of south south east at first, around 15 kts reducing to 10 kts within 24 hrs. Someone got it very wrong and within 3 or 4 hours after setting off rain squalls produced 25 kts of wind and by nightfall I must have been in a tropical wave front with winds now in the 25 to 30 kt range and gusting for periods to a full gale. Putting in a second reef in 25 kts in the dark was testing. PS does well in the heavy seas. There was a moment of excitement when a large fishing vessel with nets out came straight for me then turned away just before there would have been a real crisis-I had done everything to get out of his way. It turned out that Wanderer2 had the same treatment.
By first light some 15 miles off the coast of Trinidad the wind shifted so the best I could do was head east to make the angle to head for Boca de Monas, a gap in the islands that leads to Chaguaramas. The passage plan suggested a 15 hour trip which turned into 22 hours. I took a mooring with the help of a charming Dutch lady who got in her dingy to assist. I discovered the next evening when she and her husband came over for drinks that they had been run down by a freighter the same night that I sailed south only a few miles from my track. They were exceedingly lucky to have survived. Had they been 10 feet further on they would have been cut in two. As it was they were struck at the pullpit and bounced down the side if the ship. Their yacht is very strongly built but they estimate around £8000 of damage.
I now have plenty of time to get organised for the haul out later in June. The rainy season is now underway. There was serious flooding from the storm I encountered and the harbour is awash with flotsum and rubbish. There are also a lot of Frigate Birds, a bird I have been fasinated to watch. It is the supreme bully taking food off terns and other diving birds. Aerobatics are second nature to this large bird which can also soar with the best of them. I notice it does not try its luck much with Pelicans another bird I love to watch. I'll try to get a good picture of them too.
