On Jan.13, 2024, we were preparing for a visit from our good friends Dick R. and Cathy P., when a fuel leak was detected in the bilge, just as the boating gods would have it! Fortunately, Andrew was able to trouble shoot it, thinking he may have over filled the day fuel tank since its’ gauges and refueling system weren’t working properly. The boat didn’t smell too much like diesel when our guests arrived (at least not to us)!! We celebrated their arrival (in the rain; of course, the first deluge in weeks) with dinner at Victory Bar & Restaurant at Port Louis Marina.
The next day, after a banana pancake breakfast on board, we took the dinghy to St. George’s, where we walked up to the fort, the fresh market, the Chocolate Store and my favorite shop in the islands (Art Fabrik, which was closed… ugh)! We picked up fresh ingredients for Andrew to make his fish in vanilla cream sauce specialty that he created last season after having it at a French restaurant in Martinique.
The weather looked “sporty” with 20-25 on the nose going north and 6-8 foot seas, but knowing we had competent sailors on board with us, we set out for Carriacou the next day. Andrew said it would take 4-5 hours but with the conditions as they were, it took 7! We arrived at Paradise Beach around 5pm, too late (and too rough) to snorkel but we jumped in for a quick swim, took naps and enjoyed cocktails before dinner. I made a chicken curry that I got from the book “ Embarrassment of Mangos”, which tuned out pretty good (if I may say so)!!
The following day, we moved the boat to Tyrell Bay in Carriacou to check out of Grenada and head to The Grenadines. Hoping to show Dick & Cathy a bit of the town, we decided to walk from the ferry dock to the Customs dock and back. It was a long, hot walk and by the time we arrived, the Customs agents were taking lunch. Fortunately, there is a good restaurant right there, where we enjoyed cold beers and fish & chips. We were still waiting for Customs after lunch but eventually got thru and went back to the boat. Cathy prepared a very yummy cassoulet that evening for dinner.
With the wind still howling out of the north, the next day we decided on a short hop to Mayreau, where we initially anchored in the ill-defined ferry channel. After the first ferry blared its’ horn and put up a good wake close to our stern on the way in and then across our bow on the way out, we got the picture and moved (even though there were at least 3 other boats closer to where we thought the channel was. I guess they weren’t on board to intimidate!). Safely out of the way of boat traffic, we took the dinghy in for a walk about on the island. First stop was Lola’s Bar by the dinghy dock, then a walk to Ranch Escapade on the western beach, overlooking Tobago Cays. It’s a beautiful spot we found last year for pina coladas but this time we stayed for lunch too. Back on board that afternoon we had swims, naps, reading time & cocktails before Andrew whipped up some tuna ceviche for dinner.
One of our main objectives was to get Dick & Cathy to the northern most Grenadine island of Bequia but we were waiting for a good day for the long(ish) run. The next day, it blew a pretty solid 20 knots but with enough wind coming out of the east, we could reach a good long way before we had to motor sail into the wind to make Admiralty Bay. On the way, we had leftover ceviche wraps, a new invention for offshore provisioning.
On arrival, we grabbed a mooring from Daffodil, and set the dinghy to go into town. We walked around, visited the gourmet grocery, Bequia clothing and a few other shops before opting for a cold drink overlooking Elizabeth Harbor upstairs at The Chameleon Cafe. That evening, we had dinner at Open Deck (off Daffodils), where the ladies ordered deliciously tender octopus and the guys had lamb ragou (reportedly very good as well); probably the best meal we’d had so far despite very good eating every day!!
The next day we did almost nothing, which was perfect given the traveling we had been doing. We got some laundry done, the boys bought cigars in town, we swam, napped, read and ate all our meals on board.
Some of us stayed up a bit too late and we got a late start the next morning but it was gusty and rainy and nothing to rush out in. We were headed for Tobago Cays but the weather was not cooperating! We wanted to take Dick & Cathy snorkeling to see the turtles in the sanctuary there but the conditions were not good. I went in the choppy, cloudy water with Dick and saw maybe two turtles when last time I was here, they were all over the place. However, it may be the wrong season too since I saw far more giant starfish this time (in January) than I did last time (in April). Because the weather remained crappy, we decided to have our lobster dinner delivered on board instead of going into the beach, which was a brilliant decision, especially when it started pouring right after the meal arrived!! I don’t have a lot of pictures but this is the one I regret not taking the most: we had 6 large stuffed lobsters halves, fried plantains, baked potatoes, grilled vegetables and banana bread for dessert and it was scrumptuous!!
It was time to head further south, check out of The Grenadines and sail back to Grenada. It blew gusts to 30 knots for two days as we made our way back. We arrived at Prickly Bay on 1/24, after a nice downwind sail from Union Island. The morning of the 25th, we had lobster scrambled eggs (it was supposed to be a frittata but I messed up) on the boat before catching a cab to St. George’s to check in. We found Art Fabrik open this time and enjoyed lunch and splits at The West Indies Brewery to celebrate Dick & Cathy’s last evening on board. The next day, they flew out on the 4pm flight right over our heads in Prickly Bay. It was a fabulous, fine eating and sailing adventure and we are so glad they made the trip!!!
