S/V Indian Summer 1

We arrived in Grenada (pronounced Grenayda not Grenarda as I thought) at Clarke’s Court bay just as the sun was setting. Grenada is totally different from Carriacou even though it is only 30nm away. Grenada is very lush, has many bays to anchor on and has a thriving main town of St George’s. We caught up with JP on Big Dog but sadly the girls had flown home so it was just the three of us. There are so many bars and restaurants in Grenada- it’s the party island of the carribbean and many boats come down here to spend the hurricane season as it is just outside the hurricane belt. We moved the following day as the water round the Marina was really dirty and dropped anchor imbetween Rock and Roll Star – We hadn’t seen Matt since India and Segue – we hadnt seen Colin since Indonesia! Cruising really is a small community. They really cater for cruisers here with busses running to the hardware shops and the chandlers and supermarkets. They encourage people to take part in the hash – an activity where you can walk a smaller course or run a longer one. They drop you off at the different places it happens every Saturday and many cruisers love it. My back was still a bit sore to do a long hike which was disappointing as I had wanted to do the Grenada hash for a long time.

A couple days later our buddy Darryl came down from Carriacou. We had spent 4 months next to Darryl in Kas is Turkey doing lockdown so it was lovely to catch up again. We spent the night on Hog Island which has a great little beach bar and the best and cheapest hamburgers! $5 for a burger I couldn’t possibly finish – Ian was in heaven…

We hired a car and driver with Darryl and his crew to take us round the island for the day. We were amazed how green it was compared to some other parts of the Caribbean and how so many fruits just grew beside the road.

We visited a chocolate factory – Grenada is famous for its chocolate but I found it bitter and they don’t produce milk chocolate, Ian loved it though.

We also visited a nutmeg processing plant. Grenada sells nutmeg all over the world We saw many nutmeg trees as many farmers grow nutmeg on their small landholdings which are not fenced and the trees grow right on the roadside. The plant is completely run by hand even the sizing of the nutmegs as they put them through a frame with various size holes. Its quite labour intensive but provides jobs for the locals and gives Grenada some much needed revenue.

We passed a man carving into the rock on the side of the road – some of his work was outstanding. We also saw the colours of Grenada all over the island. They paint their curbs, trees, posts, bus stops and houses. There is colour everywhere and against the bright green background it makes such a pretty island.

We stopped for lunch is a small beachside town called Gouyave. We stuck out a bit as there are no tourists around but they are so friendly and we loved talking to them. One guy came by with some fish in a plastic bag which we offered to buy. He offered them to us for 25 EC which was fine with us. Then he said we had to purchase the plastic bowl or the bag would leak so we agreed, then he asked us for money for the plastic bags they were in and then he asked us for more money for a big chunk of ice to put into the bowl. Our 25EC fish turned into a 45EC meal! They were delicious though.

We spent about a week in Clarke’s Court enjoying the bars and restaurants. We also had boat jobs to finish and with everything available here we took advantage of the great hardware shops to finish a few jobs. We then went round to Prickly Bay – just 5nm miles away and caught up with Bev and Bob on Icaros. Bev took us ‘noodling’ every morning which is a great keep fit class. You only need a water noodle and go just out of your depth and do lots of exercises. Its a great way to start the day and I think we will keep it going after we leave Grenada.

We enjoyed lots of entertainment here with dinner a on board, music nights and one night having an Indian meal at a restaurant called Indian Summer in an area called the Container Park – so called because it is made up of all different coloured containers. Very cheap and practical.

All too soon our month in Grenada was coming to an end. We had loved catching up with so many people but wanted to head south for a few weeks during the hurricane season. We had decided on Suriname but to get a better angle we needed to head up to Carriacou again so we upped anchor and headed north. On the way we stopped at the under water sculptures – a dive site that has many statues under water. It was scary at first because the first one I saw had fallen over and looked like a body lying down there – most disconcerting! Very clever though and something different.

Carriacou was just as beautiful as we remembered it. We even managed to anchor in the same spot and headed in for dinner. We went back to the Bistro as it was one of our favourites and had great curries. We rarely go back to a place so this was interesting for us as we were recognised by some of the locals. We spent the night in Tyrell Bay and headed to Petite Martinique the next morning. We had seen this island when we were anchored in Petite St Vincent and wanted to go then but ran out of time. Petite Martinique is tiny, with just one main dust street running back from the beach. The harbour was full of fishing boats and we were the only cruising boat. All the restaurants were either shut or only selling beer but we did find one down on the beach that had the delicious aroma of barbequed chicken wafting from the back so we ended up having lunch there. I think we were the only tourists they had seen in a while and we were pleased to give them some business. I love these tiny Caribbean islands – it’s as if time has stood still for them. They don’t see the cruise liners or many of the charterers who are on a strict time budget which mean they don’t rely heavily on the tourist dollar, relying more on fishing and selling their catches to the bigger islands. A couple of hours at our last port of call before south America was spent getting rid of our East Carribean dollars at the tiny beach bar and soaking in the atmosphere. We left at 3pm with an easterly 20knot breeze headed for Suriname. We were in for a long hard rough journey but didn’t know it at the time.

c