Saint George's Harbour, Grenada
After an enjoyable few days in Tyrell Bay, Carriacou, it was the13th February and we had still not done everything I had hoped we would. A trip to the aptly named village of "Windward" on the north west corner of the island, where, Steve assured me, one could still find local shipwrights building wooden boats on the beach, was top of the list; closely followed by a visit to the Mangrove nature reserve. However, the forecast for the following day was for a fresh wind just south of east, with it shifting further south for the next few days.
That meant we could make Grenada reasonably comfortably the following day, but after that we faced the prospect of being hard on the wind or even beating to in order to get there. Saint George's, the capital near the southern tip of the island's leeward (east) coast, was a full day's sail provided we maintained a steady five knots in the right direction. If we had to beat it would take longer.
The other option was simply to sit tight and wait for the wind to revert to a more favourable direction.
Grenada may end up being as far south as we venture and is also where we will collect and install two new solar panels in a bid to generate sufficient solar power to meet our electricity usage.
In the very warm temperatures of the tropics, our small freezer (whose primary responsibility was to make ice for our daily sundowners) was consuming lots of electricity in its efforts to dip below freezing! The temperature of beer in the fridge also left a lot to be desired. The Mate was most concerned therefore, that we were facing a considerable crisis and that not a moment should be lost in tackling it. The need to run Starlink once we started undertaking long passages once again was of course a further consideration!
Mindful of the need to keep the crew happy, I had therefore, already ordered and paid for two new solar panels from a Chandlery in Saint George's, Grenada, and wanted to get them installed as quickly as possible. A little reluctantly therefore, I decided to set off for Grenada the following day.
As it turned out, the wind was more favourable than expected and we were able to lay a course down the windward side of the island. This would enable us to stop off at one or two of the sheltered bays on the island's southern windward coast, before moving on to Saint George's with a favourable wind.
We enjoyed a cracking close reach sail and on the recommendation of our American friends Paul and Lori, who had just been in Grenada, we headed for the sheltered anchorage at Hog Island, rather than the more exposed "Prickly Bay", to which I had planned to go.
We arrived at around 1600 and after scoured the entire bay for space to anchor, rather reluctantly picked up one of the numerous mooring buoys. The water was too murky to examine the mooring tackle below the surface but we could see a thick rope ran through the centre of the buoy which also looked in good condition.
The bay was certainly sheltered, but except for a small beach on the opposite side from us, trees ran right down to the water's edge. It would also be a long dinghy trip to get ashore.
The following morning we therefore decided to explore the bay next door - Clarke Courts Bay. This was much bigger, but was more exposed to the wind and waves and was similarly unattractive and would require a long dingy ride from any available anchor spot or mooring. After some debate we decided to carry on round to Saint George's.
Once safely through the passages between the coral reefs under power, we headed south under Genoa alone. After rounding the southern end of the island, we hoisted the mainsail for the close hauled leg up to Saint George's. With a flat sea in the lee of the island, but a with good breeze, we had a very pleasant sail and picked up a buoy outside the harbour at around 1415. We were now in a marine conservation area and anchoring was not permitted because of the damage caused to the sea bed.
After a late lunch we dinghed ashore to meet Natasha and Sila for drinks in the Grenada Yacht Club.
Natasha is the younger sister of my old friend Steve. I only recently discovered via Steve, that she had got into sailing and that she and her partner, Sila, had bought a boat in 2022, with the intention of crossing the Atlantic with the ARC-Plus Rally in 2023. I met them in Plymouth in late June 2023 when they were working round the clock on the boat to prepare it for the crossing; but prior to that, I had only met Natasha as a child back in the 1970's!
We had stayed in touch since June and I'd heard from Natasha that they had suffered persistent problems with their engine during their travels. Since arriving in Grenada with the ARC-Plus fleet in December, they had therefore been confined to Grenada trying to repair the engine.
On meeting up at the Grenada Yacht Club we learnt that subject to a final compression test on the engine the next morning, the engine was to be condemmed. They had decided they had wasted enough time and money trying to repair it and would now replace it. They had tracked down a supplier in the UK who could ship a like for like replacement within two weeks and a boat yard in Clarkes Court Bay who could install it. Like us they were on a fairly meagre budget and would therefore have to borrow the funds to pay for it!
Despite their troubles we had a most enjoyable evening catching up with eachothers stories and plans for the rest of the pre-hurricane season. Natasha and Sila are hopeful that once the new engine is installed, they will still have six weeks left to explore some of the Carribbean before having to depart for the UK.
Next: Saint George's, solar panels and another re-union.
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