Halloween!

We have been in Grenada’s Port Louis Marina for a week now. While many cruisers continue cruising during hurricane season, others dock the boat and visit family, travel, or live on land for a while. Many strike a balance between the two options by choosing a ‘home’ marina from which to work and/or do jobs on the boat, or simply live in a marina community. Grenada has ample facilities, including seven marinas and four shipyards, making it an obvious choice when it comes to settling down for the season. Port Louis Marina where we are is a good port for those who prefer to stay in a port. With jetties for 160 yachts up to 100m, a swimming pool, bar and restaurant, the beautifully landscaped tropical grounds are home to superyachts, charter fleets and regular ships.

The sound of sanders, saws and hammers is continuous around you, as is the smell of paint and you can feel the energy and adrenaline that this brings with cruisers. Everyone wants to be done with their work now that the end of the hurricane season is near. Jeroen and Rajesh are also busy redesigning the electrical cabling and installing the Victron Quattro-II. Every now and then Rajesh and I are sent off to the Budget Marine parts store. This time for a 15m long 50A shore power cable. In Grenada, transport with small vans is well organized. For 1 euro per person you get a long way and we are dropped off 200 meters from the Budget Marine store. Luckily they have one in stock. Stored high on the top shelf. Being tall has its advantages, because you almost always get to the items on the top shelf. As I tried to lift the box off the top shelf, I was shocked by the weight of the package. I’m glad I didn’t have to carry this alone home! Back on the boat, Jeroen was shocked by the thickness of the cable and came to the conclusion that it is really too big for our boat. At the time, I kept thinking in the back of my mind that it was a good strength training. After making some inquiries with the other Amel boat owners, we decide to exchange the cable tomorrow for a slightly smaller 30A. Fortunately this was no problem. Unfortunately, they do not have the shore power plug in stock. We have completed our job for 80%. We now have permanent 230V on board and all power sources are connected to each other and can be managed/monitored via the Quattro-II, namely the: solar panels, generator, battery charger, shore power 110V & 230V, 24V alternator of diesel engine and our 8 household batteries. Only the shore power cable still needs to be installed as soon as we also have the shore power plug. This will make it possible when we are in a port that we can take on shore power 110V&230V.

After 8 days, we leave the port. We sail further south to True Blue Bay. This is a very small bay just west of Prickly Bay and is much quieter and less crowded than Prickly Bay, but with adequate amenities. Because the bay is completely open to the south and a current and waves came into the bay, we had a very uncomfortable night. We didn’t stay here long, which is a shame.

The next day we sail to Ronde Island or Isle de Ronde. Ronde Island is one of the largest private islands in those regions, and perhaps in eastern Caribbean parts, as well as the most expensive. At the time, in 2007, it was up for sale, but people there protested and tried to reclaim the island. The price was USD 100 000 000. The current status of the island is unknown. Ronde Island is known to sailors to be well worth anchoring, due to its abundant marine life. You can swim and snorkel well. “The Sisters Rocks”, just west of Ronde Island, are also known for good snorkelling. Turtles, large schools of sardines, herring and the green moray are common here. Just after the beaches, still isolated and untouched by development, a very dense and lush vegetation begins, like in the middle of the jungle. Hundreds and hundreds of meters of varied trees, shrubs, grass and rocks almost completely cover the island. In the lower part of the islands, especially the northern part, there are many coconut trees.

An unmistakable bird of these coastal waters are the brown pelicans. Their prehistoric appearance is spectacular to watch for hours. The pelican is a protruding glider and flies close to the water, but without its wings ever touching the surface of the water. Carried by the warm air currents, it floats around for hours. Their fishing methods are also spectacular, often suddenly bending upwards and then plunging vertically into the water. They fold themselves into an arrow at the very last moment. It never gets boring to watch this.

The next afternoon we sail on to Tyrell Bay in Carriacou. Here we meet Karin and Alex again from SV Mabul and we go with them to a Halloween party on the island at Frogs bar/restaurant. Karin is a journalist and, in addition to writing blogs on there website, she also records their journey by creating podcasts. She interviews people she meets during their journey with special stories. We have also been interviewed by her. The podcast is in German/English and can be listened to at https://sailingmabul.com . The podcasts are on the homepage. E13 is our interview.

Due to bad weather that is coming around Martinique, it is unwise to sail on to Martinique on Sunday. We therefore decide to go to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines for another week. Before we leave, we first make a nice walk to Paradise Beach Club. It’s Wednesday and so it’s painting afternoon for sailors again. This time there was a group of people with whom we found less connection and after having looked up our sign, a refreshing dip and a drink we walked back.

We checked out in Carriacou for Grenada and sailed to Union Island the next morning. It was a nice quiet sailing trip until 2 NM before the entrance of the bay at Clifton where we have to check in at immigration and customs for Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, with 32 knots wind and high short waves we sail into the narrow bay surrounded with lots of coral. We decide to grab an anchor buoy to wait out the storm. We found it quite exciting to navigate through the coral. In good lighting conditions, coral reefs are clearly visible and relatively easy to avoid. In poor light, as now, reefs are difficult to distinguish. Once in the bay, help came from an unexpected quarter at just the right time. A local resident helped us at the anchor buoy to keep the line to which you need to attach your own line high above the water surface for us so we didn’t have to search for it while the boat is blown away by the wind from the anchor buoy towards other boats and or coral. It rained hard all afternoon and evening without stopping.

As captain of the boat, Jeroen had to go to the immigration office and customs immediately after arrival to check us in. Jeroen returned from his mission soaked to the bone. That afternoon we played games and watched many movies and series. The next morning the sun was shining again and we sailed to the Tobago Cays in an hour. The Tobago Cays remain a magical place. Snorkelling in the Tobago Cays in the shallow lagoon around the islands is fantastic. Swimming with green turtles is a highlight and is guaranteed in the protected waters. Sometimes six turtles were among us at once. But we are also welcomed by eagle rays, stingrays and other well-known tropical fish.

That first night there was no wind and because the moon is almost full the water surface was well lit, it seemed as if you were lying with our boat into a swimming pool. Even in the dark you could see the stingrays and fish swimming under the boat. Very breathtaking. From the Tobago Cays, we will continue sailing to Bequia. There we will check out again at Immigration and Customs for Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and we will make the crossing to Martinique.