A Detour South

Grenada is home-away-from-home for us. We spent 4 months here last year during hurricane season. We know how to ride the bus, we have lots of friends here, the water is great for swimming, and there is no shortage of restaurants and bars. We drop our anchor in our favorite bay and plan to stay for awhile.

That is until our battery charger stops working....oh no! We live on 6 deep cycle marine batteries. Gotta be able to charge them. Fortunately there are lots of smart electrical people around but to our dismay we find out the part we need is not made anymore. Seriously?!! It is only 4 years old and the part is no where to be found. We are told to buy a new charger and we can get one in Trinidad. Great.

Trinidad lies 85 miles south of Grenada. We had no plans to go there...ever, but now we find ourselves planning the trip. We will leave Grenada at 9pm at night and arrive in Trinidad at sunrise. We are traveling alone and even though we are not scared easily, we know there are occasional pirates that prey on cruisers in these waters. We go over how to use the flare gun as a weapon and other tactical manuvers we know will make boarding our boat difficult.

It turns out to be a great trip. No worries no problems except the 2 knot current we fight the entire trip. We are now very close to South America. This is the furthest south we have ever been.


Trinidad is a very lush and tropical island. Parts of the island are very beautiful. Parts of the island are very urban and industrial. Oil and natural gas are king here.

Many years ago Trinidad was part of South America. Even though the closest point is now 7 miles away, the island still has many beautiful South American species of animals and plants not seen in the rest of the Caribbean.

Close to the island we encounter some traffic. Big tankers move oil and gas from offshore drilling platforms. Good morning!

There is a go-fast ferry between the island of Tobago and Trinidad. It moves along around 30 knots. Very fast. Leaves a nice wake...where is the wake board when you need it!

Soon we arrive at Bocademonos.

It takes us a few days to figure out where the best anchorage is. It is at the Trinidad and Tobago Sailing Association. Sail boats only, no powerboats are welcome here. And, be prepared to pay for you stay. Unlike other islands, this island charges boats to anchor.

We also learn that our battery charger is not broken and does not need a new part. We just need a new breaker on our generator. So, yes, we came all this way for naught. But we have some unspent "fix-it $$$" on hand so we decide to stay and explore for awhile.

The island has some great nature preserves. One of the most talked about is a bird sanctuary up in the mountains. We rent a car, fill it up with .75 cents/gallon fuel and head towards the Asa Wright Nature Center.

It is green and it is beautiful. It is hot, we are in our rental car and we have air conditioning. We are smiling.

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The roads are narrow but we are getting away from the mayhem of the city. There are very few signs and we begin to worry we may be lost. We stop to ask directions and as quick as you can say "no hitchhikers" we have a passenger in the backseat holding a 30 foot bamboo pole out the window. Our newly acquired friend is a delight. He is an ancestor of the earliest inhabitants, the Carib Indians. He is a Shaman from his village and assures us we are on the right road and we can drop him off at the next turn. Out he jumps and waves goodby. He disappears into the lush growth.

A few more miles and we arrive.

This place delights the senses

From the balcony you can watch shimmery hummingbirds at the feeders

Birds appear in a variety of colors

Down below is a curious Gold Tegu

Up above is a curious Steve

And down below again is a Paca also known locally as a Lappe.

We are overnight guests here so we enjoy the traditional afternoon tea served at 4pm sharp. They are so very civilized here they even serve locally grown coffee. Ahhhhh!

The day visitors have all left and we have the place to ourselves.

Afternoon tea bisquits for the birds

Strolling around the grounds we meet all sorts of creatures

A Pigmy Owl

The next morning we get a rare opportunity to hike down into a gorge to see the rare OilBird. These birds are closely guarded by the nature center. Too many visitors and the flock will leave and relocate itself.

The hike down is beautiful

The birds are tucked back, deep inside a cave. These birds are very shy, no flash allowed. We enter the cave two at a time to get a good view.

The young OilBirds become very fat before they reach adulthood. They can weigh up to 50% more than the adult. They were a great source of oil for the early inhabitants and were frequently used as torches. The backdoor to the cave is open

It rains alot in the mountains and there is no shortage of waterfalls

During the night you meet totally different creatures

We leave Asa Wright and head down the mountain towards the north coast. It has rained over 3 inches in the last few hours so it is a wild wet ride down the narrow one lane road. Once down we celebrate with a Trinidad favorite...Bake and Shark. Fried bun, fried fish, lots of condiments. Delicious.

We have been in Trinidad for 10 days. It was fun but we are ready to return to Grenada. We leave at 4:30 am. The sunrise is worth getting up early for.

It is going to be a good sailing day. The current is nudging us from behind, the wind is on our beam, the coffee smells good. Perfect.

See you back in Grenada

Anne and Steve

S/V Fine Line

A Few Weeks In Carriacou: Part 2 The Regatta

The island of Carriacou is the only Carribean Island to host a sailboat regatta during hurricane season. Seems a bit risky but hurricanes rarely arrive in this southern island and if they do head this way it is typically a bit later in the season. Just the same, the big yachts have left the area leaving paradise a little less crowded for the rest of us.

The Carriacou Regatta consists of races for yachties like us and races for local boaters like these guys. Carriacou Island is known for its boat building and it is evident in these beautifully crafted vessels.

Hillsbourough (downtown Carriacou) comes alive during regatta. It is easy to find a nice place to hangout and watch the races. We arrive with friends John and Nancy from S/V Silver Seas.

Lunch anyone?

Should your boat need a bit of a tune up before the race.....no problem

The riggers are available to solve any problem

The local boats get ready to start the race. Unlike yacht racing, these boats leave from the beach. Ready, set.....

GO!

Some bigger boats start in the bay.

Yacht race starts are sheer chaos. The seasoned racer relishes this battle for good postion on the start line. Sails up, we get ready to move into the start sequence.

As we jockey around for position we check out our competition. The catamaran in this picture is a lightweight local boat named Ned Kelly. We keep an eye on her.
Next we spot a Lagoon 47, Koolau. They have a crew of 11 onboard. Too bad this race is a "two man" race. They are disqualified later.

The only other boat in our class is this brand new Dean Catamaran called Merlin. It is a pretty boat but is it fast??
It is busy at the start, boats everywhere trying to get into postion for the best start.

We nail the start. Merlin is right next to us.

Behind us we see the other two catamarans. So far so good....

In front of us is the rest of the fleet. They started ahead of us but we are quickly gaining on them.

Around the first mark, Sisters Rock, we see Ned Kelly gaining on us. Merlin is falling back and Koolau is moving up.

We keep a sharp lookout to see what the local boat, Ned Kelly, will do. Will she tack closer to shore? Local knowledge of currents and wind conditions could work in her favor.

Soon it is us and Ned Kelly. She is staying close behind us and seems to be gaining on us.

We are on the home stretch.

The wind is behind us, time to hoist the Gennaker. We cross the finish line first with Ned Kelly 3 minutes behind us. The other two catamarans finish 40 + minutes behind us.

There are lots of activities in the evenings between races. We go out to dinner with friends (l to r) Wendy, Jim, Pat and Geoff.

Too sore and tired the next day to race we muster enough energy by 3pm to attend an afternoon auction fundraiser. The Carriacou Childrens Educational Fund was created 9 years ago. Since that time they have raised over 37,000.00 US dollars for the children of Carriacou.

There is lots of good boating stuff to buy.

Sold!

The last race of the regatta we invite Geoff and Pat from S/V Beach House to join us. This particular race is open to more than two people and we are happy to have extra hands on deck.

We begin the starting sequence and keep an eye on the competition. Ned Kelly is not racing today but we know Koolau is going to be a strong competitor.

Steve manuvers us right up to the starting line with 8 seconds to go. Luffing the sails he keeps us from crossing early and he squeezes out Koolau. They fail to make the start and by the time they come around they have lost more than 3 minutes. Sweet! Yes, we are competitive.

We are moving nicely and next to a beautiful racing boat named Spirited Lady. She is owned and sailed by a woman, Susie, from the UK.

We win our race, 20 minutes ahead of the second place boat Koolau. The crew is smiling. It was a fun regatta.

It is time to head to Grenada. See you there.

Anne and Steve

S/V Fine Line